Family Dog

Just one week until school starts. One week until Mattie Breen is the new girl again. One week until she has to introduce herself - to try and make friends. Unless she can convince her uncle Potluck, the school janitor, to take her on as a custodial apprentice. Then she’ll be able to work with him at lunch and recess instead of needing to be with all the other fifth-graders. All she has to do is stick to the custodial wisdom she writes in her notebook.

The angels won’t save you… …they’re too busy trying to save themselves. These angels are flawed, just like the humans they’re supposed to protect. They search for justice, forgiveness, and even love… …but they try to be good. They really, really try—just like you and me. Tread carefully into an enchanted realm of the supernatural, where paranormal creatures roam the Earth alongside us. Vampires, fae, shifters, werewolves, psychics, and angels all battle with the same temptations and moral challenges that we confront. But what happens when two of them meet? Can love bridge ...

For 16 years, Ben Shepard loyally served the Long Beach Police Department. Then he took a bullet to the head, and his life was shattered. No one expects much of anything from him anymore - except his father, an old man receding into a fog of his own. And except maybe his tenant, Grace, who's been a warm and friendly constant in his and his father's bleak lives. Until the day she vanishes. After an official investigation stalls, Ben moves forward on his own. But stepping into Grace's past - and all she was hiding - is a dangerous move for a man who can't trust his memories from one day to the next.

On Sunday, November 29, 2009, more than 12.5 million families fell in love with the television adaptation of the novel A Dog Named Christmas. Within forty-eight hours after the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie aired, the initial run of twenty thousand DVDs sold out. Two years later, when Christmas with Tucker, the prequel to the McCray family stories, was released, it was described by Dean Koontz as “a perfect Christmas read,” by A. J. Jacobs as “lovely and poignant,” and by Publishers Weekly as “cute, hopeful, and heartwarming.” Now, the much-anticipated third installment, A Christmas Home, will prove to be yet another holiday classic.

With just one bite, a wakeful flea atop a pile of sleeping creatures causes a commotion.

Many of us think of our dogs not as pets but as full-fledged members of our families. If you own a dog—or are thinking about getting one—A Member of the Family is the ultimate resource for integrating your canine companion into the life of your household.

With two all-star college football players for brothers and a former Atlanta Falcons defensive lineman for a father, it is only natural for sixth-grade quarterback Benjamin Redd to follow in their footsteps. However, after his dad receives a heartbreaking ALS diagnosis — connected to all those hard hits and tackles he took on the field — Ben’s mom becomes more determined than ever to get Ben to quit football.

Dogs keep us company, provide unconditional love, and share in the ups and downs of our lives. They see every day as an adventure. You'll love these 101 dog tales of family, friendship, and fun. How do dogs do it? Even non-"dog people" fall under their spell. Our dogs make us better people. If we rescued them, they rescue us back. If we're sad, they comfort us. If we need to have more fun, they show us how. They are our therapists, our role models, and our best friends.

Every day across America, consumers face issues with credit cards, mortgages, car loans, and student loans. When they are cheated or mistreated, all too often they hit a brick wall against the financial companies. People are fed up with being run over by big corporations, and few have the resources or expertise to fight back on their own. It is no wonder consumers feel powerless: they are outgunned every step of the way. Since 1970, the financial industry has doubled in size. It is the biggest source of campaign contributions....

For years dog trainer Michael Wombacher has worked with expecting dog owners to prevent problems between dogs and children. He has also unfortunately witnessed too many families forced to surrender their beloved family companions because they failed to prepare the dog for the arrival of a new family member. In Good Dog, Happy Baby, Wombacher lays out a 12-step process that will give families the skills they need to navigate this new era of their lives.

The plan was simple: Elizabeth would ignore the fact that she was unjustly fired from her dream job, fly across the pond to settle an unexpected inheritance in her father’s home country, and quickly return to reclaim her position among the Silicon Valley elite. But when Elizabeth stumbles upon an abandoned puppy, she’s shocked to realize that her brief trip to England might turn into an extended stay. Her strict itinerary is upended completely by the pup’s dogged devotion, and soon the lovable puppy helps her to connect with a tight-knit community of new friends.

