Urban Art

Conceived in the Gilded Age, the Ferry Building opened in 1898 as San Francisco's portal to the world—the terminus of the transcontinental railway and a showcase of civic ambition. In silent films and World's Fair postcards, nothing said "San Francisco" more than its soaring clock tower. But as acclaimed architectural critic John King recounts, the rise of the automobile and double-deck freeways severed the city from its beloved structure. King's narrative spans the rise and fall and rebirth of the Ferry Building, introducing colorful figures who fought to preserve its character.

The testimony that the author has gleaned for this audiobook from the 30-year record of the House Un-American Activities Committee focuses on HUAC's treatment of artists, intellectuals, and performers. This highly readable and absorbing collection of significant excerpts from the hearings shows with painful clarity how HUAC grew from a panel that investigated possible subversive activities in a "dignified" manner to a huge, unrelenting accusatory finger from which almost no one was safe.

New York Times best-selling investigative journalist Ron Suskind based this book on his Pulitzer Prize winning articles about Cedric Jennings, a Black youth struggling to survive one of D.C.'s toughest school districts. A moving portrait of inner city life, A Hope in the Unseen offers a view of life through the eyes of someone trying desperately to make his way up from the bottom.

When the first Martian cylinder crash lands in England, Ogilvy the astronomer barely survives the deadly heat ray from the attack by aliens. He then accidentally stumbles upon the truth about the Red Weed and sends vital evidence to scientists in France on board HMS Thunder Child, but the ship is attacked by a Martian tripod.

Edith Myers has just about had enough. Her first day at a new school and she already has an enemy - Dana Blake. Head cheerleader, tormenter, typical prom queen. But when Edith discovers a strange key, she finds them both embroiled in an interdimensional war. She and Dana must find a way to work together, or it could spell the end of the other world - and theirs.

When her mother remarried and moved them to a town where a date meant hanging out at the Sonic, Laney figured that "boring" would have a whole new meaning. A new stepsister who despised her and a high school where she was the only topic of gossip were bad enough. But when she met the school counselor (and his terminal bad breath), she grew suspicious. Especially since he had wings that only she could see.

Dogboy, also known as Bronson Black, is Colta City's 13-year-old guardian in the shadows. After a tragic accident claims his parents, Bronson is thrust into the care of the enigmatic Uncle Randolph. Wielding a blend of magic tricks and an uncanny precognitive ability, he stands against Andrus and the nefarious Guild of Thieves.

Lady Sessily is a dark fae, an assassin, and she intends to retire and take up some other occupation so she can lead a normal life. Get a boyfriend. Visit the human world to hassle humans like many of her kind do. Attend fae kingdom parties, not as the mystery woman who is scoping out her next intended victim, but just to have fun. Until tall, dark, handsome, and deadly interrupts her plans. She is on a mission to assassinate a fae lord who is the most evil kind of fae. But when she is thwarted, not once but twice by another fae lord, she is ready to strangle him.

Alicia has planned a vacation at South Padre Island with her girlfriend Cassie in forever. But just as they're enjoying a day on the beach, here comes a dark fae to spoil their holiday, except only she can see what he truly is. Alicia has no idea how upside down her world can turn with a chance meeting with one of the dark fae from the royal house of the Denkar. Alicia's always known she's different - that she can recognize the mischievous fae when they show up to "play" with the humans.

In the early 80s, Mark Fleischman reopened Studio 54, the world's most glamorous and notorious nightclub, after it was closed down by the State of New York. Ten thousand people showed up that night, ready to restart the party that abruptly ended after the raid in 1978 landed its former owners in jail. Inside Studio 54 invites you to revisit the happening scenes of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, the post-Pill, pre-AIDS era of free love, consequence-free sex, and seemingly endless partying. Following Fleischman as he built connections that lead him to Studio 54.

Sophie has always preferred champagne and bonbons to village life. When her dearest friend Henri proposes and insists that life as a baker's wife will be enough, she admits her desire for more. Looking for an adventure, she stumbles upon a fortune teller who predicts her death and reveals the truth about her origins. Desperate for answers, Sophie flees the village.

He's not crazy. Honest, he's not. He's just Wyatt. Wyatt the Mighty. Fifteen-year-old Wyatt has been sent to a treatment center for "disturbed youth". No one understands him. He wants nothing more than to escape from it all. And he does. Through a magic he doesn't understand, he finds himself in Hagion, a realm of fantastical creatures and immense wonder.

The first night in their new house across town, she awakens to find him at the foot of her bed just like every other night. However, now he is following her other places and is asking for her help. Desperate to rid herself of the pesky apparition, she finds an unexpected ally in the girl next door, who just happens to be a psychic. Answers lie in the past Tawny has worked so hard to put behind her, and lies are uncovered when she finds the ghost's connection to the mysterious death of her father.

Everyone has a soul. Some are just worth more than others. Farley Hope has no idea who she really is. Not until she meets Daniel, anyway. He has answers to the painful questions that plague her life, and once she learns the truth, there is no going back. She is thrust into a world of darkness, where she must learn to fight to survive; where your soul is your only true currency; where the promise of love is marred by the promise of death. Farley Hope is prophesied. Her coming has been awaited for hundreds of years. She is destined to end the tyranny of the Soul Reavers forever.

Malique Laveaux is a 15-year-old misfit with multi-toned skin. He's an orphan and often spends time alone, until one day he runs into a flower shop. There, he meets the owner, Sokie Roberts and her 10-year-old niece, Lani. He feels connected to them somehow. As time progresses, Lani informs Malique she has dreams about him. One of the dreams includes him aboard a ship being manhandled by two burly men demanding he take his shirt off so they can see the map on his back. Then strange things start to happen....

Genevieve is a teenage girl who moves in with her aunt in Alaska after the death of her mother. Soon after her arrival she learns the things she was raised to believe only existed in fairytales are in fact a big part of her history. When it gets to be too much, she seeks refuge in the arms of her new boyfriend, William, only to find out he's not who she thought he was either. This is a Young Adult paranormal urban fantasy romance with mild language and mild sexual situations for readers in grade 9 and up.

Seventeen-year-old Ashlyn Lanski is tired of her boring, single life. Swimming and spending time with Tatiana, her best friend, are her only sanctuary. The girls plan to leave their drab lakeside town far behind for college, and Ash hopes to finally ditch her longtime crush for Finley, Tatiana's twin brother. But when Tatiana and her family fail to return home after a family emergency, Ashlyn chooses to do something drastic to find them.

With the local vampire coven decimated, Julia and Nicholas try to begin a somewhat normal life together. Bound by secrecy from a shape shifter determined to see Julia's world-saving prediction come to fruition, Julia isn't allowed to tell Nicholas the leader survived, ransacking her happiness with guilt. When Alora returns, bent on revenge, the reunion forces Nicholas and Julia to choose what they are willing to live and die for.

Faedra was enjoying the fact that everything was back to normal, well, as normal as it could get when you had the ability to manipulate energy, were protector of an ancient Fae amulet, and lived with a fairy guardian 24/7. Her dad had even started dating. Yes, all was right again in Faedra's world, or so she thought....

Braedyn is a normal girl just trying to survive high school with her two devoted friends, Royal and Cassie. Together they're doing a pretty good job of shrugging off the slings and arrows cast their way by the popular crowd when a new boy, Lucas, moves into the house next door. Suddenly Braedyn finds herself falling in love for the first time.