Download or read book Serafina s Stories written by Rudolfo Anaya and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2015-06-02 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This innovative novel combines Spanish folktales with Native American legends to create a captivating Southwestern version of The Arabian Nights. Like Scheherezade, who ensured her survival by telling her royal husband stories, the title character in Rudolfo Anaya’s creative retelling of The Arabian Nights must entertain the recently widowed governor with legends of Nueva Mexicana, or she and her fellow captives will die. With fresh snow covering the high peaks of Sangre de Cristo, a group of native dissidents prepare for revolt. In seventeenth-century Santa Fe, insurrection against a colony of the king of Spain is punishable by death. A Spaniard loyal to the governor names twelve conspirators. One of them is a young woman. Raised in a mission church, fifteen-year-old Serafina speaks excellent Spanish and knows many of her country’s traditional folktales. She and the governor strike a bargain: Each evening, she will tell him a cuento. If he likes it, he will release one prisoner the following day. The twelve tales recounted here mirror the struggle of a divided country. They include the social and political symbolism behind “Beauty and the Beast” and retell “Cinderella” as “Miranda’s Gift.” Interspersed with these timeless cuentos is the story of Serafina herself, and that of a people battling to preserve a vanishing way of life under the long shadow of the Inquisition.

Download or read book Serafina and the Black Cloak written by Robert Beatty and published by Disney Electronic Content. This book was released on 2015-07-14 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Never go into the deep parts of the forest, for there are many dangers there, and they will ensnare your soul." Serafina has never had a reason to disobey her pa and venture beyond the grounds of the Biltmore estate.There's plenty to explore in her grand home, although she must take care to never be seen. None of the rich folk upstairs know that Serafina exists; she and her pa, the estate's maintenance man, have secretly lived in the basement for as long as Serafina can remember. But when children at the estate start disappearing, only Serafina knows who the culprit is:a terrifying man in a black cloak who stalks Biltmore's corridors at night. Following her own harrowing escape, Serafina risks everything by joining forces with Braeden Vanderbilt, the young nephew of the Biltmore's owners. Braeden and Serafina must uncover the Man in the Black Cloak's true identity...before all of the children vanish one by one. Serafina's hunt leads her into the very forest that she has been taught to fear. There she discovers a forgotten legacy of magic, one that is bound to her own identity. In order to save the children of Biltmore, Serafina must seek the answers that will unlock the puzzle of her past.

Download or read book Serafina s Fine written by Kelly McNamee Newcomb and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2011-03-28 with total page 42 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A whimsical story about a unique friendship forged between a special young girl named Ruby and a hard working pixie named Serafina. Follow their journey from their surprising initial meeting when both were very young and in desperate need of a friend, through a heart wrenching childhood loss, ending with a heartwarming discovery many years later.

Download or read book Seraphina written by Rachel Hartman and published by Ember. This book was released on 2012-07-10 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lyrical, imaginative, and wholly original, this New York Times bestseller with 8 starred reviews is not to be missed. Rachel Hartman’s award-winning debut will have you looking at dragons as you’ve never imagined them before… In the kingdom of Goredd, dragons and humans live and work side by side – while below the surface, tensions and hostility simmer. The newest member of the royal court, a uniquely gifted musician named Seraphina, holds a deep secret of her own. One that she guards with all of her being. When a member of the royal family is brutally murdered, Seraphina is drawn into the investigation alongside the dangerously perceptive—and dashing—Prince Lucien. But as the two uncover a sinister plot to destroy the wavering peace of the kingdom, Seraphina’s struggle to protect her secret becomes increasingly difficult… while its discovery could mean her very life. "Will appeal to both fans of Christopher Paolini’s Eragon series and Robin McKinley’s The Hero and the Crown." —Entertainment Weekly “[A] lush, intricately plotted fantasy.” —The Washington Post "Beautifully written. Some of the most interesting dragons I've read." —Christopher Paolini, New York Times bestselling author of Eragon

Download or read book Serafina and the Splintered Heart written by Robert Beatty and published by Disney Electronic Content. This book was released on 2017-07-03 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the highly-anticipated next installment of the Serafina series, Serafina must confront the darkest threat she's ever encountered at Biltmore Estate. She knows she can face anything with her best friend and closest ally, Braeden Vanderbilt, by her side. But when a sinister force tears them apart, Serafina scrambles to uncover the mystery of her most formidable challenge yet...and about herself and the destiny that awaits her.

