Patty Fairfield

      Carolyn Wells
     Patty Fairfield

This volume contains FOURTEEN (14) novels of the beloved Patty Fairfield series, by acclaimed author Carolyn Wells, a prolific writer of more than 170 books, that go from Poetry and Children books to detective mysteries.This collection includes three novels that are rare and missed by the available collections: Patty's Pleasure Trip; Patty's Motor Car & Patty's Fortune.The novels included are as follows:Patty Fairfield (1901)Patty at Home (1904)Patty's Summer Days (1906)Patty in Paris (1907)Patty's Friends (1908)Patty's Pleasure Trip (1909)Patty's Success (1910)Patty's Motor Car (1911)Patty's Butterfly Days (1912)Patty's Social Season (1913)Patty's Suitors (1914)Patty's Fortune (1916)Patty Blossom (1917)Patty and Azalea (1919)

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    Dotty Dimple at Her Grandmother's

      Sophie May
     Dotty Dimple at Her Grandmother's

DOTTY'S PIN-MONEY Everything was very fresh and beautiful one morning in May, as if God had just made the world. The new grass had begun to grow, and the fields were dotted over with short, golden-topped dandelions. The three Parlin children had come to their grandmother's much earlier in the season than usual; and now on this bright Sabbath morning they were going to church. Dotty Dimple, otherwise Alice, thought the fields looked like her Aunt Maria's green velvet toilet-cushion stuck full of pins. The spiders had spread their gauzy webs over the grass, and the dew upon them sparkled in the sunshine like jewels. "Such nice tablecloths as they would have made for the fairies," thought Dotty, "if there only were any fairies." "The world is ever so much handsomer than it was a week ago," said Prudy, pointing towards the far-off hills. "I'd like to be on that mountain, and just put my hand out and touch the sky." "That largest pick," said Dotty, "is Mount Blue. It's covered with blueberries, and that's why it's so blue." "Who told you that?" asked Susy, smiling. "It isn't time yet for blueberries; and if it was, we couldn't see them forty miles off without a telescope." "Jennie Vance told me," said Dotty; "and she ought to know, for her father is the judge." By this time the children had reached the church, and were waiting on the steps for the rest of the family. It was pleasant to watch the people coming from up and down the street, looking so neat and peaceful. But when Jennie Vance drew near with her new summer silk and the elegant feather in her hat, Dotty's heart gave a quick double beat, half admiration, half envy. Jennie's black eyes were shining with vanity, and her nicely gaitered feet tripped daintily up the steps.

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    Santa's Twin

      Dean Koontz
     Santa's Twin

A contemporary Christmas classic for children of all ages -- including those who pretend to have grown up! Charlotte and Emily are determined to save Santa from his mischievous twin -- Bob Claus -- who has not only stolen Santa's sleigh and stuffed his toy bag full of mud pies, cat poop, and broccoli, but has also threatened to turn Donner, Blitzen, and the others into reindeer soup! How the brave but foolhardy sisters fly to the North Pole and rescue Santa from his "deeply troubled" twin is an utterly charming and unforgettable story sure to add sparkle to your holiday season. Read it aloud, preferably to someone you love to hear laugh! This perennial yuletide favorite was written by bestselling novelist Dean Koontz in 1996 at the request of his fans and has been pleasing readers every holiday season since. Winner of an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition while he was just a senior in college, Koontz today is a world-famous author whose books have been published in thirty-eight different languages and have sold more than three hundred million copies. Lavishly illustrated with spectacular paintings by Phil Parks, this thoroughly modern masterpiece breathes new life and warmth into the world's most beloved legend.

