This fictional story is loosely based on true events that have taken place beginning in the 1950's in Iran and continuing up until the present in the United States. Some of these events happened in the author's life, and the rest are what he is aware of. The story is delivered in the first person, however, and fictional elements and characters have been incorporated, in order to better convey the author's intended message in a smooth storyline. The...

Neighbors welcome a family of Syrian refugees to the small town of Grand Forks. Elderly Uncle Ahmad, still recovering from the trauma of civil war, rewards the kindness of his new friends with his prodigious wood sculpting talent. When a Black church displays his soul-stirring art in a fundraising event to support refugees, Ahmad's skill becomes widely admired in the community. It also incites suspicion and islamophobia among local white nationalists....

"Holcan Code" is an invitation to anyone interested in joining the fight against stagnation in Central America. With a Mayan artifact in his pocket, a mantra in his mind, and a passionate goal in his heart, a young, ambitious man leaves Copan in search of a brighter future in the United States. Yab is a servant leader, a life-long learner, and a man who doesn't back down from any challenge. He's equipped for success, standing upon the shoulders of...

Painted Fires, first published in 1925, narrates the trials and tribulations of Helmi Milander, a Finnish immigrant, during the years approaching the First World War. The novel serves as a vehicle for McClung's social activism, especially in terms of temperance, woman suffrage, and immigration policies that favour cultural assimilation. In her afterword, Cecily Devereux situates Painted Fires in the context of McClung's feminist fiction and her interest...

A fascinating field guide to Philippine monsters and mythology! From award-winning authors Budgette Tan and David Hontiveros comes The Lost Journal of Alejandro Pardo --a 19th-century cryptozoologist's account of his encounters with the strange and magical creatures from Philippine legends and mythology. In this book, you'll come face-to-face with 36 mythical beasts including: • The Kapre --A shape-shifter that morphs before your very eyes, disguising...

Who says you can't go home again? Sylvia can't imagine why anyone would ever try. She had left rural Newfoundland as a scrawny, shy girl who was too smart for her own good. When she dragged herself home for her cousin's wedding, she couldn't believe how much had changed-or how much had stayed the same. Ten years older but no less fixated on an exit strategy, Sylvia returns to confront the person she left behind: her younger self. When she left,...

City of Joy, City of Paradoxes Kolkata, in West Bengal, India, is nicknamed "The City Of Joy." Contrary to its name, it is a city of paradoxes. The stories in this collection provide fascinating glimpses into a panorama of baffling variety, its rich contrast of the simple and the sophisticated, the ancient and the modern. The characters are mostly drawn from the women of Kolkata, and seek to put the challenges of being a woman in India in a broader...

In 1999 in Santa Cruz, California, 19-year-old Johnny Bartooth is unexpectedly visited by Heron, an ageing hippy, his father's old friend. Heron has come to give Johnny a journal which the boy's father, Bartooth, wrote many years before. In 1978, Bartooth went to China, and one night made the fateful mistake of going for a walk by himself through dark streets in Guangzhou. He was attacked, stabbed and clubbed by a gang of bandits. He found himself...

Hugh McVey moves from Missouri to the agrarian town of Bidwell, Ohio. He invents a mechanical cabbage planter to ease the burden of famers, but an investor in town exploits his product, which fails to succeed. His next invention, a corn cutter, makes him a millionaire and transforms Bidwell into a center of manufacturing. McVey, perennially lonely and ruminative, meets Clara Butterworth, who attends college at nearby Ohio State and is perennially...

In the tradition of Isabel Allende, the debut novel from Chilean-American Florencia Mallon-a family saga that explores the lives touched by the tragedies of Chile's vibrant history   In the political aftermath of the 1973 Chilean coup, Eugenia Aldunate is imprisoned and tortured. Her lover, Manuel, is savagely killed, one of the countless "disappeared" that would haunt Chile's collective memory for decades. While still in the torture camp, Eugenia...