Benjamin Ludwig

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Texas

"Meet Ginny Moon. She's mostly your average teenager--she plays flute in the high school band, has weekly basketball practice, and reads Robert Frost poems in English class. But Ginny is autistic ... After being traumatically taken from her abusive birth mother and moved around to different homes, Ginny has finally found her 'forever home'--a safe place with parents who will love and nurture her. This is exactly what all foster kids are hoping for, right? But Ginny has other plans. She'll steal and lie and exploit the good intentions of those who love her--anything it takes to get back what's missing in her life. She'll even try to get herself kidnapped"--Amazon.com.

Ginny Moon

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Brand new bookish African black soap bar and author letter print directly corresponding to the book Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen. From the Once Upon a Book Club YA December 2021 Souls of the Sea box.

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

Utah

Includes an excerpt from the next book in the series.

Once Upon a Book Club Skin of the Sea African Black Soap & Author Letter

Lorena Hughes

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

A Gripping Historical Novel Perfect for Book Clubs

Set against the lush backdrop of early twentieth century Ecuador and inspired by the real-life history of the coastal town known as the birthplace of cacao, this captivating #OwnVoices novel from the award-winning author of The Sisters of Alameda Street tells the story of a resourceful young chocolatier who must impersonate a man in order to claim her birthright... "An atmospheric and captivating mystery set against the backdrop of 1920s Ecuador, The Spanish Daughter is an engrossing, suspenseful family saga filled with unpredictable twists and turns."--Chanel Cleeton, New York Times bestselling author of Next Year in Havana As a child in Spain, Puri always knew her passion for chocolate was inherited from her father. But it's not until his death that she learns of something else she's inherited--a cocoa estate in Vinces, Ecuador, a town nicknamed "París Chiquito." Eager to claim her birthright and filled with hope for a new life after the devastation of World War I, she and her husband Cristóbal set out across the Atlantic Ocean. But it soon becomes clear someone is angered by Puri's claim to the estate . . . When a mercenary sent to murder her aboard the ship accidentally kills Cristóbal instead, Puri dons her husband's clothes and assumes his identity, hoping to stay safe while she searches for the truth of her father's legacy in Ecuador. Though freed from the rules that women are expected to follow, Puri confronts other challenges at the estate--newfound siblings, hidden affairs, and her father's dark secrets. Then there are the dangers awakened by her attraction to an enigmatic man as she tries to learn the identity of an enemy who is still at large, threatening the future she is determined to claim. Praise for The Spanish Daughter: A Publishers Marketplace Buzz Books: Fall/Winter 2021 selection "A lushly written story of bittersweet family secrets and betrayals that ultimately celebrates the healing power of hope, resilience, love--and chocolate!" --Andrea Penrose, author of Murder at the Royal Botanic Gardens "A lyrical and nuanced study of family and belonging. Readers will fall in love with The Spanish Daughter's unique setting amidst the cacao plantations of Ecuador in 1920, its lush and vivid prose, and compelling and audacious heroine." --Anna Lee Huber, USA Today bestselling author of Murder Most Fair "A deftly written story entangling family, identity, chocolate and murder, set in the lush golden days of Ecuador's cacao boom in the early twentieth century. Hughes gradually weaves the separate tales of her narrators into a single strong thread, drawing you into the world of three very different sisters united by deception and loss."--Shana Abé, New York Times bestselling author of The Second Mrs. Astor

The Spanish Daughter

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Kansas

A surprising and romantic YA retelling-mashup of A Little Princess and The Secret Garden by bestselling authors Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz.

Best friends Mary Lennox, Sara Crewe, and Cedric Erroll are best friends. And thank goodness, since their boarding school is basically insufferable. When one of the friends suffers a personal tragedy, a plan--and a secret--change everything for the trio . . . for good.  
 
Filled with charm and romance, and inspired by some of classic literature's most beloved characters, The Secret Princess is the perfect blend of A Little Princess and The Secret Garden--and the perfect companion to Jo & Laurie.

