Honor Among Thieves


Book Description

Meet your new favorite kickass heroine in this daring YA series by New York Times bestselling authors Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre, a thrilling yet romantic futuristic adventure perfect for fans of Claudia Gray’s A Thousand Pieces of You. Petty criminal Zara Cole has a painful past that’s made her stronger than most, which is why she chose life in New Detroit instead moving with her family to Mars. In her eyes, living inside a dome isn’t much better than a prison cell. Still, when Zara commits a crime that has her running scared, jail might be exactly where she’s headed. Instead Zara is recruited into the Honors, an elite team of humans selected by the Leviathan—a race of sentient alien ships—to explore the outer reaches of the universe as their passengers. Zara seizes the chance to flee Earth’s dangers, but when she meets Nadim, the alien ship she’s assigned, Zara starts to feel at home for the first time. But nothing could have prepared her for the dark, ominous truths that lurk behind the alluring glitter of starlight.




Zara Hossain Is Here


Book Description

Zara's family has waited years for their visa process to be finalized so that they can officially become US citizens. But it only takes one moment for that dream to come crashing down around them. Seventeen-year-old Pakistani immigrant, Zara Hossain, has been leading a fairly typical life in Corpus Christi, Texas, since her family moved there for her father to work as a pediatrician. While dealing with the Islamophobia that she faces at school, Zara has to lay low, trying not to stir up any trouble and jeopardize their family's dependent visa status while they await their green card approval, which has been in process for almost nine years. But one day her tormentor, star football player Tyler Benson, takes things too far, leaving a threatening note in her locker, and gets suspended. As an act of revenge against her for speaking out, Tyler and his friends vandalize Zara's house with racist graffiti, leading to a violent crime that puts Zara's entire future at risk. Now she must pay the ultimate price and choose between fighting to stay in the only place she's ever called home or losing the life she loves and everyone in it. From the author of the "heart-wrenching yet hopeful" (Samira Ahmed) novel, The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali, comes a timely, intimate look at what it means to be an immigrant in America today, and the endurance of hope and faith in the face of hate.




Zara's Rules for Record-Breaking Fun


Book Description

Ten-year-old (nearly eleven) Zara's nickname is "Queen of the Neighborhood" because she organizes the other children (even the older ones), sets the rules, and generally makes sure everyone has fun; but now another ten-year-old, Naomi, has moved in across the street and she has her own ideas about fun games, and suddenly the other kids (even Zara's younger brother Zayd) are listening to Naomi--if she is going to retain her influence Zara needs to come up with something quick, and an old copy of the Guinness Book of World Records gives her an idea.




Girl, Stop Passing Out in Your Makeup


Book Description

“Self-help meets memoir. Party girl meets wise sage. Beauty meets reality. Zara Barrie is the cool older sister you wish you had. The one that lets you borrow her designer dresses and ripped up fishnets, buys you champagne (she loves you too much to let you drink beer), and colors your lips with bright pink lipstick. She'll take you to the coolest parties, and will stick by your side and she guides you through the glitter, pain, danger, laughter, and what it means to be a f*cked up girl in this f*cked up world (both of which are beautiful despite the darkness). Girl, Stop Passing Out in Your Makeup is for the girls that are too much of a beautiful contradiction to be contained. Zara is a gifted writer—one second she'll have you laughing over rich girls agonizing over which Birkin bag to buy, the next second she'll shatter your heart in one sentence about losing one’s innocence. Zara is the nuanced girl she writes for—light, irreverent, snarky, bitchy, funny; and aching, perceptive, deep, flawed, wise, poised, honest—all at once. Perhaps the only thing that can match Zara's unparalleled wit and big sister advice is her candid humor and undeniable talent for the written word. Zara is one of the most prolific and entertaining honest voices on the internet—and her talent is only multiplied in book form. Girl, Stop Passing Out in Your Makeup is for the bad girls, honey.”—Dayna Troisi, Executive Editor, GO Magazine “Reading Zara's writing will make you feel like you're at your cool-as-hell big sister's sleepover party. You will be transfixed by her unflinching honesty and words of wisdom, and she'll successfully convince you to not only ditch the shame you feel about the raw and messy parts of yourself, but to dare to see them as beautiful.”—Alexia LaFata, Editor, New York Magazine “If Cat Marnell and F. Scott Fitzgerald had a literary baby it would be Zara Barrie. She’s got Marnell’s casual, dark, downright hilarious tone of an irreverent party girl. But then she also has Fitzgerald’s talent for making words literally feel like they sparkle on the page. I’ve always been a fan of Zara’s writing but Girl, Stop Passing Out in Your Makeup takes it to the next level. With shimmery words that make her dark stories sparkle, she seamlessly manages to inspire even the most coked-out girl at the party to get her shit together.”—Candice Jalili, Senior Sex & Dating Writer, Elite Daily




