Showing results by narrator "Anne Hancock" in All Categories

When Rachel and her mother move to Mrs. Moore's house - the one with right next to the Line - Rachel starts questioning things. There are so many rumors of the horrible things that lie beyond the Line - in a place called Away - but no one dares to talk about it. And it's no use asking questions, especially of Mrs. Moore, who has always lived by the Line, or of her mother. But then, Rachel comes across a recorded message - one that could only have come from Away. And the voice on the recorder is asking for help...

In this gem of a short story, Edith Wharton's talent for satire shines. Mrs. Ballinger and the ladies of the Lunch Club, that exclusive group dedicated to literature and erudition, are eagerly anticipating a visit by the noted novelist Osric Dane. Her books have been read by all the members except their newest, Mrs. Roby, whose idea of a perfect novel is one that entertains and preferably ends with marriage for the hero and heroine. It's painfully clear to Mrs. Ballinger and the others that Mrs. Roby is not on their intellectual plane.

Author Jean Webster ("Daddy Long Legs") presents the antics of irrepressible Patty Wyatt and her friends at a women's college at the turn of the 20th century. Patty takes full advantage of the freedom that college life provides, skirting the rules, getting into "scrapes", and doing as little work as possible while still managing to learn life lessons along the way.

Wakefield was a mild-mannered man of no particular energy or imagination. The only fault his wife could find with him was that he had a tendency to be secretive about small things and perhaps a little selfish. Still, there was no hint that on the day he left for a short journey, his plan was to take a room in the next street and spy on his wife. He would not return for two decades.

In the novel Little Women, Mr. March goes off to war. But in real life, it was Jo March (Louisa May Alcott herself, an avowed abolitionist) who traveled to Washington to nurse Northern soldiers. This is Alcott’s memoir but she chose to use the pseudonym “Tribulation Periwinkle” to tell her story. Despite the subject matter, her account is full of amusing anecdotes as she makes her way alone from Concord, Massachusetts to DC, trying to finagle a free ticket and convinced she will drown during the journey.

When Rachel crosses "The Line", she leaves behind everything she has ever known and enters a strange new world: Away. Life there is hard, and survival is never guaranteed. The rules are different away, and Rachel has a lot to learn. The people of Away - the same people she's always been told are dangerous and untrustworthy - have gifts she's never thought possible.

From the author of the best-selling If You Don't Feed the Teachers, They Eat the Students, comes an innovative resource for all who work with pre-K through 12th grade students. Neila Connors presents a wealth of strategies and techniques to help teachers develop, maintain, and sustain positive student relationships. If You Don't Feed the Students offers practical, commonsense methods for improving classroom performance, served up in an engaging and entertaining manner.

Eager to become a reporter, Penny Parker grabs the chance to cover a society wedding. Her father, the editor of the Riverview Star, explains that the only access to the Kippenberg estate is via a rickety bridge and that Mr. Kippenberg, who is on the run for tax evasion, just might show up at his daughter's wedding. Penny smells a scoop! When the groom receives a mysterious note and disappears moments before the ceremony, Penny is on the trail. The mystery deepens as the intrepid teenager gathers clues while encountering a belligerent gardener, unsavory boatmen, and an alligator.

Mary Marie Anderson describes herself as "a cross-current and a contradiction", the offspring of incompatible parents who couldn't even agree about her name. Her father calls her Mary, and her mother calls her Marie. When the two divorce when she is 13, Mary Marie is delighted since she's always liked being different. None of the other girls have two homes and spend six months with each parent! Father will remain in their small town, and Mother will live in Boston with her family. This exciting development persuades Mary Marie to keep a diary that she plans to turn into a novel.

Famed author E. Nesbit ( The Railway Children) brings 20 of Shakespeare's plays to life in language that children can understand. They are entertaining narratives that describe the Bard's main characters and often intricate plots. Each story provides a concise overview for anyone about to experience a Shakespeare play for the first time.

