Download or read book Story Sparks written by Denise Jaden and published by New World Library. This book was released on 2017-07-10 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Find rock-solid story ideas before you start writing Anyone who has been hamster-wheeling a story idea for years or has hundreds of pages exploring various approaches on their hard drive knows that there must be a better way. There is. Young adult novelist Denise Jaden shows exactly how to create the captivating stories that prevent dispiriting wasted time. Busting the “visitation from the muses” myth, she shows that inspiration is a skill writers can learn by understanding how story ideas work (or don’t), fertilizing the ground for fresh and sound ideas, and moving swiftly through stuck points. Practical and inspiring, Jaden’s approach celebrates the imaginative sparks that make innovations of all kinds possible while pinpointing the precise tools writers need to fan their unique creative flames.

Download or read book Sophia Sparks written by Elanor Best and published by . This book was released on 2019-02 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Healing of Natalie Curtis written by Jane Kirkpatrick and published by Revell. This book was released on 2021-09-07 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Classically trained pianist and singer Natalie Curtis isolated herself for five years after a breakdown just before she was to debut with the New York Philharmonic. Guilt-ridden and songless, Natalie can't seem to recapture the joy music once brought her. In 1902, her brother invites her to join him in the West to search for healing. What she finds are songs she'd never before encountered--the haunting melodies, rhythms, and stories of Native Americans. But their music is under attack. The US government's Code of Offenses prohibits American's indigenous people from singing, dancing, or speaking their own languages as the powers that be insist on assimilation. Natalie makes it her mission not only to document these songs before they disappear but to appeal to President Teddy Roosevelt himself, who is the only man with the power to repeal the unjust law. Will she succeed and step into a new song . . . and a new future? Award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick weaves yet another lyrical tale based on a true story that will keep readers captivated to the very end.

Download or read book Lifeboat 12 written by Susan Hood and published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 2019-09-03 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “This page-turning true-life adventure is filled with rich and riveting details and a timeless understanding of the things that matter most.”—Dashka Slater, author of The 57 Bus “Brilliantly told in verse, readers will love Ken Sparks.” —Patricia Reilly Giff, two-time Newbery Honor winner “Lyrical, terrifying, and even at times funny. A richly detailed account of a little-known event in World War II.” —Kirkus Reviews “Middle grade Titanic fans, here’s your next read.” —BCCB “An edge-of-your seat survival tale.” —School Library Journal (starred review) A Junior Library Guild Selection The 2019 Golden Kite Middle Grade Fiction Award Winner A 2019 ALSC Notable Children’s Book The 2019–2020 Lectio Book Award Winner The 2020–2021 Florida Sunshine State Young Readers Award List The 2020 Oklahoma Library Association’s Children’s Sequoyah Book Award Winner The Connecticut Book Award Winner In the tradition of The War That Saved My Life and Stella By Starlight, this poignant novel in verse based on true events tells the story of a boy’s harrowing experience on a lifeboat after surviving a torpedo attack during World War II. With Nazis bombing London every night, it’s time for thirteen-year-old Ken to escape. He suspects his stepmother is glad to see him go, but his dad says he’s one of the lucky ones—one of ninety boys and girls to ship out aboard the SS City of Benares to safety in Canada. Life aboard the luxury ship is grand—nine-course meals, new friends, and a life far from the bombs, rations, and his stepmum’s glare. And after five days at sea, the ship’s officers announce that they’re out of danger. They’re wrong. Late that night, an explosion hurls Ken from his bunk. They’ve been hit. Torpedoed! The Benares is sinking fast. Terrified, Ken scrambles aboard Lifeboat 12 with five other boys. Will they get away? Will they survive? Award-winning author Susan Hood brings this little-known World War II story to life in a riveting novel of courage, hope, and compassion. Based on true events and real people, Lifeboat 12 is about believing in one another, knowing that only by banding together will we have any chance to survive.

