" I don't think I want you around Bobby Lowe anymore-and I sure don't want him around me or Jason." Rick sat back and looked at Kylie. "Sweetheart, he's one of my oldest and best friends. I can't just 'not' see him anymore." Kylie glowered at Rick, "And I'm your wife," she pointed toward the room where Jason slept, "and that's your son. Your friend is a menace to himself, this family and anyone else he comes in contact with." Traveling through his old hometown on a photo assignment, photographer Rick Gaines stops in Zephyrhills, Florida, to visit his old friends, Mit Suggs and Bobby Lowe. Rick wants a career in New York until he runs into Kylie Simmons, an old friend from high school. Mit Suggs, the redneck, wants to drink beer and chase women-until he meets Kylie's older sister, Trina. Bobby Lowe, the mama's boy, works at his mother's Laundromat and soon joins the army. The friends pick up their relationship where they left off, and things seem to be the same. But something is about to change, taking each of them to new highs and, ultimately, to a tragic low.

Here are the twelve dancing princesses, who drove the Old King to distraction by wearing through their slippers every night. (Which sounds like something he could have made less fuss about, until you do the maths: well over four thousand pairs of slippers a year. Satin slippers too!) Things Were Different in Those Days is an imaginative retelling of the classic fairy tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses. Originally featured in Hilary McKay's Fairy Tales, this short story is sure to capture the imagination! From the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize-winning storyteller Hilary McKay and featuring black-and-white line and tone illustrations from the talented Sarah Gibb.

The distinctive new crowdsourced publishing imprint Swoon Reads proudly presents its first published novel—an irresistibly sweet romance between two college students told from 14 different viewpoints. The creative writing teacher, the delivery guy, the local Starbucks baristas, his best friend, her roommate, and the squirrel in the park all have one thing in common—they believe that Gabe and Lea should get together. Lea and Gabe are in the same creative writing class. They get the same pop culture references, order the same Chinese food, and hang out in the same places. Unfortunately, Lea is reserved, Gabe has issues, and despite their initial mutual crush, it looks like they are never going to work things out. But somehow even when nothing is going on, something is happening between them, and everyone can see it. You'll be rooting for Gabe and Lea too, in Sandy Hall's quirky, completely original novel A Little Something Different, chosen by readers, writes, and publishers, to be the debut titles for the new Swoon Reads imprint!

"**** (4 stars)" -CurldUp.com "Strongly recommended reading, especially for armchair travelers wanting to know something about the culture and geography of far flung countries of the world." -Midwest Book Review "An excellent personal insight both into the complexities of Congolese culture and the life of a Peace Corps volunteer. [I] thoroughly recommend it." -SpikeMagazine.com "I highly recommend Things are Different in Africa. This is the most fascinating, informative chronicle of life on the [African] Continent I've ever read." -MyShelf.com Most Americans have never set foot on the African continent and have no true inkling of what day-to-day survival is like in that part of the world. Things Are Different in Africa is a true account of life in an equatorial village deep inside the Congo, where the author was immersed with the villagers for nearly a year. Explained in vivid detail are dangerous encounters with animals, risky skirmishes with robbers, dealings with crooked police officials and more. While the beauty of the Congo is vividly portrayed, it is the mysterious culture that will cause laughter, sometimes frustration and occasionally even anger. Toward the end, one is taken along for a motorcycle crash in the jungle 360 miles from medical care, and then drawn step by step deep into political unrest, violence in the cities, and evacuation to another country near the Sahara desert. Throughout this unique and often irreverent journey, one's senses are challenged. And he or she finishes with a far greater understanding of life in an obscure part of planet Earth.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “One of the most important books I’ve ever read—an indispensable guide to thinking clearly about the world.” – Bill Gates “Hans Rosling tells the story of ‘the secret silent miracle of human progress’ as only he can. But Factfulness does much more than that. It also explains why progress is so often secret and silent and teaches readers how to see it clearly.” —Melinda Gates "Factfulness by Hans Rosling, an outstanding international public health expert, is a hopeful book about the potential for human progress when we work off facts rather than our inherent biases." - Former U.S. President Barack Obama Factfulness: The stress-reducing habit of only carrying opinions for which you have strong supporting facts. When asked simple questions about global trends—what percentage of the world’s population live in poverty; why the world’s population is increasing; how many girls finish school—we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess teachers, journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers. In Factfulness, Professor of International Health and global TED phenomenon Hans Rosling, together with his two long-time collaborators, Anna and Ola, offers a radical new explanation of why this happens. They reveal the ten instincts that distort our perspective—from our tendency to divide the world into two camps (usually some version of us and them) to the way we consume media (where fear rules) to how we perceive progress (believing that most things are getting worse). Our problem is that we don’t know what we don’t know, and even our guesses are informed by unconscious and predictable biases. It turns out that the world, for all its imperfections, is in a much better state than we might think. That doesn’t mean there aren’t real concerns. But when we worry about everything all the time instead of embracing a worldview based on facts, we can lose our ability to focus on the things that threaten us most. Inspiring and revelatory, filled with lively anecdotes and moving stories, Factfulness is an urgent and essential book that will change the way you see the world and empower you to respond to the crises and opportunities of the future. --- “This book is my last battle in my life-long mission to fight devastating ignorance...Previously I armed myself with huge data sets, eye-opening software, an energetic learning style and a Swedish bayonet for sword-swallowing. It wasn’t enough. But I hope this book will be.” Hans Rosling, February 2017.

