The Dockporter. He's got a bike, a basket ... and a whole lotta baggage. It's the summer of 1989. Jack McGuinn is a dockporter, transporting tourists' luggage, piled high in the basket of his bike on Mackinac Island, Michigan, a tiny summer resort where cars are outlawed and pedal-power rules. He's got the season wired tight: a family cottage on the bluff, a dream job, and a loyal crew of hell-raising, tip-hustling buddies. When his old friend-turned bitter rival challenges him to ride a record-setting load, he takes the bet and soon realizes he's not just carrying suitcases, he's carrying the future of the island, which is about to be paved over for profit. With the help of his pals on the dock and the love of a romantic, free-spirited Irish cellist named Erin, Jack digs deep to discover skills he didn't know he had. The Dockporter is an offbeat, nostalgic coming-of age-story that appeals anyone who ever had a summer job. If Rushmore director Wes Anderson remade Caddyshack but it emerged as a hybrid of Footloose and Meatballs (and was a book) it would be The Dockporter. Genre-smashing, hilariously fresh, yet refreshingly familiar, it's a novel about friends, family, love, luggage, and the summers we never forget. We feel the same way you do. The world's gotten a bit serious lately. So kick back, pour yourself something cold, and take a summer vacation, even if it's just in your mind. Because let's face it: we all need an island.

Mackinac Island is a summer vacation spot in Michigan where no cars are allowed, so everyone uses horses and bikes to get around. Thirteen-year-old Hunter Martineau lives on the island year around and knows everything about the place. Well, almost everything. When bikes start to mysteriously disappear all over the island, Hunter is determined to catch the thief and claim the reward money. But that isn't so easy, even for someone as smart as Hunter. Hunter gathers clues and follows suspects to secret places. But every lead turns out to be a dead end - until the thief gives himself away, and Hunter realizes that he is in real danger. Along the way, Hunter makes new friends, grows closer to his dad, and learns why his heritage as an Ottawa Indian is so important to him. Full of fun and surprises, Mystery on Mackinac Island is about adventure, loyalty, and the discoveries of growing up. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Adventure is the last thing on Andrea Henderson's mind when she moves to Moses Lake. After surviving the worst year of her life, she's struggling to build a new life for herself and her son as a social worker. Perhaps in doing a job that makes a difference, she can find some sense of purpose and solace in her shattered faith. For new Moses Lake game warden Mart McClendon, finding a sense of purpose in life isn't an issue. He took the job to get out of southwest Texas and the constant reminders of a tragedy for which he can't forgive himself. But when a little girl is seen with the town recluse, Mart and Andrea are drawn together in the search for her identity. The little girl offers them both a new chance at redemption and hope--and may bring them closer than either ever planned.

Troy Hull has troubles. After the death of his parents, he left college to take up his family's traditional lobster-fi shing life. Now, thanks to poor fi shing, a misguided second mortgage, and the changing nature of his hometown, Troy fi nds himself faced with the loss of that life. As a former highschool classmate turned banker tells him: This isn't a fi sherman's town anymore. Indeed, soaring property values have made it increasingly a haven for land speculators, wealthy summer residents, and tax-sheltered retirees, and Troy's home- just off the harbor on a quiet stretch of Hull Creek-is exactly the sort of property these newcomers covet. So Troy must decide whether to join his friend on an illegal path to solvency or let the straight-andnarrow take him from his beloved home. Hull Creek is a timely tale of change on the coast of Maine and the challenges it brings to the men who still seek their livelihood from the sea.

Mac is a young Palomino who decides it's high time for a horse to go on vacation. Mac chooses to go to Mackinac Island, known for it's horse population (no cars allowed). Mac finds Nay-sayers along the way that tell him Horses Don't Go On Vacation, but Mac finds courage to overcome his doubts and try new things. He rides the ferry, rides a bike, visits the sites, eats fudge and has a wonderful time on Michigan's famous landmark, Mackinac Island, Michigan

One of Australia’s most celebrated novels: one woman’s journey from Australia to London Nora Porteous, a witty, ambitious woman from Brisbane, returns to her childhood home at age seventy. Her life has taken her from a failed marriage in Sydney to freedom in London; she forged a modest career as a seamstress and lived with two dear friends through the happiest years of her adult life. At home, the neighborhood children she remembers have grown into compassionate adults. They help to nurse her back from pneumonia, and slowly let her in on the dark secrets of the neighborhood in the years that have lapsed. With grace and humor, Nora recounts her desire to escape, the way her marriage went wrong, the vanity that drove her to get a facelift, and one romantic sea voyage that has kept her afloat during her dark years. Her memory is imperfect, but the strength and resilience she shows over the years is nothing short of extraordinary. A book about the sweetness of escape, and the mix of pain and acceptance that comes with returning home.

The world-class Port Huron-Mackinac sailboat race has just finished at Mackinac Island. As soon as the boats dock, the sailors head for the legendary Pink Pony. But the night takes a grisly turn, and Jimmy Lyons is found dead the next morning in the bar, strangled by a string of Christmas tree lights. Murdo Halverson, a wealthy manufacturer from Detroit and Jimmy's former partner, is arrested for the murder. It turns out that the free spending Jimmy was broke. Each of his crew, including Murdo, had a reason to kill him. As did his wife, Jane. Burr Lafayette, recently divorced and the deposed head of the litigation department of a major Detroit law firm, is recruited to defend Murdo by his wife, Anne, and his mother, Martha, the widowed matriarch of the family. A man at loose ends, Burr is a brilliant litigator who prefers boats and dogs over courtrooms and clients. But he's not a criminal lawyer, and this looks like a losing case. Did Murdo kill Jimmy or was it someone else?