Showing results by narrator "Ramon De Ocampo" in All Categories

Twelve-year-old Tor Luna was born with a leadership emblem, just like his mother. But he hates his mark and is determined to choose a different path for himself. So, on the annual New Year's Eve celebration, where Emblemites throw their wishes into a bonfire in the hopes of having them granted, Tor wishes for a different power. The next morning Tor wakes up to discover a new marking on his skin...the symbol of a curse that has shortened his lifeline, giving him only a week before an untimely death.

Payatas, a 50-acre dump northeast of Manila's Quezon City, is home to thousands of people who live off of what they can scavenge there. It is one of the poorest neighborhoods in a city whose law enforcement is already stretched thin, devoid of forensic resources, and rife with corruption. So when the eviscerated bodies of preteen boys begin to appear in the dump heaps, there is no one to seek justice on their behalf. In the rainy summer of 1997, two Jesuit priests take the matter of protecting their flock into their own hands.

When his girlfriend takes a job in Thailand, journalist Mischa goes along for the ride, planning only to enjoy himself as much as possible. But when he hears about the suicide of a young woman, Martiya van der Leun, in the Thai prison where she was serving a life sentence for murder, what begins as mild curiosity becomes an obsession. It is clear that Martiya was guilty, but what was it that led her to kill?

What happens when a room full of kids find themselves without a junior-church teacher? They choose one of their own crowd to take her place, of course! Twelve-year-old Kirby McCook, mentored by his grandfather, leads his rambunctious friends through the Bible in this creative and fun Bible storybook. Bible stories laced with middle-grade humor help teach kids that Jesus has been part of the story from the beginning and can be found throughout the Bible, from Genesis through Revelation.

Zack and his younger sister, Zara, have had to fight for every scrap of food and luck that has ever come their way. All of that changes when Zack awakens as a Traveler. Zack holds the key to changing his small family’s fractured fate, and for his sister, he’ll risk everything. The dangers that await him in the mystic realm of the portals, where ancient powers still linger, aren’t the only thing he needs to be wary of. Nobles, both good and bad, have learned of them as well.

The morning after Hurricane Leo rips through the town of Canaan, residents awaken to widespread destruction—power outages, downed branches, uprooted trees, broken windows and damaged roofs. Four eighth-grade friends—Evan, Jason, Mitchell, and CJ—meet to explore the devastation. The tight-knit group is dismayed to find that Evan has brought along a stray—Ricky, who is new to their town and school, and doesn’t have any friends yet.

Imagine a world where the past, present and future have collided. A world that is timeless. This is the world Diego was born into.... For fans of Rick Riordan and Brian Selznick, Armand Baltazar introduces the first book in a new fantasy adventure series. You've never seen Earth like this before: continents reshaped, oceans re-formed, cities rebuilt. Dinosaurs roam the plains alongside herds of buffalo, and giant robots navigate the same waters as steam-powered ships.

Here, Rex tells the story of his coming out and his father’s rejection of his identity, navigating abuse and survival on the streets. Road Home is a devastating and incandescent reflection on Rex’s hunger for food, for love, and for a place to call home, completing the trilogy of memoirs that began with the award-winning Free Lunch.

Alisak, Prany and Noi - three orphans united by devastating loss - must do what is necessary to survive the perilous landscape of 1960s Laos. When they take shelter in a bombed out field hospital, they meet Vang, a doctor dedicated to helping the wounded at all costs. Soon the teens are serving as motorcycle couriers, delicately navigating their bikes across the fields filled with unexploded bombs, beneath the indiscriminate barrage from the sky. 

Betty, Veronica, Cheryl, and the rest of the River Vixens are heading out of town for the weekend on a cheerleading retreat. So Archie, Jughead, and the rest of the guys decide to have a poker night at La Bonne Nuit. But a storm causes the power to go out, and the speakeasy goes into lockdown. When the lights come back on, all of the cash is gone. The thief has to be someone the guys know - but who?

