In sixteenth-century Mexico, a fearless young woman strives to uncover the secrets her mother kept as the last Aztec empress in a sweeping historical epic by the author of Daughter of Fire. Tenochtitlan, 1551. Thirty years after the Spanish Conquest destroyed everything she loved, the last Aztec empress has passed and left behind a pristine yet tenuous legacy for her children. As her last will and testament is read out, her daughter Isabel suspects that another account of her mother’s life may exist, hidden away chapter by chapter in the Valley of Mexico. Following each clue, Isabel is determined to find out who her mother really was and to discover the secrets she buried in order to survive. Joined by her siblings and a handsome young cook named Juan, the party embarks on a perilous journey to piece together the past—a journey that will force them to brave the brutal viceroyal court, face fearsome legends in mystical chinampas, and trek through desert, fire, and snow. As Isabel’s feelings for Juan grow, she confronts everything she thought she knew about her Spanish father, her empress mother, and herself. From the tunnels of ancient pyramids to the summit of an active volcano, Isabel will meet every challenge to fulfill an epic quest for the truth.

Author of the Newbery Honor book An Ode to the Fresh Cut and National Book Award finalist Victory. Stand!, Derrick Barnes tackles timely issues of race and prejudice in this powerful, nuanced middle grade novel about an accomplished Black boy who strives to be seen as human.In the small town of Great Mountain, Mississippi, all eyes are on Henson Blayze, a thirteen-year-old football phenom who many have wondered if he was super-human. The predominately white townsfolk have been waiting for Henson to play high-school ball, and now they’re overjoyed to finally possess an elite Black athlete of their own.Until a horrifying incident forces Henson to speak out about injustice.Until he says that he might not play football anymore.Until he quickly learns he isn’t as loved by the people as he thought.In that moment, Henson’s town is divided into two chaotic sides when all he wants is justice. Even his best friends and his father can’t see eye to eye. When he is told to play ball again or else, Henson must decide whether he was born to entertain people who may not even see him as human, or if he’s destined for a different kind of greatness.Derrick Barnes’s groundbreaking novel masterfully combines a modern-day allegory with classic-style tall tales to weave a compelling story of America’s strange obsession with the Black body, relegated to labor or entertainment. Spanning the 1800s to today, it shows how much has changed over centuries. . . and, at the same time, how little.

A darkly comic mystery by the author of Hark and The Ask set in the vibrant music scene of early 1990s New York City. Manhattan’s East Village, 1993. Dive bars, DIY music venues, shady weirdos, and hard drugs are plentiful. Crime is high but rent is low, luring hopeful, creative kids from sleepy suburbs around the country. One of these is Jack S., a young New Jersey rock musician. Just a few days before his band’s biggest gig, their lead singer goes missing with Jack’s prized bass, presumably to hock it to feed his junk habit. Jack’s search for his buddy uncovers a sinister entanglement of crimes tied to local real estate barons looking to remake New York City—and who might also be connected to the recent death of Jack’s punk rock mentor. Along the way, Jack encounters a cast of colorful characters, including a bewitching, quick-witted scenester who favors dressing in a nurse’s outfit, a monstrous hired killer with a devotion to both figure skating and edged weapons, a deranged if prophetic postwar novelist, and a tough-talking cop who fancies himself a retro-cool icon of the homicide squad but is harboring a surprising secret. No One Left to Come Looking for You is a page-turning suspense novel that also serves as a love letter to a bygone era of New York City where young artists could still afford to chase their dreams.

Engage Your Readers with Emotion While writers might disagree over showing versus telling or plotting versus pantsing, none would argue If you want to write strong fiction, you must make your readers feel. The reader's experience must be an emotional journey of its own, one as involving as your characters' struggles, discoveries, and triumphs are for you. That's where The Emotional Craft of Fiction comes in. Veteran literary agent and expert fiction instructor Donald Maass shows you how to use story to provoke a visceral and emotional experience in readers. Topics covered    • emotional modes of writing    • beyond showing versus telling    • your story's emotional world    • moral stakes    • connecting the inner and outer journeys    • plot as emotional opportunities    • invoking higher emotions, symbols, and emotional language    • cascading change    • story as emotional mirror    • positive spirit and magnanimous writing    • the hidden current that makes stories move Readers can simply read a novel...or they can experience it. The Emotional Craft of Fiction shows you how to make that happen.

