Book Two of the Dollhouse TrilogyCassie discovers the truth behind the existence of the dollhouse– leading up to a terrifying revelation about herself, one that will challenge every last thread of her sanity.

Set in eighteenth-century Japan, The Flower Mat unravels the story of a young bride born into a traditional family, groomed in the virtues of ideal womanhood, and finally tempered in tragedy brought about by political intrigue. Readers everywhere will find this a solid account of personal development and responsibility in the life of one Japanese woman.

From the Hugo-winning author of Spin, an exuberant adventure in a post-climate-change AmericaIn the reign of President Deklan Comstock, a reborn United States is struggling back to prosperity. Over a century after the Efflorescence of Oil, after the Fall of the Cities, after the Plague of Infertility, after the False Tribulation, after the days of the Pious Presidents, the sixty stars and thirteen stripes wave from the plains of Athabaska to the national capital in New York City. In Colorado Springs, the Dominion sees to the nation's spiritual needs. In Labrador, the Army wages war on the Dutch. America, unified, is rising once again.Then out of Labrador come tales of a new Ajax--Captain Commongold, the Youthful Hero of the Saguenay. The ordinary people follow his adventures in the popular press. The Army adores him. The President is...troubled. Especially when the dashing Captain turns out to be his nephew Julian, son of the falsely accused...

Macmillan Readers Starter Level

IN 1945, FORTUNE MAGAZINE named Betty Crocker the second most popular American woman, right behind Eleanor Roosevelt, and dubbed Betty America's First Lady of Food. Not bad for a gal who never actually existed. "Born" in 1921 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to proud corporate parents, Betty Crocker has grown, over eight decades, into one of the most successful branding campaigns the world has ever known. Now, at long last, she has her own biography. Finding Betty Crocker draws on six years of research plus an unprecedented look into the General Mills archives to reveal how a fictitious spokesperson was enthusiastically welcomed into kitchens and shopping carts across the nation. The Washburn Crosby Company (one of the forerunners to General Mills) chose the cheery all-American "Betty" as a first name and paired it with Crocker, after William Crocker, a well-loved company director. Betty was to be the newest member of the Home Service Department, where she would...

Kat Murphy is a private detective tortured by demons. Real ones. She is serving a death sentence in Lost Angeles, the dark and depraved city in Hell where a beast known as a Torment forces her to relive, night after night, the moment she killed her lover and put a bullet in her own skull. Kat longs to make amends for her sins. So when the city's Chief Administrator hires her to retrieve a stolen box with a mysterious power, offering to call off her Torment in return, she gets the chance to do just that. But if Kat has learned one thing, it's that every case has a wrinkle. As she trawls drug dens, casinos, and fighting pits in search of the thief, she discovers that both box and city contain secrets darker than she could ever have imagined. And with time running out, Kat must choose between her own desire for peace and the fate of the world above in Hell's Detective, the electrifying new mystery from award-winning author Michael Logan.

Joanna Trollope's most heartfelt and enthralling novel in years, Second Honeymoon explores what happens when the empty nest is suddenly full again. Ben Boyd is leaving home. At twenty-two, he's the youngest of the family and the last to leave. His mother Edie, an actress, is distraught. His father Russell, a theatrical agent, is hoping to get his wife back after decades of family life. Ben's brother, Matthew, is wrestling with a relationship in which he earns less than his successful girlfriend. Their sister Rosa is wrestling with debt, and the end of a turbulent love affair. Living on your own, it seems, may not be as glamorous as it's cracked up to be. Rosa is the first of the Boyd children to think she may have to move back in with her parents—just until she can make ends meet again. This is the empty nest, twenty-first-century style—with grown children coming and going just as parents are getting ready for their second honeymoon. With characteristic grace and humor, Trollope weaves multiple stories of two generations struggling with love, careers, and parenthood into a riveting family drama.

Kim's World Turns Upside Down When Kim's mom is diagnosed with cancer, Natalie steps in, as true friends will do, to round up hundreds of people to pray for Mrs. Peterson's healing. Her health begins to improve, and Kim's love life begins to flourish...but with a non-Christian. Natalie warns Kim to break off the relationship, but is that just because she's jealous? Or is God trying to speak to Kim through Natalie's counsel? When her mom's health suddenly declines again, Kim blames herself. Maybe she never should have become involved with Matthew, especially as she's tempted to give in to his pressure to have sex. Kim's faith is hanging in the balance. She wants to believe that prayer will prevail, but the obstacles seem so big...Thursday, December 29 My dad and I are both feeling a little torn about Mom right now. On one hand, we all act like everything is just peachy, perfectly normal. But at the same time, it's like we're...