Download or read book The Spark Story Bible written by Debra Thorpe Hetherington and published by Sparkhouse Family. This book was released on 2015-09-25 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Each action-packed story in this engaging Bible comes with a prompt to invite discussion and leaves kids begging for you to read "just one more." The most comprehensive and Scripture-based children's storybook Bible available, The Spark Story Bible includes 100 easy-to-read stories with more than 60 stories from the New Testament. The Spark Story Bible provides a true Gospel-centric resource for kids and families to enjoy. This engaging resource touches on Old Testament stories but focuses on the life and times of Jesus, Paul, and the early church. The rich retellings found within The Spark Story Bible will have children discovering powerful truth found in God's Word. Designed for read-aloud use, the child-friendly illustrations and captivating storytelling make this story Bible perfect for home, school, or church. Fun activities and brief interactive questions help children apply what they have read to their own lives while enjoying Squiggles, an expressive caterpillar who responds to each story. The 100 stories give kids an excellent foundation for a journey through God's message and trigger an interest in more study that your whole family can explore. With thousands in print, The Spark Story Bible is a perfect kids' Bible beloved by parents, grandparents, pastors, and teachers. This highly recommended illustrated Bible is meant for personal use and does not work in tandem with Spark Sunday School.

Download or read book And I Do Not Forgive You Stories and Other Revenges written by Amber Sparks and published by Liveright Publishing. This book was released on 2020-02-11 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Amber Sparks holds her crown in the canon of the weird with this fantastical collection of “eye-popping range” (John Domini, Washington Post). Boldly blending fables and myths with apocalyptic technologies, Amber Sparks has built a cultlike following with And I Do Not Forgive You. Fueled by feminism in all its colors, her surreal worlds—like Kelly Link’s and Karen Russell’s—are all-too-real. In “Mildly Happy, With Moments of Joy,” a friend is ghosted by a text message; in “Everyone’s a Winner at Meadow Park,” a teen coming-of-age in a trailer park befriends an actual ghost. Rife with “sharp wit, and an abiding tenderness” (Ilana Masad, NPR), these stories shine an interrogating light on the adage that “history likes to lie about women,” as the subjects of “You Won’t Believe What Really Happened to the Sabine Women” will attest. Written in prose that both shimmers and stings, the result is “nothing short of a raging success, a volume that points to a potentially incandescent literary future” (Kurt Baumeister, The Brooklyn Rail).

Download or read book Sparks A Graphic Novel Sparks 1 written by Ian Boothby and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2018-02-27 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sparks is a hero and man's best friend, but nobody suspects he's two cats! This Super Dog is the Cat's Meow!August is a brilliant inventor who is afraid of the outside. Charlie is a crack pilot who isn't afraid of anything. Together these pals save lives every day. They also happen to be cats who pilot a powerful, mechanical dog suit! Always eager to leap into danger, this feline duo have their work cut out for them as they try to thwart Princess, an evil alien bent on enslaving mankind. Don't let the fact that Princess looks like a cute, diaper-wearing baby fool you. She's clever, determined, and totally ruthless. So when Princess and the browbeaten fools she calls servants enact a brilliant and dastardly plan to conquer Earth, August and Charlie pull out all the stops to save the day.

