The Wicked Tree

Deep in the woods, a gnarled tree grows. Its thick, black trunk twists angrily up into the night sky. Held in place by the magic of a long-ago patriarch, it has waited centuries to lure a descendant into its trap. When Tavorian Kreet and his mom move in with his great-grandmother, Tav is forbidden to go into the woods on the estate. But like most eleven-year-olds, he just can't resist. After secretly exploring the woods, Tav begins having dreams about a supernatural tree. Soon, the dreams change from pleasant to dark and menacing. On a dare, Tav ventures farther into the woods with his new friend, Harper. There, they meet a mysterious, mute boy named Edward who lives in a decrepit cabin nearby. Afraid, and unable to speak, Edward scrawls "Wicked Tree" on the ground. Determined to help Edward, Tav enlists Harper, and they search the estate for clues to Edward's identity and how to help him. With Harper's help, Tav pieces together the Kreet family history and discovers an ancient curse. If Tav wants to save his friends and family, he must go into the heart of the woods, find the Wicked Tree, and confront a most evil magic. THE WICKED TREE, a MG dark fantasy that will appeal to fans of Jonathan Auxier's THE NIGHT GARDENER and Mary Downing Hahn's TOOK. If you love SERAFINA AND THE BLACK CLOAK, then THE WICKED TREE is for you!

This book contains sixty-five old-time bedtime stories! Two opposite faces of Tortoise’s character are revealed here: the good and the bad. Tortoise, once loved and respected for his kindness, hard work, persistence, patience, wisdom, and super intelligence to dig out and solve the toughest puzzles or the most difficult and mysterious problems, is the same Tortoise who lost all that to lying, tricking, selfishness, revengefulness, greed, stealing, jealousy, and exploiting others’ weaknesses under the pretense of helping when he is actually out to hurt those he claims to help so as to achieve his goals. Parents, teachers, or others who use these stories for moral and life skills education should emphasize genuine moral values or virtues and also point out that how one gets to one’s goal should be as morally sound as the goal itself. So their discretion is crucial when addressing moral relativism, if any is obvious.

Squire Vane was an elderly schoolboy of English education and Irish extraction. His English education, at one of the great public schools, had preserved his intellect perfectly and permanently at the stage of boyhood. But his Irish extraction subconsciously upset in him the proper solemnity of an old boy, and sometimes gave him back the brighter outlook of a naughty boy. He had a bodily impatience which played tricks upon him almost against his will, and had already rendered him rather too radiant a failure in civil and diplomatic service. Thus it is true that compromise is the key of British policy, especially as effecting an impartiality among the religions of India; but Vane's attempt to meet the Moslem halfway by kicking off one boot at the gates of the mosque, was felt not so much to indicate true impartiality as something that could only be called an aggressive indifference. Again, it is true that an English aristocrat can hardly enter fully into the feelings of either party in a quarrel between a Russian Jew and an Orthodox procession carrying relics; but Vane's idea that the procession might carry the Jew as well, himself a venerable and historic relic, was misunderstood on both sides. In short, he was a man who particularly prided himself on having no nonsense about him; with the result that he was always doing nonsensical things. He seemed to be standing on his head merely to prove that he was hard-headed. He had just finished a hearty breakfast, in the society of his daughter, at a table under a tree in his garden by the Cornish coast. For, having a glorious circulation, he insisted on as many outdoor meals as possible, though spring had barely touched the woods and warmed the seas round that southern extremity of England. His daughter Barbara, a good-looking girl with heavy red hair and a face as grave as one of the garden statues, still sat almost motionless as a statue when her father rose. A fine tall figure in light clothes, with his white hair and mustache flying backwards rather fiercely from a face that was good-humored enough, ...

Make storytime a little spookier this fall with fantasy master Ray Bradbury as he takes readers on a riveting trip though space and time to discover the true origins of Halloween. Join the shadowy Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud as he takes eight trick-or-treaters on an unforgettable journey to find their missing friend, Pip. Travel through space and time, from the tombs of ancient Egypt to the gargoyles of Notre-Dame Cathedral, all the way to the cemeteries of Mexico on el Día de Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. Is Pip still alive? And if so, can his friends save him from a ghastly fate before it’s too late? "If you want to know what Halloween is, or if you simply want an eerie adventure, take this mystery history trip. You couldn't ask for better than master fantasizer Ray Bradbury." --The Boston Globe

Paul wrote to Timothy concerning the dangers of the last days in which we live: "But understand this, that in the last days, dangerous times [of great stress and trouble] will come [difficult days that will be hard to bear]." Although darkness covers the earth and a mist of darkness is over the people, the Lord will rise upon His two witnesses, the two olive trees of Revelation 11 whose oil brings light for the Church to see by in these last days. The pressure from the world's system of witchcraft (Babylon) will crush God's two anointed ones, favorably emitting the golden oil to the nations of the world. The testimonies of these two end-time prophets will bear witness to the power of the gospel as they are given the grace to prevail over the things they suffer. They will bear the fruit of the kingdom (from the metaphorical tree of life), and their lives will produce evidence that God's power is with them to destroy the wicked (serpent) seed. They will be living proof of God's authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19).