This collection of literature attempts to compile many of the classic works that have stood the test of time and offer them at a reduced, affordable price, in an attractive volume so that everyone can enjoy them.

Specially commissioned by Michael Morpurgo to mark the 60th anniversary of VE day, this deeply moving collection features stories of war from the most well-loved voices in children's literature: Michelle Magorian, Celia Rees, George Layton, Robert Westall, Joan Aiken, Eva Ibbotson and Geraldine McCaughrean feature alongside other top children's authors.From World War II to the Crusades, 1970s Beirut to the Falklands, these vivid stories explore wars throughout history. They examine not only the immediate consequences of war, but also what happens after the fighting is over. Waiting for Peace: War Stories was originally published as War: Stories of Conflict.

In simple, mesmerizing prose, Hermann Hesse's *Journey to the East* tells of a journey both geographic and spiritual. H.H., a German choirmaster, is invited on an expedition with the League, a secret society whose members include Paul Klee, Mozart, and Albertus Magnus. The participants traverse both space and time, encountering Noah's Ark in Zurich and Don Quixote at Bremgarten. The pilgrims' ultimate destination is the East, the "Home of the Light," where they expect to find spiritual renewal. Yet the harmony that ruled at the outset of the trip soon degenerates into open conflict. Each traveler finds the rest of the group intolerable and heads off in his own direction, with H.H. bitterly blaming the others for the failure of the journey. It is only long after the trip, while poring over records in the League archives, that H.H. discovers his own role in the dissolution of the group, and the ominous significance of the journey itself.

In 1974 in Kinshasa, Zaïre, two African American boxers were paid five million dollars apiece to fight each other. One was Muhammad Ali, the aging but irrepressible “professor of boxing.” The other was George Foreman, who was as taciturn as Ali was voluble. Observing them was Norman Mailer, a commentator of unparalleled energy, acumen, and audacity. Whether he is analyzing the fighters’ moves, interpreting their characters, or weighing their competing claims on the African and American souls, Mailer’s grasp of the titanic battle’s feints and stratagems—and his sensitivity to their deeper symbolism—makes this book a masterpiece of the literature of sport. Praise for The Fight  * “Exquisitely refined and attenuated . . . [a] sensitive portrait of an extraordinary athlete and man, and a pugilistic drama fully as exciting as the reality on which it is based.”—The New York Times “One of the defining texts of sports journalism. Not only does Mailer recall the violent combat with a scholar’s eye . . . he also makes the whole act of reporting seem as exciting as what’s occurring in the ring.”—GQ* “Stylistically, Mailer was the greatest boxing writer of all time.”—Chuck Klosterman, Esquire “One of Mailer’s finest books.”—Louis Menand, The New Yorker   Praise for Norman Mailer   “[Norman Mailer] loomed over American letters longer and larger than any other writer of his generation.”—The New York Times “A writer of the greatest and most reckless talent.”—The New Yorker “Mailer is indispensable, an American treasure.”—The Washington Post “A devastatingly alive and original creative mind.”—Life “Mailer is fierce, courageous, and reckless and nearly everything he writes has sections of headlong brilliance.”—The New York Review of Books “The largest mind and imagination [in modern] American literature . . . Unlike just about every American writer since Henry James, Mailer has managed to grow and become richer in wisdom with each new book.”—Chicago Tribune “Mailer is a master of his craft. His language carries you through the story like a leaf on a stream.”—The Cincinnati Post**

I am Ren of Atikala. Kobold. Sorceress. Warrior. I have many stories to tell and this one is about my home.Home.The word has a special resonance with us all. Everyone cherishes their home, and if deprived of it, loses a piece of themselves. I once thought that life could not be so cruel as to take everything I’d known in an instant.Oh how I now understand that life can be capricious indeed.I am Ren of Atikala. Kobold. Sorceress. Warrior. I have many stories to tell and this one is about my home.Home.The word has a special resonance with us all. Great or humble, rich or poor, everyone cherishes their home, and if deprived of it, loses a piece of themselves. I once thought that life could not be so cruel as to take everything I’d known in an instant.Oh how I now understand that life can be capricious indeed.This is the story of how I came to the surface of Drathari and unwillingly traded a life for a life.The Kobolds series:#1: Ren of Atikala#2: Ren of Atikala: The Scars of Northaven (Now available for preorder!)Other stories set in Drathari, the World of Shattered Dreams:- The Gods are Silent, a short story (Coming early 2015!).