A Secret Princess

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#paperback #mudmysteryseries #storyteller #kiowa #signed #onceuponabookclub

Minnesota

Never Name the Dead

Rati Mehrotra

Maine

In Rati Mehrotra's YA fantasy novel Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove, a young guardswoman struggles with her unwitting role as a major pawn in the deadly games between two kingdoms in a monster-infested alternate medieval India.

Bound to the queen of Chandela by a forbidden soul bond that saved her when she was a child, Katyani has never fallen short of what's expected of her--becoming the best guardswoman the Garuda has ever seen and an advisor to the crown prince when he ascends to the throne. But when the latest assassination attempt against the royals leaves them with a faceless body and no leads to the perpetrator, Katyani is unwillingly shipped off to guard the Chandela princes in Acharya Mahavir's esteemed monastic school in Nandovana, a forest where monsters have roamed unchecked for generations.

Katyani wants nothing more than to return to her duties, especially when the Acharya starts asking questions about her past. The only upside of her stay are her run-ins with Daksh, the Acharya's son, who can't stop going on about the rules and whose gaze makes her feel like he can see into her soul. But when Katyani and the princes are hurriedly summoned back to Chandela before their training is complete, tragedy strikes and Katyani is torn from the only life she has ever known. Alone and betrayed in a land infested with monsters, Katyani must find the answers to her past so she can save what she loves and forge her own destiny.

Bonds can be broken, but debts must be repaid.

Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove

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Claire Andrews

South Carolina

A James Patterson Presents Novel Sparta forged her into a deadly weapon. Now the Gods need her to save the world! Seventeen-year-old Daphne has spent her entire life honing her body and mind into that of a warrior, hoping to be accepted by the unyielding people of ancient Sparta. But an unexpected encounter with the goddess Artemis---who holds Daphne's brother's fate in her hands---upends the life she's worked so hard to build. Nine mysterious items have been stolen from Mount Olympus and if Daphne cannot find them, the gods' waning powers will fade away, the mortal world will descend into chaos, and her brother's life will be forfeit. Guided by Artemis's twin-the handsome and entirely-too-self-assured god Apollo-Daphne's journey will take her from the labyrinth of the Minotaur to the riddle-spinning Sphinx of Thebes, team her up with mythological legends such as Theseus and Hippolyta of the Amazons, and pit her against the gods themselves. A reinterpretation of the classic Greek myth of Daphne and Apollo, DAUGHTER OF SPARTA by debut author Claire Andrews turns the traditionally male-dominated mythology we know into a heart-pounding and empowering female-led adventure.

Daughter of Sparta

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Rachel Joyce

Stains on the bottom, wear on the lower corner. No damage to spine, no writing or dog-earring of pages. See all photos for most accurate conditions.

Colorado

A Novel

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "A beautifully written, extraordinary quest in which two ordinary, overlooked women embark on an unlikely scientific expedition to the South Seas."--Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
 
WINNER OF THE WILBUR SMITH ADVENTURE WRITING PRIZE * From the bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry comes an uplifting, irresistible novel about two women on a life-changing adventure, where they must risk everything, break all the rules, and discover their best selves--together.

She's going too far to go it alone.
 
It is 1950. London is still reeling from World War II, and Margery Benson, a schoolteacher and spinster, is trying to get through life, surviving on scraps. One day, she reaches her breaking point, abandoning her job and small existence to set out on an expedition to the other side of the world in search of her childhood obsession: an insect that may or may not exist--the golden beetle of New Caledonia. When she advertises for an assistant to accompany her, the woman she ends up with is the last person she had in mind. Fun-loving Enid Pretty in her tight-fitting pink suit and pom-pom sandals seems to attract trouble wherever she goes. But together these two British women find themselves drawn into a cross-ocean adventure that exceeds all expectations and delivers something neither of them expected to find: the transformative power of friendship.

