An inspiring and moving memoir of the author's turbulent life with 600 rescue animals. Laurie Zaleski never aspired to run an animal rescue; that was her mother Annie’s dream. But from girlhood, Laurie was determined to make the dream come true. Thirty years later as a successful businesswoman, she did it, buying a 15-acre farm deep in the Pinelands of South Jersey. She was planning to relocate Annie and her caravan of ragtag rescues—horses and goats, dogs and cats, chickens and pigs—when Annie died, just two weeks before moving day. In her heartbreak, Laurie resolved to make her mother's dream her own. In 2001, she established the Funny Farm Animal Rescue outside Mays Landing, New Jersey. Today, she carries on Annie’s mission to save abused and neglected animals. Funny Farm is Laurie’s story: of promises kept, dreams fulfilled, and animals lost and found. It’s the story of Annie McNulty, who fled a nightmarish marriage with few skills, no money and no resources, dragging three kids behind her, and accumulating hundreds of cast-off animals on the way. And lastly, it's the story of the brave, incredible, and adorable animals that were rescued. Although there are some sad parts (as life always is), there are lots of laughs.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 In the mid-1970s, the four-lane Black Horse Pike was the main route between Philadelphia and the Jersey Shore, surrounded by farms and farmers’ markets. There were a few billboards. #2 My mother and her children, Cathy and Stephen, escaped to New Jersey from my father. They lived in a half-house in a clearing in the woods, not fit to live in. Yet, this was their brand-new start. #3 When we moved into our new house, we made a pitiful sight, lugging our sad little bags. Mom was smiling, but in a strange, fixed way that wasn’t even half-happy. We had been living out of a suitcase, four people shoehorned into a single motel room, sleeping on two narrow beds with thin mattresses and springs that dug into our backs at night. #4 We would spend our time in hotels or motels, watching TV and eating junk food. Our life was fun while it lasted, but eventually we had to go back home.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview: #1 In the mid1970s, the fourlane Black Horse Pike was the main route between Philadelphia and the Jersey Shore, surrounded by farms and farmers’ markets. There were a few billboards. #2 My mother and her children, Cathy and Stephen, escaped to New Jersey from my father. They lived in a halfhouse in a clearing in the woods, not fit to live in. Yet, this was their brandnew start. #3 When we moved into our new house, we made a pitiful sight, lugging our sad little bags. Mom was smiling, but in a strange, fixed way that wasn’t even halfhappy. We had been living out of a suitcase, four people shoehorned into a single motel room, sleeping on two narrow beds with thin mattresses and springs that dug into our backs at night. #4 We would spend our time in hotels or motels, watching TV and eating junk food. Our life was fun while it lasted, but eventually we had to go back home.

A wild, inventive ride of a short story collection from a distinctive new American storyteller. The author of the forthcoming novel, The Afterlives. The stories in Thomas Pierce’s Hall of Small Mammals take place at the confluence of the commonplace and the cosmic, the intimate and the infinite. A fossil-hunter, a comedian, a hot- air balloon pilot, parents and children, believers and nonbelievers, the people in these stories are struggling to understand the absurdity and the magnitude of what it means to exist in a family, to exist in the world. In “Shirley Temple Three,” a mother must shoulder her son’s burden—a cloned and resurrected wooly mammoth who wreaks havoc on her house, sanity, and faith. In “The Real Alan Gass,” a physicist in search of a mysterious particle called the “daisy” spends her days with her boyfriend, Walker, and her nights with the husband who only exists in the world of her dreams, Alan Gass. Like the daisy particle itself—“forever locked in a curious state of existence and nonexistence, sliding back and forth between the two”—the stories in Thomas Pierce’s Hall of Small Mammals are exquisite, mysterious, and inextricably connected. From this enchanting primordial soup, Pierce’s voice emerges—a distinct and charming testament of the New South, melding contemporary concerns with their prehistoric roots to create a hilarious, deeply moving symphony of stories.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins comes a new heartbreakingly tender middle grade novel in verse about the bonds between two brothers and the love they share. Twelve-year-old Trace Reynolds has always looked up to his brother, mostly because Will, who's five years older, has never looked down on him. It was Will who taught Trace to ride a bike, would watch sports on TV with him, and cheer him on at Little League. But when Will was knocked out cold during a football game, resulting in a brain injury--everything changed. Now, seventeen months later, their family is still living under the weight of "the incident," that left Will with a facial tic, depression, and an anger he cannot always control, culminating in their parents' divorce. Afraid of further fracturing his family, Trace begins to cover for Will who, struggling with addiction to pain medication, becomes someone Trace doesn’t recognize. But when the brother he loves so much becomes more and more withdrawn, and escalates to stealing money and ditching school, Trace realizes some secrets cannot be kept if we ever hope to heal.

Brian McGrory thought he had it all figured out: a great job, a condo in Back Bay, and his beloved golden retriever Harry by his side. But after Harry’s death, McGrory's life as a bachelor takes quite the turn. He falls in love with Harry’s veterinarian Pam, and leaves the city for life in the suburbs with Pam’s family and their two dogs, two cats, two rabbits, and Buddy—the self-assured family rooster who hates Brian’s guts. These things never go as easily as they should. The commute is long, the kids were wary, and Buddy was constantly poised to attack. But rather than accept defeat, Brian eventually sees that Buddy shares the kind of extraordinary relationship with Pam and the girls that he wants for himself. Funnily enough, it’s the rooster’s tenacious devotion to the family that encourages a change in Brian’s perspective, and before long, the archenemy becomes his inspiration, helping Brian evolve into a true family man With luminous writing and expert comic timing, McGrory brings to life a classic story of love, acceptance, and change as one man’s nemesis becomes his madcap mentor. Now with Extra Libris material, including a reader’s guide and bonus content

The first book in the heart-warming White Giraffe series by Lauren St John, featuring the African adventures of Martine and her magical white giraffe. When tragedy strikes on a winter's night in England, Martine is sent to live with her grandmother on a game reserve in South Africa. Her wild, beautiful new home is riddled with secrets, but lonely Martine finds comfort in the legend of a white giraffe and in mysterious Grace, who believes Martine has a powerful gift. Defying her grandmother by entering the reserve alone, Martine is plunged into a world of danger, mystery and adventure. Who can she trust? And how far will she go to save the only friend she has ever known?