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    The True Tale of the Monster Billy Dean: Telt by Himself

      David Almond
     The True Tale of the Monster Billy Dean: Telt by Himself

Billy Dean is a secret child. He has a beautiful young mother and a father who arrives at night carrying the scents of candles and incense and cigarettes. Birds fly to his window. Mice run out from his walls. His world is a carpet, a bed, pictures of the holy island, and a single locked door. His father fills his mind and his dreams with mysterious tales and memories and dreadful warnings. But then his father disappears, and Billy’s mother brings him out into the world at last. He learns the horrifying story of what was saved and what was destroyed on the day he was born, the day the bombers came to Blinkbonny. The kind butcher, Mr. McCaufrey, and the medium, Missus Malone, are waiting for him. He becomes The Angel Child, one who can heal the living, contact the dead, bring comfort to a troubled world. But there is one figure who is beyond healing, who comes looking for Billy himself — and is determined on a kind of reckoning.

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    Scarlett's New Friend

      Gillian Shields
     Scarlett's New Friend

Just as Scarlett and her friends start to make their way back to Coral Kingdom with the magic crystals for Queen Neptuna, a storm whipped up by the evil Mantora, throws them right off course! Scarlett and her fellow Sisters of the Sea are lost, but they must find their way home as quickly as possible in order to complete their important mission. Scarlett comes up with a plan to help her mermaid friends, as well as saving a family of seals's beach from a very messy end.

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    The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip

      George Saunders
     The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip

From the bestselling author of Tenth of December comes a splendid new edition of his acclaimed collaboration with the illustrator behind The Stinky Cheese Man and James and the Giant Peach! Featuring fifty-two haunting and hilarious images, The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip is a modern fable for people of all ages that touches on the power of kindness, generosity, compassion, and community. In the seaside village of Frip live three families: the Romos, the Ronsens, and a little girl named Capable and her father. The economy of Frip is based solely on goat’s milk, and this is a problem because the village is plagued by gappers: bright orange, many-eyed creatures the size of softballs that love to attach themselves to goats. When a gapper gets near a goat, it lets out a high-pitched shriek of joy that puts the goats off giving milk, which means that every few hours the children of Frip have to go outside, brush the gappers off their goats, and toss them into the sea. The gappers have always been everyone’s problem, until one day they get a little smarter, and instead of spreading out, they gang up: on Capable’s goats. Free at last of the tyranny of the gappers, will her neighbors rally to help her? Or will they turn their backs, forcing Capable to bear the misfortune alone? Featuring fifty-two haunting and hilarious illustrations by Lane Smith and a brilliant story by George Saunders that explores universal themes of community and kindness, The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip is a rich and resonant story for those that have all and those that have not. Praise for The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip “In a perfect world, every child would own a copy of this profound, funny fable. . . . Every adult would own a copy too, and would marvel at how this smart, subversive little book is even deeper and more hilarious than any child could know.”—Entertainment Weekly “Saunders’s idiosyncratic voice makes an almost perfect accompaniment to children’s book illustrator Smith’s heightened characterizations and slightly surreal backdrops.”—Publishers Weekly “A riveting, funny, and sly new fairy tale.”—Miami Herald

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    The Palace Beautiful: A Story for Girls

