Defending Taylor

Defending Taylor
Author: Miranda Kenneally
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Total Pages: 309
Release: 2016-07-05
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1492630098

Taylor's a star on the soccer field, but she's going to need a new game plan to protect her heart Captain of the soccer team, president of the Debate Club, contender for valedictorian: Taylor's always pushed herself to be perfect. After all, that's what is expected of a senator's daughter. But one impulsive decision—one lie to cover for her boyfriend—and Taylor's kicked out of private school. Everything she's worked so hard for is gone, and now she's starting over at Hundred Oaks High. Soccer has always been Taylor's escape from the pressures of school and family, but it's hard to fit in and play on a team that used to be her rival. The only person who seems to understand all that she's going through is her older brother's best friend, Ezra. Taylor's had a crush on him for as long as she can remember. But it's hard to trust after having been betrayed. Will Taylor repeat her past mistakes or can she score a fresh start? Praise for Jesse's Girl: "A a fun, sexy, suck-me-in read."—Katie McGarry, author of Nowhere But Here and Pushing the Limits "An absorbing story...highly enjoyable."—Kirkus "Inspires as it entertains."—Publishers Weekly

A Virtuous Knight

A Virtuous Knight
Author: Craig Taylor
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2019
Genre: History
ISBN: 1903153913

A radical re-interpretation of the chivalric biography of Boucicaut.

Catching Jordan

Catching Jordan
Author: Miranda Kenneally
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2011-12-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1402262272

"Whoever said football and girls don't mix hasn't read Catching Jordan. I couldn't put it down " -- Simone Elkeles, New York Times bestselling author of the Perfect Chemistry series ONE OF THE BOYS What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though-she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But everything she's ever worked for is threatened when Ty Green moves to her school. Not only is he an amazing QB, but he's also amazingly hot. And for the first time, Jordan's feeling vulnerable. Can she keep her head in the game while her heart's on the line? "A beautiful novel with a real and captivating depiction of high school relationships, Catching Jordan shows the same reverence for the human heart that it does for the game of football." --Karsten Knight, author of Wildefire

Defending Jacob

Defending Jacob
Author: William Landay
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Total Pages: 433
Release: 2012-01-31
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0345527593

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A legal thriller that’s comparable to classics such as Scott Turow’s Presumed Innocent . . . tragic and shocking.”—Associated Press NOW AN EMMY-NOMINATED ORIGINAL STREAMING SERIES • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Entertainment Weekly • Boston Globe • Kansas City Star Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney for two decades. He is respected. Admired in the courtroom. Happy at home with the loves of his life: his wife, Laurie, and their teenage son, Jacob. Then Andy’s quiet suburb is stunned by a shocking crime: a young boy stabbed to death in a leafy park. And an even greater shock: The accused is Andy’s own son—shy, awkward, mysterious Jacob. Andy believes in Jacob’s innocence. Any parent would. But the pressure mounts. Damning evidence. Doubt. A faltering marriage. The neighbors’ contempt. A murder trial that threatens to obliterate Andy’s family. It is the ultimate test for any parent: How far would you go to protect your child? It is a test of devotion. A test of how well a parent can know a child. For Andy Barber, a man with an iron will and a dark secret, it is a test of guilt and innocence in the deepest sense. How far would you go? Praise for Defending Jacob “A novel like this comes along maybe once a decade . . . a tour de force, a full-blooded legal thriller about a murder trial and the way it shatters a family. With its relentless suspense, its mesmerizing prose, and a shocking twist at the end, it’s every bit as good as Scott Turow’s great Presumed Innocent. But it’s also something more: an indelible domestic drama that calls to mind Ordinary People and We Need to Talk About Kevin. A spellbinding and unforgettable literary crime novel.”—Joseph Finder “Defending Jacob is smart, sophisticated, and suspenseful—capturing both the complexity and stunning fragility of family life.”—Lee Child “Powerful . . . leaves you gasping breathlessly at each shocking revelation.”—Lisa Gardner “Disturbing, complex, and gripping, Defending Jacob is impossible to put down. William Landay is a stunning talent.”—Carla Neggers “Riveting, suspenseful, and emotionally searing.”—Linwood Barclay

Enter Title Here

Enter Title Here
Author: Naomi Kanakia
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 536
Release: 2016-08-02
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1484728807

I'm your protagonist-Reshma Kapoor-and if you have the free time to read this book, then you're probably nothing like me. Reshma is a college counselor's dream. She's the top-ranked senior at her ultra-competitive Silicon Valley high school, with a spotless academic record and a long roster of extracurriculars. But there are plenty of perfect students in the country, and if Reshma wants to get into Stanford, and into med school after that, she needs the hook to beat them all. What's a habitual over-achiever to do? Land herself a literary agent, of course. Which is exactly what Reshma does after agent Linda Montrose spots an article she wrote for Huffington Post. Linda wants to represent Reshma, and, with her new agent's help scoring a book deal, Reshma knows she'll finally have the key to Stanford. But she's convinced no one would want to read a novel about a study machine like her. To make herself a more relatable protagonist, she must start doing all the regular American girl stuff she normally ignores. For starters, she has to make a friend, then get a boyfriend. And she's already planned the perfect ending: after struggling for three hundred pages with her own perfectionism, Reshma will learn that meaningful relationships can be more important than success-a character arc librarians and critics alike will enjoy. Of course, even with a mastermind like Reshma in charge, things can't always go as planned. And when the valedictorian spot begins to slip from her grasp, she'll have to decide just how far she'll go for that satisfying ending. (Note: It's pretty far.) In this wholly unique, wickedly funny debut novel, Naomi Kanakia consciously uses the rules of storytelling-and then breaks them to pieces.

