Whispers

A captivating picture book about a very soft-spoken little girl’s ultimately successful struggle to find her own voice.

A middle grade debut that's a heartrending coming-of-age tale, perfect for fans of Bridge to Terabithia and Counting By 7s. Eleven-year-old Riley believes in the whispers, magical fairies that will grant you wishes if you leave them tributes. Riley has a lot of wishes. He wishes bullies at school would stop picking on him. He wishes Dylan, his 8th grade crush, liked him, and Riley wishes he would stop wetting the bed. But most of all, Riley wishes for his mom to come back home. She disappeared a few months ago, and Riley is determined to crack the case. He even meets with a detective, Frank, to go over his witness statement time and time again. Frustrated with the lack of progress in the investigation, Riley decides to take matters into his own hands. So he goes on a camping trip with his friend Gary to find the whispers and ask them to bring his mom back home. But Riley doesn't realize the trip will shake the foundation of everything that he believes in forever.

A harrowing account of the Armenian Genocide documented through the stories of those who managed to survive and descendants who refuse to forget The grandchild of Armenians who escaped widespread massacres during the Ottoman Empire a century ago, Varujan Vosganian grew up in Romania hearing firsthand accounts of those who had witnessed horrific killings, burned villages, and massive deportations. In this moving chronicle of the Armenian people's almost unimaginable tragedy, the author transforms true events into a work of fiction firmly grounded in survivor testimonies and historical documentation. Across Syrian desert refugee camps, Russian tundra, and Romanian villages, the book chronicles individual lives destroyed by ideological and authoritarian oppression. But this novel tells an even wider human story. Evocative of all the great sufferings that afflicted the twentieth century--world wars, concentration camps, common graves, statelessness, and others--this book belongs to all peoples whose voices have been lost. Hailed for its documentary value and sensitive authenticity, Vosganian's work has become an international phenomenon.

A woman embarks on a desperate search for her missing best friend and uncovers a twisted web of lies in this “razor-sharp and impossible to put down” (Daily Mail, London) thriller from the internationally bestselling author of Her One Mistake. Anna loves Girls’ Night with her friends. With the kids safely in bed, it’s a chance for the women to let loose, enjoy some wine, and just laugh. But after one lively evening, Anna doesn’t arrive for school drop-off the next morning—or the next, or the next. Everyone, especially her husband and young son, is frantic with worry, but none more so than Grace, her childhood best friend. Grace is certain that someone is hiding the truth about Anna’s unexplained disappearance. As rumors fly and accusations are whispered among neighbors, Grace decides to take matters into her own hands and find out what happened to Anna…or die trying, in this “original, clever, and gripping thriller about toxic female friendships with a killer twist” (Claire Douglas, author of Just Like the Other Girls).

In a mesmerizing journey into mental illness, the author of Intoxication and Fire in the Brain captures the suspicion, terror, and rage that possess the minds of paranoids. "Horrifying and utterly fascinating . . . a hard book to put down".--Bettyann Kline, Los Angeles Times.

From the author of THE PUSH, a pageturner about four suburban families whose lives are changed when the unthinkable happens--and what is lost when good people make unconscionable choices The Loverlys sit by the hospital bed of their young son who is in a coma after falling from his bedroom window in the middle of the night; his mother, Whitney, will not speak to anyone. Back home, their friends and neighbors are left in shock, each confronting their own role in the events that led up to what happened that terrible night: the warm, altruistic Parks who are the Loverlys' best friends; the young, ambitious Goldsmiths who are struggling to start a family of their own; and the quiet, elderly Portuguese couple who care for their adult son with a developmental disability, and who pass the long days on the front porch, watching their neighbors go about their busy lives. The story spins out over the course of one week, in the alternating voices of the women in each family as they are forced to face the secrets within the walls of their own homes, and the uncomfortable truths that connect them all to one another. Set against the heartwrenching drama of what will happen to Xavier, who hangs between death and life, or a life changed forever, THE WHISPERS is a novel about what happens when we put our needs ahead of our children's. Exploring the quiet sacrifices of motherhood, the intuitions that we silence, the complexities of our closest friendships, and the danger of envy, this is a novel about the reverberations of life's most difficult decisions.

Tuscany, 1096 AD. Luca, young heir to the title of Conte de Falconi, sees demons. Since no one else can see them, Luca must keep quiet about what he sees, or risk another exorcism by the nefarious priest Ramberti. Luca also has dreams—dreams that sometimes predict the future. Night after night Luca sees his father murdered, and vows to stop it coming true. Even if he has to go against his father's wishes and follow him on the great pilgrimage to capture the Holy Lands. Far away in Cappadocia, Suzan has dreams too. Consigned with her mute mother to a life in an underground convent, she has a vision of a brown-haired boy riding through the desert. A boy with an ancient book that holds some inscrutable power. A boy who will take her on an adventure that will lead to places beyond both their understanding. Together, Luca and Suzan will realise their true quest: to defeat the forces of man and demon that wish to destroy the world. Kimberley Starr is a teacher and author based in Melbourne. Her debut novel, The Kingdom Where Nobody Dies, won the 2003 Queensland Premier's Literary Award for Best Emerging Author. She has a degree in mediaeval literature, and travelled through Turkey and Israel to research The Book of Whispers. ‘The Book of Whispers combines history, fantasy, romance and the brutality of the Middle Ages in a satisfyingly epic novel.’ Books+Publishing ‘The Book of Whispers is fast paced and bloody in parts, not shying away from the brutality of the period and the atrocities committed during the Crusades; but it also shrewdly challenges the reader to think about religion, extremism and tolerance—particularly in relation to a region where those topics have particular significance.’ Lamont Books ‘One of my favourites of this year.’ Tea in the Treetops ‘This fast paced and well developed story has a little bit of everything to provide you with an interesting foray into a historical journey through time. Grief, love, chaos, adventure, magic, and the Christian crusades into Jerusalem all melded together into a beguiling and beautiful novel.’ Artistic Bent ‘The Book of Whispers embraces its fantastical aspects without sacrificing the concrete, and offers an introspective glance into human nature.’ Foreword Reviews ‘An epic novel that merges history, make-believe, romance and the harshness of the Middle Ages.’ PS News

Children often begin their faith journey with basic but big questions like How does God speak to me? This charming picture book from the best-selling author of Whisper and his daughter provides a fun and clever answer! God Speaks in Whispers helps even the youngest readers look for God's voice in the universe: in creation, as he speaks through his followers, and in the Bible as he speaks through his Word. With a charming rhyme pattern and vivid pictures, Mark and Summer Batterson invite little ones to imagine how God might be showing them love every day, by leaning in close to hear God's whisper.