Showing results by narrator "Emily Woo Zeller" in All Categories

Thirteen-year-old Kiesandra's best friend isn't human, but that doesn't stop her from sharing jokes and secrets with her winged horse, N'Rah. She, like every other person with a skysteed, can communicate with N'Rah through her mind. Their bond is critical when one day, monsters from long ago reemerge to ravage a nearby village. No one knows how to fight the fearsome chimerae except Kie's uncle . . . and now Kie. Injured in the battle, Uncle Dug makes her promise to bring his attack plan and weapons to the capital. Kie reluctantly agrees.

When a body wrapped in a blue plastic tarp and tied up with twine is discovered by the bushes near a quiet suburban Tokyo neighborhood, Lieutenant Reiko Himekawa and her squad take the case. The victim was slaughtered brutally - his wounds are bizarre, and no one can figure out the "what" or the "why" of this crime. At age 29, Reiko Himekawa of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police's Homicide Division is young to have been made lieutenant, particularly because she lacks any kind of political or family connections.

After unwittingly helping her mother poison King Louis XIV, 17-year-old alchemist Mirabelle Monvoisin is forced to see her mother's Shadow Society in a horrifying new light: They're not heroes of the people, as they've always claimed to be, but murderers. She herself included. Mira tries to ease her guilt by brewing helpful curatives, but her hunger tonics and headache remedies cannot right past wrongs or save the dissenters whom her mother vows to purge.

It's Meihui's special year of the ox! Through her family's story we learn about what it means to be an ox and all of their special traits. Most people in places like North America and Europe celebrate the new year on January 1st. But some cultures, like those in many areas of Asia, do it differently. They celebrate the new year based on the lunar-solar calendar, so the date differs every year. It occurs between January 21st and February 20th.

The discovery of the North and South Poles. The summiting of Everest. The moon landing. The (largely unknown) birth of climate change science. These are just some of the stories from The Explorers Club, the organization that, since its inception in 1904, has pushed the envelope of human curiosity. This guided tour of The Club’s most riveting journeys is full of fascinating anecdotes about The Club’s distinguished members, including Teddy Roosevelt, Neil Armstrong, and Jane Goodall.

The author at 16 years old was evacuated with her family to an internment camp for Japanese Americans, along with 110,000 other people of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast. She faced an indefinite sentence behind barbed wire in crowded, primitive camps. She struggled for survival and dignity, and endured psychological scarring that has lasted a lifetime. This memoir is told from the heart and mind of a woman now nearly eighty years old who experienced the challenges and wounds of her internment at a crucial point in her development as a young adult.

Yes, Aza Wu now has magic back. But like all things in her life, it has come at a great cost. After the tournament, Aza is able to pay off her parents' debt to Saint Willow. Unfortunately, the cost of the gathering spell she used to strip Finch of his magic has put her permanently in the employ of the gang leader. Aza has been doing little errands using real magic - collecting debts, putting the squeeze on new businesses in the district. But that had never been the plan. Saint Willow is nothing if not ambitious, and having Aza as a fighter is much more lucrative than as a fixer.

Tales of guardian spirits and divine powers by Seanan McGuire, Ken Liu, Alethea Kontis, Laura Anne Gilman, Scott Edelman and more. Guardian spirits. Divine presences. Demonic powers. Ghosts. The concept of "genius loci" is indeed an ancient one, found in nearly every human mythology. Genius Loci is a huge anthology of 31 all-new fantasy and science fiction stories drawing on the rich tradition of place-as-person. In it, the authors present stories of sentient deserts, beneficent forests, lonely shrubs, and protective planetary spirits.

The Loch Ness Monster. The Frogman. Bigfoot. Twelve-year-old Miranda Cho used to believe in it all, used to love poring over every strange footprint, every stray hair, everything that proved that the world was full of wonders. But that was before her mother’s obsession with monsters cost Miranda her friends and her perfect school record, before Miranda found the stack of unopened bills and notices of foreclosure in the silverware drawer. Now the fact that her mom’s a cryptozoologist doesn’t seem wonderful - it’s embarrassing and irresponsible, and it could cost them everything.

When a powerful viceroy arrives with a fleet of mechanical dragons and stops an attack on Anlei's village, the villagers see him as a godsend. They agree to give him their sacred, enchanted River Pearl in exchange for permanent protection - if he'll marry one of the village girls to solidify the alliance. Anlei is appalled when the viceroy selects her as a bride, but with the fate of her people at stake, she sees no choice but to consent. Anlei's noble plans are sent into a tailspin, however, when a young thief steals the River Pearl for himself.