Download or read book Sparks Like Stars written by Nadia Hashimi and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2021-03-02 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Suspenseful…emotionally compelling. I found myself eagerly following in a way I hadn’t remembered for a long time, impatient for the next twist and turn of the story."—NPR An Afghan American woman returns to Kabul to learn the truth about her family and the tragedy that destroyed their lives in this brilliant and compelling novel from the bestselling author of The Pearl That Broke Its Shell, The House Without Windows, and When the Moon Is Low. Kabul, 1978: The daughter of a prominent family, Sitara Zamani lives a privileged life in Afghanistan’s thriving cosmopolitan capital. The 1970s are a time of remarkable promise under the leadership of people like Sardar Daoud, Afghanistan’s progressive president, and Sitara’s beloved father, his right-hand man. But the ten-year-old Sitara’s world is shattered when communists stage a coup, assassinating the president and Sitara’s entire family. Only she survives. Smuggled out of the palace by a guard named Shair, Sitara finds her way to the home of a female American diplomat, who adopts her and raises her in America. In her new country, Sitara takes on a new name—Aryana Shepherd—and throws herself into her studies, eventually becoming a renowned surgeon. A survivor, Aryana has refused to look back, choosing instead to bury the trauma and devastating loss she endured. New York, 2008: Thirty years after that fatal night in Kabul, Aryana’s world is rocked again when an elderly patient appears in her examination room—a man she never expected to see again. It is Shair, the soldier who saved her, yet may have murdered her entire family. Seeing him awakens Aryana’s fury and desire for answers—and, perhaps, revenge. Realizing that she cannot go on without finding the truth, Aryana embarks on a quest that takes her back to Kabul—a battleground between the corrupt government and the fundamentalist Taliban—and through shadowy memories of the world she loved and lost. Bold, illuminating, heartbreaking, yet hopeful, Sparks Like Stars is a story of home—of America and Afghanistan, tragedy and survival, reinvention and remembrance, told in Nadia Hashimi’s singular voice.

Download or read book Gathering Sparks written by Howard Schwartz and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2010-08-03 with total page 45 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A grandfather introduces his grandson to the Jewish tradition of tikkun olam, a centuries-old concept which proposes that everyone must do their part in order to improve the world.

Download or read book Frankie Sparks and the Class Pet written by Megan Frazer Blakemore and published by Aladdin. This book was released on 2019-06-18 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ivy and Bean meets Aliens in my Pocket in this start to a brand-new chapter book series about Frankie Sparks, a third grader who uses her love for science and math to help her solve problems she comes across in her daily life. The best thing EVER is happening in Frankie Sparks’s third grade class: They are getting a class pet! Their teacher, Miss Cupid, tells them they will vote on their pet, but it has to meet some “parameters.” Their pet must: 1. Fit in aquarium. 2. Cost less than $50. 3. Be easily portable. 4. Be able to be left alone for the weekend. Frankie thinks that a rat—just like the rats in her beloved Aunt Gina’s lab—would be the perfect fit. But her best friend, Maya, doesn’t think a rat would be great at all. They are kind of gross and not as cool as a hermit crab, which is Maya’s top choice. Using her special workshop, can Frankie find a way to convince her teacher and her best friend that Team Rat is the way to go?

Download or read book Show Me a Story written by Emily K. Neuburger and published by Storey Publishing, LLC. This book was released on 2012-08-29 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Encouraging children to let their imagination run wild, Emily K. Neubinger offers 40 inventive projects and activities that will inspire kids ages 5 to 12 to express themselves through storytelling. Younger children will love making story stones and a storytelling jar, while older kids will open up and thrive as they embark on guided story walks and inspiring journaling exercises. Sparking creativity while developing a child’s love of language, Show Me a Story will kindle a lifelong passion for both writing and telling original stories.

