An illustrated edition of the Ciardi poem about the pelican and his splendid beak. On board pages.

2013 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award Meli Lleshi is positive that her drawing of her teacher with his pelican nose started it all. The Lleshis are Albanians living in Kosovo, a country trying to fight off Serbian oppressors, and suddenly they are homeless refugees. Old and young alike, they find their courage tested by hunger, illness, the long, arduous journey, and danger on every side. Then, unexpectedly, they are brought to America by a church group and begin a new life in a small Vermont town. The events of 9/11 bring more challenges for this Muslim family--but this country is their home now and there can be no turning back.A compassionate, powerful novel by a master storyteller.

“A novelistic mosaic that simultaneously reads like a thriller and like a strange, dreamlike excursion into the subconscious.” —The New York Times Years ago, when House of Leaves was first being passed around, it was nothing more than a badly bundled heap of paper, parts of which would occasionally surface on the Internet. No one could have anticipated the small but devoted following this terrifying story would soon command. Starting with an odd assortment of marginalized youth -- musicians, tattoo artists, programmers, strippers, environmentalists, and adrenaline junkies -- the book eventually made its way into the hands of older generations, who not only found themselves in those strangely arranged pages but also discovered a way back into the lives of their estranged children. Now this astonishing novel is made available in book form, complete with the original colored words, vertical footnotes, and second and third appendices. The story remains unchanged, focusing on a young family that moves into a small home on Ash Tree Lane where they discover something is terribly wrong: their house is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. Of course, neither Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Will Navidson nor his companion Karen Green was prepared to face the consequences of that impossibility, until the day their two little children wandered off and their voices eerily began to return another story -- of creature darkness, of an ever-growing abyss behind a closet door, and of that unholy growl which soon enough would tear through their walls and consume all their dreams.

For fans of Harper Lee and Rita Mae Brown, Roy Hoffman's new novel is steeped in a sense of place--coastal Alabama--with its rich tapestry of characters caught in a web of justice not for all. Early Praise for The Promise of the Pelican: "Roy Hoffman has written a fast-paced, mesmerizing and incredibly moving contemporary novel about human and civil rights,"-- bestselling author Lee Smith "A thrilling novel, with characters as memorable as those of Shakespearean tragedy...I could not put it down." --Sena Jeter Naslund, author of Ahab's Wife At once a literary crime novel and an intergenerational family drama, The Promise of the Pelican is set in the multicultural South, where justice might depend on the color of your skin and your immigration status. Hank Weinberg is a modern day Atticus Finch, recently retired as a defense attorney in Mobile, Alabama, and a Holocaust survivor, who fled the Nazis as a young child. With his daughter in rehab, he's now taking care of his special needs grandson. Mourning his dead wife, spending mornings fishing on the pier with other octogenarians, he passes the rest of his days watching over his sweet grandson with the help of Lupita, a young Honduran babysitter. When her brother Julio, an undocumented immigrant, is accused of murder, Hank must return to the courtroom to defend him while also trying to save his daughter and grandson's life from spinning out of control. The Promise of the Pelican takes its title from the legend that a pelican will pierce its own breast for blood to feed its starving chicks, a metaphor for one old man who risks all to save the vulnerable. In a crisp prose style Harper Lee called "lean and clean," Hoffman writes from an enormous well of compassion. He fills his new novel with a cast of finely drawn characters of all ages and abilities facing life's harshest challenges and rising to meet them with dignity.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • In suburban Georgetown a killer's Reeboks whisper on the front floor of a posh home... In a seedy D.C. porno house a patron is swiftly garroted to death... The next day America learns that two of its Supreme Court justices have been assassinated. And in New Orleans, a young law student prepares a legal brief... To Darby Shaw it was no more than a legal shot in the dark, a brilliant guess. To the Washington establishment it was political dynamite. Suddenly Darby is witness to a murder—a murder intended for her. Going underground, she finds there is only one person she can trust—an ambitious reporter after a newsbreak hotter than Watergate—to help her piece together the deadly puzzle. Somewhere between the bayous of Louisiana and the White House's inner sanctums, a violent cover-up is being engineered. For someone has read Darby's brief. Someone who will stop at nothing to destroy the evidence of an unthinkable crime. Don’t miss John Grisham’s new book, THE EXCHANGE: AFTER THE FIRM!