Preserve Protect & Defend

Preserve Protect & Defend
Author: Cameron C. Taylor
Publisher: Mount Lanai
Total Pages: 188
Release: 2012-10-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 097968613X

While investigating corruption and evil alliances within the American government, an assassination attempt on Vice President Aaron Banner leaves him in a coma. Only a week earlier, Aaron gave his chief of staff, Paula Brackett, an envelope with instructions to, 'Open only if something happens to me.' Paula soon finds herself fighting not only for her country, but for her life. While Aaron is in a coma, he is transported in time to personally experience key moments in history. Aaron is taught unforgettable lessons from some of the wisest men who have ever lived George Washington, Christopher Columbus, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, and others. This book beautifully blends remarkable research and details of the founding of America with an inspiring and engaging story.

Defending the Old Dominion

Defending the Old Dominion
Author: Stuart Lee Butler
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 673
Release: 2013
Genre: History
ISBN: 0761860398

Defending the Old Dominion describes historical events in Virginia during the War of 1812, examining how Virginia's militia was organized, supplied, and financed by the Commonwealth. The book discusses the militia's unpreparedness in training, its lack of adequate ordnance and arms, and how that affected its ability to defend the state against British incursions during the war. Political activities of the Virginia legislature and the U.S. Congress are examined with special reference to how the state financed the war and its relationship with the U.S. government. The book includes the fascinating story of nearly two thousand former slaves who fled to British ships to fight in Virginia with British forces.

Hiding from Reality

Hiding from Reality
Author: Taylor Armstrong
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2012-02-07
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1451677715

NOT EVERY FAIRY TALE HAS A HAPPY ENDING. . . . Reality hit Taylor Armstrong hard one tragic evening last August when she found the body of her estranged husband, Russell, hanging in his California home. Fans across the country were shocked at the horrific news of his death and even more shocked to discover that behind the glittering “reality” of Taylor’s life on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills lurked a painful story of emotional and physical abuse that she had been terrified to tell. An estimated 80 percent of domestic abuse victims remain silent, suffocated by fear and relentless self-doubt. For Taylor, it was the threat of financial ruin and finding herself alone with her young daughter that kept her tethered to her volatile husband. But after a ferocious roundhouse punch from Russell fractured her face, resulting in reconstructive surgery, she finally made the brave decision to walk away from a man she loved and a legacy of physical abuse that she first encountered as a child and that haunted her throughout her adulthood. To the outside world, the Armstrongs lived like royalty, throwing lavish parties—including a memorable tea party for their daughter’s fourth birthday—and mingling with their privileged Housewives co-stars. It was impossible to hide the cracks in their marriage from the cameras forever, though, and their darkest secrets slowly began to seep through the gilded façade. With searing honesty, Taylor candidly examines her difficult journey from the abusive home in which she was born to the low self-esteem that kept her constantly on the run from herself, to the tumultuous marriage that ended in suicide, and ultimately to her realization that only by sharing her moving story could she help other women. *** “The terrible truth is that I felt lost without the control that Russell had imposed on me for the nearly six years that we were married. Disturbingly, I missed that control. I didn’t know what to do once I had no one there to tell me how to dress, act, and behave; what to want; and who, even, to be. In some ways, I missed the abuse. I missed the pain. I missed being scared. Not because I liked feeling any of that. But because it was the life I had become accustomed to, and without anyone to be afraid of, to apologize to, and to cover for, I felt completely lost.” —TAYLOR ARMSTRONG

A Secular Age

A Secular Age
Author: Charles Taylor
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 889
Release: 2018-09-17
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0674986911

The place of religion in society has changed profoundly in the last few centuries, particularly in the West. In what will be a defining book for our time, Taylor takes up the question of what these changes mean, and what, precisely, happens when a society becomes one in which faith is only one human possibility among others.

Coming Up for Air

Coming Up for Air
Author: Miranda Kenneally
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2017-07-04
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1492630128

Swim. Eat. Shower. School. Snack. Swim. Swim. Swim. Dinner. Homework. Bed. Repeat. All of Maggie's focus and free time is spent swimming. She's not only striving to earn scholarships—she's training to qualify for the Olympics. It helps that her best friend, Levi, is also on the team, and cheers her on. But Levi's already earned an Olympic tryout, so Maggie feels even more pressure to succeed. And it's not until Maggie's away on a college visit that she realizes how much of the "typical" high school experience she's missed by being in the pool. No one to shy away from a challenge, Maggie decides to squeeze the most out of her senior year. First up? Making out with a guy. And Levi could be the perfect candidate. After all, they already spend a lot of time together. But as Maggie slowly starts to uncover new feelings for Levi, how much is she willing to sacrifice in the water to win at love?