Crime writer Julia Gooden has just completed the most important story of her life - a book about her beloved brother's childhood abduction and how she found his killer after 30 years. But that hasn't taken her focus off her day job - especially with what looks to be a serial killer terrorizing the city. Female runners are being snatched off jogging trails, then slaughtered in abandoned churches. As Julia begins investigating, with help from Detective Raymond Navarro, she realizes just how personal this case has become.

Thirty-four and divorced, Sierra Wu is a constant disappointment to her family. They approved of her former career as an engineer but were horrified when she quit to run a small greeting card store. So, the last thing she expected in her not-so-spectacular life was being swept off her feet by Colton Sanders. Yes, that Colton Sanders, the billionaire. They've been together for a year, and despite his reputation with women, it's going well. There's only one tiny problem: Jake Tong.

My name is Gillian and I have three problems: A fallen tree through the roof of my family’s remote island cottage. A sister trying to sell said cottage out from under me. A dead body in the living room. Sadly, it’s not my sister’s. Actually, make that four problems: my ex, Amanda, just showed up uninvited. Apparently, she’s a spy, undercover to investigate the luxury wine auction hosted by my conniving sister.

Perfect for fans of Carmen Maria Machado and Kelly Link, Jo Paquette’s Stories I Told My Dead Lover contains eight searing tales of psychological horror that probe the darkest and most deeply buried parts of the human psyche. A child is forced to grow up too soon. A woman trusts her doctor too much. An abandoned woman isn’t as alone as she thinks. An idyllic holiday masks an unspeakable act of violence. Driven, desperate, fighting for the power to choose their own fate, Paquette’s characters dare to push back at the walls that hold them in.

In a remote, mountainous area of a Maui forest near Haleakala volcano, the naked body of a young woman is found hanging from a tree. The devil is in the details: the woman's nostrils, mouth, and lungs are packed with lava sand. Her hands are bound in twine. Her feet are charred and blackened, suggesting a fire-walking ceremony. Detective Kali Mahoe's suspicions are immediately aroused. It has all the signs of a ritual torture and murder. But Kali's investigation soon leads her down a winding trail of seemingly unconnected clues and diverging paths.

Born in military-ruled Taiwan to two blind parents who moved to the United States seeking freedom and opportunity for their children, Wendy knew only anger, bitterness, and fear at leaving her homeland. But the heavenly Father she’d pushed away refused to leave her alone. Wendy gradually recognized her physically blind parents had clearer spiritual sight than her own. When she let go of fear to freefall into God’s arms, she discovered that even in her doubt and short-sightedness, God had been orchestrating His perfect plan behind the scenes.

Nicole Louie-Edwards enjoys the nightlife and bringing men back to her apartment, although lately, she's gotten tired of the chase. Her quiet new neighbor, David Cho, isn't her type, but after they get trapped in an elevator together on her birthday, she develops a friendship with the kind geology professor. Then, blushing, he tells her that he can hear her having sex but tries not to listen. Except it's clear he'd like to, and she's surprisingly turned on. They embark on a friends-with-benefits arrangement hotter than any she's had before.

When a woman living under a cloud of suspicion for her husband's death comes to vintage kitchen collector Jaymie Leighton with a mysterious request, she's not sure whether, or how much, to get involved. The police believe they have new evidence of foul play in what was initially ruled an accidental death, and the woman's terrified they'll try to pin the crime on her. Before Jaymie can decide whether to help her, though, the woman's found murdered in the woods near Jaymie's cabin.

Bubbly social media star Hannah Monksman is captaining the Seiiki and carrying the last of Earth’s whales to a new paradise planet. Viewers have been following Hannah’s journey, but what they don’t know is her true identity - Kim Teng, who won her role as Caretaker with the help of underground operatives known as the Crusaders. Kim forms a close bond with the whales in her care, and their mental link allows conversation on the lonely spaceship. But when one of the whales, Adonai, begins acting strange, Kim begins to suspect that she is a pawn in a secret mission.

Sang Ly lives at Cambodia’s city dump and is grateful she can help earn a living for her family by sifting through the trash for recyclables and things that can be repaired and sold. On a good day, she can earn enough to buy food for her family. She needs enough good days so she can pay the rent collector, Sopeap—a grumpy old woman who shows no mercy and who is willing to evict any tenant who can’t pay their rent on time. When Sang Ly is unable to pay her rent for the month, she fears her family will have to leave the dump and their shanty home.