The Duke S Children

After enduring two seasons in London, Daphne Bridgerton is no longer naive enough to believe she will be able to be marry for love. But is it really too much to hope for a husband for whom she at least has some affection? Her brother's old school friend Simon Basset - the new Duke of Hastings - has no intention of ever marrying. However, newly returned to England, he finds himself the target of the many marriage-minded society mothers who remain convinced that reformed rakes make the best husbands. To deflect their attention, the handsome hell-raiser proposes to Daphne that they pretend an attachment. In return, his interest in Daphne will ensure she becomes the belle of London society with suitors beating a path to her door. There's just one problem, Daphne is in very real danger of falling for a man who has no intention of making their charade a reality...

The Duke of Fenwick is a reprobate. Which is why it has always been up to Teddy Middleton, the second son, to run the estate and both their lives. But the Duke is full of surprises--the latest one a wedding. For Teddy. To the Duke's best friend's sister, Juliette. Finding herself in church for her own surprise wedding was unnerving, to be sure. But to avoiding scandal seemed to be the most prudent thing to do, so Juliette said, "I do." She'd make the best of it and hope Teddy wouldn't be harder to take care of than her previous household had been. She simply had no idea how she could manage two estates on her own. After a disastrous wedding night, Teddy and Juliette don't have very high hopes for a life of wedded bliss. As they forge ahead with resolute chagrin, it begins to dawn on them both that they are allies in the same war for sanity among their crazy relations. Mutual admiration turns to friendship which turns to...something neither one ever expected. But the Duke has one more surprise for them both--one that will change everything.

What exactly is goodness? Where is it found in the literary imagination? Toni Morrison, one of American letters’ greatest voices, pondered these perplexing questions in her celebrated Ingersoll Lecture, delivered at Harvard University in 2012 and published now for the first time in book form. Perhaps because it is overshadowed by the more easily defined evil, goodness often escapes our attention. Recalling many literary examples, from Ahab to Coetzee’s Michael K, Morrison seeks the essence of goodness and ponders its significant place in her writing. She considers the concept in relation to unforgettable characters from her own works of fiction and arrives at conclusions that are both eloquent and edifying. In a lively interview conducted for this book, Morrison further elaborates on her lecture’s ideas, discussing goodness not only in literature but in society and history—particularly black history, which has responded to centuries of brutality with profound creativity. Morrison’s essay is followed by a series of responses by scholars in the fields of religion, ethics, history, and literature to her thoughts on goodness and evil, mercy and love, racism and self-destruction, language and liberation, together with close examination of literary and theoretical expressions from her works. Each of these contributions, written by a scholar of religion, considers the legacy of slavery and how it continues to shape our memories, our complicities, our outcries, our lives, our communities, our literature, and our faith. In addition, the contributors engage the religious orientation in Morrison’s novels so that readers who encounter her many memorable characters such as Sula, Beloved, or Frank Money will learn and appreciate how Morrison’s notions of goodness and mercy also reflect her understanding of the sacred and the human spirit.

From a Newbery Honor author, a boy loans his dog to the US Army during World War II in this “incisive tale of loyalty, patriotism, sacrifice and bravery” (Publishers Weekly). Hanson is determined to do his part to help his family and his country, even if it means giving up his beloved German shepherd, Duke. Hoping to help end the war and bring his dad home faster, Hobie decides to donate Duke to Dogs for Defense, an organization that urges Americans to “loan” their pets to the military to act as sentries, mine sniffers, and patrol dogs. Hobie immediately regrets his decision and tries everything he can to get Duke back, even jeopardizing his friendship with the new boy at school. But when his father is taken prisoner by the Germans, Hobie realizes he must let Duke go and reach deep within himself to be brave. Will Hobie ever see Duke, or his father, again? Will life ever be the same? “Exceptionally well-crafted and emotionally authentic.” —Kirkus Reviews