Ben has been tramping for two weeks when he's discovered, nearly starving, by a widow and her two little girls. Mrs. Moss feeds and clothes him and gets him a job with the local Squire. But herding cows is boring for an active boy and he's about to take to the road again when the lovely Miss Celia, owner of the Big House (bordered by lilacs!) arrives and hires him to do odd jobs and be the company for her teenage invalid brother.

"Freedom or Death" was named by Britain's The Guardian newspaper as one of the top 10 greatest speeches of the 20th century. In 1913, British suffragist Emmaline Pankhurst was invited to speak in Hartford, CT by Mrs. Katharine Hepburn, president of the Connecticut Women's Suffrage Association and mother of the future actress.

Mr. and Mrs. Bunting have sunk their savings into their house with plans to let rooms. Mr. Sleuth is their only lodger. Mrs. Bunting notices their savior’s strange habits are not mere eccentricities. When his late-night forays seem to coincide with the lurid headlines her husband reads to her about the grisly murders all over London, she slowly realizes she may be harboring a monster, and if he’s discovered, it will mean ruin for the Buntings.

"A Simple Soul" is the perfect Gustave Flaubert short story: a tale told in spare, straightforward language full of richly observed details. The "soul" is Felicite, the exemplary servant of the austere Madame Aubin. Orphaned and illiterate, Felicite devotes her life to her mistress and Madame's two children. Her kindheartedness extends to her nephew and a local beggar, but it is seldom reciprocated.

Running away from her abusive stepmother, a little girl scrambles across London rooftops, a favorite hiding place. She peers through a window and sees a man apparently burglarizing a studio, but quickly realizes that she has witnessed the aftermath of a murder when the man puts a gun in the hand of a body on the floor. When she cries out he glimpses her and she escapes in terror. Very soon after, she is sent to live with her deceased mother's aristocratic family and her secret is kept from the police.

Elza is content with her life in the demi-monde, an actress and courtesan in the glittering society of France's First Empire, but when her former lover is arrested for treason, she’s blackmailed into informing on her friends and associates. She has one alternative - to become the secret agent of the most feared man in Europe, Napoleon Bonaparte! Elza must rely on her wits, her courage, her beauty, and her growing talents as a medium she must triumph - or die!

Running away from an abusive stepmother, a little girl scrambles across London rooftops, a favorite hiding place. She peers through a window and sees a man apparently burglarizing a studio, but quickly realizes that she has witnessed the aftermath of a murder when the man puts a gun in the hand of a body on the floor. When she cries out he glimpses her and she escapes in terror. Very soon after, she is sent to live with her deceased mother’s aristocratic family and her secret is kept from the police.

Sue Ives and Stephen Bellamy are charged with the murder of Stephen's wife Mimi, found stabbed in an uninhabited cottage on a Long Island estate. The eight-day trial introduces a trove of witnesses (some reliable, some not); an avuncular defense attorney who may be incompetent; a wily and relentless prosecutor; and the voracious members of the press and public captivated by a crime that lays bare the intrigues and jealousies of the country club set. Two of the reporters, a veteran, and a rookie attending her first murder trial, act as a Greek chorus commenting on unfolding events.

Old Mother Duck's six little ducklings are her pride and joy. But it's very hard work teaching ducklings how to behave and keeping them safe. Sometimes their curiosity makes them forget her warnings not to talk to strangers, not to stray too far from her, and to come in from the rain. Children will identify with these gentle stories where nothing bad happens but the lessons and consequences are clear. A hundred years after Katharine Pyle's delightful tale was written, the same principle holds true: mother knows best.

Imagine a visiting-nurse service with hot young guys as caregivers. What golden girl wouldn't dig that? Valerie Palka is a savvy businesswoman who is obsessed with keeping her elderly mom, Helen, safe from all the lethal disasters that can befall widows living alone. Helen thinks the workaholic Valerie should focus on having as much luck in the bedroom as she does in the boardroom.