The Betancourts next door have their own secrets and have been a part of the lives of their neighbors for thirty years, but have always remained only on the vacationing peripheral, until now. As they all head toward the end of the era with their two families intertwined, none of them know they are on a crash course, with one force barreling toward them all, one that could blow apart three generations and two families, and the secrets that threaten to break the fabric they’ve woven for thirty years in the sparkling “Hamptons of the South."

Mavis Jeeter has never lived in one place long enough to have a real best friend. Mavis wants this home to be permanent - which means finding herself a best friend. Rose Tully doesn't quite fit in, and her closest friend is Mr. Duffy, but he hasn't been himself since his dog died. Henry has run away from home, but he craves kindness and comfort - and doesn't know where to look for them. When Mavis and Rose hatch a scheme to find Mr. Duffy a new dog, their lives and Henry's intersect - and they all come to find friendship in places they never expected.

After several years dreaming of a different lifestyle, we finally hit the road. We set out on our journey from Brighton, England, with our boy, a dog and three horses... fate led us to Paradise...a derelict, dirt floored ruin on the banks of a crystal clear river in the mountains of Portugal. Steve, my husband, and myself, were both enchanted at first sight by the stunning location of the ruin. It was surrounded by trees, and so quiet, just birdsong and the burble of the river. But the ruin had no electricity, running water, or telephone connection. There were no services at all. It would ...

Can a stray dog change the life of a teenage boy? It looks as if Strider can. He's a dog that loves to run; because of Strider, Leigh Botts finds himself running -- well enough to join the school track team. Strider changes Leigh on the inside, too, as he finally begins to accept his parents' divorce and gets to know a redheaded girl he's been admiring. With Strider's help, Leigh finds that the future he once hated to be asked about now holds something he never expected: hope.

Meet Marley, a yellow furball of a puppy who quickly grows into a large, rowdy Labrador retriever. With an appetite for nearly anything he can get his mouth around, including couches and fine jewelry, Marley is always getting into trouble. Some may say he's the world's worst dog.

It's a hard-knock life for America's favorite orphan! Everyone knows the story of the irrepressible Annie, who lives at Miss Hannigan's orphanage until she beats the odds and finds a new life with the benevolent and wealthy Daddy Warbucks. Annie has enchanted millions of fans from her original comic strip appearance to the hit Broadway musical. Now, with a Tony-nominated revival playing on Broadway, Puffin is reissuing this novelization of the classic story, with a new introduction by Tony and Emmy Award-winning author Thomas Meehan.

You’ve got your new dog; you’ve got the bowl, the collar, and the lead. Now what? This puppy doesn’t seem to understand anything you say! You got your pet to be your companion, yet all you seem to do is yell at her! Let’s change this right away. Instead of focusing on what you don’t want your dog to do, focus on what you do want. Instead of having unnecessary battles over trivia, build up terrific games your dog longs to play with you. Soon, your unruly dog will be saying, “Yes? What would you like me to do for you?”

If you love sweet romances (PG-rating), look no further than Rachelle Ayala's Have a Hart series. The Harts are a family of San Francisco firefighters. Their family motto is: Heart comes first. Can a woman looking for Mr. Perfect settle for a happy-go-lucky Mr. Wrong? Dr. Vanessa Ransom has high standards and she's on the hunt for the perfect man. With limited time for a social life, she hires college dropout Dale Hart to walk her dogs and clean her house. Just for kicks, she decides to motivate him to succeed, only to find herself falling in love with him. Can Dale show Vanessa that love ...

Set on Cape Ann in the early 1800s, The Last Days of Dogtown is peopled by widows, orphans, spinsters, scoundrels, whores, free Africans, and "witches". Nearly a decade ago, Diamant found an account of an abandoned rural backwater near the Massachusetts coastline at the turn of the nineteenth century. That pamphlet inspired a stunning novel about a small group of eccentrics and misfits, struggling in a harsh, isolated landscape only fifty miles north of Boston, yet a world away.