Showing results by narrator "Leah Horowitz" in All Categories

In 1881, Jacci Reed is only five years old when a man attempts to kidnap her from the steamboat her mother, Irena, works on. Badly wounded during the confrontation, Irena takes Jacci aboard the Kingston Floating Palace, a showboat tied up beside them. There, Jacci's actor grandfather tends to her mother and Jacci gets a first taste of the life she will come to lead. Fifteen years later, Jacci is an actress aboard the Kingston Floating Palace, and largely contented with her adopted family of actors, singers, and dancers.

Delia Vittoria’s mother has lost her voice at last. After five years of being her diva mother’s understudy, it is time for Delia to assume her place as the lead soprano onstage behind the Academy of Music’s faded velvet curtain. And she is all that stands between the Academy and its greatest threat—the nouveaux riches’ lavish new Metropolitan Opera House.

Heiress Stella Burke is plagued by insincere suitors and nonstop headaches. Exhausting all other medical aides for her migraines, Stella reads Fasting for the Cure of Disease by Linda Hazzard and determines to go to the spa the author runs. Stella’s chauffer and long-time friend, Henry Clayton, is reluctant to leave her at the spa. Something doesn’t feel right to him, still Stella submits herself into Linda Hazzard’s care. Stella soon learns the spa has a dark side and Linda a mean streak. But when Stella has had enough, all ways to leave are suddenly blocked.

A long-ago “accident”. An isolated girl named Aviva. A community that wants to help but doesn’t know how. And a ghostly dybbuk that no one but Aviva can see, causing mayhem and mischief that everyone blames on her.

Jilted in front of all New York, Theodore Day decides to lose himself in his family’s luxury riverboat business in New Orleans and compete against his brother to become the next company head. The brother with the most sales by summer’s end will win the position. Thanks to Theodore’s fame as a suitor in a socialite’s outlandish competition to find a husband, he has become very desirable royalty in Southern society and thus has an advantage.

Since the attack on Pearl Harbor, Gordon Hooper and his buddy Jack Armitage have stuck to their values as conscientious objectors. Much to their families’ and country’s chagrin, they volunteer as smokejumpers rather than enlisting, parachuting into and extinguishing raging wildfires in Oregon. But the number of winter blazes they’re called to seems suspiciously high, and when an accident leaves Jack badly injured, Gordon realizes the facts don’t add up.

Classically trained pianist and singer Natalie Curtis isolated herself for five years after a breakdown just before she was to debut with the New York Philharmonic. Guilt-ridden and songless, Natalie can't seem to recapture the joy music once brought her. In 1902, her brother invites her to join him in the West to search for healing. What she finds are songs she'd never before encountered - the haunting melodies, rhythms, and stories of Native Americans.

In this poignant, perceptive, witty novel, Gary D. Schmidt brings authenticity and emotion to multiple plot strands, weaving in themes of grief, loss, redemption, achievement, and love. Following the death of her closest friend in summer 1968, Meryl Lee Kowalski goes off to St. Elene's Preparatory Academy for Girls, where she struggles to navigate the venerable boarding school's traditions and a social structure heavily weighted toward students from wealthy backgrounds.

In the fine tradition established by her Southern grandmama, Aurora Daughtry has recently orchestrated the marriage of her eldest sister and facilitated her middle sister’s engagement. Just when it seems there is nothing left to absorb her considerable talent for managing people, in walks federal deputy marshal Zane Sager. But Zane is not at Daughtry House for a vacation. He’s tracking a killer and collecting two key witnesses to a federal judge’s murder. Aurora takes it upon herself to disabuse the cynical lawman of his conviction that the world is out to get him.

Colman Harpe works for the C&O in the Appalachian rail town of Thurmond, West Virginia, but he'd rather be a preacher and lead his own congregation. When a member of the rival McLean clan guns down his cousin and the clan matriarch, Serepta McLean, taunts the Harpes by coming to a tent revival in their territory, Colman chooses peace over seeking revenge with the rest of his family. Colman, known for an unnaturally keen sense of hearing, is shocked when he hears God tell him to preach to the McLeans.

