The Dark Days Of Love

Set in India, England, Trinidad and St Lucia, Love the Dark Days follows the story of a girl, Dolly, born of mixed Hindu-Muslim parentage in post-independence India. When she lives with her grandmother, member of an elite Muslim family, whose history is one of having colluded with the brutality of the British rule in India, Dolly unconsciously imbibes her grandmother's prejudices of class and race. As the dark child in her family, this makes her feel that she does not belong, leading to an over-anxiety to please the adults around her. That feeling of unbelonging is repeated when her family migrates to multicultural Trinidad, made up of people from many continents, where she encounters Indian people, several generations away from India, who have a very different sense of themselves, who appear contemptuous of what they see as her airs and graces. She begins writing about her experiences as a way of trying to make sense of them. In her darkest hour, she meets Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott, who encourages her, when she visits him in St Lucia over a weekend, to leave the past behind and reinvent herself.

Romance and adventure novellas about contemporary North American upper middle class family, exposing highly intense drama behind a decent façade. Acting in exotic places of American wilderness, boardrooms of corporations or comfortable homes, dangerous locales of Jamaica and megalopolises of Canada and the US, the characters must deal with tough reality of competition, temptations and intense desires, often passing the threshold of morality and law. These are not purely romantic stories, although the intoxicating aura of romance permeates each novella. But love and happiness often go hand in hand with tragedy when the romance fizzles and the complex practical matters flood the souls and minds of lovers. Detailed in an elegant literary manner, the beautiful world around us is shown as having too many opportunities and temptations for some, which burden the human mind. Our morals, those unwritten rules that are supposed to supplement the laws governing society, are often unable to sustain the burden of passion and desire. Saturated with intense competition in business, love and social matters, life makes relations between the sexes more complicated than many can handle. The book will appeal to many different readers. Those who read solely for entertainment will find them intriguing and entertaining, while the more cerebral readers will discover the deep philosophical questions the stories pose.

"In April 1812, as she is preparing for her debut presentation to Queen Charlotte, Lady Helen Wrexhall finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy reaching to the very top of society, and learns the truth about her mother, who died ten years ago"--

Dewey Roscoe Jones was a pioneering African American journalist. While working for the Chicago Defender, the most widely read black newspaper in the United States, he edited a book review column and a poetry column whose contributors included Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Frank Marshall Davis, and Gwendolyn Brooks. Jones personally wrote about fifty reviews, becoming Black Chicago’s premier literary critic and commentator on the Harlem Renaissance. Frequently disappointed by the novels emanating from New York, he endeavored to create his own masterwork of fiction. Dark Days is the fruit of his labors. Ishmael, the novel’s protagonist, comes to age in Oklahoma, “a wild territory” where former slaves and their offspring vie with former plantation owners and their offspring to make a new life. Theirs is a common legacy of frontier violence and frontier dreams, born in the aftermath of the Civil War, forcible removal of Native Americans, and the 1889 Land Rush. Black Ishmael loves white Denise, and their interlocked fates are the center of the tale. Ishmael’s turbulent journey follows Jones’s own path from Muskogee to Chicago to the trenches of war-torn France. Dark Days was completed midway between 1930 publication of Langston Hughes’s novel Not Without Laughter and Richard Wright’s Native Son in 1940. That chronology situates it in the closing days of Harlem’s Renaissance and on the cusp of Black Chicago’s creative flowering. By recovering his father’s novel, Dewey Roscoe Jones II has performed a service to all readers interested in the trajectory of African American creative expression in the early twentieth century. Richard A. Courage, Professor of English, Westchester Community College/SUNY; co-author of The Muse in Bronzeville: African American Creative Expression in Chicago, 1932-1950.

Being a hefty, deaf newcomer almost makes Will Halpin the least popular guy at Coaler High. But when he befriends the only guy less popular than him, the dork-namic duo has the smarts and guts to figure out who knocked off the star quarterback. Will can’t hear what’s going on, but he’s a great observer. So, who did it? And why does that guy talk to his fingers? And will the beautiful girl ever notice him? (Okay, so Will’s interested in more than just murder . . .) Those who prefer their heroes to be not-so-usual and with a side of wiseguy will gobble up this witty, geeks-rule debut.

The future world has been divided into sectors—each the same as the other. Surrounded by thick steel fences, there is no way in and no way out. Yet a cyborg army penetrates each sector, picking off its citizens one by one, until no one is left. Behind the sectors’ thick walls, the citizens wait to die. Few will be chosen to survive what’s coming; the rest will be left behind to suffer. A new world has been created and its rulers are incredibly selective on who will become a citizen. They want only those with important roles in society to help create a more perfect future. Sixteen-year-old Sia lives in one of the sectors as part of a family that is far too ordinary to be picked to live. According to the digital clock that towers high above her sector, she has only fifteen days to live. Sia’s seen the reports and knows a horrific death is in store for her, but she is determined to make the most of her final days. Sia refuses to mourn her short life, instead promising herself that she’ll stay strong, despite being suffocated by her depressed mother and her frightened best friend. Just when Sia feels more alone than ever, she meets Mace, a mysterious boy. There is something that draws Sia to him, despite his dangerousness, and together, they join a group of rebels and embark on an epic journey to destroy the new world and its machines, and to put an end to the slaughter of innocent people. Aimed at 13- to 17-year-old readers, both boys and girls, Dark Days has subtle themes of environmentalism, government corruption, and teamwork. In the similar vein of The Hunger Games series, the gravity of Sia's situation with only fifteen days to live, will help bring some common teenage issues—friendship, self-esteem, budding romance—to the forefront. Sia is a strong female character who becomes a true leader, a good roll model for teenagers. Sky Pony Press, with our Good Books, Racehorse and Arcade imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of books for young readers—picture books for small children, chapter books, books for middle grade readers, and novels for young adults. Our list includes bestsellers for children who love to play Minecraft; stories told with LEGO bricks; books that teach lessons about tolerance, patience, and the environment, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Sequel to New York Times bestselling author Alison Goodman's acclaimed The Dark Days Club--a smashing combination of Buffy and Jane Austen! June 1812. Just weeks after her catastrophic coming-out ball, Lady Helen Wrexhall--now disowned by her uncle--is a full member of the demon-hunting Dark Days Club. Her mentor, Lord Carlston, has arranged for Helen and her maid, Darby, to spend the Summer Season in Brighton, where Helen can sharpen her Reclaimer powers. Then the long-term effects of Carlston's Reclaimer work takes hold and his sanity begins to slip. At the same time, Carlston's Dark Days Club colleague and nemesis will stop at nothing to bring Helen over to his side--and the Duke of Selburn is determined to marry her. The stakes are ever higher for Helen, and her decision will truly change the world . . .

Atsuko’s father is a drunk, and she’s shunned by her classmates as "the poor kid." Walking the streets in a dark fog of despair, Atsuko cons perverts out of their money to survive. Then, one day, she meets Itaru, the heir to a wealthy family, who happens to look exactly like her. Itaru hatches a plan: Atsuko will live his tedious public life for him, and she will get a taste of the luxuries enjoyed by the 1%. Everybody’s (finally) happy. Right?