Hand Me Down World

This is a story about a woman. And the truck driver who mistook her for a prostitute. The old man she robbed and the hunters who smuggled her across the border. The woman whose name she stole, the wife who turned a blind eye. This is the story of a mother searching for her child. This is the novel you cannot stop thinking about. A quiet, mysterious, unnamed woman has come from Africa on an impassioned quest. From the shoreline of Tunisia to the confusion of Berlin, she relies on strangers – some generous, some exploitive – to guide her passage, encountering love and betrayal in its many guises along the way. When the truth behind this spellbinding story is finally revealed, we are forced to revisit everything that has gone before. Also available as an eBook

Lloyd Jones' new novel is set mainly in a small village on Bougainville, a country torn apart by civil war. Matilda attends the school set up by Mr Watts, the only white man on the island. By his own admission he's not much of a teacher and proceeds to educate the children by reading them Great Expectations. Matilda falls in love with the novel, strongly identifying with Pip. The promise of the next chapter is what keeps her going; Pip's story protects her from the horror of what is happening around her - helicopters menacing the skies above the village and rebel raids on the ground. When the rebels visit the village searching for any remaining men to join their cause, they discover the name Pip written in the sand and instigate a search for him. When Pip can't be found the soldiers destroy the book. Mr Watts then encourages the children to retell the story from their memories. Then when the rebels invade the village, the teacher tells them a story which lasts seven nights, about a boy named Pip, and a convict . . .

Haunting and beautiful, Hand Me Down World is the simply unforgettable story by the multi-award winning author of Mister Pip. A woman washes ashore in Sicily. She has come from north Africa to find her son, taken from her when he was just days old by his father and stolen away to Berlin. With nothing but her maid's uniform and a knife stashed in a plastic bag, she relies on strangers to guide her passage north. These strangers tell of their encounters with a quiet, mysterious woman in a blue coat each account a different view of the truth. And slowly these fragments of a life piece together to create a spellbinding story of the courage of a mother and the versions of truth we create to accommodate our lives. There are no easy answers in this thoughtful novel. Indeed, much of its intrigue and enjoyment comes from piecing together the story from the myriad voices. Humane and moving, it's a worthy successor to Jones's last novel, the Booker-shortlisted Mister Pip. Daily Mail

Brimming with adorable illustrations and short, easy-to-read chapters, this is the first book in the popular Hand-Me-Down Magic series, perfect for fans of Ivy and Bean and Dory Fantasmagory! DEL loves LOTS of things! The Curious Cousins Secondhand Shoppe. Ginormous family dinners. And of course, her best-friend-cousin, Alma. ALMA loves her abuelita’s tasty empanadas. Her old home by the lake. And soon, she’ll love living in the same place as her best-friend-cousin, Del. Yet despite having Del by her side, Alma isn’t quite sure she fits in with their family at 86 1⁄2 Twenty-Third Avenue. It’s a new life and it’s all so different. When Del finds a special item at a neighbor’s stoop sale, she gets so excited by the magic luck it brings—but doesn’t see that it’s driving the two best friends apart. Will family, friendship, and maybe a little everyday magic be enough to make things right again? Corey Ann Haydu’s writing is filled with tender moments, wholesome humor, and magical detail—reminiscent of literary icons like Beverly Clearly, Marla Frazee, and Katherine Applegate. This chapter book series is pitch perfect for kids reading at this young level. And Luisa Uribe's stunning black-and-white illustrations capture the warmth and unique personality of each character. Enjoy the whole series: Hand-Me-Down Magic #1: Stoop Sale Treasure Hand-Me-Down Magic #2: Crystal Ball Fortunes Hand-Me-Down Magic #3: Perfect Patchwork Purse Hand-Me-Down Magic #4: Mysterious Tea Set

His brother's untimely death leaves him with an Earldom and a fiancée. Too bad he wants neither of them... Theodora Lawton has no need of a husband. As an independent woman, she wants to own property, make investments and be the master of her destiny. Unfortunately, her father signed her life away in a marriage contract to the future Earl of Stonemere. But then the cad upped and died, leaving her fate in the hands of his brother, one of the renowned Lustful Lords. Achilles Denton, the Earl of Stonemere, is far more prepared to be a soldier than a peer. Deeply scarred by his last tour of duty, he knows he will never be a proper, upstanding pillar of the empire. Balanced on the edge of madness, he finds respite by keeping a tight rein on his life, both in and out of the bedroom. His brother’s death has left him with responsibilities he never wanted and isn’t prepared to handle in the respectable manner expected of a peer. Further complicating his new life is an unwanted fiancée who comes with his equally unwanted title. Saddled with a hand-me-down countess, he soon discovers the woman is a force unto herself. As he grapples with the burden of his new responsibilities, he discovers someone wants him dead. The question is, can he stay alive long enough to figure out who’s trying to kill him while he tries to tame his headstrong wife

"My son the doctor! My daughter the lawyer!" Or whatever you heard while growing up. Sure, Mom and Dad are proud of what you've accomplished, but has anyone asked you (the one with the supposedly wonderful career) how you feel? If you feel trapped or disappointed in your current career or job, or if you feel you let your family's wishes, rather than your own natural talents, interests, and passions, guide your ultimate choice of career, you are living someone else's dream. If you are in this position, Mary Jacobsen's insightful wisdom, culled from her professional expertise and from her own personal life, illuminates the problems you'll encounter when you try to change this family dynamic. Then, by using her 7 Steps to Reclaim Your Career, you'll be armed with the knowledge you'll need to find the motivation and, finally, the courage to make the changes needed to fulfill your own dreams and attain success on your own terms. Over the last fifteen years, Mary H. Jacobsen has helped many people in this situation work through career transitions, and she can help you, too. You'll understand how even well-intentioned family expectations about work are passed on from one generation to the next, sometimes openly, but often in subtle and indirect ways, and how these expectations influence not only your career choice but also color your role, relationships, and values on the job.

Stone by stone the basilica was being dismantled in order to be put back together again. Each stone was painted with a number and laid with care onto pallets spread over the ground . . . I kept thinking about those numbered stones. Some purpose began to take shape. I began to wonder if I might re-trace and recover something of my own past, to reassemble it in the manner of the basilica. It was a matter of looking to see if any of the original building blocks remained, and where might I find them. The 2011 earthquake that shook Christchurch to its core led Lloyd Jones to investigate his own foundations and family past. And so begins a quest to revisit what has been buried by a legacy of silence. Piecing together his own memories with clues of what has been deliberately forgotten by his parents, Jones embarks on a journey of discovery – uncovering hardships endured and sorrows kept hidden. Grandparents never spoken of or met emerge from dusty archives as he unearths lives torn apart by tragedy and unspoken mysteries. Like the city that is exposed, Jones must come to terms with a history that is not one he may have imagined. Also available as an eBook

Callie Gray always assumed she would never marry, until she took a leap and became a mail–order bride. But when she arrives in Sweetgum, Texas, she gets the shock of her life. Her husband is dead, and his brother proposes she marry him, for the sake of his orphaned nephew and nieces. Jack Tyler warns her not to hope for a love match––theirs is strictly a convenient marriage. But Callie yearns for a true partnership with the man who has unexpectedly captured her heart. Now she must convince him what he truly needs is a lifetime of love, faith and family––with Callie by his side.