Most fairytales end with a wedding and a happily-ever-after—but this is no fairytale. The first volume of the official webcomic based on the hit webnovel by Suji Kim. When stuttering Lady Maximilian is forced to marry Sir Riftan, a lowborn knight caught in one of her father’s schemes, her stumbling communication and his gruff manner sour their relationship before it can begin. Riftan leaves for war the morning after their disastrous wedding night, and it’s three years before Maxi sees him again. Now, the husband she barely knows is a war hero. And when he comes home to claim her, Maxi will need to master her own bewildering desire—and Riftan’s—before she can hope to become the true mistress of their enormous castle estate. That task will demand courage from Maxi, even as she struggles to find her own voice. This volume collects episodes 1-24 of Under the Oak Tree, the #1 webcomic on MANTA.

Most fairytales end with a wedding and a happily-ever-after – but this is no fairytale. The first volume of the official webcomic based on the hit webnovel by Suji Kim. When stuttering Lady Maximilian is forced to marry Sir Riftan, a low-born knight caught in one of her father’s schemes, her stumbling communication and his gruff manner sour their relationship before it can begin. Riftan leaves for war the morning after their disastrous wedding night, and it’s three years before Maxi sees him again. Now, the husband she barely knows is a war hero. And when he comes home to claim her, Maxi will need to master her own bewildering desire – and Riftan’s – before she can hope to become the true mistress of their enormous castle estate. That task will demand courage from Maxi, even as she struggles to find her own voice. Volume 1 collects Episodes 1-24 of the webcomic.

Just when Lindsey Miller has overcome the shattered dreams of her past, the man who shattered those dreams shows up again. Just when Lindsey's sister has erased the sordid life she used to lead, a young man with high ideals asks her to become part of his life. Forgetting and moving on requires all of them to learn how to forgive family, friends, each other, and themselves before they can be happy. Forgiveness must be offered and accepted, but once it is, it consumes everything in its path and lets new life begin again. Under the Burr Oak Tree is a story of forgiveness, the grace that allows it, and the love that can grow out of it. Full of the hope and strength of a young woman who dares to dream of a better life, and laced with the humor she uses as both a sword and a shield to rescue her sister, her mother, and ultimately herself, the story argues that good guys still exist, and they don't always finish last.

An historical play written and directed by Michael Lilienthal and performed by Board members and friends of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod Historical Society.

Hurricane Charlie strikes without warning, devastating Orlando and the treetop realm of Dreylanda secret society of urban birds and animals. The desperate wildlife migrates to other neighborhood groves defended by hostile residents. Worst of all, the Winter Slayer, a specter with power over death, reigns supreme in the carnage and destruction. In this chaotic post-hurricane setting, we see the power of the Creator, and of family and friendship eclipsing death as two wayward squirrels, Notch and Fuzzy, encounter Reek-Lee, Spook and other dangerous predators while searching for Heaven on Earththe legendary Nirvana tree. The story is told by Q, a wise old mother tree, and revolves around the three animals ruling in a Troika: Sage, a raccoon prophetess; Notch, the governor; and the regulator, a cat aptly called Dagger. They enjoy very long lives, in fact near immortality. But, after many seasons, a grudge between Dagger and Notch boils over into mortal combat, breaking the Troika, and releasing the Winter Slayer to claim what its long been denied. More than a modern-day animal story, in Diary of an Oak Tree we time-travel from Dreyland, back to the magical Age of Oaks, where rebellious men fought nature itself in the Battle of the Valley of Nigh, changing the Earth forever.

A heart is said to be the powerhouse of the emotion that we all long to be drowned into—love. Yet, what happens when you no longer have a heart to love? That even the heart that beats inside you ceased to acknowledge its mere existence? Nevertheless, it is said that the only way to know if you still have love is to know that love cannot exist without a heart—or so they thought. No Heart Left to Love is a poetry and prose collection that pertains to all things about love, family, romance, heartbreaks and heartaches, betrayal, loss, longingness , unrequited love, and whether you still have what it takes to love—a living, beating heart within your chest.

It was the summer of storms and strays and strangers. The summer that lightning struck the big oak tree in the front yard. The summer his mother died in a tragic accident. As he recalls the tumultuous events that launched a surprising journey, Samuel can still hardly believe it all happened. After his mother's death, twelve-year-old Samuel Chambers would do anything to bring her back. Prompted by three strange carnival fortune-tellers and the surfacing of his mysterious and reclusive neighbor, Sam begins his search for the Tree of Life--the only thing that could possibly bring his mother back. His quest to defeat death entangles him and his best friend Abra in an ancient conflict and forces Sam to grapple with an unwelcome question: could it be possible that death is a gift? Haunting and hypnotic, The Day the Angels Fell explores the difficult questions of life in a voice that is fresh, friendly, and unafraid. With this powerful story, Shawn Smucker has carved out a spot for himself in the tradition of authors Madeleine L'Engle and Lois Lowry.

Botanical, a new series from Reaktion, is the first to integrate horticultural writing with a broader account of the cultural and social impact of plants. Oak, one of the first two books in the series, narrates the biography of the tree that since time immemorial has been a symbol of loyalty, strength, generosity, and renewal. Peter Young explores how the oak, native to the northern hemisphere and found in locations as diverse as the Americas and tropical Asia, has played an important role in state-building, art, folk tales, poems, and songs. Starting with the pagan societies that venerated the oak, Young examines how the tree was used in other religions, revealing how it was believed to be a gateway between worlds in Celtic mythology and later became sacred to Thor in Norse mythology. He follows the oak as it was adopted by many Western European countries as a national symbol, including England, France, and Germany. The United States Congress designated the oak as America’s national tree in 2004, and it is the state tree of Iowa, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, and Georgia. Individual oak trees have also gained historical importance, such as the Charter Oak in Hartford, Connecticut, which became a symbol of American independence. In addition to tracing the history of the tree itself, Young investigates oak as a wood used to make furniture, bridges, wine casks, homes, ships, weapons, and even the electric chair, and he describes how the tree has been used as a food source—its fruit, the acorn, was eaten in ancient Greece, ancient Iberia, and Korea, and it was a traditional food of Native Americans. Packed with information and beautiful illustrations, Oak tells the fascinating tale of this stately, durable member of the natural world.

"My American Harp" presents 1,169 poems written 2010-2014 by Surazeus that explore what it means to be an American in the modern world of an interconnected global civilization.