A Crack In The Sky

Thirteen-year-old Eli Papadapoulous is worried. Even though he's part of in the most powerful family in the world. Even though his grandfather founded InfiniCorp, the massive corporation that runs everything in the bustling dome-cities. Even though InfiniCorp ads and billboards are plastered everywhere, proclaiming: DON'T WORRY! INFINICORP IS TAKING CARE OF EVERYTHING! Recently, Eli noticed there's something wrong with the artificial sky. It keeps shorting out, displaying strange colors and random, pixellated images. And though the Department of Cool and Comfortable Air is working overtime, the dome-city is hotter than it's ever been. Eli has been raised to believe that the dome-cities are safe and comfortable; that the important thing is to keep working, keep consuming; that InfiniCorp knows better than he, and he should leave everything in their hands. But now he begins asking questions.

Goldie and her brother TJ grow up in a New England town, living with their mentally imbalanced mother. The biggest secret of their lives is that no one from the outside world knows what actually goes on inside their home. Their greatest fear is telling someone, however, they are terrified of the consequences. All they really want is a ‘normal’ mother who loves them and treats them like she cares, but that doesn’t happen. The day-to-day abuse that they experience is all too common. Their father works relentlessly and for most of the time is blinded by their mother’s actions. Fortunately they have a loving Grandmother who tries her best to help them deal with this insane behavior without actually getting involved. Her love for them is unrivaled, and she continues to be there for them at their time of need. With only the prospect of a bleak future, they are forced to consider a brighter alternative. Their days at school are met with equal torment; their mother – aka the Witch – holds a tight rein on everything they do and say: the church, how they dress, what they eat, and how they bathe. So, with few options other than to resort to drastic measures, Goldie and her brother decide to embark on a risky undertaking, which although dangerous, might prove to be their only salvation. The Mother, with albeit good intentions keeps excruciatingly tight control over every single, solitary thing in their lives. It becomes like the Witch is the warden and Goldie and TJ are her prisoners. This is how they manage their lives living this way and what eventually happens to them.

Crack in the Sky continues the development of the young Titus Bass as he gradually learns the lore of the mountain man. From a raucous rendezvous of trappers to a searing fight with Comanche, from a frigid winter's chill to the angry heat of a chase with horse thieves, Titus Bass's West comes alive in the pages of this remarkable novel--and in its final scene, Titus Bass will meet young Josiah Paddock and form the deep friendship explored in the pagers of Carry the Wind.

It was a day like any other day. People were going about their business, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, life was going on as usual. Suddenly, without warning, people started disappearing all over the world! Was it a mass alien abduction? Had cults gathered their people to some remote spot in the world? Or, had the unthinkable happened? Had the prophecy of Jesus Christ's return finally come true? Follow three women who come face to face with their Bible teaching. The newlywed who lost her husband; her best friend, who had strong Christian parents, and their friend who lost all of her children, but not to Christ. They had heard of Christ's return, but didn't believe it would really happen. They lived almost as if there were no God. Now, who'll survive? Who'll give in to the new world leader? What would you do if it were you?

This sprawling, episodic novel by the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author is a “tour de force sci-fi outing . . . a wonderful read” (Fantasy Literature). 2077. With Earth reeling from centuries of unregulated population growth and environmental decimation, a new religion has taken root. The Vorsters worship science and the material world over all else, searching for the promise of immortality through new technology and the promise of heaven among the physical stars. But on Venus, a renegade sect has found its home. The Harmonists find the answers to life’s eternal questions in their own spirituality and in their own bodies, which have undergone genetic changes on Venus, giving them paranormal abilities. With humanity’s future at stake, religion becomes a political business, and both groups will have to face their motivations and manipulations when a shocking discovery threatens the balance of power in the universe. “The absorbing story of an overpopulated and economically depressed world clinging to the outcome of a religious schism for its salvation.” —sff180

A coming-of-age story that follows a young shaman named Pitu as he learns to use his powers and ultimately finds himself lost in the world of the spirits.

An enchanting historical fantasy adventure perfect for fans of Thanhha Lai's Newbery Honor-winning Inside Out and Back Again No one comes to the Second World on purpose. The doorway between worlds opens only when least expected. The Raft King is desperate to change that by finding the doorway that will finally take him and the people of Raftworld back home. To do it, he needs Pip, a young boy with an incredible gift—he can speak to fish; and the Raft King is not above kidnapping to get what he wants. Pip’s sister Kinchen, though, is determined to rescue her brother and foil the Raft King’s plans. This is but the first of three extraordinary stories that collide on the high seas of the Second World. The second story takes us back to the beginning: Venus and Swimmer are twins captured aboard a slave ship bound for Jamaica in 1781. They save themselves and others from a life of enslavement with a risky, magical plan—one that leads them from the shark-infested waters of the first world to the second. Pip and Kinchen will hear all about them before their own story is said and done. So will Thanh and his sister Sang, who we meet in 1978 on a small boat as they try to escape post-war Vietnam. But after a storm and a pirate attack, they’re not sure they’ll ever see shore again. What brings these three sets of siblings together on an adventure of a lifetime is a little magic, helpful sea monsters and that very special portal, A Crack in the Sea.

When a repairman accidentally discovers a parallel universe, everyone sees it as an opportunity, whether as a way to ease Earth's overcrowding, set up a personal kingdom, or hide an inconvenient mistress. But when a civilization is found already living there, the people on this side of the crack are sent scrambling to discover their motives. Will these parallel humans come in peace, or are they just as corrupt and ill-intentioned as the people of this world?