In the year 2002, the Berlin Zoo acquires a new specimen: "Fritz", a biped from "Brecht''s planet." Fritz is intelligent, and his keepers treat him with a mix of courtesy and disdain; he is kept in a display with another (presumably female) biped and the two are required to work for a living, transcribing tapes made by explorers to their planet. One day, Martin Naumchik, a human male, is visiting the zoo when his personality and that of the biped are interchanged. The switch is the unintended consequence of an experiment in time travel that takes place at another location. The remainder of the story follows the two characters as they come to terms with their new bodies and new feelings. Martin quickly becomes aware of the degradation of being a zoo animal, while Fritz is forced to cope with life in a confusing and threatening alien society. Martin tries, and fails, to convince his captors that he is imprisoned in the biped''s body; the biped, in Martin''s body, eventually comes into contact with Martin''s colleagues and his lover, and manages to continue with Martin''s life. The novel also deals wryly with the theme of sexual identity. Because Fritz is provided with inguinal glands resembling a human male''s, he is presumed to be male. But it turns out that the organ has nothing to do with reproduction: Fritz is a female, and the smaller primate with whom he shares a cage is a male. To reproduce, the female aggressively bites off an egglike knob from the male''s forehead containing the semen. Martin (in Fritz''s body), and the reader, only learn this at the end of the novel, when he is overcome by passion and commits the act.

Mind Switch

At the opening of the book, the narrator, Rabo Karabekian, apologizes to the arriving guests: "I promised you an autobiography, but something went wrong in the kitchen..." He describes himself as a museum guard who answers questions from visitors coming to see his priceless collected art. He shares the lonely home with his live-in cook and her daughter, Celeste. One afternoon, Circe Berman wanders onto Karabekian''s private beach. When he reaches out to greet her, she catches him by surprise with the forward statement "Tell me how your parents died." He tells her the story and proceeds to invite her back to his home for a drink. After a drink and supper, Karabekian invites her to stay with him, as Paul Slazinger does. After a time, he begins to find her charm "manipulative", as she typically gets her way. Mrs. Berman does not respect his abstract art collection, including works by Jackson Pollock. She explores every inch of Karabekian''s home, constantly asking him questions. The only place that is off-limits to her is the potato barn. The potato barn is the home of Karabekian''s studio and holds his "secret". The barn has no windows, and Karabekian has gone through the trouble of nailing one end shut and immobilizing the other with six padlocks. The secret of the potato barn has enticed collectors to make outrageous offers and to raise suspicions of stolen masterpieces. It is to remain locked until after Karabekian passes away.