Tom Honeyman made his name cracking a horrific double murder in his hometown of Prosper, New York. He got an international best seller out of it, made a small fortune, and left his newspaper reporting days behind. But was it all based on a lie? Now, more than a decade after his only success, Honeyman’s life is in tatters. His wife committed suicide, his daughter hasn’t spoken to him in years, and his books don’t sell. But Tom Honeyman is not alone. An unseen stranger tells Honeyman he got it wrong all those years ago. And he has just four days to uncover the real murderer.

Greg Rich should feel invincible. After all, he’s traveled through time, become one of the legendary Musketeers, and - most recently - prevented the Spanish army from attacking Paris. Instead, he and his friends are languishing in prison, having fallen into a trap set by Milady and the prince of Condé. But Greg didn’t come to the 17th century to sit in a jail cell and await execution. He, Aramis, Athos, and Porthos need to get to King Louis, who is in immediate danger of being overthrown by the scheming prince. 

A three-thousand-year-old man named Grimluk appears in the boys' bathroom to deliver some startling news: Mack is one of the Magnificent Twelve, called the Magnifica in ancient times, whatever that means. An evil force is on its way, and it's up to Mack to track down eleven other twelve-year-olds in order to stop it. He must travel across the world to battle the wicked Pale Queen's dangerous daughter, Ereskigal - also known as Risky. But Risky sounds a little scary, and Mack doesn't want to be a hero.

In this inclusive history and guide to skin care and beauty, journalist and founder of Very Good Light David Yi teaches us that self-care, wellness, and feeling beautiful transcends time, boundaries, and binaries - and that pretty boys can change the world.

Even though Ben Braver saved Kepler Academy from total destruction last year, he knows he still doesn't fit in at his secret middle school for kids with special abilities. Ben's been hiding his lack of super skills, but it's getting harder as his classmates' powers are getting stronger. Will Ben be able to power up before his enemies at school take him down? And will he risk everything to become the ultimate superhero?

Charles is reaching the end of his rope. The things he has seen have nearly become too much. He never signed up to be a hero. It was never a burden he wanted. Only his burgeoning family has kept him going for this long, but now even Gaia needs his help. The system the Gods created for their game is on the brink of collapse. There have been too many people and events that they never accounted for since it began, each one causing cascading errors. The biggest two being Charles and his sister Charlotte.

Our story begins with a challenge: The Trials of Hairy-Clees are only for the bravest and most awesome gods of all. Who among them will become the ultimate champion? The pets of Mount Olympus Pet Center are a true team: They conquer epic quests as easily as Ares the pug scarfs down mutt nuggets, and they vanquish enemies who are pricklier than the spines on Poseidon the pufferfish. But when a chicken named Hermes shows up one day, things take a turn, and before the team knows it, the Oracle has spoken and the mysterious Trials of Hairy-Clees begin!

P. G. Wodehouse meets space opera, as Ensign Thomas Innes Loche Kinago, fresh from the Academy is given his first command. A crumb from the upper crust, he's eager to uphold the traditions of his family, and in particular, his mother, a distinguished Admiral of the Imperium. Of course, he's aware of the importance of always having simply smashing tailored uniforms on hand, and having his camera ready to record memorable moments for his scrapbook.  

When Theo's photography project is mysteriously vandalized at school, there are five suspected students who all say, "It wasn't me." Theo just wants to forget about the humiliating incident, but his favorite teacher is determined to get to the bottom of it and has the six of them come into school over vacation to talk. She calls it "Justice Circle". The six students - the Nerd, the Princess, the Jock, the Screw Up, the Weirdo, and the Nobody - think of it as detention. A.k.a. their worst nightmare. That is until they realize they might get along after all, despite their differences.

The Zang, an elder race of the galaxy, may be a shrinking population, but they're also intelligent, curious, and powerful. What's more, they practice a most unusual art form: they bonsai star systems. Eager to witness this first hand, Lieutenant Lord Thomas Kinago, accompanied as always by his personal assistant Parsons, sets out on a several-week jaunt to see the Zang destroy a moon to enhance the beauty of a star system.