Growing up in the small seaside town of Cutter's Cove, Maine, Kathy Jennings has walked the beach, since she was 11, searching for her magical sea stones. Now, her collection is to be envied. Still alone at 60, she finally finds that one special sea stone that tells her she will soon fall in love for the first time. Is 60 too old to fall in love? Not according to her life long friend, Becky Porter, who owns the local flower shop. An avid marathon runner, Becky is always willing to pull on her running shoes for any good cause. So, at 59, she makes plans to run a 5-K race to benefit Juvenile Diabetes. When she is diagnosed with terminal cancer, during her training, she finds herself unable to run her race. Kathy, a classic couch potato, steps up and offers to run it for her. However, the transformation from couch potato to marathon runner has its challenges for Kathy. Will meeting Marcus Stone, a handsome British gentleman, be just the inspiration she needs? Kathy soon discovers that she'll need more than just Marcus's love to see her through the loss of her best friend. She'll need God. However, both women have long ago turned their back on that one Divine Hope that could now see them through their challenges. As Becky's illness progresses, both women are forced to re-examine the childhood trauma that caused them to turn their backs on God so many years ago. Kathy finds herself torn between the happiness of finally falling in love and the heartache of watching a life long friend die.

“A fabulous interweaving of fantasy, politics, and sisterhood — this unusual, tense tale will have you on the edge of your seat!” —#1 New York Times bestselling author Tamora Pierce on Crown of Coral and Pearl The Cruel Prince meets Ash Princess in this thrilling fantasy, the much-anticipated sequel to Crown of Coral and Pearl. Ever since Nor was forced to go to a nearby kingdom in her sister’s place, she’s wanted nothing more than to return to the place and people she loves. But when her wish comes true, she soon finds herself cast out from both worlds, with a war on the horizon. As an old enemy resurfaces more powerful than ever, Nor will have to keep the kingdom from falling apart with the help of Prince Talin and Nor’s twin sister, Zadie. There are forces within the world more mysterious than any of them ever guessed—and they’ll need to stay alive long enough to conquer them… Books in the Crown of Coral and Pearl duology: Crown of Coral and Pearl Kingdom of Sea and Stone

“A fabulous interweaving of fantasy, politics, and sisterhood—this unusual, tense tale will have you on the edge of your seat!”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Tamora Pierce Red Queen meets House of Salt and Sorrow in Mara Rutherford's debut YA fantasy Crown of Coral and Pearl, which follows a young woman from a village on the sea who must impersonate her twin on land to save everyone she loves from a tyrannical prince. For generations, the crown princes of Ilara have married the most beautiful maidens from the ocean village of Varenia. Nor once dreamed of seeing the mysterious mountain kingdom for herself, but after a childhood accident left her with a scar, she knew her twin sister, Zadie, would likely be chosen to marry the crown prince. Then Zadie is injured, and Nor is sent to Ilara in her place. She soon discovers her future husband, Prince Ceren, is as forbidding and cold as his home. And as she grows closer to Ceren’s brother, Prince Talin, Nor learns of a failing royal bloodline, a murdered queen...and a plot to destroy her village. To save her people, Nor must learn to negotiate the treacherous protocols of a court where lies reign and obsession rules...but discovering her own formidable strength may cost her everything she loves. Books in the Crown of Coral and Pearl duology: Crown of Coral and Pearl Kingdom of Sea and Stone

Three siblings embark on an epic quest for a mythic grail in this first installment of Susan Cooper’s epic and award-winning The Dark Is Rising Sequence, now with a brand-new look! All through time, the two great forces of Light and Dark have battled for control of the world. Now, after centuries of balance, the Dark is summoning its terrifying forces to rise once more…and three children find themselves caught in the conflict. The Drew siblings—Simon, Jane, and Barney—are on a family holiday in Cornwall when they discover an ancient map in the attic of the house they are sharing with their Great Uncle Merry. They know immediately that the map is special but have no way of knowing how much. For the map leads to a grail: a vital weapon for the Light’s fight against evil. In taking on the quest to find the grail, the Drews will have to race against the sinister human beings who serve the dreadful power of the dark—an adventure that puts their own lives in grave peril.

This book is a study of 'collecting' undertaken by Joseph Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux and his shipmates in Tasmania, the western Pacific Islands, and Indonesia. In 1791-1794 Bruni d'Entrecasteaux led a French naval expedition in search of the lost vessels of La Pérouse which had last been seen by Europeans at Botany Bay in March 1788. After Bruni d'Entrecasteaux died near the end of the voyage and the expedition collapsed in political disarray in Java, its collections and records were subsequently scattered or lost. The book's core is a richly illustrated examination, analysis, and catalog of a large array of ethnographic objects collected during the voyage, later dispersed, and recently identified in museums in France, Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States. The focus on artifacts is informed by a broad conception of collecting as grounded in encounters or exchanges with Indigenous protagonists and also as materialized in other genres--written accounts, vocabularies, and visual representations (drawings, engravings, and maps). Historically, the book outlines the antecedents, occurrences, and aftermath of the voyage, including its location within the classic era of European scientific voyaging (1766-1840) and within contemporary colonial networks. Particular chapters trace the ambiguous histories of the extant collections. Ethnographically, contributors are alert to local settings, relationships, practices, and values; to Indigenous uses and significance of objects; to the reciprocal, dialogic nature of collecting; to local agency or innovation in exchanges; and to present implications of objects and their histories, especially for modern scholars and artists, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous.

Chelsea is part of an international team of archaeologists who are making the most of a tenuous cease-fire in the Syrian civil war to excavate and conserve the historic remains of the ancient kingdom of Ebla. The dramatic discovery of a new library of clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform writing brings to the surface international tensions between Syria and Israel. Do the ancient tablets make reference to the ancient Jewish patriarchs living in Israel, or not? Chelsea finds herself caught in the middle of an international tug-of-war. Tensions increase when a small boy finds some tablets inscribed with two types of cuneiform writing that will enable archaeologists to translate the rest of the tablets. The boy and the tablets become the target of international interest. Chelsea must enlist the help of a shadowy character, Tony, for help. He has military training, but is now seeking a new life, one that will allow him to deal with his own demons. She must also call on the help of her colleague in the British Museum, Beanie, who is an IT genius. Chelsea must keep those she loves alive in an international squabble over who can rightfully lay claim to being the original and rightful occupants of Israel-and manage the greatest archaeological discovery of the century.