Fifteen-year-old Jackie Stone's father is dying. When Jackie discovers that her father has been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor, her whole world starts to crumble. She can't imagine how she'll live without him . . . Then, in a desperate act to secure his family's future, Jackie's father does the unthinkable--he puts his life up for auction on eBay. Jackie can do nothing but watch and wait as an odd assortment of bidders, some with nefarious intentions, drive the price up higher. The fate of her entire family hangs in the balance. But no one can predict how the auction will finally end, or any of the very public fallout that ensues. Life as Jackie knows it is about to change forever . . . In this brilliantly written tragicomedy told through multiple points of view--including Jackie's dad's tumor--acclaimed author Len Vlahos deftly explores what it really means to live. "A weird, sardonic delight with the shape of an allegory and the heart of a joyful song." --Brenna Yovanoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Replacement "Surprising, original, political, and deeply affecting . . . It is one of those rare works of art that keeps you guessing up to the very last page." --Leila Sales, author of This Song Will Save Your Life "It will tear you apart, and yet it's an absolute joy." --Adi Alsaid, author of Let's Get Lost and Never, Always, Sometimes

This is no typical undercover story. This is a human story. Whom will you root for? Follow Tee, an undercover cop, as he attempts to infiltrate a deadly set Crips to salvage a neighborhood of innocents held hostage by violence, drug trafficking, and prostitution. Watch him work his way deep into this criminal organization in search of the kingpin, X-Man - a ruthless murderer moving millions of dollars worth of narcotics every month through a poor, ethnic neighborhood. Learn the tricks he used to get inside and feel the dramatic intensity when failure seems imminent. Share in his unexpected compassion for some of these criminals who came from broken homes in poor neighborhoods as you glimpse inside a gang culture rarely seen. And learn creative new ways to break the cycles of violence sadly so prevalent in our modern-day American culture.

A goldfish named Ian is falling from the 27th-floor balcony on which his fishbowl sits. He's longed for adventure, so when the opportunity arises, he escapes from his bowl, clears the balcony railing and finds himself airborne. Plummeting toward the street below, Ian witnesses the lives of the Seville on Roxy residents. There's the handsome grad student, his girlfriend, and the other woman; the construction worker who feels trapped by a secret; the building's super who feels invisible and alone; the pregnant woman on bed rest who craves a forbidden ice cream sandwich; the shut-in for whom dirty talk, and quiche, are a way of life; and home-schooled Herman, a boy who thinks he can travel through time. Though they share time and space, they have something even more important in common: each faces a decision that will affect the course of their lives. Within the walls of the Seville are stories of love, new life, and death, of facing the ugly truth of who one has been and the beautiful truth of who one can become. Sometimes taking a risk is the only way to move forward with our lives. As Ian the goldfish knows, "An entire life devoted to a fishbowl will make one die an old fish with not one adventure had." Bradley Somer's Fishbowl is at turns funny and heartbreaking and you will, no doubt, fall in love with his unforgettable characters.

Tegan Broadwater was the consummate outside insider. Pretending to be a high-end cocaine dealer, he infiltrated a deadly gang, won their trust and embarked on a mission to put them away. Ultimately, it became a dangerous cat-and-mouse game between two men: Tegan, the undercover, and M.D., the cagey drug lord with a street-level MBA. Only one of them would be left standing. LIFE IN THE FISH BOWL is Broadwater’s first-person journey from green patrol cop to gangsters’ friend to Crip-buster, loaded with action and inside information. It’s also a fascinating eyewitness account of clotted police bureaucracy, hierarchical thug life and the hazy netherworld of a man who had to move through both of them. This is an intimate, unflinching, behind-the-lines story of one man’s time in the War on Drugs and gangs, his surprising relationships and emotional attachment toward the ones he sought to stop, and his descent into a life that most people can’t imagine. Tegan Broadwater came out on the other end, a year and a half later, a changed man. He also learned a few things. The purported War on Drugs is still futile, gang life and the violence associated with it can be thwarted, and there is a dire need for strategically mentoring the children who become inadvertent victims in these operations. Breaking the cycle of violence, removing of the acceptance of young, urban youth from having multiple children without a life plan, and mentoring children of incarcerated parents is THE best place to start a true war against gang and drug violence on our American streets.

A moving, poetic story about a whale in captivity who longs for the ocean . . . because whales don't belong in fishbowls, do they? Wednesday is a whale who lives in a fishbowl smack dab in the middle of a city--it's the only home she's ever known. Cars whizz around her and people hurry past; even the sun and moon circle above. But if she leaps high enough out of her bowl, Wednesday can see it: a calm bit of blue off in the distance. When a girl in a paisley dress tells Wednesday "You belong in the sea," the whale starts to wonder, what is the sea? Readers will cheer--and get all choked up-- when, one day, Wednesday leaps higher than ever before and sets in motion a breathtaking chain of events that will carry her to her rightful home. Touching, and ultimately uplifting, here is a story about a lonely creature longing to be free--and longing to find someone just like her. A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2018! A New York Public Library Best Book of 2018!

Helping pastors understand that a solid family life helps them meet the needs of their congregation

Do you live in the public eye--a fishbowl? Tom Rogers draws from 15 years experience as a parish pastor to provide uplifting, inspirational messages containing both empathy and humor for those who live out their lives in front of others.