Two Little Girls In Blue

Margaret and Steve Frawley celebrate the third birthday of their twin girls, Kelly and Kathy, with an afternoon party in their new home. That evening, Steve and Margaret attend a black-tie dinner in New York. On returning home, the police are in the house, the babysitter has been found unconscious, the children are gone and a note demanding an eight million dollar ransom has been left in their room. Steve firm agrees to pay the ransom. The kidnapper, who identifies himself as the "Pied Piper", makes his terms known - on delivery of the ransom, a call will come revealing the girls' whereabouts. The call comes, but only Kelly is in the car parked behind a deserted restaurant. The driver is dead from a gunshot wound and has left a suicide note, saying he had inadvertently killed Kathy and had dumped her body in the ocean. At the private memorial Mass for Kathy, Kelly tugs Margaret's arm and says: "Mommy, Kathy is very scared of that lady. She wants to come home right now." More unexplainable occurrences follow, indicating that Kelly is in touch with Kathy. At first, no one except the mother believes that the twins are communicating and that Kelly is still alive. As Kelly's warnings become increasingly specific and alarming, however, the FBI agents set out on a search for Kathy. As they close in on the Pied Piper and his accomplices, Kathy's life hangs on a thread.

Jo B. Paoletti's journey through the history of children's clothing began when she posed the question, "When did we start dressing girls in pink and boys in blue?" To uncover the answer, she looks at advertising, catalogs, dolls, baby books, mommy blogs and discussion forums, and other popular media to examine the surprising shifts in attitudes toward color as a mark of gender in American children's clothing. She chronicles the decline of the white dress for both boys and girls, the introduction of rompers in the early 20th century, the gendering of pink and blue, the resurgence of unisex fashions, and the origins of today's highly gender-specific baby and toddler clothing.

When her home is destroyed in a bombing raid over London, Miranda Beddoes is forced to take refuge with her grandparents down on the Dorset coast. With both her parents doing their duty for king and country, Miranda longs to do the same. She joins the WAAF and is soon working hard to help win the war. Despite her determination to dedicate herself to her work, Miranda falls for charismatic fighter pilot Gil Maddern – a man known for his recklessness and passion for flying. As the battle rages in the skies above them and she learns that Gil’s plane has been hit, it is only the friendship of her fellow girls in blue that keeps Miranda going as she waits for news...

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The bestselling, "gripping" (Entertainment Weekly), "powerful" (Hypable), "utterly thrilling" (Paste.com) winner of the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery, perfect for readers of Kristin Hannah and Ruta Sepetys. Amsterdam, 1943. Hanneke spends her days procuring and delivering sought-after black market goods to paying customers, her nights hiding the true nature of her work from her concerned parents, and every waking moment mourning her boyfriend, who was killed on the Dutch front lines when the Germans invaded. She likes to think of her illegal work as a small act of rebellion. On a routine delivery, a client asks Hanneke for help. Expecting to hear that Mrs. Janssen wants meat or kerosene, Hanneke is shocked by the older woman's frantic plea to find a person--a Jewish teenager Mrs. Janssen had been hiding, who has vanished without a trace from a secret room. Hanneke initially wants nothing to do with such dangerous work, but is ultimately drawn into a web of mysteries and stunning revelations that lead her into the heart of the resistance, open her eyes to the horrors of the Nazi war machine, and compel her to take desperate action. Beautifully written, intricately plotted, and meticulously researched, Girl in the Blue Coat is an extraordinary novel about bravery, grief, and love in impossible times. Don't miss The War Outside and They Went Left, two more gripping historical novels by Monica Hesse

Jane Hadley has nothing to lose when she runs away to join the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. Whatever faces her in war-torn London can't be any worse than staying at home with her abusive father... The city is nothing like she could have imagined, but she's soon on the move, travelling from base to base for her top-secret training. Making plenty of new friends along the way, it doesn't take long for Jane to embrace her growing confidence - especially under the attentive eye of dashing Officer Oscar Stanton. Life as an independent woman is as rewarding as it is exciting, until Jane's father tracks her down and it crashes to a halt. Jane will need all her new-found strength to find her way back to the frontline - and to the man she's fallen for...

An innocent girl is taken. The killer confesses. But that’s not the whole story. That’s not even the beginning... It’s 1985 and the disappearance of twelve-year-old Lisa Cook shocks the nation. Her best friend, Kirsty, traumatised and fearful, gives evidence that helps to put the Cook family’s lodger behind bars. …But what if Kirsty made a mistake? Now, decades later, Kirsty leaves a life she loves to move back to the hometown she hates – tortured by her memories, she’s determined to finally uncover the truth about what happened to Lisa that day. But someone is waiting for her there, someone close to her family. Someone who is hoping to finish off a job that was started years ago… An absolutely gripping emotional drama for fans of The Couple Next Door, Whisper Me This and Laura Elliot. What everyone's saying about Two Little Girls: ‘Ohhhhh my goodness!! Frances Vick is truly a master storyteller! I was hook, line, and sinker from the first page… This novel made the hair on the back of my head stand up and gave the chills more times than I can count, the twists and turns were perfectly timed! I highly recommend all thriller fans 1-click this 5-star read!’ Steph and Chris’s Book Review, 5 stars ‘Thrilling! Just when you think you have figured out who the real culprit of the story is, think again! This is a well-crafted psychological thriller to keep you reading well into the night.’ Once Upon a Time Book Reviews ‘It was a thrilling read, a fast-paced thriller. I enjoyed the author's writing style. It kept me flipping the pages just want to find out what happened. It could be your favourite spring read.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars ‘Well-written, fast-paced, and thrilling. A very engaging book.’ Goodreads reviewer ‘…Compelling psychological thriller which contains many unpredictable twists… believable and compelling.’ Goodreads reviewer ‘A fast-paced psychological thriller that will have you guessing up until the final pages. A thirty year old mystery will be revisited, and the answers that result are anything but predictable… the manipulation of childhood memories at the core, the author crafts a diabolical tale that will fully engage the reader.’ Goodreads reviewer ‘This is a well-written, gripping and pacey crime thriller with well-laid and engaging characters.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

Far off the coast of California looms a harsh rock known as the island of San Nicholas. Dolphins flash in the blue waters around it, sea otter play in the vast kep beds, and sea elephants loll on the stony beaches. Here, in the early 1800s, according to history, an Indian girl spent eighteen years alone, and this beautifully written novel is her story. It is a romantic adventure filled with drama and heartache, for not only was mere subsistence on so desolate a spot a near miracle, but Karana had to contend with the ferocious pack of wild dogs that had killed her younger brother, constantly guard against the Aleutian sea otter hunters, and maintain a precarious food supply. More than this, it is an adventure of the spirit that will haunt the reader long after the book has been put down. Karana's quiet courage, her Indian self-reliance and acceptance of fate, transform what to many would have been a devastating ordeal into an uplifting experience. From loneliness and terror come strength and serenity in this Newbery Medal-winning classic.