"At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to build an immense real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs of Philadelphia. meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. The story is told by Cyril's son, Danny, as his older sister, the...

Presents the original text of Shakespeare's play side by side with a modern version, with marginal notes and explanations and full descriptions of each character.

"Every family has its problems. But even among the most troubled, the Plumb family stands out as spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of simmering tensions finally reach a breaking point on an unseasonably cold afternoon in New York City as Melody, Beatrice, and Jack Plumb gather to confront their charismatic and reckless older brother, Leo, freshly released from rehab. Months earlier, an inebriated Leo got behind the wheel of a car with a nineteen-year-old...

Born for adventure, Lea Clark heads deep into the Brazilian rainforest, where her most exciting story awaits. When Lea's brother, Zac, goes missing while studying the ecology in South America, she suspects he's fallen prey to a band of ruthless animal poachers, and Lea convinces her mom to spring into action. From the minute their plane touches down, Lea's mom wants her to stay safe in the city, but Lea is determined to save both her brother and the...

Nine years ago, international spies Gregorio and Ingrid Cortz traded espionage for parenthood, but when they are called out on a secret mission, they are kidnapped, and fortunately their children possess the skills and know-how to reunite the family.

Presents a story inspired by human love, how people take care of one another, and how choices resonate through subsequent generations. Afghanistan, 1952. Abdullah and his sister Pari live with their father and step-mother in the small village of Shadbagh. Their father, Saboor, is constantly in search of work and they struggle together through poverty and brutal winters. To Adbullah, Pari, as beautiful and sweet-natured as the fairy for which she was...

Designed to make available a readable text of one of Shakespeare's most popular plays.

"Can't cook but doesn't bite." So begins the newspaper ad offering the services of an "A-1 housekeeper, sound morals, exceptional disposition" that draws the hungry attention of widower Oliver Milliron in the fall of 1909. And so begins the unforgettable season that deposits the noncooking, nonbiting, ever-whistling Rose Llewellyn and her font-of-knowledge brother, Morris Morgan, in Marias Coulee along with a stampede of homesteaders drawn by the

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The moment the Grace family moves into the dilapidated Spiderwick Estate, strange things begin to happen. Jared is a curious, adventurous boy who quickly seeks out and finds the hidden laboratory of his great great uncle Arthur Spiderwick. He unleashes a mysterious force when he locates a field guide full of the secrets of the magical creatures that inhabit the forest surrounding the mansion. His twin brother Simon is calm and reserved. He is the...

O Pioneers by Willa Cather is story of a family of Swedish immigrants who settle in a fictional town in Nebraska. When her father dies, Alexandra Bergson inherits the family farm and is determined to see it succeed, even at a time when many immigrant families are leaving the prairie.