A darkly comic mystery by the author of Hark and The Ask set in the vibrant music scene of early 1990s New York City. Manhattan’s East Village, 1993. Dive bars, DIY music venues, shady weirdos, and hard drugs are plentiful. Crime is high but rent is low, luring hopeful, creative kids from sleepy suburbs around the country. One of these is Jack S., a young New Jersey rock musician. Just a few days before his band’s biggest gig, their lead singer goes missing with Jack’s prized bass, presumably to hock it to feed his junk habit. Jack’s search for his buddy uncovers a sinister entanglement of crimes tied to local real estate barons looking to remake New York City—and who might also be connected to the recent death of Jack’s punk rock mentor. Along the way, Jack encounters a cast of colorful characters, including a bewitching, quick-witted scenester who favors dressing in a nurse’s outfit, a monstrous hired killer with a devotion to both figure skating and edged weapons, a deranged if prophetic postwar novelist, and a tough-talking cop who fancies himself a retro-cool icon of the homicide squad but is harboring a surprising secret. No One Left to Come Looking for You is a page-turning suspense novel that also serves as a love letter to a bygone era of New York City where young artists could still afford to chase their dreams.

In this riveting and adventure-packed follow-up to the award-winning New York Times bestseller Peter and the Starcatchers, Peter leaves the relative safety of Mollusk Island - along with his trusted companion, Tinker Bell - for the dark and dangerous streets of London. On a difficult journey across the sea, he and Tink discover the mysterious and deadly Lord Ombra, who is intent on recovering the missing starstuff - celestial dust that contains unimagined powers. In London, Peter attempts to track down the indomitable Molly, hoping that together they can combat Ombra's determined forces. But London is not Mollusk Island; Peter is not the boy he used to be; and Lord Ombra - the Shadow Master - is unlike anything Peter, or the world, has ever seen. Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson have done it again - written a compulsively readable, magical, impossible-to-put-down tale that will delight readers of all ages.

In a world where men rule and slavery is the common practice, being the only queen and abolishing slavery puts a large target on your back. Ashera is a queen in a world of kings. She took her crown and has paid for it in blood. Not everyone is willing to let her rule in peace, however, especially not the neighboring kingdoms for whom human slavery is still very much in practice. Ashera continues to bleed for her crown while showing each kingdom that men aren’t the only ones who can rule. But when a resistance against Ashera’s rule grows, she’s forced to realize that she can’t create widespread change on her own. She’ll need to win the hearts of the men who rule alongside her if she’s to crush the resistance and free all of humanity. Seducing them is easy, she’s a succubus with lithe curves and a wicked tongue. It’s getting them to change their minds that is the challenge. Especially when she’s faced with an unruly and violent Vampire Prince, an over the top dramatic Fae Prince, an Angelic king, and a Demonic assassin. They’re all alpha males in their own right, each one thinking they know what’s best for their queen. Unfortunately for them, she has no intention of listening.

All martyrdoms are difficult. Elfreda Raughn will avoid pregnancy if it kills her, and one way or another, it will kill her. Though she’s able to stomach her gruesome day-to-day duties, the reality of preserving the Sisterhood of Aytrium’s magical bloodline horrifies her. She wants out, whatever the cost. So when a shadowy cabal approaches Elfreda with an offer of escape, she leaps at the opportunity. As their spy, she gains access to the highest reaches of the Sisterhood, and enters a glittering world of opulent parties, subtle deceptions, and unexpected bloodshed. A phantasmagorical indictment of hereditary power, Star Eater takes readers deep into a perilous and uncanny world where even the most powerful women are forced to choose what sacrifices they will make, so that they might have any choice at all.

In this riveting and adventure-packed follow-up to the award-winning New York Times bestseller Peter and the Starcatchers, Peter leaves the relative safety of Mollusk Island - along with his trusted companion, Tinker Bell - for the dark and dangerous streets of London. On a difficult journey across the sea, he and Tink discover the mysterious and deadly Lord Ombra, who is intent on recovering the missing starstuff - celestial dust that contains unimagined powers. In London, Peter attempts to track down the indomitable Molly, hoping that together they can combat Ombra's determined forces. But London is not Mollusk Island; Peter is not the boy he used to be; and Lord Ombra - the Shadow Master - is unlike anything Peter, or the world, has ever seen. Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson have done it again - written a compulsively readable, magical, impossible-to-put-down tale that will delight readers of all ages.