In this beautifully written novel, the bonds and challenges of caring for a sibling with autism are bravely explored, along with the pain and power that comes from self-discovery. Eleven-year-old Olivia Grant has a knack for finding lost things. She can find lost rings, pets, and even her elderly neighbor's misplaced glasses. There's only one thing Olivia has never been able to find--her brother Jacob's toy ostrich. It wasn't until the day Jacob lost his ostrich that Olivia noticed how different he was: Jacob is autistic, and though she's his little sister, Olivia often feels like the older of the pair, his caretaker. And with her parents so heavily focused on maintaining status quo for Jacob, it's Olivia who has stagnated in his shadow--unable to explore new opportunities, or to be her own person. In fact, apart from being Jacob's sister, Olivia's not really sure who she is. So when summer break begins, and the local community theater announces auditions for an all children's production of her favorite show, Peter Pan, Olivia jumps at the chance to claim something for herself. But what begins as a promising opportunity and a wonderful escape quickly becomes pure chaos. The visiting zoo with an odd assortment of animals--including an ostrich that causes even more trouble than Jacob's missing toy--only make matters worse, as Olivia's summer is shaping up to be just as consumed by Jacob's needs as the rest of her life has been. In time, and with the help of some unlikely alliances, Olivia must learn what it means to be separate from her brother and still love him, how to love herself in spite of her own flaws, and that not all lost things are meant to be found. Praise for The Ostrich and Other Lost Things: "The Ostrich and Other Lost Things is a delicate, warm, textured novel that explores the wonder, pain, envy, and intimacy of sibling relationships. Written with a huge dose of compassion and vulnerability, there is so much to love about the world Olivia and her brother Jacob inhabit. I lost myself in this wonderful world, and I know that Olivia herself wouldn't be able to find me."--Corey Ann Haydu, author of The Someday Suitcase and Rules for Stealing Stars "Beth Hautala weaves a powerful tale about the challenges of having a sibling with autism. Olivia steals our heart as she tries to find what is lost and make her family whole again. The Ostrich and Other Lost Things is full of memorable characters, riveting moments, and surprising turns that add up to a very heartwarming and magical read. I loved it!"--Dana Middleton, author of The Infinity Year of Avalon James "A brave beautiful story. I loved this book."--Paul Acampora, author of I Kill the Mockingbird "Hautala offers an emotionally adept story about love and understanding."--School Library Journal "This is hands down the best book with an autistic character that I have ever read. I would recommend this title for those who enjoy books like Wonder (Knopf, 2012), Out of My Mind (Atheneum, 2010), and The Running Dream (Knopf, 2011). It has a wonderful plot that readers will love and teaches a lot about dealing with individuals who are diagnosed with autism. This is a must read!"--School Library Connection "A heartfelt story of sibling relationships, self-discovery, and unconditional love."--Voice of Youth Advocates "While readers with neurodiverse siblings are the obvious audience for this, the anxieties Olivia expresses and her attempts to control outcomes will resonate with a much broader spectrum of tweens."—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

A former abbot of one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the world, Khensur Jampa Tegchok has been teaching Westerners about Buddhism since the 1970s. With a deep respect for the intellectual capacity of his students, Khensur Tegchok here unpacks with great erudition Buddhism's animating philosophical principle - the emptiness of all appearances. Engagingly edited by bestselling author Thubten Chodron, emptiness is here approached from a host of angles far beyond most treatments of the subject, while never sacrificing its conversational approach.