Download or read book Serafina and the Seven Stars written by Robert Beatty and published by Disney Electronic Content. This book was released on 2019-07-09 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Serafina and Braeden make an epic return in the hotly anticipated fourth installment of Robert Beatty's #1 New York Times best-selling series. Serafina, the Guardian of Biltmore Estate, has won battle after battle against the dark forces encroaching on her home. Now, tranquility has returned to Biltmore. Serafina doesn’t trust it. She patrols the grounds night and day, hardly sleeping, uncertain of her place after her best friend Braeden Vanderbilt's departure for boarding school in New York. When Mr. Vanderbilt, the kind master of Biltmore, asks Serafina to move upstairs into one of the house's grandest rooms, she's sure it's to keep an eye on the guests who have arrived for the estate's annual hunt. But as Serafina investigates, she becomes more and more unsettled by what Biltmore has become—a place haunted by nameless terrors where no dark corridor is safe. Even worse, she begins to doubt her own senses. Is Braeden really hundreds of miles away, or did he return to Biltmore for one strange night before vanishing? Is the bond between them truly broken or is it stronger than ever? Then Serafina witnesses a crime that turns her world upside down. How can all that once seemed good and worthy of protection now be evil? And how can she guard those around her when she can't even be sure of the truth of her own heart? Serafina and the Seven Stars marks the return of a heroine like no other, as master storyteller Robert Beatty weaves his darkest, most astonishing tale yet.

Download or read book Serafina and the Twisted Staff written by Robert Beatty and published by Disney Electronic Content. This book was released on 2016-07-12 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Serafina's defeat of the Man in the Black Cloak has brought her out of the shadows and into the daylight realm of her home, Biltmore Estate. Every night she visits her mother in the forest, eager to learn the ways of the cat¬amount. But Serafina finds herself caught between her two worlds: she's too wild for Biltmore's beautifully dressed ladies and formal customs, and too human to fully join her kin. Late one night, Serafina encounters a strange and terrifying figure in the forest, and is attacked by the vicious wolfhounds that seem to be under his control. Even worse, she's convinced that the stranger was not alone, that he has sent his accomplice into Biltmore in disguise. Someone is wreaking havoc at the estate. A mysterious series of attacks test Serafina's role as Biltmore's protector, culminating in a tragedy that tears Serafina's best friend and only ally, Braeden Vanderbilt, from her side. Heartbroken, she flees. Deep in the forest, Serafina comes face-to-face with the evil infecting Biltmore—and discovers its reach is far greater than she'd ever imagined. All the humans and creatures of the Blue Ridge Mountains are in terrible danger. For Serafina to defeat this new evil before it engulfs her beloved home, she must search deep inside herself and embrace the destiny that has always awaited her.

Download or read book Tony s Bread written by Tomie dePaola and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1996-04-16 with total page 19 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tony dreams that one day he'll become the most famous baker in northern Italy. His poor daughter Serafina wants to be allowed to marry. Each of their dreams seems far away until Angelo, a rich young nobleman from Milan, appears and devises a way to make everyone's dreams come true.

Download or read book Love Me Tender written by Ally Blake and published by Tule Publishing. This book was released on 2015-10-12 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It was love at first sight… When her Papa loses his job, indomitable Serafina Scott insists it’s her turn to take care of him – meaning landing a well-paying job…and fast. Which is how she ends up working for the Cinderella Project, a high-end matchmaking business, even though she’s certainly no expert on affairs of the heart. Until she meets Murdoch, the gruff builder restoring her extravagant new work place. He’s inscrutable, infuriating, and gorgeous… Convincing them was a whole other matter. Murdoch finds Sera confounding…and luminous. But beneath her firecracker exterior, she is dangerously soft-hearted, and the last thing she needs is a broken brute like him. While Sera does her best to convince Murdoch that they are a match made in heaven, Murdoch makes it his mission to prove her wrong. Will it come down to who’s the most convincing…or who’s most willing to be convinced?

