So many secrets for such a small island. From the moment Anne Merchant arrives at Cania Christy, a boarding school for the world's wealthiest teens, the hushed truths of this strange, unfamiliar land begin calling to her—sometimes as lulling drumbeats in the night, sometimes as piercing shrieks. One by one, unanswered questions rise. No one will tell her why a line is painted across the island or why she is forbidden to cross it. Her every move—even her performance at the school dance—is graded as part of a competition to become valedictorian, a title that brings rewards no one will talk about. And Anne discovers that the parents of her peers surrender million-dollar possessions to enroll their kids in Cania Christy, leaving her to wonder what her lowly funeral director father could have paid to get her in… and why. As a beautiful senior struggles to help Anne make sense of this cloak-and-dagger world without breaking the rules that bind him, she must summon the courage to face the impossible truth—and change it—before she and everyone she loves is destroyed by it.

Get a sneak peak at Smart Pop's 2013 titles with this preview volume of standalone essays! Volume Includes: "Truth and Lies" – Debra Driza Downtown Chicago Faction Map from "Mapping Divergent's Chicago" – V. Arrow From Divergent Thinking: YA Authors on Veronica Roth's Divergent Trilogy, edited by Leah Wilson "Welcome to the Zombie Apocalypse" and "Overnight of the Living Dead French Toast" - Lauren Wilson From The Art of Eating Through the Zombie Apocalypse: A Cookbook and Culinary Survival Guide "Crime of Fashion" - Terri Clark From The Girl Who Was on Fire - Movie Edition, edited by Leah Wilson "Truly, My Name Is Cinna" - V. Arrow From The Panem Companion: An Unofficial Guide to Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games, From Mellark Bakery to Mockingjays "Lawless Neptune" - Alafair Burke From Neptune Noir: Unauthorized Investigations into Veronica Mars, edited by Rob Thomas "Introduction: Why Fic?" - Anne Jamison "Blurring the Lines" - Amber Benson From Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World, by Anne Jamison Plus an excerpt from the first book of Joanna Wiebe's new YA trilogy, The Unseemly Education of Anne Merchant

Behind every secret lurks one much darker... Thrust back into the cryptic world of Cania Christy, Anne Merchant finds herself tangled in a mystic plot she can't escape. Eerie visions haunt her. Whispers of her nefarious past vex her. But it's not until Ben Zin is forced to compete for the Big V—with a vengeful guardian to assure his failure—that she faces the reality of life in a world ruled by wickedness: she must embrace her inner demons to help those she loves. Hoping the ends will justify the means, Anne starts down a slippery slope that, if she lets temptation guide her, could lead her straight to the underworld.

For fans of Josh Whedon's cult classic television show Firefly comes a fascinating and fast-paced sci-fi thriller from author Mindee Arnett, which New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White calls "a heart-pounding, tense joyride of a novel." Jeth Seagrave and his crew have made their name stealing metatech: the devices that allow people to travel great distances faster than the speed of light. In a world where the agencies that patrol the outer edges of space are as corrupt as the crime bosses who control them, it's as much of a living as anyone can ask for. For years Jeth's managed to fly under the radar of the government that executed his parents for treason—but when he finds himself in possession of information that both the government and the crime bosses are willing to kill for, he's going to find there's no escaping his past anymore. With pulse-pounding action, a captivating mystery, and even a bit of romance, Avalon is the perfect read for hard-core sci-fi fans and non-sci-fi fans alike.

A funny, sexy, and wildly entertaining look at the rewards of fully realized desire in the life of one ordinary woman. At 43 years old, Pamela Madsen was happily married to the man she fell in love with at 17. She was the mother of two sons and had a successful career as a nationally known advocate for fertility issues. But she felt a growing sexual restlessness and yearning that wouldn't let up. And though Pamela loved her husband and didn't want to have an affair, she knew deep down that she needed more, much more. In Shameless, she tells the story of how she found it—and not only kept her marriage intact but made it stronger than ever. In this fearless memoir, Pamela tells the story of her search for sexual, personal, and spiritual wholeness. She explores, in riveting detail, what she experienced at the hands of sexual healers, men who brought her untold pleasure (and became her close friends in the process). But this is not just another sex book: Shameless is also an account of how Pamela's journey healed her issues with food and body image and most important, helped her weave the many roles that she played—daughter, friend, partner, mother—into one fully integrated person. It is a story about a woman falling in love with herself and a call to other women to do the same.

Named One of Esquire's 50 Best Biographies of All Time The Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist, reissued with a new afterword for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. A young man from a small provincial town moves to London in the late 1580s and, in a remarkably short time, becomes the greatest playwright not of his age alone but of all time. How is an achievement of this magnitude to be explained? Stephen Greenblatt brings us down to earth to see, hear, and feel how an acutely sensitive and talented boy, surrounded by the rich tapestry of Elizabethan life, could have become the world’s greatest playwright.

London 1665-66. With the Plague raging and the scent of smoke upon the wind, Will and Susanna, separated by class and distance, struggle to re-unite. Will has become a Quaker and broken with his father. Leaving Susanna behind, he travels to London. This is a story about how love and belief can overcome even the most terrifying twists of fate.