Showing results for "Amazon" in Coming of Age

The Saint of War spares the life of a servant girl so she can fulfill her destiny as the kingdom’s greatest warrior in this short story of love and loyalty by New York Times bestselling author Alix E. Harrow.

It’s a New Jersey summer in 1967, and thirteen-year-old Ravi Ramanathan has the makings of a tennis prodigy. His surgeon father encourages his ambition, while his mother dreams of their only child following his father’s path. Surrounded by his parents’ love, Ravi chafes a bit at their daily routines and little traditions. Then one unexpected day, everything changes. Realizing how much he took for granted, Ravi must grow up overnight and find a new role in the life of his family.

Life is hard enough for a teenage girl in 1950s suburbia without having a mother who may—or may not—be a witch. A single mother at that. Sure, she fits in with her starched dresses, string of pearls, and floral aprons. Then there are the hushed and mystical consultations with neighborhood women in distress. The unsavory, mysterious plants in the flower beds. The divined warning to steer clear of a boyfriend whose fate is certainly doomed.

In the sun-bleached idyll of his Greek island home, seventeen-year-old Petros Castellanos’s future seems mapped out: he’ll inherit his father’s modest taxi fleet and continue his family tradition. However, his English mother sees a different path for her son, one that leads far from the watchful eyes of their small community. So Petros goes to London to stay with his mother’s cousin. The capital is an overwhelming city whose dazzling possibilities both terrify and enthral him.

In this haunting short story of loyalty and betrayal, a young woman in early 1900s Massachusetts discovers that in navigating her treacherous coming-of-age, she must find her voice first. For fatefully observant Adeline, growing up carries an ominous warning from her adulterous mother: don’t say a word. Adeline vows to never speak again. But that’s not her only secret. After her mother takes a housekeeping job at a lighthouse off the tip of Cape Ann, a local woman vanishes. The key to the mystery lies with Adeline, the silent witness.

Fifteen years ago, Lęina’s mother, Yuliana, went searching for a mythical place called the Garden and never returned. Determined to learn the truth about what happened, Lęina travels to Brazil to search for the hidden realm, with Yuliana’s journal and a local tour guide leading the way. But Lęina soon begins to wonder if she’s looking for answers—or if what she truly wants to find is herself.

Ever since her dad disappeared five years ago, Persephone has quietly walled off the feelings she’d rather not feel. There’s no room for pain or anger when you’re just trying to get through the hell that is high school. But one day, the crush of taunts and disappointments is finally too much—and a power breaks loose inside her that she never knew was there.

A daughter and mother: two women miles, years, and dreams apart. One defies traditions and expectations. The other conforms to them, even in a new land. Their emotional distance grows while the daughter, now a wife and mother herself, comes to better understand the woman she’s become and why, as she ruminates on inherited trauma, the need to forgive, and the lengths she’ll go to free herself from the past.

Ever since they were orphaned, Tyler has kept close tabs on his sister, Shannon. He has to, considering her weird and risky obsessions. Now she has a new one: an inexplicable crush on an odd-looking stranger. And what Shannon wants from her unwitting “honey boy,” Tyler can’t begin to fathom. Not until he follows his sister into the darkest corners of her desires.

Seit einem verheerenden Unfall, der ihn als Siebenjährigen für immer zeichnete, versteckt Michael seine Brandnarben vor der Welt. Doch vor allem kann er nicht verkraften, dass er damals zur Adoption freigegeben wurde. An der Filmhochschule begegnet Michael Jahre später Professor Robert Dunning, der seine eigenen Narben mit bemerkenswerter Offenheit trägt. Ermutigt von dessen Beispiel, startet der junge Mann ein Dokumentarfilmprojekt und entdeckt hinter perfekten Fassaden Menschen, die wie er mit ihrem Spiegelbild kämpfen.

A genealogy test sparks a woman’s reflection on the two accounts of her life--the real one and the one she’s always told the world--in this poignant short story by Cheryl Strayed, the bestselling author of Wild. In 1964, teenage Geraldine Waters was sent away by her parents to an unwed mothers’ home, where she gave up her newborn for adoption. Ever since, she’s lived an alternative narrative. Decades later, it’s time for Geraldine to reconcile the telling of her life, to finally grieve, and to discover what happened to that part of her past that slipped away.

