For Anastasia Romanov, life as the privileged daughter of Russia's last tsar is about to be torn apart by the bloodshed of revolution. Ousted from the imperial palace when the Bolsheviks seize control of the government, Anastasia and her family are exiled to Siberia. But even while the rebels debate the family's future and the threat to their lives grows more menacing, romance blooms between Anastasia and Sasha, a sympathetic young guard she has known since childhood. But will the strength of their love be enough to save Anastasia from a violent death? Inspired by the mysteries that have long surrounded the last days of the Romanov family, Susanne Dunlap's new novel is a haunting vision of the life-and love story-of Russia's last princess.

In 2018 the author published the first edition of Anastasia Again: The Hidden Secret of the Romanovs to coincide with the centenary of the alleged massacre of the Romanov family in Ekaterinburg, Russia. After many years of interest in the claims of the woman known as Evgenia Smetisko, at times Eugenia Smith, or even Eugenie Smetisko, he began to give credibility to her claim that she had been the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, Empress Alexandra. Had she died with the entire family? Had any others survived or, even as some contemporary researchers allege, had they all escaped? By reexamining “Smetisko’s” memoirs published in 1963, researching the people who received her in the USA, and scrutinizing her claims a new narrative emerged, one of a woman living cleverly under an assumed name to protect her true identity. 2D/3D visual face recognition under the guidance of technology founder, Robert “Bob” Schmitt, offered even more evidence that she had been telling the truth all along, just as CIA polygraph lie detector unit founder, Grover “Cleve” Backster, had declared in 1963 after subjecting “Smetisko/Anastasia” to 30 hours of polygraph testing. This edition offers readers the opportunity to review evidence and question the hitherto “official” albeit sacrosanct version of history with which we are all well acquainted.

A creepy Victorian house, secretive aunties, and a great escape combine in this debut that is part Mysterious Benedict Society, part Roald Dahl, and all quirky, smart, hilarious storytelling. Join the League. . . . Anastasia is a completely average almost-eleven-year-old. That is, UNTIL her parents die in a tragic vacuum-cleaner accident. UNTIL she’s rescued by two long-lost great-aunties. And UNTIL she’s taken to their delightful and, er, “authentic” Victorian home, St. Agony’s Asylum for the Criminally Insane. But something strange is going on at the asylum. Anastasia soon begins to suspect that her aunties are not who they say they are. So when she meets Ollie and Quentin, two mysterious brothers, the three join together to plot their great escape! BONUS: Includes an excerpt of Viola Snodgrass’s Etiquette Manual for the Prim and Proper Sort! * “Concocting an eerie setting positively made for Unfortunate Events, Grant threads her narrative with direct addresses to Readers and delicious turns of phrase. . . . A yummy debut.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred “Just the right mix of humor, magic, maliciousness, and suspense.” —Booklist “This adventure is filled with enough mystery and humor to keep readers wondering what will happen next. A solid debut reminiscent of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.” —School Library Journal “Wonderfully witty. It reminds me of Roald Dahl’s The Twits only in an insane asylum.” —Chris Grabenstein, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library

“WONDERFULLY WITTY.” —Chris Grabenstein, New York Times bestselling author of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library and coauthor with James Patterson of House of Robots and Treasure Hunters Take one part Roald Dahl, a pinch of Mysterious Benedict Society, and a dash of Lemony Snicket, then add a league of adventurous children, a little magic, and a centuries-old feud with witches, and you get this quirky and hilarious middle-grade series! After their narrow escape from a NEFARIOUS kidnapping ring, Anastasia, Ollie, and Quentin (aka the League of Beastly Dreadfuls!) are looking forward to a relaxing vacation from DANGER! INTRIGUE! CATASTROPHE! Sadly, they’re not going to get one. Because Anastasia makes the SHOCKING discovery that her family is at the heart of a centuries-old WAR with WITCHES, a war that began with the dastardly disappearance of Anastasia’s very own grandfather. Can the league track down Anastasia’s grandfather and find out who Anastasia really is? Gentle Reader, BEWARE! The trail of clues leads to spine-tingling surprises. Read on . . . if you DARE!

Anastasia's barely managed to escape the nefarious clutches of C.R.U.D. when they are brought to the undergrown Cavelands, where she finds out she's Caveland royalty and her family figures into a centuries-old scandal that began with the disappearance of her grandfather.

Umberto Anastasio, better known as Albert Anastasia, was an Italian-American mobster and hitman who became one of the deadliest criminals in American history and one of the founders of the modern American Mafia in New York City. For all-out savagery and ruthlessness, few other leaders of the Mafia worldwide have rivaled Anastasia, known to peers as "The Mad Hatter" and to journalists as "The Lord High Executioner." After escaping a death sentence in 1921 and multiple other arrests for murder, he later served as director of the national crime syndicate's contract murder department ("Murder, Inc.") from 1931 until informers brought it down ten years later. By 1951 he led one of New York City's Five Families, a post he held until his public barbershop assassination in October 1957. This first-ever book-length biography of Anastasia traces the mobster's life and the ripple effects his career had on the American crime world. The story also tracks his brothers and their families, while debunking certain widespread myths about their parentage, various deportations, trials, convictions, and eventual retirement from the mob, dead or alive.

This book advocates for a stronger role for young-adult literature in ELA classrooms, compellingly documenting how this body of work meets both the needs of adolescent students and the demands of the common core for complex texts and tasks. Integrating Young Adult Literature through the Common Core Standards provides a compelling template for teachers that uses young adult literature and inquiry learning to meet students' needs and the demands of the common core standards. The first part of the book addresses the widely adopted common core state standards by examining closely the standards' model of text complexity and demonstrating how young adult literature can fill the requirements of this model. The second part provides theoretical discussions and analysis of the standards as well as concrete applications of young adult literature within the classroom in order to give school professionals a comprehensive understanding of how young adult literature and the standards can work together. The book empowers schools and teachers to make intelligent, informed decisions about texts and instructional practices that benefit their students. Finally, the authors explore a powerful teaching approach that integrates current understandings about learning, young adult literature, and the common core standards in a way that will facilitate greater learning and understanding in English classrooms.