Praise for Miss Benson's Beetle

"A hilarious jaunt into the wilderness of women's friendship and the triumph of outrageous dreams."--Kirkus Reviews

Miss Benson's Beetle

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#hardcover #fiction #fantasy #ya #youngadult #romance #onceuponabookclub #signed 

Massachusetts

* REESE'S BOOK CLUB FALL 2021 YA PICK * "Lauren Blackwood’s can’t-miss debut is a magical, Ethiopian-inspired remix of Jane Eyre." - Harper's Bazaar What the heart desires, the house destroys... Andromeda is a debtera—an exorcist hired to cleanse households of the Evil Eye. She would be hired, that is, if her mentor hadn’t thrown her out before she could earn her license. Now her only hope of steady work is to find a Patron—a rich, well-connected individual who will vouch for her abilities. When a handsome young heir named Magnus Rochester reaches out to hire her, she takes the job without question. Never mind that he’s rude and demanding and eccentric, that the contract comes with a number of outlandish rules... and that almost a dozen debtera had quit before her. If Andromeda wants to earn a living, she has no choice. But she quickly realizes this is a job like no other, with horrifying manifestations at every turn, and that Magnus is hiding far more than she has been trained for. Death is the most likely outcome if she stays, the reason every debtera before her quit. But leaving Magnus to live out his curse alone isn’t an option because—heaven help her—she’s fallen for him. Stunningly romantic, Lauren Blackwood's heartstopping debut, Within These Wicked Walls, ushers in an exciting new fantasy voice. "An intricate magic system, a grimly humorous Black heroine, AND a heart-thumping romance? This book leaves nothing wanting." - Jordan Ifueko, New York Times bestselling author of Raybearer

Within These Wicked Walls

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Balli Kaur Jaswal

The author of the Reese Witherspoon Book Club selection Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows follows her acclaimed America debut with this life-affirming, witty family drama—an Indian This Is Where I Leave You—about three Punjabi sisters embarking on a pilgrimage to their homeland to lay their mother to rest. The British-born Punjabi Shergill sisters—Rajni, Jezmeen, and Shirnia—were never close and barely got along growing up, and now as adults, have grown even further apart. Rajni, a school principal is a stickler for order. Jezmeen, a thirty-year-old struggling actress, fears her big break may never come. Shirina, the peacemaking "good" sister married into wealth and enjoys a picture-perfect life. On her deathbed, their mother voices one last wish: that her daughters will make a pilgrimage together to the Golden Temple in Amritsar to carry out her final rites. After a trip to India with her mother long ago, Rajni vowed never to return. But she’s always been a dutiful daughter, and cannot, even now, refuse her mother’s request. Jezmeen has just been publicly fired from her television job, so the trip to India is a welcome break to help her pick up the pieces of her broken career. Shirina’s in-laws are pushing her to make a pivotal decision about her married life; time away will help her decide whether to meekly obey, or to bravely stand up for herself for the first time. Arriving in India, these sisters will make unexpected discoveries about themselves, their mother, and their lives—and learn the real story behind the trip Rajni took with their Mother long ago—a momentous journey that resulted in Mum never being able to return to India again. The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters is a female take on the Indian travel narrative. "I was curious about how different the trip would be if it were undertaken by women, who are vulnerable to different dangers in a male-dominated society," Balli Kaur Jaswal writes. "I also wanted to explore the tensions between tradition and modernity in immigrant communities, and particularly how those tensions play out among women like these sisters, who are the first generation to be raised outside of India." Powerful, emotionally evocative, and wonderfully atmospheric, The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters is a charming and thoughtful story that illuminates the bonds of family, sisterhood, and heritage that tether us despite our differences. Funny and heartbreaking, it is a reminder of the truly important things we must treasure in our lives.

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters

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E. M. Castellan

California

It’s 1661 in Paris, and magicians thrill nobles with enchanting illusions. Exiled in France, 17-year-old Henriette of England wishes she could use her magic to gain entry at court. Instead, her plan is to hide her magical talents, and accept an arranged marriage to the French king’s younger brother. Henriette soon realizes her fiancé prefers the company of young men to hers, and court magicians turn up killed by a mysterious sorcerer who uses forbidden magic. When an accident forces Henriette to reveal her uniquely powerful gift for enchantments to Louis, he asks for her help: she alone can defeat the dark magician threatening his authority and aid his own plans to build the new, enchanted seat of his power - the Palace of Versailles.