In this eye-opening short story, a tech reporter’s mistake unites two women eight thousand miles apart. One in New Jersey, one in the Philippines. Same name: Sandra Guzman. Same job: content moderators for a mega social media website. What transpires between them is a friendship that changes their perceptions of each other’s privilege and challenges the power of the very industry they work for.

When Alison Strange receives a debt claim she can’t afford to pay from the Australian government’s unemployment office, she’s caught completely off-balance. As she wrestles with a slippery bureaucracy, her history-loving grandfather bolsters her resolve with the story of their ancestor John Strange, an English cobbler who was banished to Australia for his part in a political movement. Drawing inspiration from John’s life, Alison finds her own unique way to demand a future that’s fair for all.

It’s bad enough that its venom-dripping chelicerae can slice through flesh like warm butter. Worse? It’s right there under the bunk. It’s a fact now. To make it through the night, the children must obey the rules: don’t get out of bed, stay out of the shadows, and don’t wake the beast. But as the threats multiply, so do the rules of survival. And with the safety of dawn still hours away, the fun is just beginning.

China, 1925: Als die 15-jährige Anyu Zhang ein unbezahlbares Fabergé-Ei im Schnee findet, zögert sie nicht lange, es seinem rechtmäßigen Besitzer zurückzugeben. Isaak Mandelburg war einst Meisterjuwelier des russischen Zaren und ist nun auf der Flucht. Aus Dankbarkeit gibt er Anyu seine Adresse und ein Versprechen: In Schanghai wird sie ihm immer willkommen sein, ganz gleich, was geschieht. Jahre später, nachdem Anyu zur Waise wurde, sucht sie den Juwelier tatsächlich auf und taucht unmittelbar in eine Welt voller Geheimnisse, Glanz und Gier ein.

Zoe hat gelernt, sich mit dem zweiten Platz zufriedenzugeben. Besonders, wenn es um ihre jüngere Schwester geht – Cara ist schöner, mutiger, lauter. Als sie Moritz begegnen, schlägt bei Zoe das Herz höher. Doch kaum ist das Gefühl da, gehört es nicht mehr ihr allein. Denn Cara ist gewohnt, das zu bekommen, was sie will. Zoe schweigt, wie sie es immer getan hat. Aber diesmal lässt es sie nicht los. Zwischen Nähe und Eifersucht, zwischen Loyalität und Selbstschutz beginnt ein innerer Kampf, den sie längst nicht mehr gewinnen kann, indem sie einfach nachgibt.

To Chinese American teenager Chuntao, New Lake is a beautiful haven where she can hunt for treasures once swallowed up by a big flood. But when she’s caught scavenging by her biology teacher, a woman whose own past has been swept away, Chuntao is faced with an imponderable question: Which world was better - the ideal one she never knew or the destroyed one that now belongs to her?

A young novelist trapped in a bad relationship takes the first step toward true pleasure and tenderness…but does she have the courage to be swept off her feet? It doesn’t matter how many people read and like her new book, there’s only one man’s opinion that matters to Clara…or at least that’s what she thinks. But when a chance encounter at a film premiere introduces her to someone new - someone who understands her in a way the first man can’t - Clara finally discovers the validation she really wants and needs.

Pearl hatte es in ihrem Leben nie leicht. Zum Zeitpunkt, als sie Mutter wird, ist sie selbst noch ein Teenager. Dennoch ist Pearl entschlossen, ihrem kleinen Sohn Leonard bedingungslose Liebe zu schenken und dafür zu sorgen, dass es ihm einmal besser geht. Als die Vergangenheit sie eines Tages einholt, landet ihr fünfjähriger Sohn unvermittelt bei ihrem Nachbarn Mitch, einem jungen Mann ohne eigene Familie.

Eine packende und rührende Geschichte über Mut und die Suche nach sich selbst von Bestsellerautor Robert Dugoni. "Wir glauben, dass wir unseren Lebensweg selbst wählen. Aber da täuschen wir uns." Aufgrund eines Gendefekts hat Sam rote Pupillen. Für seine Mutter ist das Gottes Wille, die anderen verhöhnen ihn als "Teufelsjungen". Erst als Sam die rebellische Mickie und den afroamerikanischen Ernie kennenlernt, ist er nicht länger einsam, und die drei Außenseiter werden Freunde.