STORY WRITING INSPIRATION: 100 STORY IDEAS FROM RETRO COMPUTER GAMES


Book Description

In a world buzzing with technology and creativity, hobby writing has become more than just a pastime; it has emerged as a vivid expression of passion and imagination. For many, writing has always been at the intersection of creativity and challenge, allowing stories to flow from the depths of the mind and onto the page. In an age where narratives are crafted not only in books but also in the pixelated realms of computer games, the potential for inspiration is limitless. Computer games, once regarded simply as entertainment, have evolved into multifaceted experiences that integrate story, art, and music, forging deep connections with players. They craft rich narratives that captivate audiences and encourage engagement on multiple levels, resembling modern-day interactive novels. This evolution offers aspiring writers a treasure trove of inspiration. Whether it's the intricacies of character development, the nuances of world-building, or the delicate balance of plot pacing, the gaming world provides a myriad of lessons for those eager to pen their own stories.




Zara


Book Description

Few words evoke a more chilling response than "human trafficking," yet slavery persists. But what is it really like to be sold? Zara knows. As a six-year-old, she was sold to a factory owner and put to work. Fifteen years later, she was sold again -- this time to a brothel in Bombay. But it is one thing to be sold, and another to be owned. When Zara and her fellow prostitutes resort to blackmail to get justice, their cell phone-and the incriminating photos it contains-are taken by a police commissioner. And when he is murdered, and Zara framed for the crime, she must team up with one of India's few female police officers to recover the phone, prove her innocence, and obtain her freedom. Zara is a fast-moving novel based on the true-life account of a victim of human trafficking. It criss-crosses Bombay as few books can, drawing intersecting lines from the mansions of the power brokers to the gritty streets of the pavement dwellers, and all points in between. It is the rare book that manages to explore a complex social issue while telling a gripping and very human story.




Zara’s Adventure In the Stars


Book Description

When Zara sees a strange, flashing blue light flying around her yard, she decides to chase it and have fun. Then the blue light turns into a little blue boy! The boy invites Zara on an exciting journey to another planet. Zara travels with him on his spaceship to his home planet, waving to the earth and the sun and all the other planets as she passes by. On the new planet, Zara meets many more blue people who welcome her and are glad to see her. She visits a park, where she sees a butterfly and plays games with all the little blue children. She also visits a beautiful lake filled with a million jewels. When it's time to go home, the little blue boy tells Zara she may visit again any time she wishes. With vivid imagery and lively colors, this children's story tells the tale of a little girl's journey to another world, where she learns about love and acceptance.




The Chrama Chronicles: The Curse


Book Description

Zara is a blacksmith surrounded by family and villagers who all believe her to be cursed. At first she refuses to believe she is cursed but the years pass on and none of her betrothals ever last long, their paths always leading away from her towards death or into the arms of another, leaving Zara standing alone time and time again, she accepts that she truly is cursed. Zara has finally resigned herself to her fate, until one day when a nomad comes to visit her brother and she begins to question it all, embarking on a journey that will change everything she's ever known.







A New Kind of Wild


Book Description

This sweet author-illustrator debut celebrates imagination, the magic of friendship, and all the different ways we make a new place feel like home. For Ren, home is his grandmother's little house, and the lush forest that surrounds it. Home is a place of magic and wonder, filled with all the fantastical friends that Ren dreams up. Home is where his imagination can run wild. For Ava, home is a brick and cement city, where there's always something to do or see or hear. Home is a place bursting with life, where people bustle in and out like a big parade. Home is where Ava is never lonely because there's always someone to share in her adventures. When Ren moves to Ava's city, he feels lost without his wild. How will he ever feel at home in a place with no green and no magic, where everything is exactly what it seems? Of course, not everything in the city is what meets the eye, and as Ren discovers, nothing makes you feel at home quite like a friend. Inspired by the stories her father told her about moving from Puerto Rico to New York as a child, Zara González Hoang's author-illustrator debut is an imaginative exploration of the true meaning of "home."