Inspired by the “original” Swiss Family Robinson book written in 1812 by Johann David Wyss, Return to Robinson Island is a continuation of the adventures of the Robinson family fifteen years after their famous shipwreck. Return to Robinson Island is an entertaining, action-packed adventure story that has a thread of romance weaved throughout. It takes place fifteen years after the Robinson Family’s famous shipwreck on a remote island in the East Indies. The story highlights Ernest Robinson, who is now twenty-seven years old, engaged to be married, and is a 1st Lieutenant in the British Royal Navy. Ernest has distinguished himself as a fearless fighter, respected leader, God-fearing man, and loyal friend. However, his loyalty is tested when his commanding officer, Captain Charlie, is court-martialed on war crimes and Ernest has no choice but to tell the truth even if his testimony sends his former captain to prison. When reports reach England that a vast treasure trove has been found on Robinson Island, Ernest and his family find themselves in mortal danger when Captain Charlie vows to retrieve the treasure for himself and wreak revenge on the entire Robinson family. Will the Robinson Family survive the attack? Will Ernest ever see his fiancée again? One thing is certain: they won’t give up the island – or their lives – without a fight!

In 1911, 22 year old Hettie Belle Matthew takes a daring leap into the unknown as she sails away from her cosmopolitan life in the bustling Bay Area for the remote Hawaiian Islands to work as a Governess for the prominent and wealthy Robinson Family. Letters discovered by her granddaughter over a century later are painstakingly woven together to bring this true story to life with rare insight and authenticity. “Hettie Belle's descriptive letters from over one hundred years ago make me feel as if I know my grandparents well. Her experiences bring the family to life, and I am not able to put the book down!”-- LOIS ROBINSON SOMERS, Descendant “Hettie Belle's charming letters open a fascinating window into the world of Kaua`i and Ni`ihau over 100 years ago. Through her eyes we are introduced to the lives of the plantation elite who ran Kaua`i society and to the magnificent landscapes that surrounded them. Hettie writes with aloha for both land and people, and Judith Burtner provides the necessary context so that we can get the most out of Hetties letters.”--ANDY BUSHNELL, Emeritus Professor of History, Kaua`i Community College

Now a film from Netflix India, this memorable novel confronts issues of sexuality in a changing society through a love triangle between a brother, sister, and their family’s lodger Recently adapted into a stunning Netflix film, Cobalt Blue is a tale of rapturous love and fierce heartbreak told with tenderness and unsparing clarity. Brother and sister Tanay and Anuja both fall in love with the same man, an artist lodging in their family home in Pune, in western India. He seems like the perfect tenant, ready with the rent and happy to listen to their mother’s musings on the imminent collapse of Indian culture. But he’s also a man of mystery. He has no last name. He has no family, no friends, no history, and no plans for the future. When he runs away with Anuja, he overturns the family’s lives. Translated from the Marathi by acclaimed novelist and critic Jerry Pinto, Sachin Kundalkar’s elegantly wrought and exquisitely spare novel explores the disruption of a traditional family by a free-spirited stranger in order to examine a generation in transition. Intimate, moving, sensual, and wry in its portrait of young love, Cobalt Blue is a frank and lyrical exploration of gay life in India that recalls the work of Edmund White and Alan Hollinghurst—of people living in emotional isolation, attempting to find long-term intimacy in relationships that until recently were barely conceivable to them.

For six days and nights, a storm tosses the Robinson family's ship around on the sea, before dashing it on the rocks off a deserted island. All the sailors are gone. The family is alone! But nothing can keep the cheerful Swiss family Robinson down for long. Father and Mother Robinson, along with their four irrepressible boys, quickly settle into their new home--mining the shipwreck for supplies, discovering valuable resources on the island and animal friends, and even turning the treetops into their own lofty aerie. Life is a nonstop adventure with the Swiss Family Robinson! Johann Wyss's classic survival story is available for the first time ever as a Stepping Stones in this early chapter book filled with exciting black-and-white illustrations.

An abridged version of the story that relates the fortunes of a shipwrecked family as they imaginatively adapt to life on an island with abundant animal and plant life.