Download or read book Icy Sparks written by Gwyn Hyman Rubio and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2001-03-08 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times Notable Book and the March 2001 selection of Oprah's Book Club® ! Icy Sparks is the sad, funny and transcendent tale of a young girl growing up in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky during the 1950’s. Gwyn Hyman Rubio’s beautifully written first novel revolves around Icy Sparks, an unforgettable heroine in the tradition of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird or Will Treed in Cold Sassy Tree. At the age of ten, Icy, a bright, curious child orphaned as a baby but raised by adoring grandparents, begins to have strange experiences. Try as she might, her "secrets"—verbal croaks, groans, and physical spasms—keep afflicting her. As an adult, she will find out she has Tourette’s Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder, but for years her behavior is the source of mystery, confusion, and deep humiliation. Narrated by a grown up Icy, the book chronicles a difficult, but ultimately hilarious and heartwarming journey, from her first spasms to her self-acceptance as a young woman. Curious about life beyond the hills, talented, and energetic, Icy learns to cut through all barriers—physical, mental, and spiritual—in order to find community and acceptance. Along her journey, Icy faces the jeers of her classmates as well as the malevolence of her often-ignorant teachers—including Mrs. Stilton, one of the most evil fourth grade teachers ever created by a writer. Called willful by her teachers and "Frog Child" by her schoolmates, she is exiled from the schoolroom and sent to a children’s asylum where it is hoped that the roots of her mysterious behavior can be discovered. Here Icy learns about difference—her own and those who are even more scarred than she. Yet, it isn’t until Icy returns home that she really begins to flower, especially through her friendship with the eccentric and obese Miss Emily, who knows first-hand how it feels to be an outcast in this tightly knit Appalachian community. Under Miss Emily’s tutelage, Icy learns about life’s struggles and rewards, survives her first comical and heartbreaking misadventure with romance, discovers the healing power of her voice when she sings, and ultimately—takes her first steps back into the world. Gwyn Hyman Rubio’s Icy Sparks is a fresh, original, and completely redeeming novel about learning to overcome others’ ignorance and celebrate the differences that make each of us unique.

Download or read book Talent Is An Asset The Story Of Sparks written by Daryl Easlea and published by Omnibus Press. This book was released on 2010-04-07 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When LA musicians Russell and Ron Mael moved to Britain in 1973, they hit the pop world as Sparks and looked like oddballs, even in the context of the glam rock movement that made them welcome. Soon defined by their weird and wonderful 1974 single This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us from the Kimono My House album, Sparks have now released 22 albums over four decades, each record inhabiting a bizarre world of its own. Their songs were peppered with puns and pop culture nods, as well as nostalgia and jokey images, all mixed up in a kaleidoscope of musical references ranging from rock to opera to disco. They remain one of pop music's truly original and uncompromising acts. The Sparks story is now celebrated in this unauthorised book, Daryl Easlea's exploration of their extraordinary drawing on hours of new interviews and research. Talent Is An Asset comes as close as possible to pinning down the quicksilver nature of two gifted musicians who have gone out of their way to remain unpredictable and elusive, forever entrenched behind a dazzling gallery of jokes, impersonations and musical eccentricities.

Download or read book Beneath the Bending Skies written by Jane Kirkpatrick and published by Revell. This book was released on 2022-09-06 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mollie Sheehan has spent much of her life striving to be a dutiful daughter and honor her father's wishes, even when doing so has led to one heartbreak after another. After all, what options does she truly have in 1860s Montana? But providing for her stepfamily during her father's long absences doesn't keep her from wishing for more. When romance blooms between her and Peter Ronan, Mollie finally allows herself to hope for a brighter future--until her father voices his disapproval of the match and moves her to California to ensure the breakup. Still, time and providence are at work, even when circumstances are at their bleakest. Mollie may soon find that someone far greater than her father is in control of the course of her life--and that even the command to "honor thy father" has its limits. New from New York Times bestselling author Jane Kirkpatrick, Beneath the Bending Skies is a sweeping story of hospitality, destiny, and the bonds of family.

Download or read book One Long River of Song written by Brian Doyle and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2019-12-03 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a "born storyteller" (Seattle Times), this playful and moving bestselling book of essays invites us into the miraculous and transcendent moments of everyday life. When Brian Doyle passed away at the age of sixty after a bout with brain cancer, he left behind a cult-like following of devoted readers who regard his writing as one of the best-kept secrets of the twenty-first century. Doyle writes with a delightful sense of wonder about the sanctity of everyday things, and about love and connection in all their forms: spiritual love, brotherly love, romantic love, and even the love of a nine-foot sturgeon. At a moment when the world can sometimes feel darker than ever, Doyle's writing, which constantly evokes the humor and even bliss that life affords, is a balm. His essays manage to find, again and again, exquisite beauty in the quotidian, whether it's the awe of a child the first time she hears a river, or a husband's whiskers that a grieving widow misses seeing in her sink every morning. Through Doyle's eyes, nothing is dull. David James Duncan sums up Doyle's sensibilities best in his introduction to the collection: "Brian Doyle lived the pleasure of bearing daily witness to quiet glories hidden in people, places and creatures of little or no size, renown, or commercial value, and he brought inimitably playful or soaring or aching or heartfelt language to his tellings." A life's work, One Long River of Song invites readers to experience joy and wonder in ordinary moments that become, under Doyle's rapturous and exuberant gaze, extraordinary.

