1977 Newbery Honor Book Abel's place in his familiar, mouse world has always been secure; he had an allowance from his mother, a comfortable home, and a lovely wife, Amanda. But one stormy August day, furious flood water carry him off and dump him on an uninhabited island. Despite his determination and stubborn resourcefulness--he tried crossing the river with boats and ropes and even on stepping-stones--Abel can't find a way to get back home. Days, then weeks and months, pass. Slowly, his soft habits disappear as he forages for food, fashions a warm nest in a hollow log, models clay statues of his family for company, and continues to brood on the problem of how to get across the river--and home. Abel's time on the island brings him a new understanding of the world he's separated from. Faced with the daily adventure of survival in his solitary, somewhat hostile domain, he is moved to reexamine the easy way of life he had always accepted and discovers skills and talents in himself that hold promise of a more meaningful life, if and when he should finally return to Mossville and his dear Amanda again.Abel's Island is a 1976 New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year and Outstanding Book of the Year, and a 1977 Newbery Honor Book.

Jean Stone is a gifted writer of romantic tales that capture the unique feel of New England while introducing characters who live in readers' hearts forever. Her latest novel is her most moving work to date, the story of a woman who gave up everything she had for the man she loved -- but must now find the strength to stand by him during his darkest hour.... Once Jill McPhearson had a life any woman would envy: a successful career as a television anchorwoman and a handsome fiance. But she gave up everything to start anew in her childhood home of Martha's Vineyard. For Jill, carving out a new, lower-profile career on the island is a struggle. But falling in love -- and then marrying -- local carpenter Ben Niles feels natural and seamless. It feels right. Steady, rugged Ben...the man who makes Jill feel she has it all -- or at least all she really needs. But when Ben is accused of a shocking crime, Jill's world turns upside down -- and everything she thought she knew is called into question. The small-town island life Jill loves is suddenly unbearable, as Ben and Jill try to hide their terrible secret from everyone they love. And now Jill must ask herself: how do you recapture a life that may never have existed in the first place? From the Paperback edition.Review"[Jean Stone writes with] graceful prose, vivid imagery and compassionately drawn characters."-- Publishers Weekly Don't miss other books by Jean Stone: The Summer HouseBirthday GirlsPlaces by the SeaTides of the HeartSins of InnocenceFirst LovesIvy Secrets From the Paperback edition.From the Inside FlapJean Stone is a gifted writer of romantic tales that capture the unique feel of New England while introducing characters who live in readers' hearts forever. Her latest novel is her most moving work to date, the story of a woman who gave up everything she had for the man she loved -- but must now find the strength to stand by him during his darkest hour.... Once Jill McPhearson had a life any woman would envy: a successful career as a television anchorwoman and a handsome fiance. But she gave up everything to start anew in her childhood home of Martha's Vineyard. For Jill, carving out a new, lower-profile career on the island is a struggle. But falling in love -- and then marrying -- local carpenter Ben Niles feels natural and seamless. It feels right. Steady, rugged Ben...the man who makes Jill feel she has it all -- or at least all she really needs. But when Ben is accused of a shocking crime, Jill's world turns upside down -- and everything she thought she knew is called into question. The small-town island life Jill loves is suddenly unbearable, as Ben and Jill try to hide their terrible secret from everyone they love. And now Jill must ask herself: how do you recapture a life that may never have existed in the first place?

A gifted storyteller who truly "understands the human heart," (Literary Times) Jean Stone returns with another deeply enthralling tale, this one about three women facing fifty--and determined to change their lives.... Once they were childhood friends who celebrated birthdays together, sharing laughter and tears and heartfelt dreams. Then they lost touch. Yet now, on the brink of turning fifty, one of them is desperate enough to contact the others--looking for more than an innocent reunion.... Abigail is a star, a new Martha Stewart whose weekly TV show has won her millions of fans. Maddie is a brilliant photographer under contract with a hip magazine. And daredevil Kris is a writer whose taut thrillers have been on bestseller lists for years. But one of them carries a dark, tormenting secret; another is obsessed with the man she loved and lost; a third would give anything to start over; and all are haunted by the stark passage of time. So what will the friends do? They'll share their birthday wishes just like before, only this time they'll go to any lengths to make sure their wishes come true....

In her most dramatic and ambitious novel yet, bestselling author Beth Powning re-imagines the life of Mary Dyer, a Quaker who defied death to champion religious freedom during America's earliest years. Set in 1600s New England, A Measure of Light tells the story of Mary Dyer, a Puritan who flees persecution in Elizabethan England only to find the Puritan establishment in Massachusetts every bit as vicious as the one she has left behind. One of America's first Quakers, and among the last to face the gallows for her convictions, Mary Dyer receives here in fiction the full-blooded treatment too long denied a figure of her stature: a woman caught between faith, family and the driving sense that she alone will put right a deep and cruel wrong in the world. This is gripping historical fiction about a courageous woman who chafed at the power of theocracies and the boundaries of her era, struggling against a backdrop of imminent apocalypse for women's rights,...

In the tenth book of the acclaimed DI Christy Kennedy series, a successful investment banker is found dead under unusual circumstances. While it looks like the case of an auto-erotic escapade gone wrong, Kennedy has other suspicions.  After working through a battery of interviews, and uncovering a potential political scandal, Kennedy follows the trail to California.  Kennedy’s long time love has gone for good, which leaves the inspector in a contemplative mood.  But in the quiet American hamlet of Half Moon Bay, Kennedy is intrigued by an attractive police officer investigating her husband’s murder. As he aids in the search for this new killer, Kennedy finds the line between professional and personal relationships blurred. Despite distractions, the redoubtable DI still finds time to solve his crime.   

Translated by Audie E. Bock."A first rate book and a joy to read.... It's doubtful that a complete understanding of the director's artistry can be obtained without reading this book.... Also indispensable for budding directors are the addenda, in which Kurosawa lays out his beliefs on the primacy of a good script, on scriptwriting as an essential tool for directors, on directing actors, on camera placement, and on the value of steeping oneself in literature, from great novels to detective fiction."--Variety"For the lover of Kurosawa's movies...this is nothing short of must reading...a fitting companion piece to his many dynamic and absorbing screen entertainments."--Washington Post Book WorldFrom the Trade Paperback edition.