The Queen’s Gambit meets The Hunger Games in this harrowing young adult thriller about a teen girl whose abusive father teaches her the finer points of chess and hunting for his own sinister ends. Didi tries her best to be a good girl, but it’s hard to keep track of her father’s rules. When she wins a chess tournament, he’s angry she didn’t win with a better move and makes her run laps around the house. When she runs laps the next day, she has to keep running until she’s faster than the day before. When she’s skilled enough to outshoot him with both a gun and bow and arrow, he grows furious when she won’t then shoot a baby rabbit who crosses their path. And Didi can’t do anything to escape being threatened with the Hurt Stick when she misbehaves. He’s all she has, he reminds her. They have to be prepared. They have to be prepared to fight the rest of the world, when the world comes to an end. He’s grooming her, to keep her safe. He loves Didi. He does—he says so! And so Didi runs harder; annihilates her opponents in chess; takes down a deer at a dead run. He’s grooming her, after all, to be the best…he says so.
... Owen Wister, James Fenimore Cooper, B. M. Bower, J. Allan Dunn, Robert E. Howard, ... and when Forrest admitted having the widow Timberlake's beef herd, ...
Frost would kill the last of the blackberries and gooseberries that I'd found for us to subsist on. The acorns were long gone. I'd been lucky to find a crab ...
... Cinderellas turning to Vasilisas, Snow Queens into Father Frost, ... Two she'd heard from her own father, “The Mirror of Matsuyama” and “Kaguya-hime,” ...
"A tender and honest examination of love, longing, and loyalty in the face of modern war."—Laura Ruby, author of Bad Apple "While He Was Away is a wonderful love story with writing that is skillful and true."—Amy Timberlake, author of ...
Table of Contents A good deal of water had run under Beulah Bridge since Letty ... and the third, Deacon Todd's eldest son, had somehow or other met a siren ...
Table of Contents A good deal of water had run under Beulah Bridge since Letty ... and the third, Deacon Todd's eldest son, had somehow or other met a siren ...
“Casey is fairly withdrawn now, so don't be discouraged if she won't talk.” Andi puts a hand on my shoulder. “I'm sure your presence here will be a comfort to her.” “I hope so.” What if Casey doesn't even want to see me? “Let's go.
Casey sets the dining room table and eats with us, telling stories about Luke that make us laugh and make Luke's face grow redder and redder. “If I'd known all my deepest secrets were going to be spilled tonight, I'd have suggested we ...
A classic science fiction novel from bestselling author Neal Shusterman is back in print.
Deftly entwining swashbuckling action and quiet magic, Maggie Tokuda-Hall's inventive debut novel conjures a diverse cast of characters seeking mastery over their fates while searching for answers to big questions about identity, power, and ...