Peter has commandeered the Mars Explorer and Earthrise is about to make a fiery plunge into Mars’s atmosphere. What began as an holiday out of this world ends above an alien world.All boys enjoy wandering through the woods or fields.They are attracted to ponds and streams, where there is a whole world of fascinating creatures. This piece is just a short poem about such an encounter between a young boy and . . . a dragonfly. See if perhaps you can relate to your own childhood as you think about some of your own experiences with nature. This is a fun little poem that can be used at school, camp, or a quiet evening at home. Share it with your child and see what ideas he might suggest about such a meeting. Who is more curious -- the boy . . . or the dragonfly?

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist: A “stellar collection” of stories about navigating life off the reservation, filled with laughter and heartbreak (People). In these lyrical, affectionate tales from the author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, characters navigate the crossroads of culture, battle stereotypes, and find themselves through everything from politics to basketball. Richard, the narrator of “Lawyer’s League,” grows up in Seattle, the son of “an African American giant who played defensive end for the University of Washington Huskies” and “a petite Spokane Indian ballerina.” A woman is caught in a restaurant when a suicide bomb goes off in “Can I Get a Witness.” And Estelle Walks Above (née Estelle Miller), studies her way off the Spokane Indian Reservation and goes on to both enjoy and resent the company of the white women of Seattle—who see her as a shamanic genius, and look to her for guidance on everything from sex and fashion to spirituality. These and the other “warm, revealing, invitingly roundabout stories” in Ten Little Indians run the gamut from earthy wit to sobering emotional truth, mapping the outer reaches of the human heart (The New York Times Book Review). From a New York Times–bestselling and National Book Award–winning author, these tales, “rambunctious and exuberant, bristle with an edgy and mordant humor” (Chicago Tribune). This ebook features an illustrated biography including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

The classic Western, now newly repackaged as part of Bantam's Louis L'Amour's Lost Treasures program—with never-before-seen material from Louis and his son, Beau L'Amour."I am Johannes Verne, and I am not afraid."This was the boy's mantra as he plodded through the desert alone, left to die by his vengeful grandfather. Johannes Verne was soon to be rescued by outlaws, but no one could save him from the lasting memory of his grandfather's eyes, full of impenetrable hatred. Raised in part by Indians, then befriended by a mysterious woman, Johannes grew up to become a rugged adventurer and an educated man. But even now, strengthened by the love of a golden-haired girl and well on his way to making a fortune in bustling early-day Los Angeles, the past may rise up to threaten his future once more. And this time only the ancient gods of the desert can save him.Louis L'Amour's Lost Treasures is a project created to release some of the author's more...

The plagues of Egypt to the parting of the Red Sea, the story of Moses is one of the most interesting and colorful in the Old Testament. Now that story is brought vividly to life in a fictional setting. Stone Tables explores how God could take ordinary men like Moses and Aaron, with all their weaknesses, and transform them into prophet and priest. Nationally renowned author Orson Scott Card brings new insights to an age-old story. His creative fictionalization of the events of scripture and history lends a fresh and fascinating perspective. But this is more than just an entertaining tale. "My effort is to make sure that those who read this story emerge with an understanding of how good people struggle with each other and with their understanding of God's will as they try to make some decent use of their years of life," writes Card. It's a message as timely today as it was when Moses led Israel to freedom more than two millennia ago.

James Baldwin was self-educated and one of the most prolific writers of school books for children in the 20th century.  

For fans of Inside Out and Back Again, Other Words for Home, and A Place to Hang the Moon — Eureka is a gorgeous and emotionally resonant novel-in-verse by multiple-award-winning poet Victoria Chang that sensitively and lyrically renders the tragic events surrounding the 1885 expulsion of Chinese Americans from Eureka, California.Love illuminates the dark.The year is 1885. San Francisco is dangerous for Chinese immigrants like twelve-year-old Mei Mei. She must venture on her own, without her family or friends, to Eureka, California, where it is supposedly safe.But 300 miles from home, Mei Mei misses her Ma Ma's kindness, helping out in her Ba Ba's store, and playing hide-and-seek with her best friend, Hua Hua. Despite her fear and the increasing violence against her community, she finds hope in an unexpected friend, the giant Redwood trees, and a new dream: learning how to read in English. As the world around her grows...