"Moving from the wide world to the snugness of home and back out again, Village by the Sea tells the story of longing for the comforts of home"--

A classic survival story by one of India's most acclaimed authors, set in a quiet village outside of Bombay about two siblings who struggle to maintain their family's bond in difficult times Anita Desai’s The Village by the Sea is an exciting and moving story about life in an Indian coastal village and life in the unimaginably big city of Bombay. It is the story of thirteen-year-old Lila and her twelve-year-old brother, Hari. As the book begins, Lila is wading into the sea to bring scarlet hibiscus, sweet-smelling lilies, and butter-yellow allamanda flowers to the sacred rock the fishermen’s wives pray to, just as her mother did before her father had to sell his boat to pay his debts and her mother fell ill. Now Lila and Hari must care for their ailing parents as well as their two younger sisters. Sensing adventure and a chance to save his family, and possibly his village, Hari impulsively joins a group of farmers and fishermen traveling to Bombay to protest the construction of a fertilizer factory that threatens to pollute the coastline and destroy their livelihood. Will the protest succeed? Can Hari survive in the city, and can Lila manage at home without him? Through their own resources, and the kindnesses of strangers, Hari and Lila must find a way to “Adapt! Adapt!” as their ornithologist friend urges, just as the birds and animals must do to survive.

Delray Beach lies on Florida's Atlantic coast, nestled between a sea grape-filled beach to the east and rich farmland to the west. Throughout its prosperous history, this "Village by the Sea," as it is often called, has maintained its mystical, quaint charm. The numerous stories of Delray Beach, kept alive through many of the town's elders, are rich depictions of the American experience. The importance of the past continues to reveal itself in the stories and images of the courageous pioneers who came from Michigan, the Bahamas, and nearby Southern states in the late 1800s. Early pioneers were attracted to Delray Beach for many of the same reasons that bring people there today. The history of Delray Beach is intrinsically linked to the community support of and appreciation for agriculture, art, and architecture. The area is known for fertile soil, diverse crops, and the large colony of artists that call their bungalows and cottages along the Delray beaches home. Thousands of visitors annually flock to attend the numerous festivals held in the city's historic downtown streets. In both 1993 and 2001, Delray Beach received the prestigious "All America City" award from the National Civic League.

Winner of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award:A young girl learns some hard truths about human nature in this thought-provoking, beautifully crafted novel. Tomorrow, Emma’s uncle is coming to take her to his house on Long Island while her father undergoes surgery and her mother stays with him in hospital. For two whole weeks, Emma will be stuck with her father’s half-sister: the strange, bossy Aunt Bea. Luckily, Emma makes a friend at the beach, Bertie, and the two girls begin building a village made entirely of shells. There’s the mayor’s house, constructed of sand dollars and with a roof of pinecones, and the main street with white bubble shells. Every day the girls add to their village by the sea. Then, just before Emma is to return home, something awful happens. In this thoughtful novel, Newbery Medal and Hans Christian Andersen Award winner Paula Fox offers an unflinching and candid depiction of forgiveness and unconditional love.

During the Cold War a 13-year-old American boy, Brad Lattimer, moves with his family to a fishing village in Northern Italy. It is no ordinary village. But Brad is welcomed like a long-lost cousin. His teacher is a gentle hunchback with a lisp who is more than he seems to be; and there are witches in the olive groves who will poison your cat, but not for the reasons you imagine. In those same groves there is a village so small it shouldn't be a village, its red doorways too short for normal men to pass through easily; and at night, on its narrow cobble street, creatures that should not exist walk while a single baby cries forever. On the sands of the next cove sits a pale girl who somehow knows the poetry of the great Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and wants you to drown with her, just as Percy drowned near this village over a century ago. This is the village where Brad, too, will start to dream strange dreams and write his first stories; where, he will fall sick because the village's magic has a hold on him: It wants him to become something other than a boy--something that can never leave it--something it can have as its own forever. "The Village Sang to the Sea: A Memoir of Magic is a uniquely haunting book. It's a beauty in the fullest meaning of the word. --Peter S. Beagle, World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement winner and author of The Last Unicorn The Village Sang to the Sea is that rarity: a book that delicately and perfectly captures the magic we all know underlies the world. You will not forget this book. Not ever." --Nancy Kress, Hugo and Nebula awards winner "The Village Sang to the Sea: A Memoir of Magic is just what its sub-title promises: magic. It s evocative, authentic, beautiful and completely compelling. --James P. Blaylock, World Fantasy Award winner "Bruce McAllister's gorgeous new novel is magical realism at its very best. I loved it. --Terri Windling, Bram Stoker Award winner and co-editor of the The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror series "In our early years we all believe and trust in endless possibilities. Most of us soon leave this realm, though some of us return from time to time. If we call it merely 'imagination, ' we don't reach the truly magical. The Village Sang to the Sea: A Memoir of Magic got me there. It's a delight." --Ron Arias, National Book Award nominee and author of The Road to Tamazunchale

BOOKER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • An “extraordinary meditation on mortality, grief, death, childhood and memory" (USA Today) about a middle-aged Irishman who has gone back to the seaside to grieve the loss of his wife. In this luminous novel, John Banville introduces us to Max Morden, a middle-aged Irishman who has gone back to the seaside town where he spent his summer holidays as a child to cope with the recent loss of his wife. It is also a return to the place where he met the Graces, the well-heeled family with whom he experienced the strange suddenness of both love and death for the first time. What Max comes to understand about the past, and about its indelible effects on him, is at the center of this elegiac, gorgeously written novel—among the finest we have had from this masterful writer.