      L. T. Meade
     The Palace Beautiful: A Story for Girls

EARLY DAYS. The three girls were called after flowers. This is how it came about: When Primrose opened her eyes on the world she brought back a little bit of spring to her mother's heart. Mrs. Mainwaring had gone through a terrible trouble—a trouble so dark and mysterious, so impossible to feel reconciled to, that her health had been almost shattered, and she had almost said good-bye to hope. The baby came in the spring-time, and the soft, velvety touch of the little face, and the sight of the round baby limbs, had made Mrs. Mainwaring smile: had caused her to pluck up heart, and to determine resolutely to take this new blessing, and to begin to live again. The baby came in the month of March, just when the primroses were beginning to open their pale and yet bright blossoms. Mrs. Mainwaring said that the child was a symbol of spring to her, and she called her Primrose. The next girl was born in Italy, in the middle of a rich and brilliant summer. Flowers were everywhere, and the baby, a black-haired, dark-eyed little mite, had a starry look about her. She was called Jasmine, and the name from the very first suited her exactly. The third and youngest of the sisters also came in the summer, but she was born in an English cottage. Her mother, who had been rich when Jasmine was born, was now poor; that is, she was poor as far as money is concerned, but the three little daughters made her feel rich. She called the child from the first her little country wild flower, and allowed Primrose and Jasmine to select her name. They brought in handfuls of field daisies, and begged to have the baby called after them. The three girls grew up in the little country cottage. Their father was in India, in a very unhealthy part of the country. He wrote home by every mail, and in each letter expressed a hope that the Government under which he served would allow him to return to England and to his wife and children. Death, however, came first to the gallant captain. When Primrose was ten years old, and Daisy was little more than a baby, Mrs. Mainwaring found herself in the humble position of an officer's widow, with very little to live on besides her pension. In the Devonshire village, however, things were cheap, rents were low, and the manners of life deliciously fresh and primitive. Primrose, Jasmine, and Daisy grew up something like the flowers, taking no thought for the morrow, and happy in the grand facts that they were alive, that they were perfectly healthy, and that the sun shone and the sweet fresh breezes blew for them. They were as primitive as the little place where they lived, and cared nothing at all for fashionably-cut dresses; or for what people who think themselves wiser would have called the necessary enjoyments of life. Mrs. Mainwaring, who had gone through a terrible trouble before the birth of her eldest girl, had her nerves shattered a second time by her husband's death; from that moment she was more ruled by her girls than a ruler to them. They did pretty much what they pleased, and she was content that they should make themselves happy in their own way....

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    The Gateway

      Steve Simons
     The Gateway

This FREE book was written for children, but has found great popularity amongst adults as well.The story follows the adventures of two boys who accidentally discover some form of gateway, that takes them to other worlds or parallel universes. You can now join the boys on their journey as they try to get back home. Do they get back home though?Samhain. All Hallows' Eve. The most mystical night of the year. The time when the veil between the worlds became perilously thin. And with a full moon overhead, this awesome power reaches its climactic height.Sorcha had no time for mystical nonsense - there were enough challenges in navigating the mine-field of her mother's vicious temper and the most important event of her young life. For, at long last, she had left Edinburgh to see the world. She and her mother were visiting the elegant city of Bath. Sorcha was wearing the finest dress she'd seen - and she was stepping into a life she'd only dreamt of.But when Johnny's eyes meet hers, and jealous rivals vow revenge, that delicate layer between what is and what once was rips. It shreds like the fragile thread of one's life.One Scottish Lass is the first novella in the regency time travel romance trilogy. The second novella in the series is A Time Apart. The first two novellas end in cliffhangers, while the third provides a happy ending. The series then will continue in another trilogy - those will be coming out over the coming weeks. These stories are teen-friendly with no explicit language, violence, or intimacy. All proceeds benefit battered women's shelters. Note that for those who prefer reading books in all-in-one form, each trio of novellas will also be compiled as a completed box set once all three are done. It just means you have to be patient and wait for me to finish writing all of them :). For those who prefer to read along as I write, and offer suggestions for me to shape the plot, these novellas are here for your enjoyment! Either way, I'd love to hear your feedback on the storyline and characters.

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    The Dangerous Days of Daniel X

      James Patterson
     The Dangerous Days of Daniel X

The greatest superpower of all isn't to be part spider, part man, or to cast magic spells--the greatest power is the power to create. Daniel X has that power. Daniel's secret abilities -- like being able to manipulate objects and animals with his mind or to recreate himself in any shape he chooses -- have helped him survive. But Daniel doesn't have a normal life. He is the protector of the earth, the Alien Hunter, with a mission beyond what anyone's imagining. From the day that his parents were brutally murdered before of his very eyes, Daniel has used his unique gifts to hunt down their assassin. Finally, with the help of The List, bequeathed to him in his parents' dying breath, he is closing in on the killer. Now, on his own, he vows to take on his father's mission--and to take vengeance in the process.

