Ultraviolet is genre-bending paranormal YA about a 17-year-old girl named Alison whois a synesthete (she hears color, sees sound, etc), a tetrachromat (she can see into the ultraviolet part of the spectrum), and possibly a murderer. Her only hope is a fraud, a liar, and maybe an alien. Or so she says.

Connie Lionheart's calculating great-aunt and uncle try to take her away from the tantalizing reach of the Society for the Protection of Mythical Creatures. What they don't realize (or do they?) is that Connie is the Society's most important member--she is the only universal companion able to bond with all mythical creatures. Connie's great gift also puts her in great danger, as the evil shape-shifter Kullervo needs her power to destroy the Society once and for all. But how can Connie help anyone, even herself, when she hasn't learned how to use her gift yet? In this second book of the Companions Quartet, Connie and her friends team together again to protect the fragile bonds between humans, creatures, and the world we must share.

MYSTERY, DISGUISES, AND A FIGHT FOR FREEDOM. The second episode in the CAT ROYAL ADVENTURE series plunges readers into the underbelly of London in a mission for justice. Pedro’s old slave master wants him back, but his friends on Drury Lane won’t give him up without a fight. Disguised as a boy, Cat enters an aristocratic boarding school and scales the heights of London society before joining a street gang to probe its depths, all to secure the freedom of her friend. Like THE DIAMOND OF DRURY LANE, CAT AMONG THE PIGEONS features mysteries, theatrical spectacles, the evil Billy “Boil” Shepherd, and, of course, the irrepressible Cat, who never fails to stir up trouble and save the day wherever she goes. Coming in Spring 2009, Cat travels to Paris during the French Revolution in DEN OF THIEVES.

*"The clock continued to tick calmly in the hall, out of step with the stormy sea of panic surging inside Connie. She could make no sense of this. How had she ended up on the beach? She felt a hum in her bones as if she had been meeting with some powerful creature. But what beast or being had the power to draw her out of her house without her knowing about it? And what had happened when they were together?" *Thirteen-year-old Connie Lionheart is the only Universal Companion, able to communicate with all the mythical creatures hidden in our world. She is the most important member of a secret society sworn to protect the bonds between humans and creatures. But her power brings great responsibility and great danger.

Librarian's note: This is a free downloadable novella. See the book url for more information. On board the Dolphin somewhere in the Atlantic, this day August 24th 1792, the crew will be presenting a Two Act Play: THE MIDDLE PASSAGE starring Miss Catherine Royal and Mr Billy Shepherd. Prepare to set sail for a new adventure.

Cat Royal finds herself homeless, travels to Paris, becomes an underground reporter, nearly gets hung for being a traitor to the revolution, and is baffled by attention from numerous suitors - all the while being disguised as a prissy ballerina! As the French Royal family flee, Cat discovers the power of the people.

Princess Taoshira of the Blue Crescent Islands is appalled when she is ordered to marry Prince Ramil of Gerfal. And he's not too pleased, either. She is used to a life of discipline, ritual, and splendor. He is used to hunting and carousing. They hate each other on sight. But both of their countries are under threat from a fearsome warlord, and the only chance of peace is to form an alliance. When Tashi and Ram are kidnapped, they fear there's no escape--from their kidnappers or from each other. Can they put aside their differences long enough to survive ambush, unarmed combat, brainwashing, and imprisonment? And will the people they meet on their adventure--including a circus strongman, a daring rebel leader, a sinister master of spies, and the best female fighter they have ever seen--help them or betray them to the enemy?

Notice to the PUBLIC OF JAMAICA Due to the threat of a rebellion by the slaves of this island, be it therefore enacted that from this day, 1st of July 1792, all persons report any suspicions of revolutionary plots immediately! BY ORDER OF THE GOVERNOR Presenting the fifth adventure from the spirited Cat Royal in which she joins a travelling theatre, turns pirate, undertakes a Caribbean Cruise, and gets mixed up in a slave revolt. WITH A GUEST APPEARANCE FROM MR. BILLY SHEPHERD (formerly of Covent Garden) Prepare to swash your buckle in Cat's most outrageous adventure yet!

