"The Amazing Race" meets Around the World in 80 Days as a woman desperate to save her family bookstore falls for her competition. Born and raised in New York City, Ramona Keene dreams of attending photography school and traveling to Paris, but her reality never quite catches up with her imagination. Instead, she works at her uncles' quaint bookstore, where the tea is plentiful and all the adventures are between the covers of secondhand books. But when the new landlord arrives with his Evil Nephew in tow, Romy's quiet life comes crashing down. He plans to triple the rent, something her uncles can't afford. In order to earn the money to help save the bookstore, Romy applies for a job at ExLibris Expeditions, a company that re-creates literary journeys. Romy snags the oddest internship ever: retrace Phileas Fogg's journey from Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days and plan a suitable, contemporary adventure for a client. The task is close to...

An unexpected phone call derails a young woman's wedding plans and sparks an epic adventure around the modern-day Mediterranean in this “mouth-watering voyage” (Kirkus Reviews) of a novel by kc dyer. Gianna Kostas is on the cusp of a fairy-tale life. Sure, she's just lost her job, but she's about to marry one of New York's most eligible bachelors. On her way to taste wedding cakes, though, things go sideways. Shocking news sends Gia off on a wild journey halfway around the world in pursuit of her ailing—and nearly estranged—father. In Athens, she learns Dr. Kostas, a classics professor, is determined to retrace Odysseus's famous voyage. This is a journey her father is in no condition to take alone, so Gia faces a tough decision. When an unexpected job offer helps seal the deal and quash the guilt Gia feels from her disapproving groom-to-be, the journey is on. But as Gia adventures—and eats—her way around the...

If you had a chance to step through a window to the past, would you take it?A Walk Through a Window is the story of Darby, a young girl forced to spend the summer with grandparents she doesn't know in a place she feels she can never belong. But when a boy down the street extends a hand, it is more than friendship he offers. Together they discover a magical stone window frame that transports them to the very centre of the dramas of our past: the Underground Railroad; the coffin ships of the Irish Potato Famine; and even the Inuit as they crossed the Bering Land Bridge into North America. Over the course of the long, very strange summer, Darby is forced to question part of own her life. And as tragedy threatens her family, that magical walk through a window offers Darby new insight into the people she has always taken for granted -- and changes forever her perception of Canada.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Commended for the 2008 Best Books for Kids and Teens* When Logan Kemp hurls himself into a rugby scrum one morning, he has no idea that by afternoon he'll be fighting for his life. Worse, the only other patient on his ward is a troubled girl named Cleo who may not be hospitalized just for a broken wrist. When all he wants is his regular life back, the thought of Cleo throwing away her own leaves Logan determined to change her mind. Cleopatra Jones wants to design the perfect life; a teenage boy and a few well-meaning health professionals are not going to stand in her way. But Cleo soon finds that life -- and even death -- can interfere with the best-laid plans. Both teens reinforce the walls that have kept them safe in their own worlds, but the secrets in a teacher's notebook show them how the word sustenance can have more than one meaning. Facing the biggest challenge of their lives, Logan and Cleo discover the powerful forces of redemption and forgiveness.ReviewMs. Zephyr's Notebook is a great read - fast-paced, engrossing with memorable characters struggling with overwhelming issues., Carolyn Cooke, The Now Newspaper, August 24, 2007 From the Inside FlapWhen Logan and Cleo are thrown together on a hospital ward, they reinforce their walls. But the secrets in a teacher's notebook help them discover redemption and forgiveness.