Weird Life

ENCHANTED ISLAND: WHERE LOVE AND HATE COLLIDE Somewhere in this world exists a charming place called Enchanted Island, where two towns stand. For those living in Winter Valley life is always grand. Home to the perpetually happy twins Jemima and Jack Jollyton, Winter Valley is a secluded village filled with kindness and love. Life in Summer Haven is however not so fantastic. In this wealthy tourist escape the residents are selfish and cruel, especially Samson and Stella Von Stropp, two of the most obnoxious kids anyone could have the misfortune of meeting. For years they have lived unaware ...

When we're kids, our parents tell us that being creative is fun, fun, fun. But when you decide to turn art into your career, whether that's painting, writing, drawing, or sculpting Edgar Allan Poe out of earthworms, that's when things get tough. In this insightful and heartfelt guide, artist and speaker Phil Hansen shares his hard-won wisdom from the front lines of life as a professional creative. Hansen provides advice for the difficult moments - the slumps, the creative blocks, the times when something you love doesn't resonate with the world - and gives you the pep talk you need....

Consider Jason your spirit guide, offering strategies for honing in on what makes you weird, recognizing when feedback is just another form of procrastination, and how to stop with social media already. There's a specific set of strategies and exercises that can help you prioritize your life over your business, by identifying your MMM (Minimum Monthly Magic) number. He also offers examples from his own life (how he got out of $124K worth of debt, escaped the pressure to have a big wedding, and has thrived on social media by primarily ignoring it).

If we follow Christ, we're not supposed to be like everyone else. We’re supposed to be a little bit…well, weird. The whole point of Christianity is to become more like Jesus and less of who we are when left to our own devices and desires—to become less like the rest of the world, less normal.

It's all too easy to get caught up in the often monotonous nature of our day to day—moving from one rote task to the next, only to rinse and repeat the next day. Weirdness, however, is an easily accessible antidote to these feelings of languishing. The quirky, eccentric, and peculiar can take us out of our normal habits of thought and perception, surprising us by breaking up our routines and reminding us that there's more to life than the everyday.

Mia knows her family is very different than her best friend's. In the 1980s, the coastal fishing town of Prince Rupert is booming. There is plenty of sockeye salmon in the nearby ocean, which means the fishermen are happy and there is plenty of work at the cannery. Eleven-year-old Mia and her best friend, Lara, have known each other since kindergarten. Like most tweens, they like to hang out and compare notes on their crushes and dream about their futures. But even though they both live in the same cul-de-sac, Mia’s life is very different from her non-Indigenous, middle-class neighbor.

Did you know soap can burn? It can, my pretties. It can and it does. Fortunately, it cleans up so easily! But yes, the house didn’t smell as “wonderful” as it did “wonder what that smell is” for a couple of weeks. In good news, I found out I can literally leave my crockpot turned on low for weeks without it catching fire, so that’s a handy fact to know. Part how-to, part memoir, My Life as a Kitchen Witch was a surprise hit for fiction writer Red Tash.

Dad's working on his cool dance moves for the local talent search, while Weir's trying out for the school soccer team! Will Weir score a goal, or fall flat?

Hoping to ditch two months of chicken coops, kale, and her parents’ antiscreen rules, Mac MacLeod sets out to win a citywide food cart scavenger hunt and the money she needs for the summer coding camp of her dreams. But Mac discovers more than just clues during her cross-city sprint - like how her weird parents might not be the worst thing compared to the circumstances of those around her.

Regina Hartley has had enough. The demands of life have taken a toll on her and, no longer feeling equipped to endure the strain, she decides to end it all in watery surrender. But instead of drowning to death, she finds herself being revived on shore by a concerned, handsome stranger. After saving her, the stranger refuses to leave her alone. Regina realizes she doesn’t mind his attention and finds herself more interested in what else life has to offer overall. But after saving her spirit, will the handsome stranger eventually disappear? Gabriel finds himself in the right place at the ...

Mat Devine, lead singer of the band Kill Hannah, inadvertently began his own popular advice column after Fuse TV asked him to blog about his life on tour. Mat's humorous and touching column, aptly titled "The Raccoon Society", gained a lot of traction as his fans sought advice on serious issues such as alcoholism, bullying, and self-mutilation, while also touching upon lighter subjects like dealing with siblings, fashion, and going to prom.

Dad's training to become a firefighter, while Weir's busy with Pet Day! Will FiDo and Blockhead freeze up or find fame?

I’m fascinated with ancient history because there are continuous new discoveries which push back the dawn of civilization by thousands of years. In the last couple of decades, the discoveries at Gobekli Tepe in eastern Turkey pushed back man-made structures to the time period of 9,000-11,000 BC, thousands of years before the next known civilizations existed.

The first book in the Huggabie Falls trilogy - the funniest, craziest, weirdest series ever written, so far. Kipp Kindle and his friends Tobias Treachery and Cymphany Chan live in Huggabie Falls, the weirdest town on Earth. Weird things happen all the time - that’s normal. But when an extremely weird thing happens Kipp and his friends know that something is wrong. They embark on a fast-paced, action-packed, hilarious adventure to find out what is making everything turn normal and to return the weirdness to Huggabie Falls.

Growing up, Dr Camilla Pang loved patterns and ordering things. She was obsessed with Disney, infatuated by Stephen Hawking and the language she only really understood was science. Diagnosed with autism age eight, Camilla felt like an outsider - and kids often like nothing better than to gang up on outsiders. This is the story of how Camilla used science as her sidekick for navigating the world - allowing her to translate ideas she could understand (like gravity and light waves) onto things she couldn't (like people, how long to smile for and when someone needed a hug).

The New Truth is out there... Jack is just an ordinary college student. How has he got involved with shadowy criminals, a deep cover spy, a dodgy businessman, a mysterious internet avatar, a 14th century nun...and a squirrel? And what, exactly, is the New Truth Movement? A genre-bending tale that mixes dry humour, magical realism and new weird elements into a fantastic thriller.

Something must be done. Vlad Luxor continues to rule the Timeless Province with a cruel hand, and now he's screaming about Inners and Outers, Others and Us. Then when the meanest boy in school is turned into the stinkiest, weirdest creature ever, Henry, Jo, Apollo, and Pirate Girl are asked to do the impossible. Breaking this spell will force them to go on their most dangerous, frightening adventure yet - through the Wilds, the Forest of Knives, and a lodge in the woods belonging to the most terrible bully of all...Vlad Luxor himself.

Mum’s got a cool new job at the animal hospital...but now Weir’s house is like a zoo! How can Bella and Weir help look after all the animals and finish their school project?! It won’t be easy...but it will be funny!

Join Wallace Forbes as he encounters the enigmatic insomniac Alfred Kramer on a train journey like no other. Alfred, with his strange appearance and terrifying dreams, will take you on a mesmerizing ride through time and ancestors. Experience the suspense, excitement, and fear as Alfred unveils the secrets of his Kappa-ray device, allowing him to relive the experiences of his ancestors in his haunting dreams.

The definitive biography of Edward Gorey, the eccentric master of macabre nonsense. From The Gashlycrumb Tinies to The Doubtful Guest, Edward Gorey's wickedly funny and deliciously sinister little books have influenced our culture in innumerable ways, from the works of Tim Burton and Neil Gaiman to Lemony Snicket. Some even call him the Grandfather of Goth. But who was this man, who lived with over 20,000 books and six cats, who roomed with Frank O'Hara at Harvard?