"In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secretskept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. Chicken Hill was where Moshe and...

"Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a rare book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues--a bee, a key, and a sword--that lead him...

Natasha: Im a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. Im definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him wont be my story. Daniel: Ive always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents high expectations. Never...

“The universe began as an enormous breath being held.” From the acclaimed author of Stories of Your Life and Othersthe basis for the Academy Award nominated film Arrivalcomes a groundbreaking new collection of short fiction: nine stunningly original, provocative, and poignant stories. These are tales that tackle some of humanitys oldest questions along with new quandaries only Ted Chiang could imagine. In “The Merchant and the Alchemists Gate,”...

"For readers of Unbroken comes an unforgettable tale of courage from America's 'forgotten war' in Korea, by the New York Times bestselling author of A Higher Call. Devotion tells the inspirational story of the U.S. Navy's most famous aviator duo, Lieutenant Tom Hudner and Ensign Jesse Brown, and the Marines they fought to defend. A white New Englander from the country-club scene, Tom passed up Harvard to fly fighters for his country. An African American...

A human rights activist offers a firsthand account of war from the perspective of a former child soldier, detailing the violent civil war that wracked his native Sierra Leone and the government forces that transformed a gentle young boy into a killer as a member of the army.

"Exciting new fiction from James McBride, the first since his National Book Award-winning novel The Good Lord Bird. The stories in Five-Carat Soul--none of them ever published before--spring from the place where identity, humanity, and history converge. They're funny and poignant, insightful and unpredictable, imaginative and authentic--all told with McBride's unrivaled storytelling skill and meticulous eye for character and detail. McBride explores...

Two ambitious young musicians, one shy, the other a glamorous heir, are drawn into the dark underworld of blues-record collecting while navigating the ghosts of a repressive past and the fallout of a scam involving one's claim that a viral video of an unknown singer is the long-lost recording of a famous blues musician.

The gift of fire: In ancient mythology, Prometheus was punished by the gods for bringing man the gift of fire. As punishment, Prometheus was bound to a rock. But today, those chains cease to be and the great champion of man walks into South Central Los Angeles. On the head of a pin: Jennings-Tremont Enterprises is developing advanced animatronics editing techniques that will create movies indistinguishable from live action. But the employees created...

When the great queen is reported dead, Beauty and Laurent return to the kingdom they left twenty years before. Beauty agrees to take the throne, but she insists that all erotic servitude be voluntary. Countless eager princes, princesses, lords, ladies, and commoners journey to Beautys realm, where she and her husband usher in a new era of desire, longing, and ecstasy.