In the Shadow of the Sun

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Stacey Lee

Maryland

After smuggling herself onto the RMS Titanic, British-Chinese teenager Valora Luck reunites with her twin brother and tries to convince him that their acrobatic training could be their ticket to a better life.

Luck of the Titanic

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"Rich in magic and mythos, Beasts of Prey is a feast for all the senses." --Renée Ahdieh, New York Times bestselling author of The Beautiful "The hunt for your next YA fantasy book trilogy obsession has ended." --Entertainment Weekly In this blockbuster fantasy series, perfect for fans of Holly Black and Tomi Adeyemi, fate binds two Black teenagers together as they journey into a magical jungle to hunt down the vicious monster who is threatening their home. But as they begin to uncover ancient deadly secrets, it quickly becomes unclear whether they are the hunters...or the hunted. There's no such thing as magic in the broken city of Lkossa, especially for sixteen-year-old Koffi, who holds a power within her that could only be described as magic--a power that if discovered could cost her life. Indentured to the notorious Night Zoo, Koffi knows the fearsome creatures in her care and paying off her family's debts to secure their eventual freedom can be her only focus. But the night those she loves are gravely threatened by the Zoo's cruel master, Koffi finally unleashes the power she doesn't fully understand, upending her life completely. As the second son of a decorated hero, Ekon is all but destined to become a Son of the Six--an elite warrior--and uphold a family legacy. But on the night of his final rite of passage, Ekon encounters not only the Shetani--a vicious monster that has plagued the city for nearly a century and stalks his nightmares, but Koffi who seems to have the power to ward off the beast. Koffi's power ultimately saves Ekon's life, but his choice to let her flee dooms his hopes of becoming a warrior. Desperate to redeem himself, Ekon vows to hunt the Shetani and end its reign of terror, but he can't do it alone. Meanwhile, Koffi believes finding the Shetani could also be the key to solving her own problems. Koffi and Ekon form a tentative alliance and together enter the Greater Jungle, a world steeped in wild, frightening magic and untold dangers. The hunt begins. But it quickly becomes unclear whether they are the hunters or the hunted.

Beasts of Prey

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Pennsylvania

For four young immigrant women living in Boston’s North End in the early 1900s, escaping tradition doesn’t come easy. But at least they have one another and the Saturday Evening Girls Club, a social pottery-making group offering respite from their hectic home lives—and hope for a better future. Ambitious Caprice dreams of opening her own hat shop, which clashes with the expectations of her Sicilian-born parents. Brilliant Ada secretly takes college classes despite the disapproval of her Russian Jewish father. Stunning Maria could marry anyone yet guards her heart to avoid the fate of her Italian Catholic mother, broken down by an alcoholic husband. And shy Thea is torn between asserting herself and embracing an antiquated Jewish tradition. The friends face family clashes and romantic entanglements, career struggles and cultural prejudice. But through their unfailing bond, forged through their weekly gathering, they’ll draw strength—and the courage to transform their immigrant stories into the American lives of their dreams.

The Saturday Evening Girls Club

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A. J. Banner

Alabama

The death of a look-alike stranger leads a grieving woman down a troubling path in this riveting novel by A. J. Banner, bestselling author of The Poison Garden. Three years ago mortuary cosmetologist Phoebe Glassman lost her husband in a tragic accident. No longer the hopeful wife and mother she once was, Phoebe is disappearing into her grief and into the quietude of her job--restoring to the dead the illusion of life. Then the body of a woman named Pauline Steele arrives in the mortuary, and for Phoebe, everything changes. Pauline is unmistakably Phoebe's mirror image and bears an alarmingly familiar tattoo. Even more startling is that among Pauline's effects is a faded photograph of Phoebe. Aided by an eccentric colleague, her curiosity sparked, Phoebe investigates her doppelgänger's life and death--and uncovers surprising clues to a shared past. Phoebe's emotional journey soon leads to shocking revelations about those closest to her...and even herself. When she's driven to the brink, how much of what she discovers can she trust?