Download or read book The Light in the Ruins written by Chris Bohjalian and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2014-04-22 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant comes a spellbinding novel of love, despair, and revenge—set in war-ravaged Tuscany. 1943: Tucked away in the idyllic hills of Tuscany, the Rosatis, an Italian family of noble lineage, believe that the walls of their ancient villa will keep them safe from the war raging across Europe. But when two soldiers—a German and an Italian—arrive at their doorstep asking to see an ancient Etruscan burial site, the Rosatis’ bucolic tranquility is shattered. 1955: Serafina Bettini, an investigator with the Florence Police Department, has successfully hidden her tragic scars from WWII, at least until she’s assigned to a gruesome new case—a serial killer who is targeting the remaining members of the Rosati family one by one. Soon, she will find herself digging into past secrets that will reveal a breathtaking story of moral paradox, human frailty, and the mysterious ways of the heart.

Download or read book The Glittering Strand written by Judith Lennox and published by Review. This book was released on 2015-04-09 with total page 486 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A desperate fight for her birthright and freedom... Spiced with the colour and sensuous splendour of the sixteenth-century silk trade, Judith Lennox's The Glittering Strand is the triumphant story of a young woman's fight for independence. Perfect for fans of Rachel Hore and Kate Morton. Serafina Guardi and her father, a wealthy silk merchant from Marseilles, are sailing to Italy to celebrate her betrothal when their ship is captured by Barbary corsairs. Serafina finds herself plunged into the unknown, brutal world of the North African slave states. From there, she begins the long struggle to free herself from servitude. Serafina's wit and beauty are tempered by her ruthlessness - a ruthlessness which eventually threatens to lose her both her lover and her child. Embattled by the prejudices of the age and by the ambitions of her treacherous cousin Angelo, Serafina fights against poverty, loneliness and despair, vowing to regain her lost inheritance - the Guardi silk house - at whatever cost. What readers are saying about Judith Lennox: 'Ideal escapism' '[Judith Lennox] is the ultimate storyteller... her stories are compelling and beautifully descriptive of both characters and feelings' '[Judith Lennox's] characters are marvellously drawn, and their lives draw the reader totally into the story'

Download or read book The Mermaid in the Basement written by Gilbert Morris and published by HarperChristian + ORM. This book was released on 2007-12-02 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A wealthy widow of a nobleman, daughter of a famous scientist, and skeptic who only trusts what can be proven. Meet Serafina Trent. A woman about to take 19th Century London by storm. It's London, 1857, and everything is at stake for Serafina Trent. A woman of means . . . but not the typical Victorian lady who feels her place is to be seen and not heard. When her brother's most recent female dalliance, a beautiful actress, is found murdered, all evidence points to him. Especially since the actress had just rejected him in a most public manner. Now everyone believes Clive is headed for the gallows. Everyone, that is, but Serafina. Determined to prove her brother's innocence, Serafina finds herself working with unlikely allies—including Dylan Tremayne, a passionate storyteller and actor with a criminal past. This novel will hold fans of mystery and history spellbound until the very last page. Victorian England comes alive in this intriguing new series from one of Christian fiction's favorite authors.

Download or read book Oh Boy You re Having a Girl written by Brian A Klems and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-03-18 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rules for Raising Little Girls "As the father of a daughter, I wish I'd read this very funny book sooner, if only to know that it's OK for a grown man to wear a tutu." - Dave Barry "Required reading for any parent who doesn't know pants from leggings." - Dan Zevin, author of Dan Gets a Minivan: Life at the Intersection of Dude and Dad It's easy to imagine how you'd raise a boy--all the golf outings, lawnmower lessons, and Little League championships you'd attend--but playing dad to a little princess may take some education. In Oh Boy, You're Having a Girl, Brian, a father of three girls, shares his tactics for surviving this new and glittery world. From baby dolls and bedtime rituals to potty training and dance recitals, he leads you through all the trials and tribulations you'll face as you're raising your daughter. He'll also show you how to navigate your way through tough situations, like making sure that she doesn't start dating until she's fifty. Complete with commandments for restroom trips and properly participating in a tea party, Oh Boy, You're Having a Girl will brace you for all those hours playing house--and psych you up for the awesomeness of raising a daughter who has you lovingly wrapped around her little finger. "Somehow, Brian Klems has taken one of the most traumatic situations known to a father--having a daughter--and made it into something so completely hilarious you'll laugh until you've got oxygen deprivation!" - W. Bruce Cameron, author of 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter

