Family Life Science

In The Reluctant Family Man, Nilima Chitgopekar uses the life and personality of Shiva - his self-awareness, his marriage, his balance, his detachment, his contentment - to derive lessons that listeners can practically apply to their own lives.

When the Demon Queen shows up in her bedroom, smelling of acid and surrounded by evil-looking bees, 12-year-old Kiranmala is uninterested. After all, it's been weeks since she last heard from her friends in the Kingdom Beyond, the alternate dimension where she was born as an Indian princess. But after a call to action over an interdimensional television station and a visit with some all-seeing birds, Kiran decides that she has to once again return to her homeland, where society is fraying, a terrible game show reigns supreme, and friends and foes alike are in danger.

The time: not so long from now. The place: AutoAmerica. The land: half under water. The Internet: one part artificial intelligence, one part surveillance technology, and oddly human - even funny. The people: Divided. The angel-fair "Netted" have jobs, and literally occupy the high ground. The "Surplus" live on swampland if they're lucky, on water if they're not. The story: To a Surplus couple - he once a professor, she still a lawyer - is born a Blasian girl with a golden arm. At two, Gwen is hurling her stuffed animals from the crib; by 10, she can hit whatever target she likes. Her teens find her happily playing in an underground baseball league.

One Friday morning, Annabel's wish comes true when she wakes up and realizes she's turned into her mother! But after a major washing-machine mishap, losing Ape Face, and a terrible teacher conference, Annabel starts to suspect that being an adult is not as much fun as it seems. One thing's for certain: this is one freaky Friday she'll never forget!

After the grim confrontation with Queen Katharine, the rebellion lies in tatters. Jules’ legion curse has been unbound, and it is up to Arsinoe to find a cure, even as the responsibility of stopping the ravaging mist lies heavy on her shoulders and her shoulders alone. Mirabella has disappeared. Katharine’s reign remains intact - for now. When Mirabella arrives, seemingly under a banner of truce, Katharine begins to yearn for the closeness that Mirabella and Arsinoe share. But as the two circle each other, the dead queens hiss caution - Mirabella is not to be trusted.

In this forsaken world, human kind is on the brink of total extinction. The parents of Lance and Ian have made it to the mainland, and must begin the harsh overland journey to their children. Johnathan, Sandy, and the others are unprepared for the expedition ahead. They must gather supplies and fight for every mile toward the cabin. With the Stinkers evolving and becoming harder to detect, will the parents make it home?

First a pack of vile, smelly goblins snatch Simon. Then a band of elves try to entrap Jared. Why is the entire faerie world so eager to get their hands on Arthur Spiderwick’s Guide? And will the Grace kids be left alone now that the Guide has mysteriously disappeared? Don’t count on it. At school, someone is running around pretending to be Jared. To make matters even worse, now Mallory has disappeared and something in the water is killing off the plants and animals. Clues point to the abandoned quarry just outside of town where the dwarves have taken over.

A long time ago magic faded away, leaving behind only yo-yos, the extremely useful compass-pointing-to-North enchantment and the spell that keep bicycles from falling over. Things are about to change. Magical power is on the rise and King Snodd IV of Hereford has realised that he who controls magic controls almost anything. One person stands between Snodd and his plans for power and riches beyond the wildest dreams of avarice.

Bee Ridgway’s wildly inventive debut novel, The River of No Return, blends romance, conspiracy, and time travel for a tale sure to intrigue listeners. When soldier and aristocrat Nick Falcott is sent from a Napoleonic battlefield in 1815 to modern-day London, he never expects to go back - until the Guild calls for him. Returning home as if from the dead, Nick reunites with his lost love, Julia Percy, and enlists her help in finding a mysterious object known as the Talisman.

Leah Frothen has returned home to rebuild the life she's avoided for years. But she can scarcely catch her breath before she is summoned to meet with the regent, Darien Serlast, the man who made her a spy. Leah is reluctant to take on a new assignment, but Darien has dangled the perfect lure to draw her in. Leah finds she enjoys the challenges of opening a shop catering to foreign visitors, especially since it affords her the opportunity to get to know Mally, the child she abandoned five years ago.

Shoebag likes his life as a cockroach. Like the others in his "tribe", he was named for the place of his birth - in his case, a white summer sandal. He enjoys living in a Boston apartment building with his parents, Drainboard and Under The Toaster, although they've lost countless relatives to jumping spiders, water bugs, beetles, and the deadly fumes of the dreaded exterminator. So when Shoebag discovers that he's been transformed into a person, he's horrified.

Physician Ed Wheat has helped thousands of couples improve their love lives and build happier marriages. In Love Life for Every Married Couple, he'll help you improve your marriage through sharing, touching, appreciating, and focusing healing attention on your mate. Answering physical, psychological, and stress-related questions in a Christian context, Dr. Wheat demonstrates how to bring your feelings of love back to life.

Lucy Bluecrowne is beginning a new life ashore with her stepmother and half brother, though she's certain the only place she'll ever belong is with her father on a ship of war as part of the crew. She doesn't care that living in a house is safer and the proper place for a 12-year-old girl; it's boring. But then two nefarious strangers identify her little brother as the pyrotechnical prodigy they need to enact an evil plan, and it will take all Lucy's fighting instincts to keep her family together.

Una and her friends Peter and Indy are desperate to find a way to defeat the enemy. But Una soon discovers that the real key may lie in her own mysterious ties to Story's past - and to the long-forgotten King, who could be Story's only hope for survival.

This absorbing tale of time travel is a fascinating way for young adults to learn about the culture and history of Wales. After Peter Morgan's family moves from a New England college town to a Welsh village, he discovers a mysterious, ancient object that whisks him back in time to sixth-century Wales.

Kiranmala must leave the Kingdom Beyond and travel to her hometown of Parsippany to save Prince Lal, who has been spirited to the unlikeliest of places - a tree in the yard of her best-enemy-for-life. She also faces evil serpents (of course!), plus a frightening prophecy about her role in the coming conflict between good and evil. Most troubling of all, though, is the way reality all around her seems to waver and flicker at odd moments.

Henry and Jessie have signed up to be in a robotics competition with a team from school. But someone from another team isn’t playing by the rules. Can the Aldens use their sleuthing skills and what they’ve learned about technology to find the culprit and save the day?

Zara White suspects there's a freaky guy semi-stalking her. She's also obsessed with phobias. And it's true, she hasn't exactly been herself since her stepfather died. But exiling her to shivery Maine to live with her grandmother? That seems a bit extreme. The move is supposed to help her stay sane . . . but Zara's pretty sure her mom just can't deal with her right now.

It was never easy for Sammy Hayes-Rodriguez to fit in, so he's dreading the day when his genius mom insists he bring her newest invention to school: a walking, talking robot he calls E-for "Error". Sammy's no stranger to robots; his house is full of a colorful cast of them. But this one not only thinks it's Sammy's brother . . . it's actually even nerdier than Sammy. Will E be Sammy's one-way ticket to Loserville? Or will he prove to the world that it's cool to be smart?

While her friends are spending their summers having pool parties and sleepovers, twelve-year-old Carolina - Carol - is spending hers in the middle of the New Mexico desert, helping her parents move the grandfather she's never met into a home for people with dementia. At first, Carol avoids prickly Grandpa Serge.