The Birthday Party Business


Book Description

Balloons, fun, games, magic, and more -- they are all here. From entertaining and food to marketing and promotion, this book features comprehensive and detailed guidance on how to succeed in the birthday party business. At the heart of the birthday party business is the entertainment. In this book you will find detailed information on the art of entertaining children of all ages. You will learn how to work with children, what they like, what they don't like, how to make them laugh, and how to control them. You will learn the secrets of entertaining kids using magic, clowning, puppetry, storytelling, ballooning, and face painting, as well as gain valuable information on catering, party games, and creating enchanting theme parties. This book has everything you need to get started in the birthday party business; included are samples of advertisements, sales letters, thank you notes, news releases, contracts, party planning guides, flyers, business cards, stationery, and promotional give-aways, as well as dozens of comedy skits and party routines.




The Sucker's Kiss


Book Description

During the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, seven-year-old Thomas Moran finds himself accidentally embarking on a career in pickpocketing. In the following years he becomes a master of his dubious craft and grows to manhood traveling from state to state across America. His picaresque journey takes him through Prohibition and the Depression; into the desperate highs of the Hootchy-Kootchy and the dying vineyards of California, accompanied by an array of richly drawn characters frantically clutching at the crumbling American dream. Italian and Chinese gangsters, con artists, corrupt clergy, and speakeasy bootleggers all have a part to play in Tommy's destiny, but it is Effie, the great love of his life, who offers him the chance to change his future, and tries to save him from himself. Colorfully written, engaging, and richly evocative of an extraordinary period in American history, The Sucker's Kiss marks the literary debut of master storyteller Alan Parker.




Big Red Lollipop


Book Description

Rubina has been invited to her first birthday party, and her mother, Ami, insists that she bring her little sister along. Rubina is mortified, but she can't convince Ami that you just don't bring your younger sister to your friend's party. So both girls go, and not only does Sana demand to win every game, but after the party she steals Rubina's prized party favor, a red lollipop. What's a fed-up big sister to do? Rukhsana Khan's clever story and Sophie Blackall's irresistible illustrations make for a powerful combination in this fresh and surprising picture book.




Fearing the Dream


Book Description

What happens when a man who is always alone meets a man who never is? Sergei is the leader within the Russian immigrant community in Raleigh and the head of his family. He is a successful businessman who has carefully cultivated his intimidating persona, not correcting people when they believe him to be the head of the area's Russian mob. Everyone comes to him if they have a problem. His problem is that he doesn't know how to tell them no, especially his sister. Stuart spends a lot of time alone, working from home as a graphic and website designer. He doesn't want to be alone, but it's simply how things have worked out. Stuart was devastated when his mother let his stepfather kick him out of the house as soon as he graduated high school. Working two—and sometimes three—jobs to put himself through college didn't leave him a lot of time to socialize. He has had to look out for himself for a long time now and finds it hard to let anyone in. Becoming friends with Lee Clark at Everyone's Mechanic is one of the best things that has ever happened to him and it leads to him meeting Sergei. Sergei has to break through Stuart's protective shell and give him a home and family. Stuart needs to teach Sergei that it's okay to have boundaries, even with loved ones.




Always


Book Description

A wild boy. A sly girl. Cross Donati defines trouble. He does what he wants because he’s never known anything different. He’s unapologetic, and he owns it. Catherine Marcello is every bit a good girl … on the outside. Her entire world is a legacy, and she lives it. She’s curious, and she’s exploring it. She chases bad things. He never learned to be good. They’re late nights, stolen cars, first times, fist fights, leather jackets, beaches, bloody smiles, and life. They’re vicious and precious, dangerous and harmless, innocence and sin. They are love. Love is killing for someone. Love is living for someone. Sometimes, you can’t keep saving your heart when it means sacrificing it, too. Sometimes, you have to learn to save yourself. Sometimes, love has to fall, crash, and burn. ​ This is what love is like when you’re a principe and principessa della mafia. This is what love is like when you’re Cross Donati and Catherine Marcello.




The Thank You Letter


Book Description

Landon has always been an introvert and certainly never been in a relationship. That is until he gets stuck doing a science project with Brooke Rose. They fall into an unorthodox friendship which gradually morphs into something more. Will Landon ruin it all, or will he blossom in this new found relationship




Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forest


Book Description

Accompanied by his aunt's Norwegian elkhound, Ibsen, twelve-year-old Samuel ventures into a weird forest filled with strange and dangerous creatures to rescue his younger sister, Martha, who has been mute since their parents' recent death.




Unforgivable


Book Description

Emily Martin is a Crisis Intervention Social Worker whose world is turned upside down by the murder of a 23-month-old Sara Germane. And soon the small Oregon community where Emily lives realizes that a serial killer lives among them. Agent Seth Brady, media darling of the FBI, joins local detective Richard Dixon on the case. Richard's sister has been murdered. Locked in Emily's mind lies the murderer's identity, and with each passing day she grows closer to remembering. Will she remember before the killer reachers her?




Sinful Intentions


Book Description

When Rev. Nedra Davis shocked her congregation by engaging in a torrid love affair with sexy bad boy Sinclair Reasoner, no one would have guessed the outcome. Four years later, and happily married, their world revolves around their passion for each other and their love of their three adopted children. The sudden appearance of a sinister stranger and a deceptive woman sets into motion a chain of events that threatens the couple's marriage, their family and their lives.




The One Year Devos for Animal Lovers


Book Description

Animal lover and bestselling writer Mackall delivers a One Year devotion that uses animals to point to spiritual truths. Each devotion begins with a fun or interesting fact about an animal; this fact then introduces a concept of life and godliness that is reinforced by a scripture verse.