Showing results by narrator "Michael Goldstrom" in All Categories

Andy is a troubled teenager. Fighting is the only thing he’s good at, it gives him his reputation, and he does a lot of it - so much that he’s going to be expelled and dumped if he can’t change his ways. The Head suggests a boxing club, but Andy reckons boxing is for wusses...until he’s knocked out in his first match by a kid half his size. Now Andy faces losing his reputation at school - and that’s about all he has left. Will boxing be Andy’s doom, or his salvation?

Ian was the one who chased the majestic buck into the forest. (His motto: act first, think later.) Kendra didn't want to become separated from the other sixth graders, but she followed Ian anyway, despite what her analytical mind told her. PJ followed him too. Even though he was scared, he figured he might catch some amazing footage with his video camera. They all hoped to return to the hiking trail before anyone noticed they were gone. However, the mountain had other plans for them: dark, sinister plans that only nightmares are made of.

Scott Hudson has somehow managed to survive Freshman year. But with a new baby brother in the house and a whole host of adventures awaiting him at school, Sophomore year promises to be anything but boring. An honest and funny follow-up to the popular Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie, award-winning author David Lubar pens a tale that perfectly captures the ridiculous, tumultuous, and sometimes heartbreaking truths about high school.

Everyone knows the flooded quarry is a dangerous place. But when Jacob spots the tail of a huge reptile disappearing into the undergrowth, nobody believes him! He needs to get a photo as proof before anyone will take him seriously. And that means hunting the beast himself....

Arthur Vance walks into P.I. Joe Scintilla's office and tells him an incredible story: his wife, Katharine, had commited suicide a year and a half before, and yet he is convinced that she is now passing under the name of Elena Cavalieri, having just been married to another man. Is Vance merely distraught over his wife's death, or is he correct in believing that "The Removal Company" - a shadowy organization that appears to help those who wish to slough off the burden of existence, and which assisted Katharine in her self-destruction-is something much more sinister than it appears?

With the precociousness expected of the only child of a doctor and a classical musician - from the time he could get his toddler tongue to pronounce deoxyribonucleic acid, or recite a French poem - Marco Roth was able to share his parents’ New York, a world centered around house concerts, a private library of literary classics, and dinner discussions of the latest advances in medicine. That world ended when his father started to suffer the worst effects of the AIDS virus that had infected him in the early 1980s.

After the battle in Italy, Joseph tries to live a normal life, but that's just not in the cards for him. He's engaged to the Illuminator's sister Jenna, has a Fallen Angel bodyguard, and plans on adopting the cutest five year old anyone's ever seen. If that isn't enough to keep anyone busy, now Joseph's home is under attack by reporters and protestors. After a frightening incident that leaves his house in ashes, he decides he's had enough. It's war.

The thing about Hank's new friend Inkling is, he's invisible. No, not imaginary. Inkling is an invisible bandapat, a creature native only to the Peruvian Woods of Mystery. (Or maybe it is the Ukrainian glaciers. Inkling hardly ever gets his stories straight.) Now Inkling has found his way to Brooklyn and into Hank's laundry basket on his quest for squash - bandapats' favorite food. But Hank has bigger problems than helping Inkling fend off maniac doggies and search for yummy pumpkins: Bruno Gillicut is a lunch-stealing dirtbug caveperson and he's got to be stopped.

Twenty-year-old Russ arrives in the northern California town of Freedom to visit his dad. Freedom has peculiarities other than its odd name: the local mayor's ideas of "decentralization" have left it without normal connections to state or federal government and minimal public services. Russ meets an interesting young woman, Pendra, but before he can get to know much about Freedom or its people, a savage tsunami strikes the West Coast.

Jake’s mobile is going wrong. It’s sending weird texts to his friends. Then they start appearing on his phone - from himself. Then the voice messages begin. A girl is trapped in a storm drain, begging him for help. But the messages delete as soon as he hears them. Finally he gets a live call from her, and he knows he has to track her down. Will it be too late for the girl - or for Jake?

Patrick Cusimano’s life can’t get much worse. His father is in jail, he works the midnight shift at a grubby convenience store, and his brother’s girlfriend, Caro, has pushed their friendship to an uncomfortable new level.

With eloquence and wit, Wayne Hoffman explores the unlikely camaraderie between a young Jewish man and an Orthodox rabbi, in this rich, insightful novel about love, honesty, faith, and belonging. In Yiddish, there is a word for it: bashert - the person you are fated to meet. Twenty-something Benji Steiner views the concept with skepticism. But the elderly rabbi who stumbles into Benji's office one day has no such doubts. Jacob Zuckerman's late wife, Sophie, was his bashert. And now that she's gone, Rabbi Zuckerman grapples with overwhelming grief and loneliness.

His wish led to the addition of a new system to Genesis Online: siege mechanics. Rival guilds can now declare war and attack each others' cities. If the attackers win, they take ownership of the defeated settlement. With few details on how the new system will work, Kevin must build up defenses to protect the town of Prosperity. He will need to train hard with his guild members and recruit allies to ensure they will have enough defenders when the attack finally comes. Will they be ready to withstand the forces of an enemy determined to get revenge?

Genesis Online has added a new feature that allows players to purchase land and build homes or businesses. Using the gold he collected while fighting Itrix, Kevin buys a plot of land with visions of creating a settlement that will help him make money playing the game. He plans to buy a neural interface, hoping it will help with his recovery from the accident that left him unable to walk. Unfortunately, other players, both within his guild and outside of it, have other plans.