With the help of her Catholic friend, an eleven-year-old Jewish girl creates a provocative local tourist attraction to save her family’s failing motel. Buying and moving into the run-down Jewel Motor Inn in upstate New York wasn’t eleven-year-old Miriam Brockman’s dream, but at least it’s an adventure. Miriam befriends Kate, whose grandmother owns the diner next door, and finds comfort in the company of Maria, the motel’s housekeeper, and her Uncle Mordy, who comes to help out for the summer. She spends her free time helping Kate’s grandmother make her famous grape pies and begins to face her fears by taking swimming lessons in the motel’s pool. But when it becomes clear that only a miracle is going to save the Jewel from bankruptcy, Jewish Miriam and Catholic Kate decide to create their own. Otherwise, the No Vacancy sign will come down for good, and Miriam will lose the life she’s worked so hard to build. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.6 Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narrations. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.3 Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6 Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3 Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6 Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.

A big novel about a small town... When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils...Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity, and unexpected revelations? A big novel about a small town, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling's first novel for adults. It is the work of a storyteller like no other.

Easy and fun musical that requires no choir director. Uses familiar Christmas carols. Perfect for last minute programs. Bethlehem is about to be overrun by "Tourists", coming into town for the tax. This is bad news for a stable full of animals. Seth the Sheep is concerned the visitors will want sweaters. Claudethe Cow lost ten pounds last time, making milkshakes. Micah Mouse, a grouchy rodent, realizes Bethlehem visitors will leave tasty leftovers but fears the extra mousetraps.Together, the animals scheme ways to keep the "tourists" out of Bethlehem. However, before they know it, a young couple expecting a Baby, has taken up residence in their stable! The musical has nine speaking parts, a choir of any size, and optional Baby Mice. This Christmas musical includes the Resurrection of Jesus. Performedin about one hour.

A forced proximity erotic romance. The setting? A rural motel on Manitoba's Highway Five, a safe haven at the center of a ruthless Canadian Prairie blizzard. The greater predicament? One last hotel room key, and two travelers from different worlds in need of shelter from the storm. Yet despite their misfortune, fortune still favors the bold strangers: Summer, in all her radiance is bold enough to unsettle him, and Grant is far too damned intrigued by her to resist.