When Alan Monteith decides to help a friend in need by delivering a bottle of medicine to a sick woman, he never imagined being stranded in a blizzard. And he never imagined climbing a mountain on foot. But when his car breaks down in front of the Devereaux’s home, that’s just what he ends up doing. Daryl Devereaux was looking forward to a peaceful holiday until Alan Monteith arrives. As the young stranger and her brother trudge into the storm, Daryl is left to pray for their safe return, never realizing that night will change their lives forever.

Mr. Creacher, a multi-tentacled substitute teacher, warns his prankish students not to misbehave, recounting rhyming cautionary tales of the weird, spooky, and unexpected.

A DAY FOR LOVE The Substitute Guest Claire Ward is invited at the last moment to a Valentine’s house party when another guest withdraws. She soon feels very out of place, however, when she realizes the party is intended to be something wild. When each gentleman draws the name of the lady who will be his Valentine for the next three days, the Duke of Langford, the worst rake of them all, finds himself deliberately but quite inexplicably choosing the card of the lady he suspects is prim and virtuous—and very unlike any other he has known. Golden Rose The Master of Ceremonies in Bath has devised an intriguing plan for the annual Valentine’s ball at the Assembly Rooms. Each gentleman is to send an anonymous favor to the lady of his choice and she is to wear it or carry it to the ball to discover the identity of her Valentine. But when Roger Bradshaw sends a golden rose to the lady of his choice, his mischievous young cousin, entrusted with delivering it, presents it to another young lady he considers more worthy. A Waltz Among the Stars Viscount Brandon, determined to put behind him his grief over the death of his young wife two years before, accepts an invitation to a Valentine’s house party, where he plans to woo the young daughter of the house. However, he finds himself drawn instead to her older sister, who nurses a deep grief of her own while also living apart from her family under the disgrace of a youthful indiscretion.

When a substitute teacher named Miss Pelly comes to class, one student bristles at the change in routine -- Miss Pelly doesn't follow the rules like Mrs. Giordano. But in time, our student learns that even though the substitute may do things a little differently, and she may be a bit silly, mixing things up might not be so bad. Told in a series of epistolary poems, this funny, relatable picturebook is a great fit for classrooms and for any child nervous about new experiences.

Jane Arleth’s mountain vacation is cut short when she receives news that both her parents have been sick back home. Anxious to help but sad to leave a rare chance to relax for the hard times ahead, Jane returns to the city. She soon discovers that there’s only one cure for her ailing parents: some much-deserved, cooling time away from the scorching city. So Jane rents a tiny cottage on the beach, hoping for the best. What she finds is a summer that opens her heart to love.

A thought-provoking meditation on food, family, identity, immigration, and, most of all, hospitality--at the table and beyond--that's part food memoir, part appeal for more authentic decency in our daily worlds, and in the world at large. Be My Guest is an utterly unique, deeply personal meditation on what it means to tend to others and to ourselves--and how the two things work hand in hand. Priya Basil explores how food--and the act of offering food to others--are used to express love and support. Weaving together stories from her own life with knowledge gleaned from her Sikh heritage; her years spent in Kenya, India, Britain, and Germany; and ideas from Derrida, Plato, Arendt, and Peter Singer, Basil focuses an unexpected and illuminating light on what it means to be both a host and a guest. Lively, wide-ranging, and impassioned, Be My Guest is a singular work, at once a deeply felt plea for a kinder, more welcoming world and a reminder that, fundamentally, we all have more in common than we imagine.