Nonna is a kind grandmother who takes care of the creatures of the forest behind her home. On a summer day she discovers the woods she has loved will be destroyed. With little time to spare Nonna hatches an idea to protect its inhabitants. How will she save the animals that call it home?

Good luck getting anything else accomplished once you are hooked on the the heart-pounding adventures of flame-haired, investigative journalist, Kendall O'Dell! Adventure #1, she stumbles upon a dark conspiracy when she accepts a position at a small newspaper in the remote desert town of Castle Valley, Arizona. Why did her predecessor suddenly vanish while working on the unsolved deaths of two teenage girls? Why is the woman operating the local shelter so secretive? And how is attractive rancher Bradley Talverson involved? When Kendall discovers the body of a third teen in the desert, her life hangs in the balance as she strives to uncover the horrifying secret.

Thoughtful, poignant, and hilarious personal essays collected by the editors of Creative Nonfiction explore the meanings of Italian-American identity. In the twenty-one nonfiction narratives collected in Our Roots Are Deep with Passion, established and emerging writers with family ties to Italy reflect on the ways that their lives have been accented with uniquely Italian-American flavors. Several of the essays breathe new life into the time-honored theme of family—Louise DeSalvo honors her grandfather, nick-named “the drunk” because he spent his life of hard work drinking wine instead of water, and James Vescovi portrays the close of the stormy relationship between his father and grandmother. Other stories tackle the mystical side of Italian-American life, like Laura Valeri’s account of a summer vacation séance in Sardinia that goes eerily awry. And elsewhere, Stephanie Susnjara charts the history of garlic in society and her kitchen, and Gina Barreca offers an unabashed confession of congenital jealousy. Lee Gutkind, founding editor of Creative Nonfiction, the nation’s premier nonfiction prose literary journal, and Joanna Clapps Herman have brought together artful essays by novelists, scholars, critics, and memoirists from across the country. The pieces are as varied as their authors, but all explore the unique intersections of language, tradition, cuisine, and culture that characterize the diverse experience of Americans of Italian heritage.

Appealing to readers of Delia Owens’ Where the Crawdads Sing, Kristin Hannah’s Firefly Lane, and Ann Packer’s The Dive from Clausen’s Pier, Belonging is a heartbreaking and hopeful coming of age story that traverses lifelong friendship, first love, and a young woman’s fierce desire to transcend her traumatic childhood. Jenny is thirteen when an epic dust storm rolls into her central California town in December 1977. Bedridden after contracting a life-threatening illness in the storm and suffering a shocking loss, Jenny realizes she will never be cared for by the mother who both neglects and terrifies her or the father who allows it. She relies on her cousin, Heather, who has the loving home Jenny longs for; her beloved great-uncle, Gino, the last link between generations; her best friend, Henry, a free spirit with whom she shares an inexplicable bond; and earnest baseball star, Billy, who becomes her first love. After a stunning turn of events in both their lives, Jenny and Henry leave for college in LA together in the summer of 1982—Jenny fleeing a broken heart, and Henry running from something he can’t reveal, even to his best friend. When she returns home years later, the life Jenny so carefully created collides with the one she left behind. Spanning three decades, Belonging is about first love and heartbreak, friendship and secrets, family and forgiveness, hometowns and coming of age, and memory and music. The heart of the story is Jenny’s struggle to undo the binds of a childhood that have deeply affected her life, the painful path to love endured by children raised in alcoholic families, and the grim reality of believing you must hide a part of yourself in order to belong.

Rome is steeped in history and tradition, and this is reflected in the sheer vibrancy and variety of its food. In As the Romans Do, Instagram star and Roman native Eleonora Galasso will take you on a journey amongst the houses, the sanpietrini, the tiny side streets, the palazzos, the traditions, the community and the hidden gems of this never ending, always eternal city. From quick and earthy breakfasts and vivacious al fresco meals to brilliant off-the-cuff dinner parties, you will find a recipe to suit every occasion.

Captivated by the eyes of the Lord of all creation, seventeen-year-old Jenny Kelly thought she was dead. Her four minutes ended a long time ago. After the banquet held in her honor, Jesus said He would like her to do a few special things for Him. He had plans for her back on earth and gave her a few things to ponder. One, to teach a girls' Bible study""no problem. Two, to continue to grow into a godly woman and marry the godly man He set before her. What? Who? He didn't say who He was talking about. Which godly man? Nate is not the only one anymore. Her mom, Kathy, has no idea Jenny is near death and thus is on an angel picture scavenger hunt in the Sanctuary of the Seraphim. She discovers more architectural mysteries about the sanctuary, which include how and why the owners built it and how the angels came to abide there. Will she be able to restore the sanctuary to its intended historical and functional splendor? Click here for Skylar's website

A study of the representation of reading in early modern Englishwomen's writing, this book exists at the intersection of textual criticism and cultural history. It looks at depictions of reading in devotional works, maternal advice books, poetry, fiction, and manuscripts for evidence of ways in which women conceived of reading in sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century England. Among the texts considered are Katherine Parr, Lamentation of a Sinner; Anne Askew, The Examinations of Anne Askew; Dorothy Leigh, The Mothers Blessing; Elizabeth Grymeston, Miscelanea Meditations Memoratives; Anne Cornwallis's commonplace book (Folger MS V.a.89); Aemelia Lanyer, Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum; The Death and Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Bodleian MS Don.e.17), and Mary Wroth, The First Part of The Countess of Montgomery's Urania.