Connie Lionheart is the only Universal Companion, able to communicate with all of the mythical creatures hidden in our world. She’s the most important member of the secret society sworn to protect the bonds between humans and creatures. But the shape-shifter Kullervo wants to use her power to wipe out humanity. Connie must stop him, but how? There are no simple answers in the exciting conclusion to this award-winning eco-fantasy series by a Nestlé Prize-winning author. *"Come to the mark. Come to me. You know you must. Connie surfaced from sleep, struggling like a swimmer caught in weeds, thrashing to reach air. When she woke, she found the bedclothes twisted around her. She threw them off and sat up to gulp some water from the glass on her bedside table, her handshaking slightly. The voice had crept into her dreams again: the voice of Kullervo, the shape-shifter, her enemy—and her companion creature. He said the same thing each time, repeating the message again and again so that she could hear its echo during the daylight hours as well as in the stillness of the night. She knew where he wanted her to go: he wanted her to meet him at the mark he had made deep in her mind, the breach in the wall between her and his dark presence. But she would not give in to him." *

Cat O'Nine Tails Cat, feisty heroine of "Cat Royal"... becomes an unlikely recruit for the British Navy, takes passage to America and navigates her way through a fiendish plot to do away with Lord Francis, heir to a dukedom. From the grand Assembly Rooms of Bath to the wilds of a new frontier, Cat finds she is for once quite out of her depth. Full description

"Col felt a stab of fear in his stomach. The Sirens were now close enough for him to see their crimson mouths open in a scream, pale faces blazing with white-hot anger, their bird claws tearing at the air." When eleven-year-old Connie is sent to live with her eccentric aunt by the sea, she’s not expecting anything great—not to make friends with Col, the coolest guy in town, and certainly not to discover that mythical creatures still exist, that an ancient society has protected them for centuries, and that a dark and treacherous force is lurking in their midst. Most of all, she doesn’t expect to learn that she has the rarest of talents, greater even than her secret ability to communicate with animals. With Col’s help, she could achieve unimaginable power—and face the terrifying choices that come with it. In the tradition of Eragon, A Wrinkle in Time, and The Golden Compass, the first book in the Companions Quartet is a boldly original adventure that will ignite the imaginations and emotions of fantasy readers everywhere.

Set in 1790's Covent Garden this book whisks you back to a bygone era, and to embark on an adventure about one hidden treasure, two bare-knuckle boxers, three enemies, and four hundred and thirty-eight rioters. It is the tale of Cat Royal, an orphan, four foot four with long red hair and not a penny to call her own. She lives in the Theater Royal on Drury Lane, a place filled with dramatic characters, theatrical spectacles, and now, a secret treasure--which Cat has been asked to protect. Her new friend Pedro, a former slave and gifted violinist, is eager to help, and so is the theater prompter, Jonathan, who is hiding secrets of his own. But when the ruthless gang leader Billy Shepherd learns about the treasure, Cat thinks she's going to lose it for sure. She still doesn't know what the treasure is, so how can she keep it safe from Billy and his gang? Follow Cat into the streets of London, as she faces danger and adventure, racing to be the first to discover the diamond of Drury Lane!

Living above her father's workshop, Rain secretly designs stained glass but when she is discovered she must go to the strange new land of Magharna. Bandits roam the lonely roads and when Rain is ambushed she knows that she cannot win the fight. That is until a boy with a falcon saves her and an adventure of a lifetime begins.

Cat Royal spins a tale about the search for her family, weaving in friends and foes, old and new. Her journey takes her from riotous London to a revolutionary cotton mill on the River Clyde in Scotland. And a mysterious newcomer is introduced. So take your seats, ladies and gentlemen: the Industrial Age has arrived.

Over the past twenty-five years, New Stories from the South has published the work of now well-known writers, including James Lee Burke, Andre Dubus, Barbara Kingsolver, John Sayles, Joshua Ferris, and Abraham Verghese and nurtured the talents of many others, including Larry Brown, Jill McCorkle, Brock Clarke, Lee Smith, and Daniel Wallace. This twenty-fifth volume reachs out beyond the South to one of the most acclaimed short story writers of our day. Guest editor Amy Hempel admits, “I’ve always had an affinity for writers from the South,” and in her choices, she’s identified the most inventive, heartbreaking, and chilling stories being written by Southerners all across the country. From the famous (Rick Bass, Wendell Berry, Elizabeth Spencer, Wells Tower, Padgett Powell, Dorothy Allison, Brad Watson) to the finest new talents, Amy Hempel has selected twenty-five of the best, most arresting stories of the past year. The 2010 collection is proof of the enduring vitality of the short form and the vigor of this ever-changing yet time-honored series.