Sparrow Girl

Ming-Li looked up and tried to imagine the sky silent, empty of birds. It was a terrible thought. Her country's leader had called sparrows the enemy of the farmers--they were eating too much grain, he said. He announced a great "Sparrow War" to banish them from China, but Ming-Li did not want to chase the birds away. As the people of her village gathered with firecrackers and gongs to scatter the sparrows, Ming-Li held her ears and watched in dismay. The birds were falling from the trees, frightened to death! Ming-Li knew she had to do something -- even if she couldn't stop the noise. Quietly, she vowed to save as many sparrows as she could, one by one...

The story of a sensitive, gifted African American girl who tells us with mordant humor what it feels like to spend every day wishing so hard that you could fly away from it all Sparrow has always had a difficult time making friends. She would always rather stay home on the weekends with her mother, an affluent IT executive at a Manhattan bank, reading, or watching the birds, than play with other kids. And that's made school a lonely experience for her. It's made LIFE a lonely experience.But when the one teacher who really understood her -- Mrs. Wexler, the school librarian, a woman who let her eat her lunch in the library office rather than hide in a bathroom stall, a woman who shared her passion for novels and knew just the ones she'd love -- is killed in a freak car accident, Sparrow's world unravels and she's found on the roof of her school in an apparent suicide attempt.With the help of an insightful therapist, Sparrow finally reveals the truth of her inner life. And it's here that she discovers an outlet in rock & roll music...

She is Elaine of Ascolat, the Lady of Shalott. At sixteen, Elaine is beautiful and brave, with a temperament as fiery as her long red hair. She lives on Arthur's army base with her father and brothers, the sole girl in a militaristic world of men. As she mends torn battle garments and heals wounds, Elaine often slips into daydreams, wishing the handsome Lancelot would see her as more than a tomboy. Then a new girl arrives, and Elaine is thrilled-- until Gwynivere proves to be cold and cruel. But when the two of them are thrown into a situation of gravest danger, they must band together in order to survive. Can Elaine find the strength to fight for the kingdom she has always believed in? This highly acclaimed novel is a beautiful contribution to the Camelot canon.

A breathtaking tale of family secrets, from the international bestselling author of An American Marriage AN OBSERVER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR A SAINSBURY'S MAGAZINE CHRISTMAS GIFT LISTING A GUARDIAN 'BEST BOOK OF 2020 TO SUPPORT INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS' A BOOKSELLER SMALL PUBLISHERS 2020 TOP 20 A Most Anticipated Book for 2020 according to The Sunday Times, the FT and the Guardian 'My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist.' SECRETS Dana and Chaurisse are sisters, bound together by the life-changing secret of their father's double life. LIES Only one of them knows the truth. When they do finally meet and form a friendship, the fragile balance of ignorance and silence that has kept James' secrets safe for so long threatens to explode. HOPE This soulful story of friendship and sisterhood paints an unforgettable picture of the messy knots that bind families together, from the prize-winning author of An American Marriage.

In the tradition of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, Mary Cecilia Jackson's devastating but hopeful YA debut is about a ballerina who finds the courage to confront the abuse that haunts her past and threatens her future. There are two kinds of people on the planet. Hunters and prey I thought I would be safe after my mother died. I thought I could stop searching for new places to hide. But you can’t escape what you are, what you’ve always been. My name is Savannah Darcy Rose. And I am still prey. Though Savannah Rose—“Sparrow” to her friends and family—is a gifted ballerina, her real talent is keeping secrets. Schooled in silence by her long-dead mother, Sparrow has always believed that her lifelong creed—“I’m not the kind of girl who tells”—will make her just like everyone else: Normal. Happy. Safe. But in the aftermath of a brutal assault by her seemingly perfect boyfriend Tristan, Sparrow must finally find the courage to confront the ghosts of her past, or lose herself forever.... At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Jessica Khoury brings her masterful world-building and emotional depth to a brand-new fantasy series. In a world where everyone is born with wings, stone monsters prowl the skies, hunting those who dare to fly too high. In the Clandoms, everyone is born with wings, with tight-knit communities formed around bird types: Jay, Falcon, Crow.Ellie Meadows dreams of growing up to join the Goldwings -- the famed knights who defend all the people of the Clandoms. It was a Goldwing, after all, who saved her life on that terrible day her parents were killed. There's just one problem: Ellie is a Sparrow, and the Goldwings are almost invariably picked from the higher clans like Eagles and Ospreys. This rigid hierarchy means that Ellie is destined to become a farmer.Determined to honor her parents' memories and prove herself worthy of the Goldwings, Ellie sets out on her own for the capital. But her journey will be dangerous. Foul creatures called gargols lurk behind every cloud, ready to slay anyone unlucky enough to be caught outside in a storm -- just as Ellie's family was.Soon her path intertwines with a colorful band of fellow outcasts, each with their own aspirations... and their own secrets. Ellie's new friends offer not just roadside companionship. They'll challenge her ideas of right, wrong, and what truly makes a hero.

When you were 17, what did you think your life would be like when you hit 27? At 17, Rachel Hill was the girl most likely to succeed. At 27, with an Honours degree and a career as a travel writer, she thinks that marriage is the only thing missing from this perfect trifecta. Her American boyfriend is smart and gorgeous, just the guy everyone thought she'd find. But one rash decision changes everything. Suddenly Rachel finds herself living back at home in her childhood bedroom, nannying a surly six-year-old and watching Mary Tyler Moore re-runs. Her friends worry she's having a 'quarter-life' crisis - but the real story is far more bizarre. As she confronts her idea of perfection, she finds that happiness is living the life you want to live, rather than the one you're expected to.

A brand-new novel by one of today's most powerful storytellers, Sweep is a heart-rending adventure about the everlasting gifts of friendship and hope. For nearly a century, Victorian London relied on "climbing boys"--orphans owned by chimney sweeps--to clean flues and protect homes from fire. The work was hard, thankless and brutally dangerous. Eleven-year-old Nan Sparrow is quite possibly the best climber who ever lived--and a girl. With her wits and will, she's managed to beat the deadly odds time and time again. But when Nan gets stuck in a deadly chimney fire, she fears her time has come. Instead, she wakes to find herself in an abandoned attic. And she is not alone. Huddled in the corner is a mysterious creature--a golem--made from ash and coal. This is the creature that saved her from the fire. Sweep is the story of a girl and her monster. Together, these two outcasts carve out a life together--saving one another in the process.