The gripping second installment of the Pelican Harbor series from USA TODAY bestselling author Colleen Coble! Police Chief Jane Hardy has only just been reunited with her long-lost son when she learns of an impending terror attack that threatens everything she holds dear. A lie changed her world. Police Chief Jane Hardy is still reeling from the scandal that rocked her small-town department just as she took over for her retired father—the man who wrecked her life with one little lie. Now she’s finally been reunited with her presumed-dead fifteen-year-old son, Will, and his father, documentarian Reid Dixon. When a murder aboard the Gulf Coast oil platform Zeus exposes an environmental terrorist’s plot to flood Mobile Bay with crude oil, Jane and Reid must put their feelings for each other aside and work together to prevent the looming sabotage. When the terrorist puts Will’s life on the line, protecting him could be the common ground Jane and Reid need . . . until ghosts from the past threaten to ruin their fragile relationship for good. Jane has plenty of reasons to run. But what if she stays? Praise for Two Reasons to Run: “Colleen Coble’s superpower is transporting her readers into beautiful settings in vivid detail. . .Add to that the suspense that keeps you wanting to know more and characters that pull at your heart.”—Terri Blackstock, USA TODAY bestselling author of If I Run “Colleen Coble’s latest has it all: characters to root for, a sinister villain, and a story that just won’t stop.”—Siri Mitchell, author of State of Lies Full-length romantic suspense Includes discussion questions for book clubs Part of the Pelican Harbor series Book one: One Little Lie Book two: Two Reasons to Run Book three: Three Missing Days Characters from the Pelican Harbor series make cameo appearances in the Tupelo Grove series, coauthored with Rick Acker. Book 1: What We Hide. Perfect for fans of Allison Brennan, Terri Blackstock, and Dani Pettrey

All three novels from the gripping Pelican Harbor series by USA TODAY bestselling romantic suspense author Colleen Coble are now available in one collection. One Little Lie Jane Hardy is appointed interim sheriff in Pelican Harbor, Alabama, after her father retires, but there's no time for an adjustment period. When her father is implicated in a recent murder, Jane quickly realizes she's facing someone out to destroy the only family she has. After escaping with her father from a cult fifteen years ago, Jane has searched relentlessly for her mother—who refused to leave—ever since. Could someone from that horrible past have found them? Reid Bechtol is well-known for his documentaries, and his latest project involves covering Jane's career. Jane finds herself depending on Reid's calm manner as he follows her around filming, and they begin working together to clear her father. But Reid has his own secrets from the past, and the gulf between them may be impossible to cross—especially once her father’s lie catches up with him. Two Reasons to Run Police Chief Jane Hardy is still reeling from the scandal that rocked her small-town department just as she took over for her retired father. Now she’s finally been reunited with loved ones she thought she’d never see again. her presumed-dead fifteen-year-old son, Will, and his father, documentarian Reid Bechtol. But when an environmental terrorist’s plot threatens the lives of those she holds dear, Jane will have to face the ghosts of her past in order to save any hope for a future. Three Missing Days Chief of Police Jane Hardy plunges into the investigation of a house fire that claimed the life of a local woman as well as one of the firefighters. It’s clear the woman was murdered. But why? Then Jane’s fifteen-year-old son is accused of a horrific crime, and she has to decide whether or not she can trust her ex, Reid, in the attempt to prove Will’s innocence--and whether she can trust Reid with her heart. Three days of Jane’s past are missing from her memory, and that’s not all that has been stolen from her. As she works to find the woman’s murderer and clear her son’s name, finding out what happened in those three days could change everything. It all started with one little lie. But the gripping truth is finally coming out.