Showing results by narrator "Sura Siu" in All Categories

Award-winning Japanese author and poet Mieko Kawakami brings Ashes of Spring, a collection of short stories set in everyday life in Japan just before the pandemic lockdown.

Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life–working hard all day and partying all night–until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She'll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths. Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose–to assassinate his boss's enemies, no questions asked.

Bryce Quinlan and Hunt Athalar are trying to get back to normal—they may have saved Crescent City, but with so much upheaval in their lives lately, they mostly want a chance to relax. Slow down. Figure out what the future holds. The Asteri have kept their word so far, leaving Bryce and Hunt alone. But with the rebels chipping away at the Asteri's power, the threat the rulers pose is growing. As Bryce, Hunt, and their friends get pulled into the rebels' plans, the choice becomes clear: stay silent while others are oppressed, or fight for what's right.

It's the moment Kieran and Lexi have been preparing for. The Magical Summit. Ready or not, they will take their assembled team into the belly of the beast. The stakes couldn't be higher. If the powers that be don't approve of Kieran, he will not earn the official title of the Demigod of San Francisco. The real danger concerns Lexi, however. With Kieran away in meetings, she must brave the treacherous halls of the Summit with just her crew and her wards, fighting for social placement and status, open to attack from all angles.

In late 1997, a runaway teenager and her small yellow toy robot travel west through a strange American landscape where the ruins of gigantic battle drones litter the countryside, along with the discarded trash of a high-tech consumerist society addicted to a virtual-reality system. As they approach the edge of the continent, the world outside the car window seems to unravel at an ever faster pace, as if somewhere beyond the horizon, the hollow core of civilization has finally caved in.

Here is the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her. Klara and the Sun is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: What does it mean to love?

One thing has become incredibly clear to Alexis and Kieran, if they hope to last in the arena of Demigods, they'll need a more robust defense team. They must take two incredibly dangerous journeys, seeking the prized talents other Demigods would kill for. Except, there is a reason other Demigods don't have these magical workers—they are as ruthless as they are dangerous, and the last thing they want is to be on a Demigod's team. If that isn't enough, Alexis has received an invitation from Demigod Lydia, the only Hades Demigod who hasn't openly declared war.

A brave and imaginative memoir by the Nobel Peace Prize nominee Amanda Nguyen, detailing her healing journey and groundbreaking activism in the aftermath of her rape at Harvard.

Kieran has stepped up to take his place as the ruler of magical San Francisco. As his girlfriend I'm in the spotlight, and the Hades Demigods have taken notice. They want me on their team, and they don’t plan on asking nicely. Kieran and I are both under fire. They will kill him to get to me, and they'll take me by force if necessary. It is essential I learn more of my magic. With no other options, I do what scares me the most—I summon the last Spirit Walker to help train me.

In the tradition of sumptuous gothic novels like Starling House and The Bloody Chamber comes a dark fairy tale-infused story about a cursed friendship and a marriage steeped in secrets—the breathtaking adult debut from New York Times bestselling author Roshani Chokshi.

The entire country rejoiced when, out of a golden egg, Roxana Goldenscales hatched. It’s not every day (or even every decade) that a dragona princess graces the earth with her presence. But like most rare, valuable, and defenseless things, every moment of Roxana’s existence is supervised, planned, and observed. Or at least, they were. Until she ran away.

Cousins Coral and Isa are so close that they’re practically siblings; their mothers are sisters, and the two girls grew up on the same small island. When Coral and her parents leave on a months-long sea voyage amid the islands of Indonesia, Isa is devastated that they’ll be kept apart, and the two vow to write to each other no matter what. Then the unthinkable happens, and Coral’s boat capsizes at sea, where her parents vanish. Washed up on a deserted island, alone and wracked by grief, she must find the strength within to survive, and find her way back home.

Plum and her friends are traveling to the misty Bokati Island. There they will study with the mysterious Guardian Master Em, who is the keeper of the ancient forest there. The field trip comes just in time for Plum, who still can't figure out why she's so different from the other Novices on Lotus Island. At first, Plum doesn't know what to make of this quiet and sometimes gloomy place. But it doesn't take long to discover that Bokati is brimming with an incredible array of fascinating animals and plants.

In a futuristic world where predictive software can map out the lives of every living person and their descendants, Naomi Prynne is on trial. The charge: endangerment by way of a pregnancy. Thirteen jurors will determine whether Naomi is allowed to carry the pregnancy to term, but the jurors are also all plaintiffs, the software having predicted how Naomi Prynne’s child will affect each of them in life-changing ways.

Violet Townsend has always been a people pleaser. Raised in the privileged world of Upper East Side Manhattan, she always says the right things, wears the right clothes, and never rocks the boat. Violet would do anything for the people closest to her, especially her beloved grandmother. So when she asks Violet to teach the newly discovered grandson of her friend how to fit in with New York City’s elite, Violet immediately agrees. Her goal? To get Cain Stone ready to take his place as heir to his family company.

Here to Stay is a collection of honest, searing, and evocative poems interspersed with short personal narratives. Deeply intimate, these works explore how to exist in the space between the familiar and the unknown, between the safety of silence and the desire to share. Highlighting the significant insights of undocumented poets, this brilliant compendium challenges misconceptions of what it means to live and write as an undocumented person in modern America.

Annja Creed has faced constant danger in her quest for the ancient scepter that inspired the legend of the Monkey King, the beloved trickster hero of the Chinese classic Journey to the West. After defeating the protector of its secrets and winning him to her side, Annja has learned of the scepter’s coveted power… which may rival the power of her own mystical sword. Now, Annja’s party of adventurers continue their journey in the footsteps of China’s most legendary explorer, racing against devious and ruthless foes in pursuit of his lost treasure.

When Natasha’s sister disappears, Natasha desperately turns to Della, a local girl rumored to be a witch, in the hopes that magic will bring her sister home. But Della has her own secrets to hide. She thinks the beast who’s responsible for the disappearances is her own mother - who was turned into a terrible monster by magic gone wrong. Natasha is angry. Della has little to lose. Both are each other’s only hope.

“From exactly midnight until daybreak, the Namiya General Store advice box will be reopening for one night only.” When three delinquents hole up in an abandoned general store after their most recent robbery, to their great surprise, a letter drops through the mail slot in the store’s shutter. This seemingly simple request for advice sets the trio on a journey of discovery as, over the course of a single night, they step into the role of the kindhearted former shopkeeper who devoted his waning years to offering thoughtful counsel to his correspondents.

Lucy Usathorn of Fort Worth, Texas is super excited for her class trip to the Natural History Museum, where her dad works. Sure, Ms. Brock, the strict school librarian who happens to be dating Lucy's dad (awkward) is chaperoning, but it'll still be the best day ever, right? Wrong! Lucy has to watch in shock and humiliation as her dad proposes to Ms. Brock. Lucy is distraught. If only she could do this whole day over from scratch . . .