Download or read book Haunted Witch written by T. Thorn Coyle and published by PF Publishing. This book was released on 2021-12-14 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: My name is Sarah Braxton, and I'm a witch. You might think that's unusual, but trust me, I am not the strangest thing in Seashell Cove. Haunted inns? Cranky gnomes? Centaurs that dance around in the forest just outside town? Yeah. Seashell Cove has it all… But there’s been an all-too-recent death at the Historic Kelpie Inn, the ghosts are in an uproar, and those centaurs? I think they know something, but aren’t telling. What’s a witch to do? Guess I’ll gather up my trusty, D&D playing boyfriend, my inscrutable cat, and the rest of my ragtag bunch of friends. We must get to the bottom of this death… before it’s the death of us all. Read the next installment in this rollicking new series of paranormal cozies for freaks and geeks. Find out why Kickstarter named it “a project we love.”

Download or read book His Only Son written by Leopoldo Alas and published by New York Review of Books. This book was released on 2016-10-04 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The unlikely hero of His Only Son, Bonifacio Reyes, is a romantic and a flautist by vocation—and a failed clerk and kept husband by necessity—who dreams of a novelesque life. Tied to his shrill and sickly wife by her purse strings, he enters timidly into a love affair with Serafina, a seductive second-rate opera singer, encouraged by her manager who mistakes Bonifacio for a potential patron. Meanwhile, Bonifacio’s wife experiences a parallel awakening and in the midst of a long-barren marriage, surprises them both with a son—but is it Bonifacio’s? In the accompanying novella, Doña Berta, the heroine of the title, an aged, poor, but well-born woman, forfeits her beloved estate in search of a portrait that may be all that remains of the secret love of her life. While largely unknown outside of Spain, Leopoldo Alas was one of the most celebrated writers of criticism in nineteenth-century Spain and employed his satirical talents to powerful and humorous effect in fiction. His Only Son was Alas’s second and final novel, full of characteristic humor, naturalistic detail, descriptive beauty, and moral complexity. His frail and pitiful characters—irrational, emotional actors drawn inexorably toward their foolish fates—are yet multidimensional individuals, often conscious of their own weaknesses and stymied by their very yearnings to be more than the parts they find themselves playing.

Download or read book The Bright the Pale written by Jessica Rubinkowski and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2021-03-02 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Debut author Jessica Rubinkowski delivers the thrilling first book in an epic Russian folklore–inspired fantasy duology filled with page-turning romance, tragedy, magic, and monsters. Perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Sara Raasch! Seventeen-year-old Valeria is one of the only survivors of the freeze, a dark magical hold Knnot Mountain unleashed on her village. Everyone, including her family, is trapped in an unbreakable sheet of ice. Ever since, she’s been on the run from the czar, who has set out to imprison anyone who managed to escape. Valeria finds refuge with the Thieves Guild, doing odd jobs with her best friend, Alik, the only piece of home she has left. That is, until he is brutally murdered. A year later, she discovers Alik is alive and being held captive. To buy his freedom, she must lead a group of cutthroats and thieves on a perilous expedition to the very mountain that claimed her family. Only something sinister slumbers in the heart of Knnot. And it has waited years for release.

Download or read book Can t Help Falling written by Cara Bastone and published by HQN Books. This book was released on 2020-08-25 with total page 389 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The more you resist, the deeper you’ll fall Serafine St. Romain doesn’t need her psychic powers to know she’s no longer in Tyler Leshuski’s good graces. True, she did tear him to pieces when he asked her out, accusing him of being shallow and selfish. Despite the energy crackling between them, the gorgeous sports writer is a no-strings, no-kids kind of guy. And Serafine, raised in the foster system, intends to be a foster parent herself. She won’t compromise that dream, even for a man as annoyingly appealing as Tyler. In a simpler world, Tyler would already have gotten Serafine out of his system. For him, women equal fun. Not this kind of bone-deep, disconcerting desire. Life gets even more complicated when he becomes the guardian of his much younger sister. Suddenly, he’s way out of his depth. Serafine’s the only person who can connect with Kylie. He can’t jeopardize that for a fling. But maybe…just maybe…he’s finally ready to risk everything on forever.