Download or read book Crafting Novels Short Stories written by Writer's Digest Books and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-01-12 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Learn How to Create Stories That Captivate Agents, Editors, and Readers Alike! Inside you'll find the tools you need to build strong characters, keep your plots moving, master the art of dialogue, choose the right point of view, and more. This comprehensive book on the art of novel and short story writing is packed with advice and instruction from best-selling authors and writing experts like Nancy Kress, Elizabeth Sims, Hallie Ephron, N.M. Kelby, Heather Sellers, and Donald Maass, plus a foreword by James Scott Bell. You'll learn invaluable skills for mastering every area of the craft: • Define and refine your characters. • Make your plot and conflict high-energy and intense. • Hone your story's point of view. • Create a rich setting and backstory. • Craft dialogue that rings true. • Select the right words and descriptions throughout your story. • Revise your story to perfection. Throughout you'll find supplemental sections that cover special topics like getting started, beating writer's block, researching your work, and getting published. They'll help you integrate your skills into a balanced, productive, and fulfilling career. Whether you're writing flash fiction, a short story, a novel, or an epic trilogy, you'll come away with the tools you need for strong and effective storytelling.

Download or read book How and Why to Read and Create Children s Digital Books written by Natalia Kucirkova and published by UCL Press. This book was released on 2018-12-03 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How and Why to Read and Create Children's Digital Books outlines effective ways of using digital books in early years and primary classrooms, and specifies the educational potential of using digital books and apps in physical spaces and virtual communities. With a particular focus on apps and personalised reading, Natalia Kucirkova combines theory and practice to argue that personalised reading is only truly personalised when it is created or co-created by reading communities. Divided into two parts, Part I suggests criteria to evaluate the educational quality of digital books and practical strategies for their use in the classroom. Specific attention is paid to the ways in which digital books can support individual children’s strengths and difficulties, digital literacies, language and communication skills. Part II explores digital books created by children, their caregivers, teachers and librarians, and Kucirkova also offers insights into how smart toys, tangibles and augmented/virtual reality tools can enrich children’s reading for pleasure. How and Why to Read and Create Children's Digital Books is of interest to an international readership ranging from trainee or established teachers to MA level students and researchers, as well as designers, librarians and publishers. All are inspired to approach children’s reading on and with screens with an agentic perspective of creating and sharing. Praise for How and Why to Read and Create Children's Digital Books 'This is an exciting and innovative book – not least because it is freely available to read online but because its origins are in primary practice. The author is an accomplished storyteller, and whether you know, as yet, little about the value of digital literacy in the storymaking process, or you are an accomplished digital player, this book is full of evidence-informed ideas, explanations and inspiration.' Liz Chamberlain, Open University 'At a time when children's reading is increasingly on-screen, many teachers, parents and carers are seeking practical, straightforward guidance on how to support children's engagement with digital books. This volume, written by the leading expert on personalised e-books, is packed with app reviews, suggestions and insights from recent international research, all underpinned by careful analysis of digital book features and recognition of reading as a social and cultural practice. Providing accessible guidance on finding, choosing, sharing and creating digital books, it will be welcomed by those excited by the possibilities of enthusing children about reading in the digital age.' Cathy Burnett, Professor of Literacy and Education, Sheffield Hallam University