Funny and smart with all the angst and sass of adolescence and a colorful cast of characters, this is a refreshing contemporary coming-of-age YA about one Greek-American girl's odyssey home. Sixteen-year-old Elektra Kamenides is well on her way to becoming a proper southern belle in the small Mississippi college town she calls home. That is, until her mother decides to uproot her and her kid sister Thalia and start over in California. They leave behind Elektra's father -- a professor and leading expert on Greek mythology, and Elektra can't understand why. For her, life is tragedy, and all signs point to her family being cursed. Their journey ends in Guadalupe Slough, a community of old Chicano families and oddball drifters sandwiched between San Josénd the southern shores of San Francisco Bay. The houseboat that her mother has bought, sight unseen, is really just an ancient trailer parked on a barge and sunk into a mudflat. What would Odysseus do? Elektra asks herself. Determined to get back to Mississippi at all costs, she'll beg, lie, and steal to get there. But things are not always what they seem, and home is wherever you decide to make it.

No matter what you're writing--fiction or nonfiction, books for adults or children--securing a literary agent will help you get the best book deal possible from a traditional publisher. With listing information for more than 1,000 agents who represent writers and their books, Guide to Literary Agents 2018 will be your go-to resource. This updated edition of GLA includes: • A one-year subscription to the literary agent content on WritersMarket.com. • "New Agent Spotlights": Discover targeted profiles of literary agents who are actively building their client lists right now. • Informative articles on crafting the perfect first page, attending conferences, establishing a healthy critique group, and more. • A brand-new special genre section on science fiction and fantasy, plus online content for whatever genre you're writing. + Includes exclusive access to the webinar "How to Land a Literary Agent" by agents Danielle Burby and Joanna MacKenzie of Nelson Literary Agency.

The best resource for getting your fiction published! Novel & Short Story Writer's Market 2018 is the only resource you need to get your short stories, novellas, and novels published. This edition of NSSWM features hundreds of updated listings for book publishers, literary agents, fiction publications, contests, and more, and each listing includes contact information, submission guidelines, and other essential tips. Inside Novel & Short Story Writer's Market, you'll find valuable tips for: • How to take your readers on a roller-coaster ride by mastering the art of the unexpected • Weaving foreshadowing and echoing into your story • Discovering the DNA--dialogue, narrative, and action--dwelling inside all memorable characters • Gaining insight from best-selling and award-winning authors, including Steve Berry, Liane Moriarty, Junot Diaz, and more You will also receive a one-year subscription to WritersMarket.com's searchable online database of fiction publishers (comes with print version only). Includes exclusive access to the webinar "Say What? Create Dialogue to Hook Readers and Make Your Story Pop" by best-selling author Jennifer Probst.

Teaching Diversity in Rural Schools: Attaining Understanding, Tolerance, and Respect Through Young Adult Literature aims to assist secondary English Language Arts rural educatorsand students regarding diversity education through the use of rural, small town-themed young adult literature. While appropriate for any rural educator, the Upper Midwestern states (IA, MN, MT, NE, ND, SD, and WY) are focused on because they are unique in their predominantly White residents, with few to no racial and cultural minorities in all locations, large or small. Teaching rural students about minorities and facilitating in developing understanding, tolerance, and respect toward those different from oneself is difficult when absent from communities and schools. However, this book helps in reaching these goals through the use of titles that consider specific topics of cultural and racial minorities, such as those who are LGBTQ+, undocumented, homeless, having exceptionalities, managing grief/loss, and more. Also addressed are rural communities and schools, the purpose and importance of young adult literature, and locating quality rural, small town-themed novels. Suggestions for using this literature, activities, discussion topics, and recommended titles are also provided.

Welcome to Buzz Books 2018: Young Adult Spring/Summer. These substantial pre-publication excerpts reflect a broad spectrum of today’s young adult writing, from fantasy and romance to suspense and humor. You will discover debut writers to put on your radar, while enjoying early samples from some of the biggest authors in the field and even a memoir for younger readers. Readers will be happy to see included Stephanie Garber’s sequel to her New York Times bestselling debut novel Caraval, a previous Buzz Books. Other fantasies are Furyborn by Claire Legrand, Fawkes by Nadine Brandes, and Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young. Then come back to the present with Boston Globe advice columnist Meredith Goldstein’s YA debut about a teen science whiz who tries to crack the chemical equation for lasting love or Buzzfeed writer Farrah Penn’s Twelve Steps to Normal, about a father’s recovery from alcoholism. Start reading the bestsellers of tomorrow right now to see why reviewers rave with comments like these: Love Buzz Books! They are so helpful for librarians. This YA sampler is particularly great for any librarian with a sizable teen population. Some very interesting titles highlighted here, in a wide variety of genres. Then spread the word: your friends and family can download this free edition of Buzz Books at any major ebookstore or at buzz.publishersmarketplace.com. For broader reading, check out Buzz Books 2018: Spring/Summer, also available now, for 40 excerpts from top forthcoming adult fiction and nonfiction titles.

A spellbinding reimagining of the story of Elektra, one of Greek mythology’s most infamous heroines, from Jennifer Saint, the author of the beloved international bestseller, Ariadne. Three women, tangled in an ancient curse. When Clytemnestra marries Agamemnon, she ignores the insidious whispers about his family line, the House of Atreus. But when, on the eve of the Trojan War, Agamemnon betrays Clytemnestra in the most unimaginable way, she must confront the curse that has long ravaged their family. In Troy, Princess Cassandra has the gift of prophecy, but carries a curse of her own: no one will ever believe what she sees. When she is shown what will happen to her beloved city when Agamemnon and his army arrives, she is powerless to stop the tragedy from unfolding. Elektra, Clytemnestra and Agamemnon’s youngest daughter, wants only for her beloved father to return home from war. But can she escape her family’s bloody history, or is her destiny bound by violence, too?

It's not every day that a pirate -- and his talking penguin -- show up at the front door! But that's exactly what happens when Wilson's long-lost uncle comes to live with his family. Desperate Evil Wicked Bob and his sidekick, Captain Jack, are not ordinary houseguests. They're not ordinary anything. Uncle Pirate is having a spot of trouble adjusting to life on land. And Captain Jack wants to go to school to learn to read. Unfortunately, Very Elementary is as far from shipshape and Bristol fashion as a school could be. Until Uncle Pirate steps in, that is.... Set sail for a classroom adventure from mollymockery to mathematics in this story of a boy who has what every kid wants -- a pirate for an uncle.