1885. Adria Fontaine has been sent to recover goods her father pirated on the Great Lakes during the war. But when she arrives at Foxglove Manor - a stone house on a cliff overlooking Lake Superior - Adria senses wickedness hovering over the property. The mistress of Foxglove is an eccentric and seemingly cruel old woman who has filled her house with dangerous secrets, ones that may cost Adria her life.

When math genius Emma and her coding club co-president, George, are tasked with brainstorming a new project, The Code for Love is born. George disapproves of Emma's idea of creating a matchmaking app, accusing her of meddling in people's lives. But all the happy new couples at school are proof that the app works. At least at first. Emma's code is flawless. So why is it that perfectly matched couples start breaking up, the wrong people keep falling for each other, and Emma's own feelings defy any algorithm?

It’s the beginning of the school year—and Briar’s newest resident, D.J. Rosenblum, is not here for it. Ever since her cousin Rachel died, D.J.’s family has been a mess: Her aunt and uncle are catatonic. Her mom is even more scatterbrained than usual. She had to postpone her bat mitzvah a whole year. Worst of all, she and her mom had to move—leaving her best friend, Eva, behind.

Vibrant and scrappy Maggie McCleod tried not to get fired from her wartime orchestra, but her sharp tongue landed her in trouble, so an overseas adventure with the USO’s camp show promises a chance at a fresh start. Wealthy and elegant Catherine Duquette signs with the USO to leave behind her restrictive life of privilege and to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of the handsome pilot whose letters mysteriously stopped arriving. The two women are joined by an eclectic group of performers.

Even though Bethanne Hostetler has found some peace seven years after an attempted assault and the accidental death of Peter Miller, she is still haunted by the memory. When her Englisher cousin, Candace—who has just been crowned Miss Crittenden County—reveals that she has a stalker, all of Bethanne’s old fears come rushing back. Jay Byler had once been Peter’s best friend, and the fact that he did not protect Bethanne that fateful night has haunted him ever since. To make matters worse, she continues to avoid him—even as he continues to love her.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Imperial Japan devours the southern portion of Burma, intent on taking over mainland Asia. Unaware of the coming darkness, Kailyn Moran drifts in her role as the only daughter of a widowed missionary. As whispers of war snake through the Kachin mountains, Kai’s father is convinced God will protect the mission. He entrusts the village to her and the kind yet inexperienced new missionary, Ryan McDonough, while he makes routine visits to neighboring villages.

It's Friday, and little Ruby gets to spend the day with her great-grandma, Tata. Together, they go for a walk with Ruby's grandma, Yaya. They take a nap. They read books. The whole family gathers for Shabbat dinner, and Ruby gets to eat a delicious piece of challah bread. Best of all, throughout the day, Tata tells Ruby funny, fantastical stories that come from her dreams, in which she soars on a giant blueberry bird, or dances right on top of the dinner table.

Ex-con Seth Zimmerman has spent the last three years making amends by helping the vulnerable in his former Amish community. Lately, this mission includes calling on Tabitha Yoder, whose divorce from her abusive husband has isolated her from the community. Even though she never comes out of her house to talk to him, Seth knows she watches him from the window while he chops wood, clears her driveway, and drops off food. An uneasy friendship is just starting to take hold between them when small gifts begin to appear at Tabitha’s home—gifts that can only be from her ex-husband.

Yet another teen has gone missing from the Gold Memorial Gardens, and Child Protective Services Investigator Claire Underwood isn't giving up until she finds him. For Claire, solving the case is more than business. Years ago, she lost a friend in that cemetery. Over time, the authorities deemed all the disappeared teens runaways, while local legend blamed the ghost of the murderous grave digger—much to the satisfaction of the Golds, also known as the “Ghouls.” Claire has always suspected the Golds were involved, including in some recent murders among their own.

When Stephanie Miller planned her visit to a dollar store in southern Ohio, she was expecting to pick up a few items she couldn't find in her Amish community. She was not expecting to find herself an innocent bystander as a drug deal went horribly wrong. The sole witness to a murder, now Stephanie is targeted by the gunman.