In Another Light

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Christine Pride

Jo Piazza

New Hampshire

“Now these women, they can WRITE!” —Terry McMillan, New York Times bestselling author of It’s Not All Downhill from Here “We Are Not Like Them will stay with you long after you turn the last page.” —Laura Dave, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me Told from alternating perspectives, an evocative and riveting novel about the lifelong bond between two women, one Black and one white, whose friendship is indelibly altered by a tragic event—a powerful and poignant exploration of race in America today and its devastating impact on ordinary lives. Jen and Riley have been best friends since kindergarten. As adults, they remain as close as sisters, though their lives have taken different directions. Jen married young, and after years of trying, is finally pregnant. Riley pursued her childhood dream of becoming a television journalist and is poised to become one of the first Black female anchors of the top news channel in their hometown of Philadelphia. But the deep bond they share is severely tested when Jen’s husband, a city police officer, is involved in the shooting of an unarmed Black teenager. Six months pregnant, Jen is in freefall as her future, her husband’s freedom, and her friendship with Riley are thrown into uncertainty. Covering this career-making story, Riley wrestles with the implications of this tragic incident for her Black community, her ambitions, and her relationship with her lifelong friend. Like Tayari Jones’s An American Marriage and Jodi Picoult’s Small Great Things, We Are Not Like Them explores complex questions of race and how they pervade and shape our most intimate spaces in a deeply divided world. But at its heart, it’s a story of enduring friendship—a love that defies the odds even as it faces its most difficult challenges.

We Are Not Like Them

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Hawaii

Smoke free home, pet free home. There are no writings markings or highlights in this book. Tiny bit of creasing on the outer edges of the dust jacket. Still in Like new condition

Connecticut

Tennessee

Kathryn Ormsbee

From the author of the “intense coming-of-age story” (School Library Connection) The Great Unknowable End and the “beyond refreshing…irreverent” (Booklist, starred review) Tash Hearts Tolstoy comes an introspective, atmospheric novel about sisterhood, coming-of-age, and learning that it’s never too late to reconnect with those you love. Time changes things. That painful fact of life couldn’t be truer for the Sullivan sisters. Once, they used to be close, sharing secrets inside homemade blanket castles. Now, life in the Sullivan house means closed doors and secrets left untold. Fourteen-year-old Murphy, an aspiring magician, is shocked by the death of Siegfried, her pet turtle. Seventeen-year-old Claire is bound for better things than her Oregonian hometown—until she receives a crushing rejection from her dream college. And eighteen-year-old Eileen is nursing a growing addiction in the wake of life-altering news. Then, days before Christmas, a letter arrives, informing the sisters of a dead uncle and an inheritance they knew nothing about. The news forces them to band together in the face of a sinister family mystery…and, possibly, murder. The Sullivan Sisters is an unforgettable novel about the ghosts of the past, the power of connection, and the bonds of sisterhood.

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Benjamin Ludwig

Ginny Moon

Natasha Bowen

Once Upon a Book Club Skin of the Sea African Black Soap & Author Letter

Lorena Hughes

The Spanish Daughter

Margaret Stohl; Melissa de la Cruz

A Secret Princess

D.M. Rowell

Never Name the Dead

Rati Mehrotra

Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove

Claire Andrews

Daughter of Sparta

Rachel Joyce

Miss Benson's Beetle

Lauren Blackwood

Within These Wicked Walls

Balli Kaur Jaswal

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters

E. M. Castellan

In the Shadow of the Sun

Stacey Lee

Luck of the Titanic

Ayana Gray

Beasts of Prey

Lauren Blackwood

Within These Wicked Walls

Jane Healey

The Saturday Evening Girls Club

A. J. Banner

In Another Light

Christine Pride; Jo Piazza

We Are Not Like Them

Claire Andrews

Daughter of Sparta

Christine Pride; Jo Piazza

We Are Not Like Them

Balli Kaur Jaswal

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters

Rachel Joyce

Miss Benson's Beetle

Christine Pride; Jo Piazza

We Are Not Like Them

Kathryn Ormsbee

The Sullivan Sisters

Lorena Hughes

The Spanish Daughter