With all sorts of delightful Parent Trap-style identical twin hijinks, The Invention of Sophie Carter is the perfect light-and-sweet palate cleanser. 1851. Bounced from one home to another their whole lives, orphaned identical twins Sophie and Mariah Carter have always relied on each other for love and support, even though the sisters couldn't be more different. Brash Sophie wants to be an inventor, and demure Mariah wants to be an artist. Both long to visit London for the summer—Sophie to see the Queen’s Great Exhibition and Mariah to study the world’s finest collection of paintings. But when their cantankerous aunt answers their letter pleading for a place to stay, she insists she only has time and room to spare for one of them. So, Mariah and Sophie hatch a clever scheme: They will travel to London together and take turns playing the part of "Sophie". At first the plan runs like clockwork. But as the girls avoid getting caught by increasingly narrow margins and two handsome gentlemen—both of whom think they’re falling in love with the real Sophie Carter—enter the equation, the sisters find they don’t have the situation quite as under control as they thought.

Readers looking for a light, fun read full of holiday mischief will be delighted by Samantha Hastings' A Royal Christmas Quandary, perfect for fans of A Christmas Prince and The Crown. When you spend Christmas in a castle, anything is possible. 1860. Lady Alexandrina Gailey is looking forward to a cozy holiday at Windsor Castle with her best friend, Princess Alice, and her long-time crush, Lord George Worthington. But Drina's plans are all but dashed when Alice's parents, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, declare that Alice must choose one of two royal princes to become engaged to before Christmas. There's just one problem: George, a member of the Foreign Office, has accidentally misplaced one of the princes. Together, Drina and George scour the town of Windsor for the missing prince, desperately hoping to deliver him to the royal dinner party with the queen none the wiser. They might just need a royal Christmas miracle to pull it off. Praise for A Royal Christmas Quandary: "A delightful, romantic romp of a book—perfect for readers who like their holiday romance to come with a sprinkling of royal glamour." —Rosalyn Eves, author of Blood Rose Rebellion "A delightful foray into the Victorian era, A Royal Christmas Quandary will charm readers from page one. With endearing characters, a sweet romance, and fascinating details about Queen Victoria and the royal family, this story is sure to become a new Christmas favorite." —Joanna Barker, author of Otherwise Engaged "An exciting and romantic romp through Victorian England. ... A delicious blend of history, humor, and romance." —Esther Hatch, author of A Proper Scandal

A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print. One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning—but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.

Thirteen-year-old Anya sets out to find her missing father but instead travels to Kiev, where she meets the tsar, dines with a rabbi, and rescues two brothers from a dangerous monster lurking beneath the city.

Aurelia, the first princess born in Renalt in 200 years, is destined to marry the mysterious prince of Achelva, Valentin, but her treacherous lady-in-waiting, Lisette, plots to take her crown.

Set against the smoky, gaslit allure of Victorian London, this sweetly romantic historical debut is full of humor and stars a whip-smart female heroine ahead of her time. Where one story ends, another begins. 1861. Miss Lucinda Leavitt is shocked when she learns the author of her favorite serialized novel has died before completing the story. Determined to learn how it ends, Lucinda reluctantly enlists the help of her father’s young business partner, Mr. David Randall, to track down the reclusive author’s former whereabouts. David is a successful young businessman, but is overwhelmed by his workload. He wants to prove himself to his late father, as well as to himself. He doesn’t have the time, nor the interest, for this endeavor, but Lucinda is not the type to take no for an answer. Their search for the elusive Mrs. Smith and the rightful ending to her novel leads Lucinda and David around the country, but the truths they discover about themselves—and each other—are anything but fictional. Chosen by readers like you for Macmillan's young adult imprint Swoon Reads, The Last Word by debut author Samantha Hastings is a fun yet intellectual romp through Victorian London—the perfect book for book-lovers. Praise for The Last Word: A Junior Library Guild Selection "Witty, spirited, and utterly swoon-worthy. ... Filled with fierce feminism, impeccable period detail, and a charming romance that's sure to stay with readers long after the last word." —Addie Thorley, author of An Affair of Poisons “Great voice. Unique premise. ... And who can resist a plucky heroine who is determined to help write an unfinished romance novel by her favorite author!” —B.R. Myers, author of Rogue Princess

Widely acknowledged as one of the most important English writers of the last century, Angela Carter's work stands out for its bawdiness and linguistic zest, its hospitality to the fantastical and the absurd, and its extraordinary inventiveness and range. Her life was as vigorously modern and unconventional as anything in her fiction. This is the story of how Angela Carter invented herself - as a new kind of woman and a new kind of writer - and how she came to write such seductive and distinctive masterworks as The Bloody Chamber, Nights at the Circus, and Wise Children. Because its subject so powerfully embodied the spirit of the times, the book also provides a fresh perspective on Britain's social and cultural history in the second half of the twentieth century. It examines such topics as the 1960s counterculture, the social and imaginative conditions of the nuclear age, and the advent of second wave feminism. Author Edmund Gordon has followed in Angela Carter's footsteps - travelling to the places she lived in Britain, Japan, and the USA - to uncover a life rich in adventure and incident. With unrestricted access to her manuscripts, letters, and journals, and informed by interviews with Carter's friends and family, Gordon offers an unrivalled portrait of one of the twentieth century's most dazzlingly original writers. This sharply written narrative will be the definitive biography for years to come.