"It was common knowledge that the woods behind my house in Milford were teeming with the most venomous of vipers. Monstrous Copperheads lurked behind every rock. Hideous Water Moccasins slithered through every creek. Big snakes. Poisonous snakes. All banded together in an insidious reptilian conspiracy, dedicated to the elimination of ten-year-old boys from the face of the earth." Connecticut, 1952. School is out for the summer. In a time before computers, X-boxes, and iPods, the neighborhood kids have to get into trouble the old-fashioned way-using their imagination. Ten-year-old Sonny Boy gets the bright idea for a practical joke involving his mother and a snake. He fears the loathsome reptiles more than anything in the world, but he figures it will be a great gag that will make him a hero to his buddies, Charlie and Pudgy-and to a certain girl. But three bullies harass the boys at every turn, and a battle of wits ensues. Nothing, however, diminishes Sonny Boy's infatuation for, or attempts to impress, the lovely Mary Lou. During that hot summer, Sonny Boy befriends an octogenarian named Otto, whose wisdom facilitates his introduction to adolescence-and a final showdown with a snake.

Twelve-year-old Christopher Seehaven lived with his mother Karen, in Rockford Illinois. Karen, Christopher and live-in boyfriend, Dennis Conners lived in the dangerous crime-filled area of the city. Every holiday, and summer vacation Christopher found refuge at his grandparents' farm in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Christopher, his gramps, and friend Randy found clues to a murder and bank robbery that happened long ago. They discover a treasure much different then they expected. Eighteen years later Christopher is a veterinarian, working in Atlanta, Georgia. He comes back to Wisconsin to attend a funeral. That day, he finds love, friendship and a new job. He goes back to Atlanta to close up his apartment and finds himself in the middle of a murder. A murder, which involved his college sweetheart-could he still be in love with her?

Do you remember your first love, the song that was playing when you experienced your first kiss, where you were for your first time, or how long it took to get past your first heartbreak? These events mold us, shape us, and forever alter us. When Alexander Gray meets Mia Price, the southern belle of his dreams, he must decide which fate would wound him more: being spurned or being burned? He screws up his courage long enough to ask her out, and they realize that perhaps they are meant to build a life together after all. That path will not be a smooth one for either, but now, as a couple, they must face their choices together. Along the way, they must survive run-ins with ex-girlfriends, ex-boyfriends, and new acquaintancesnot to mention the specter of unresolved issues from the past. Alex and Mias relationship must survive the dangers of young love, or they may find that growing up can lead to growing apart. Theirs is a journey laced with hope, laughter, and the ever-shifting challenges of an emerging relationship, but most of all, it is rich with love.

“Our children are destined for greatness, each and every one of them. But let us not confuse fame with greatness. All of our children, whether they lead ordinary or extraordinary lives, are called to exemplary virtue, generous sacrifice, courageous heroism, and above all, deep, enduring love. They are called to be saints.” These words of Mary Cooney are the driving force behind her book Evangelizing Our Children with Joy. With an energizing zeal and drive, Mary shares with us the wisdom that has come from the highs and lows of parenthood, intermingled with the inspiration she has received through prayer and the Bible. From the virtues of mercy, kindness, and patience—virtues abundantly needed in the family setting—to the riches of the sacramental life, Mary shows us how to teach our children that the path to living an extraordinary life leads through the ordinary actions and habits of everyday living. Mary Cooney, wife and mother, was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. With a degree in Music Education and a master’s degree in Piano Pedagogy, she has been teaching children for over twenty years. Her most delightful students are her own five, lively homeschooled children. She currently lives in Maryland.

Finalist for the 2023 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction One of Vulture's Best Books of the Year This genre-bending debut collection of stories constructs eight eerie worlds full of desire, wisdom, and magic blooming amidst decay. In stories that beckon and haunt, Fruiting Bodies ranges confidently from the fantastical to the gothic to the uncanny as it follows characters—mostly queer, mostly women—on the precipice of change. Echoes of timeless myth and folklore reverberate through urgent narratives of discovery, appetite, and coming-of-age in a time of crisis. In “The Changeling,” two young cousins wait in dread for a new family member to arrive, convinced that he may be a dangerous supernatural creature. In “Endangered Animals,” Jane prepares to say goodbye to her almost-love while they road-trip across a country irrevocably altered by climate change. In “Take Only What Belongs to You,” a queer woman struggles with the personal history of an author she idolized, while in “Fiddler, Fool, Pair,” an anthropologist is drawn into a magical—and dangerous—gamble. In the title story, partners Agnes and Geb feast peacefully on the mushrooms that sprout from Agnes’s body—until an unwanted male guest disturbs their cloistered home. Audacious, striking, and wholly original, Fruiting Bodies offers stories about knowledge in a world on the verge of collapse, knowledge that alternately empowers or devastates. Pulling beautifully, brazenly, from a variety of literary traditions, Kathryn Harlan firmly establishes herself as a thrilling new voice in fiction.