After a long life with a loving human family, tabby cat Fuuta has passed into the afterlife, but he is not as far from his owner, Michiru, as it seems. Slight openings bridge the divide between the lands of the living and the dead, and they can be traversed.
Eager to see Michiru again, Fuuta interviews for a position at Café Pont, a café that exists in the liminal space between the two worlds, known for its unique message delivery service: Customers leave requests with the name of the person they wish to meet, and a messenger cat is assigned to arrange the "meeting."
If Fuuta doesn’t maintain plausible deniability, he could cause panic amongst the living, or worse: He could upset the balance of the universe itself. It is a weighty task for an old tabby cat, but Fuuta is up for the challenge. After all, the job offers a special reward: the right to see Michiru. And he’ll do anything to reunite with his family.
When a tiny snail meets a humpback whale, the two travel together to far-off lands. It’s a dream come true for the snail, who has never left home before. But when the whale swims too close to shore, will the snail be able to save her new friend?
Here is the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change forever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans.
A thrilling feat of world-building and a novel of exquisite tenderness and impeccable restraint, Klara and the Sun is a magnificent achievement, one that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator to explore the fundamental question: what does it mean to love?
Written by a celebrated math educator, this innovative inquiry encourages critical thinking and sparks memorable mathematical conversations. Children and their parents answer the same question about each set of four shapes: “Which one doesn’t belong?” There’s no one right answer–the important thing is to have a reason why. Kids might describe the shapes as squished, smooshed, dented, or even goofy. But when they justify their thinking, they’re talking math! Winner of the Mathical Book Prize for books that inspire children to see math all around them.
A gripping drama and chilling prophecy about the possible path to war for a planet devastated by climate change
In their novel 2034, decorated military officers and award-winning authors Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis imagined a war between the US and China. In their follow-up novel, 2054, they envisioned a breakdown in American politics fueled by a radical advance in AI. Now they make their boldest, most astonishing, and arguably most necessary leap—imagining the consequences of a climate war.
By the year 2084, the world is divided into the equatorial countries that bear the brunt of the climate crisis—led by Nigeria, Brazil, and Indonesia—and wealthier countries like China and the US, beset by their own problems after a series of civil wars. Tensions between the two sets of countries have reached a breaking point, until finally the so-called Reparationist nations of the equator decide that only military force can bring them justice.
Throughout the worlds, the forces of both heaven and hell are mustering to take part in Lord Asriel’s audacious rebellion. Each player in this epic drama has a role to play—and a sacrifice to make. Witches, angels, spies, assassins, tempters, and pretenders—no one will remain unscathed.
Lyra and Will have the most dangerous task of all. They must journey to a gray-lit world where no living soul has ever gone and from which there is no escape.
As war rages and Dust drains from the sky, the fate of the living—and the dead—comes to depend on Lyra and Will. On the choices they make in love, and for love, forevermore.
Detroit, 1927. A city of smoke and ambition, where glittering wealth conceals a graveyard of secrets.
Marjorie Lennox is the youngest daughter of a powerful Detroit dynasty—a family rich in money and poor in charm. Creative, reckless, and never quite what they wanted, Marjorie has spent her life overlooked by her controlling father and self-absorbed siblings. But when she secretly applies to an elite arts program backed by a mysterious patron, she grabs the chance to finally step out of her family’s shadow.
The building is grand.
The talent is extraordinary.
And something is deeply wrong.
The program is strict in ways that feel sinister. Doors lock at strange hours. Rumors spread about women going missing. And the handsome benefactor behind it all is as magnetic as he is unsettling. As Marjorie gets pulled deeper into his world, she must fight to discover the truth before she loses herself completely.
We live in a world that gives us seemingly infinite choices and prizes freedom above all else. We have an unprecedented number of options regarding what to do, who to be, and how to spend our time. All that choice is wonderful; it is also overwhelming. The irony is that total freedom can be paralyzing, and unlimited resources don’t necessarily lead to the biggest breakthroughs. In fact, overvaluing complete freedom can be disastrous for everything from starting a company to harnessing creativity to finding personal satisfaction.
Jack and Annie don’t need another mummy. But that’s what they get when the Magic Tree House whisks them back to ancient Egypt. There they meet a long-dead queen who needs their help. Will Jack and Annie be able to solve the puzzle, or will they end up as mummies themselves?
Did you know that there’s a Magic Tree House book for every kid?
Naked, knowing little more than her name, Amber Fallbrook does not recognize the stone tower she’s awoken in, or the vast, glittering ocean beyond its window. Turning, she finds a very a different view: a beautiful, nearly nude man stirring in her bed. He is a stranger, as is the man who barges into the room seconds later, clearly expecting to find Amber alone.
Who are they? Who is she? Why can’t she remember?
Shocked to discover that she’s in her dormitory room at the Alchemary—the realm’s prestigious university dedicated to the study of alchemy—Amber has no recollection of having been one of the school’s top students for the past two years. The two men—brothers—are her childhood friends, even if “friends” is not exactly the energy in the room.
One brother claims he wants to protect her, and the other to help her recover her memory. But nothing is at it seems at the Alchemary. Not the intentions of her classmates and faculty, not the stunning, labyrinthine campus, not the two brothers she’s increasingly attracted to—maybe not even Amber herself.
Despite her memory loss, Amber rejoins her classes and prepares for the deadly Alchemary Trials alongside the other Mastery-level students. But as invigorating as the flowing language and symbology of alchemy is, she can’t help but notice that for an institution shining light on the quest for human perfection there are a lot of dark shadows in its winding corridors.