Six short stories set on the Isle of Sheppey and written by local authors.

She can’t have the man she loves…if it means losing her child! Alexi Docker’s a widow trying to adopt the child she and her husband had taken in. Except her new rental home turns out to be a disaster reno…and she, now single, has to prove she can give the boy everything he needs. That includes a roof over his head, four walls and running water! If not for the absentee landlady’s cranky recluse of a brother, she wouldn’t have been able to cope. But now Alexi has to choose between a man she’s growing to love and the boy she needs to adopt…because Seth Greene has a past that could ruin the adoption process.

Carrie, Lisa, Maria, and Jaz know that friendships can come from unusual places. You don’t need to have a lot in common to create lifelong connections. But when Jaz comes up with a radical idea for helping vulnerable people, they agree it’s an almost impossible idea… almost. Carrie’s struggling with a challenging practicum placement and is losing faith in her ability to help people. Lisa has just quit her job to work from home, and is frustrated with their difficulty in making things happen. Jaz is loving her business and her life as a new mom, but her parents are still pressuring her to conform to their expectations. And Maria just wants to make sure all her ‘girls’ are OK before rheumatoid arthritis makes it impossible to do anything on her own. Is it worth shooting for the stars when daily life has so many challenges? Start reading today to find out!

A charming YA novel about a family who puts on an immersive, interactive play to save their historical home Finn lives in a family of theater lovers. His older brothers are both actors, and one of his moms is an actor and the other one is a director. They even live in an enormous historic mansion owned by the Beauregard, Minnesota's largest regional theater. Finn is desperate to be an actor, too, despite the fact that he can never seem to remember his lines. When a new artistic director threatens to sell the Jorgensen house and kick his family out of the only home he's ever known, his family puts on a show—an immersive 1890s experience unlike anything else out there. But will it be too much for his mom Lula, who is recovering from cancer? Will Finn connect with his crush and deal with his long-time rival, Jade? Will saving the house save Finn's acting career? Funny, warm, and full of Victorian hijinks, this is a novel for anyone looking for a place to belong.

In 1860 Abraham Lincoln employed the proverb, Right makes might, (opposite of the more aggressive Might makes right) in his famed Cooper Union address. While Lincoln did not originate the proverb, his use of it in this critical speech indicates that the 14th century phrase had taken on new ethical and democratic connotations in the 19th century. In this collection, famed scholar of proverbs Wolfgang Mieder explores the multifaceted use and function of proverbs through the history of the United States, from their early beginnings up through their use by today's well-known politicians, including Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Bernie Sanders. Building on previous publications and unpublished research, Mieder explores sociopolitical aspects of the American worldview as expressed through the use of proverbs in politics, women's rights, and the civil rights movement. By looking at the use of proverbial phrases, Mieder demonstrates how one traditional phrase can take on numerous expressive roles over time and how they continue to play a key role in our contemporary moment.