In book one of a seductive sapphic paranormal fantasy, a vampire hunter goes undercover at a mysterious university and falls in love with her roommate, an alluring vampire. “Then her red eyes are on mine, gentle, deadly. She takes her time kissing my neck. I pull her closer and say: Bite me.” In the mists of the Scottish Highlands is a university where vampire students study alongside humans. Rebecca Charity is a vampire hunter undercover at the university, searching for the mysterious Book of Blood and Roses, a lost compendium of ways to kill vampires. If she finds it, she’ll be one step closer to avenging her parents, who were slain by those creatures of the night. But when Rebecca arrives, she finds something unexpected: a coffin. Her new roommate is Aliz Astra, scion of one of the most powerful vampire families... and the most beautiful woman Rebecca has ever met. The maddeningly gorgeous Aliz is everything that Rebecca has always hated, but also everything she ever wanted, and now Rebecca doesn't know if she wants to kiss or kill her. When Aliz rescues her from a vampire attack one moonlit night, she accidentally makes Rebecca her familiar. Now, they must work together to break the curse, but as they get closer to solving the mystery, Rebecca and Aliz get closer, too. But can a vampire hunter ever fall in love with a vampire?

In a kingdom where dance is forbidden, a future high priestess must bend the rules to stop an ancient evil from destroying everything and everyone she loves, including the crown prince, in this sweeping romantasy graphic novel. Eighteen-year-old Myra has spent her entire life training to replace her grandmother as High Priestess. But with the day of her ascension rapidly approaching, she’s not sure if she’s meant for this path. How can she become the herald of the god Alrun when he forbids the thing she loves most: dancing? Her kingdom can’t afford her hesitation though. Not only is the emperor looking for Alrun’s wisdom ahead of a peace treaty, but forces of darkness are seeping through the barrier between worlds. The only source of light Myra has is her childhood best friend, the crown prince. Without his support and…love, she may not be able to stop what’s coming. To save her people, Myra must delve into her kingdom’s forgotten history, even if it means defying the laws of the land. But the key to salvation may just require her to make the biggest sacrifice of all.

In book one of a seductive sapphic paranormal fantasy, a vampire hunter goes undercover at a mysterious university and falls in love with her roommate, an alluring vampire. “Then her red eyes are on mine, gentle, deadly. She takes her time kissing my neck. I pull her closer and say: Bite me.” In the mists of the Scottish Highlands is a university where vampire students study alongside humans. Rebecca Charity is a vampire hunter undercover at the university, searching for the mysterious Book of Blood and Roses, a lost compendium of ways to kill vampires. If she finds it, she’ll be one step closer to avenging her parents, who were slain by those creatures of the night. But when Rebecca arrives, she finds something unexpected: a coffin. Her new roommate is Aliz Astra, scion of one of the most powerful vampire families... and the most beautiful woman Rebecca has ever met. The maddeningly gorgeous Aliz is everything that Rebecca has always hated, but also everything she ever wanted, and now Rebecca doesn't know if she wants to kiss or kill her. When Aliz rescues her from a vampire attack one moonlit night, she accidentally makes Rebecca her familiar. Now, they must work together to break the curse, but as they get closer to solving the mystery, Rebecca and Aliz get closer, too. But can a vampire hunter ever fall in love with a vampire?

In an evocative and fast-paced adventure on the high seas and on a faraway island, an orphan boy named Peter and his mysterious new friend, Molly, overcome bands of pirates and thieves in their quest to keep a fantastical secret safe and save the world from evil. Best-selling authors Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson have turned back the clock to reveal the wonderful story that precedes J. M. Barrie’s beloved Peter Pan. Peter and the Starcatchers is brimming with richly developed characters, from the scary but somehow familiar Black Stache and ferocious Mister Grin to the sweet but sophisticated Molly and fearless Peter. Page after page of riveting adventures take readers of all ages on a voyage from a filthy, crime-ridden port in old England across the turbulent sea. Aboard the Neverland is a trunk that hold the “greatest treasure on earth” —but is it gold, jewels, or something far more mysterious and dangerous? Roiling waves and raging storms; skullduggery and pirate treachery provide the backdrop for battles at sea. Bone-crushing breakers eventually land our characters on Mollusk Island—where the action really heats up. This impossible-to-put-down tale leads readers on an unforgettable journey—fraught with danger yet filled with mystical and magical moments.