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    Zom-B

      Darren Shan
     Zom-B

When news reports start appearing of a zombie outbreak in Ireland, B's racist father thinks it's a joke-- but even if it isn't, he figures, it's ok to lose a few Irish. B doesn't fully buy into Dad's racism, but figures it's easier to go along with it than to risk the fights and abuse that will surely follow sticking up for Muslims, blacks, or immigrants. And when dodging his fists doesn't work, B doesn't hesitate to take the piss out of kids at school with a few slaps or cruel remarks. That is, until zombies attack the school. B is forced on a mad dash through the serpentine corridors of high school, making allegiances with anyone with enough gall to fight off their pursuers.

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    A Sky of Spells

      Morgan Rice
     A Sky of Spells

In A SKY OF SPELLS (BOOK #9 IN THE SORCERER’S RING), Thorgrin finally returns to himself and must confront his father once and for all. An epic battle occurs, as two titans face each other, and as Rafi uses his power to summon an army of undead. With the Destiny Sword destroyed, and the fate of the Ring in the balance, Argon and Alistair will need to summon their magical powers to help Gwendolyn’s brave warriors. Yet even with their help, all could be lost if it were not for the return of Mycoples, and her new companion, Ralibar. Luanda struggles to prevail against her captor, Romulus, as the fate of the Shield hangs in the balance. Reece, meanwhile, struggles to lead his men back up the Canyon walls, with Selese’s help. Their love deepens; but with the arrival of Reece’s old love, his cousin, a tragic love triangle and misunderstandings develop. When the Empire is finally ousted from the Ring, and Gwendolyn has her chance for personal vengeance against McCloud, there is great cause to celebrate. As the new Queen of the Ring, Gwen uses her powers to unite both MacGils and McClouds for the first time in history, and to begin the epic rebuilding of the land, of her army, and of the Legion. King’s Court slowly comes back to life once again, as they all begin to pick up the pieces. It is destined to become a more glorious city than even her father ever dreamed of, and in the process, justice finally finds Gareth. Tirus must be brought to justice, too, and Gwen will have to decide what sort of leader she will be. There is a great conflict amongst Tirus’ sons, not all of whom see things the same way, and a struggle for power erupts once again, as Gwen decides if she will accept an invitation to the Upper Isles, thus making the MacGil clan whole once again. Erec is summoned to return to his people in the Southern Isles and see his dying father, and Alistair joins him, as they prepare for their wedding. Thorgrin and Gwendolyn may have wedding preparations in their future, too. Thor becomes closer to his sister, and as all settles down inside the Ring, he finds himself summoned to embark on his greatest quest of all: to seek out his mysterious mother in a faraway land and to find out who he really is. With multiple wedding preparations in the air, with Spring returning, King’s Court rebuilding, festivals afoot, peace seems to settle back onto the Ring. But danger lurks in the most unforeseen corners, and all of these characters greatest tribulations might be yet to come.

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    Win, Place or Die

      Carolyn Keene
     Win, Place or Die

Nancy goes to the Kentucky Derby -- where death is the dark horse. When Carson Drew invests in a Derby entry called Pied Piper, Nancy and Bess fly to the big event. The favorite is Toot Sweet, but during a workout an accident nearly takes the horse's jockey out of the running. Later, while racing, the jockey takes a nasty spill, and Nancy is sure the real cause is foul play. The teen sleuth sets out to track a treacherous opponent at the world-famous Run for the Roses -- only to find she's a sure thing to hit the finish line dead last.

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    Oh, Play That Thing

      Roddy Doyle
     Oh, Play That Thing

A Star Called Henry was a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice for 1999, one of the Boston Globe's Best Fiction of 1999, and a New Yorker Book Awards finalist for Best Fiction 1999 A Star Called Henry was named one of the best books of the year by Entertainment Weekly, Time Out New York, Publishers Weekly, Esquire, Newsday, Seattle Times, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A Star Called Henry was on The New York Times extended bestseller list, and was a Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, New York Newsday, and New York Post bestseller.

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