A Whole Lot Of Lucky

Hailee Richardson never realized how much she hated her Salvation Army life and Goodwill accessories until the night her family wins the lottery. All of a sudden she's no longer the only girl at school without a cell phone or a brand-new bike! And the newfound popularity that comes with being a lottery winner is just what she's always dreamed of. But the glow of her smartphone and fancy new clothes wears off when Hailee is transferred to Magnolia Academy, a private school. All of a sudden, her best friend and parents seem shabby compared to the beautiful Magnolia moms and the popular bad-girl Nikki, who seems to want to be her friend. Now, Hailee wants nothing more than to grow up-and away-from her old life. It'll take one very busy social networking page, a stolen first kiss, and a whole carton of eggs for Hailee to realize that not all luck is good, not all change is bad, and a best friend who's just a call away will always be more valuable than a phone.

This book is a belated attempt by Jim Walters to explain just what happened to a life that early on seemed so full of promise. Any successes in life were always cancelled out by bad decisions on his part or just plain bad luck. The multiple instances of bad luck and the multiple bad decisions on his part seemed to produce a lifetime that seemed to have no direction at all. But an obsessive-compulsive personality disorder and subsequent depression, neither of which was discovered until midlife, adds some possible understanding as to just what went on.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow, and beyond, I will be ever thankful that the Lord gave me so many opportunities to go to the places I’ve gone, do the things I’ve done, meet the people I’ve met, and live long enough to share some of it with all of you. My life has been full of adventure and heartbreak, from the war in Vietnam to the trials of starting a family, but I appreciate the moments I’ve had, and I look forward to those that will come. If you enjoyed my journey so far, standby! There’s more to come. Live Lucky!

In this YA novel, Malou, a mixed-race orphan, is on her own for the first time, trying to discover her parents’ identities.

More information to be announced soon on this forthcoming title from Penguin USA

When life looks radically different than the plan we have for ourselves, it's the lucky few that recognize God's plan is best. That's what adoptive mom Heather Avis learned, and that's the invitation of this book. As the mother of three adopted children - two with Down syndrome - Heather Avis has learned that it's truly the lucky few who get to live a life like hers, who actually recognize that God's plans are best, even when they seem so radically different from the plans we have for ourselves. When Heather started her journey into parenthood she never thought it would look like this, never planned to have three adopted children, and certainly never imagined that two of them would have Down syndrome. But like most things God does, once she stepped into the craziness and confusion that comes with the unknown and the unplanned, she realized that they were indeed among the lucky few. Discover in this book what 70,000+ followers of Heather's hit Instagram account @macymakesmyday already know: the power of faith and family can help us stay strong in the toughest times. This book will also be especially touching to those with adopted family members or children with Down syndrome in their lives.

Hell's Interstate is an action-packed crime novel about two desperate men traveling down the highway to Hell. Financing their travels by robbing convenience stores along the Interstate, the one predictable fact about their next robbery will be the fact that they will leave no witnesses. Reed Haskell, the ringleader, knows how to rob a store and do it fast, but what he doesn't know is that someone is watching his partner, Vernon Sanger, very closely. Michael Smith, an apparent vagrant they came in contact with one rainy night along the Interstate, keeps showing up wherever they go, and he is not shy about intervening in their business. How he continues to appear, and why he shows up when he does, neither man has an answer to. Although Vernon is curious about the man, for some reason the otherwise unflappable Reed is quite unsettled by him. Does Reed know more about Michael Smith than he's willing to admit, or does he just suspect the purpose of Michael's persistent interference? If Reed was truly in the dark as to Michael's identity and purpose, he'd not have long to wait before being enlightened. As for Vernon, that enlightenment lies over ten years away.