The Book About Friends Stars And Oceans

Step back in time with Cuban-American author Maday Martinez de Osaba as she recounts her family's rich history-the trials, joys, triumphs, and the life that happens in between. She beautifully unravels the elaborate details of her family and how they overcame the tragedies that life sometimes throws at us. Martinez de Osaba's intricately woven words and stories remind the reader to celebrate the journey rather than the destination. She exposes layers of the human spirit and the intangible longing a soul has to find love and make it a home. Follow along on this epic journey-from 1930s Cuba to an escape to Spain from Castro's oppression, and finally to freedom in the United States. Martinez de Osaba chronicles her family lineage and history with honesty and authenticity. This is a story about what we find when we seek to discover our family's past. We always find more than we knew-both the good and bad-which make our life stories worth telling.

A friendly narrator greets ten ocean creatures, in a book featuring high-contrast black-and-white illustrations.

PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • Hailed by The Washington Post as “mandatory reading,” and praised by Fareed Zakaria as “intelligent, compassionate, and revealing,” a powerful journey to help bridge one of the greatest divides shaping our world today. If the Oceans Were Ink is Carla Power's eye-opening story of how she and her longtime friend Sheikh Mohammad Akram Nadwi found a way to confront ugly stereotypes and persistent misperceptions that were cleaving their communities. Their friendship-between a secular American and a madrasa-trained sheikh-had always seemed unlikely, but now they were frustrated and bewildered by the battles being fought in their names. Both knew that a close look at the Quran would reveal a faith that preached peace and not mass murder; respect for women and not oppression. And so they embarked on a yearlong journey through the controversial text. A journalist who grew up in the Midwest and the Middle East, Power offers her unique vantage point on the Quran's most provocative verses as she debates with Akram at cafes, family gatherings, and packed lecture halls, conversations filled with both good humor and powerful insights. Their story takes them to madrasas in India and pilgrimage sites in Mecca, as they encounter politicians and jihadis, feminist activists and conservative scholars. Armed with a new understanding of each other's worldviews, Power and Akram offer eye-opening perspectives, destroy long-held myths, and reveal startling connections between worlds that have seemed hopelessly divided for far too long. Praise for If the Oceans Were Ink “A vibrant tale of a friendship.... If the Oceans Were Ink is a welcome and nuanced look at Islam [and] goes a long way toward combating the dehumanizing stereotypes of Muslims that are all too common.... If the Oceans Were Ink should be mandatory reading for the 52 percent of Americans who admit to not knowing enough about Muslims.”—The Washington Post “For all those who wonder what Islam says about war and peace, men and women, Jews and gentiles, this is the book to read. It is a conversation among well-meaning friends—intelligent, compassionate, and revealing—the kind that needs to be taking place around the world.”—Fareed Zakaria, author of The Post-American World “Carla Power’s intimate portrait of the Quran, told with nuance and great elegance, captures the extraordinary, living debate over the Muslim holy book’s very essence. A spirited, compelling read.”—Azadeh Moaveni, author of Lipstick Jihad “Unique, masterful, and deeply engaging. Carla Power takes the reader on an extraordinary journey in interfaith understanding as she debates and discovers the Quran’s message, meaning, and values on peace and violence, gender and veiling, religious pluralism and tolerance.”—John L. Esposito, University Professor and Professor of Islamic Studies, Georgetown University, and author of The Future of Islam “A thoughtful, provocative, intelligent book.”—Diana Abu-Jaber, author of Birds Of Paradise and The Language of Baklava

Join Bubble on a counting adventure under the sea! Swim along with Bubble in the deep, blue sea! Follow Bubble on her adventure and discover turtles, starfish, crabs, and more. Lively rhyming text, bright, colorful illustrations, and shiny-foiled details invite young readers to have hands-on story time. Page after page, babies and toddlers will have fun counting all of Bubble's new ocean friends.

"Thrillingly ambitious and imaginative." —Soman Chainani, bestselling author of The School for Good and Evil, about Last Day on Mars It is Earth year 2223, but the Earth, along with the entire solar system, is gone. Liam and Phoebe, having barely escaped our exploding sun with their lives, are in stasis for the decade-long journey to the rogue planet Delphi, where they hope to meet up with the rest of the human refugees, find help for their injured parents, and pass along the devastating things they discovered on Mars: that someone destroyed their world intentionally, and that that someone might still be after them, trying to finish the job. Phoebe is carrying her own dark secret. One that finds her waking up secretly at various points in their journey, changing their path through space. One that will decide the fate of the human race, and many more besides. One that, very soon, she must reveal to Liam, whether he’s ready for the truth or not. The second volume in Kevin Emerson's thrilling sci-fi epic is a bold and terrifying quest into the outer reaches of time and space—one that will change our heroes, and their friendship, forever.

Like a broken starfish that miraculously regenerates in ocean waters, "Ocean Star" is an inspiring memoir of how God healed the author after she experienced a childhood filled with chaos and pain.

The powerful new novel from Kimberley Freeman. A rich and satisfying story of two women with indomitable spirits and the high costs they have to pay for being strong-minded, from the author of the bestselling LIGHTHOUSE BAY and EMBER ISLAND. A story about love, motherhood, and learning whom you belong to in the world. In 1874, wild and willful Agnes Resolute finally leaves the foundling home where she grew up on the bleak moors of northern England. On her departure, she discovers that she was abandoned with a small token of her mother: a unicorn button. Agnes had always believed her mother to be too poor to keep her, but Agnes has been working as a laundress at the foundling home and recognises the button as belonging to the imperious and beautiful Genevieve Breakby, daughter of a local noble family. Agnes had only seen her once, but has never forgotten her. She investigates and discovers Genevieve is now in London. Agnes follows, living hard in the poor end of London until she finds out Genevieve has moved to France. This sets Agnes off on her own adventure: to Paris, Agnes follows her mother's trail, and starts to see it is also a trail of destruction. Finally, in Sydney she tracks Genevieve down. But is Genevieve capable of being the mother Agnes hopes she will be? A powerful story about women with indomitable spirits, about love and motherhood, and about learning whom you belong to in the world.Praise for Kimberley Freeman's writing: GOLD DUST 'A rich saga with characters you'll never forget. I couldn't put it down.' Kate Morton, author of THE SECRET KEEPER WILDFLOWER HILL 'Utterly engaging.' THE COURIER-MAIL LIGHTHOUSE BAY 'an enchanting love story' MiNDFOOD EVERGREEN FALLS 'Eerie and fascinating ... the plot is brilliant in both time zones.' NEWCASTLE HERALD