Each woman was determined to outdo Jules Verne’s fictional hero Phileas Fogg and circle the globe in less than eighty days. The dramatic race that ensued would span twenty-eight thousand miles, captivate the nation, and change both competitors’ lives forever.
The two women were a study in contrasts. Nellie Bly was a scrappy, hard-driving, ambitious reporter from Pennsylvania coal country who sought out the most sensational news stories, often going undercover to expose social injustice. Genteel and elegant, Elizabeth Bisland had been born into an aristocratic Southern family, preferred novels and poetry to newspapers, and was widely referred to as the most beautiful woman in metropolitan journalism. Both women, though, were talented writers who had carved out successful careers in the hypercompetitive, male-dominated world of big-city newspapers.
‘Eighty Days’ brings these trailblazing women to life as they race against time and each other, unaided and alone, ever aware that the slightest delay could mean the difference between victory and defeat.
A vivid real-life re-creation of the race and its aftermath, from its frenzied start to the nail-biting dash at its finish, ‘Eighty Days’ is history with the heart of a great adventure novel. Here’s the journey that takes us behind the walls of Jules Verne’s Amiens estate, into the back alleys of Hong Kong, onto the grounds of a Ceylon tea plantation, through storm-tossed ocean crossings and mountains blocked by snowdrifts twenty feet deep, and to many more unexpected and exotic locales from London to Yokohama.
Along the way, we are treated to fascinating glimpses of everyday life in the late nineteenth century — an era of unprecedented technological advances, newly remade in the image of the steamship, the railroad, and the telegraph. For Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland—two women ahead of their time in every sense of the word—were not only racing around the world. They were also racing through the very heart of the Victorian age.
The life Kamila Sidiqi had known changed overnight when the Taliban seized control of the city of Kabul. After receiving a teaching degree during the civil war—a rare achievement for any Afghan woman—Kamila was subsequently banned from school and confined to her home. When her father and brother were forced to flee the city, Kamila became the sole breadwinner for her five siblings. Armed only with grit and determination, she picked up a needle and thread and created a thriving business of her own.
This ravishing winner of the ALA’s William C. Morris YA Debut Award is a fairy tale, spun with a mystery, woven with a family story, and shot through with romance.
Maybe you won’t rock a cradle, Muriel.
When Katrina spots a homeless guy sleeping in the alley behind her grandmother’s coffee shop, she decides to leave him a cup of coffee, a bag of chocolate-covered coffee beans, and some pastries to tide him over. Little does she know that this random act of kindness is about to turn her life upside down. Because this adorable vagrant, Malcolm, is really a guardian angel on a break between missions, and now he won’t leave until he can reward Katrina’s selflessness by fulfilling her deepest desire. Fame and fortune seem like the obvious requests, but after two botched wishes, Malcolm knows Katrina is hiding something from him. How can she tell him the truth, when her heart’s desire has become Malcolm himself?
When Dashti, a maid, and Lady Saren, her mistress, are shut in a tower for seven years because of Saren’s refusal to marry a man she despises, the two prepare for a very long and dark imprisonment.
After a horrific car accident, Liz’s life is over, but somehow she’s still alive. Championed as the lucky recipient of the first successful brain transplant, Liz soon realizes her bittersweet choice: she can either remain as Kate, an eleven-year-old donor recipient with a life and family Liz knows nothing about, or she can alert the doctors to her condition and risk disappearing forever. But can Liz really learn to become a little girl again? And what will happen to the husband and children she left behind? Becoming Kate is an enthralling exploration of identity, family, and what it really means to be alive that will keep you guessing to the very last page.
There is a clarity, elegance, and beauty to Conway’s Road to Coorain that places it firmly at the apogee of autobiography along with such masterpieces as West With the Night by Beryl Markham, or An American Childhood , by Annie Dillard.
Nurse Matilda Collected in this omnibus volume are three original Nurse Matilda tales–the inspiration for “Nanny McPhee,” starring Emma Thompson (who wrote the screenplay) and Colin Firth, set for release by Working Title/Universal Pictures in March. A governess uses magic to reign in the seven ne’er-do-well children in her charge. Illustrations. Full description
A delightful children’s picturebook which tells the story of a young girl and her family as they learn and work together on their farm. Her mother teaches her at home along with her three brothers and her baby sister. The story is illustrated with beautiful watercolor paintings. Every page is in full color.