Bluebeard

Raised by Woodtroll families all his life, Twig believes at heart he is a woodtroll, yet he strongly suspects there is something different about him, as he does not fit in with the rest of the woodtroll villagers. Twig has been raised in the Deepwoods, far from human civilization, yet he sets off to find his true kind when he learns from his adoptive mother that he is not a woodtroll. His adoptive woodtroll mother tells him to travel to their cousin''s house to mull things over, but during Twig''s journey through the Deepwoods, he is seduced by the beauty of the woods themselves and ends up straying from the path. This is an act no woodtroll ever commits, for the woodtrolls'' greatest fear is getting lost, and this fear is not without reason. The forest is populated with both fierce natural predators and evil demons, the most dangerous demon being the Gloamglozer. The Gloamglozer can shapeshift in order to attract victims, and it can also mimick the voices of any animal in distress. Twig does indeed hear such a voice, and follows it, but stumbles upon a Slaughterer, who is being attacked by a Hoverworm. Twig kills the Hoverworm and the grateful Slaughterer invites him to spend the night in his village. However, the Slaughterer has been poisoned by the Hoverworm and is swelling up. Nonetheless, Twig gets to the Slaughterer village and the Slaughterers find an antidote for their ill brother. The next morning, Twig is awoken by a Slaughterer who tells him that he has outstayed his welcome, and is expected to leave immediately. Outraged and disappointed, Twig leaves, with the Slaughterer telling him to "watch out for the Gloamglozer" in a mocking tone. Twig has a run-in with a Skullpelt which attempts to kill him, but Twig is saved by a Caterbird which has just hatched from his cocoon. As all Caterbirds share telepathic dreams whilst in the womb, this Caterbird knows all about Twig and his destiny. The Caterbird tells Twig his destiny lies "beyond the Deepwoods" and flies off, telling Twig he will always protect him. That night, Twig is almost eaten by a Bloodoak, but falls into a Gyle-Goblin colony, where he is almost caught by their colony mother, an obese Grossmother. Then Twig finds himself almost at the edge of the Deepwoods and at the Mire, a vast, dangerous bog which stretches for thousands of miles outside the Deepwoods. At the edge of the Deepwoods, Twig meets an injured Banderbear, one of the forest''s dominant predators. The Banderbear is sick because of a rotten tooth, which Twig heals by wrenching it out. Soon, Twig and the Banderbear become great friends, but one day the Banderbear is killed by a swarm of Wig-Wigs, ferocious predators which act like piranhas. Twig then follows a young girl, and he discovers she is a Termagant Trog who has not yet matured. Twig spends a few months with the Trog girl, who grows to become fond of him as a "pet" and eventually the girl''s maturing ceremony takes place. Twig watches as the girl he has come to love grows enormously gigantic by drinking Bloodoak sap. Now fully formed as a Trog female, the girl attempts to have Twig killed, as she sees all other species as vermin. However, a lone Trog male saves Twig, much to his surprise, and directs him to the exit. Outside, Twig almost drowns in the Mire, but is rescued by a goblin at the edge, who mysteriously vanishes just as Twig is about to thank him. Soon, Twig meets some sky pirates, whose ship has crashed due to the flight-rock which powers the ship falling out of the sky when it was struck by lightning. Twig finds out that the sky pirate captain, Quintinius Verginix, is his true father, and learns at long last who he, Twig, really is. To Twig''s horror, though, the next morning he awakes in a deserted forest clearing. The sky pirates have jumped ship and abandoned him... again. Momentarily distraught, Twig sees the pirate''s fire float upwards and catch onto a tree, which sets half the forest alight. Twig runs for it, right down to the Edgelands, where he meets the Gloamglozer face to face. In a cruel twist, the Gloamglozer reveals that the entire set of misadventures was a cruel game devised by himself. He tells Twig that he, the Gloamglozer, was all the various creatures which had saved him throughout the journey. The Slaughterer who had mocked Twig was the Gloamglozer in disguise, as was the Trog male, and the goblin at the edge of the Mire was also the Gloamglozer in goblin form. The demon tells Twig that he only wanted to lure Twig to him so he could throw him over the Edge. The Gloamglozer does just this, although the Caterbird rescues Twig from oblivion and throws him onto the deck of Quintinius Verginix''s ship. Finally reunited with his true father, who apologizes for leaving him and promises to always protect his son, Twig, the sky pirates set sail for Undertown, the central city of the Edge.

Beyond the Deepwoods

Snow Country is a stark tale of a love affair between a Tokyo dilettante and a provincial geisha that takes place in the remote hot spring (onsen) town of Yuzawa (Kawabata himself did not mention the name of the town in his novel). The hot springs in that region were home to inns, visited by men traveling alone and in groups, where paid female companionship had become a staple of the economy. The geisha of the hot springs enjoyed nothing like the social status of their more artistically trained sisters in Kyoto and Tokyo and were usually little more than prostitutes whose brief careers inevitably ended in a downward spiral. The liaison between the geisha, Komako, and the male protagonist, a wealthy loner who is a self-appointed expert on Western ballet, is thus doomed to failure. The nature of that failure and the parts played by others form the theme of the book. As his most potent symbol of this "counter-Western modernity", the rural geisha, Komako, of his novel Snow Country embodies Kawabata''s conception of traditional Japanese beauty by taking Western influence and subverting it to traditional Japanese forms. Having no teacher available, she hones her technique on the traditional samisen instrument by untraditionally relying on sheet music and radio broadcasts. Her lover, Shimamura, comments that, “the publishing gentleman would be happy if he knew he had a real geisha—not just an ordinary amateur—practicing from his scores way off here in the mountains.” But on his way to the town, Shimamura is fascinated with a girl he sees on the train, a young girl named Yoko who is caring to a sick man traveling with her. He wants to see more of her, even though he is with Komako during his stay. Already a married man, it doesn''t faze him that he is thinking about Yoko while being public with Komako.

Snow Country

A more claustrophobic narrative landscape than before; the plot consists of a shift between the past and the present-day account of the murder investigation, but the link twixt the alternating narratives is not revealed until the end:-there are also multiple side stories which make for a somewhat cluttered plot. The roots of the theme lies in an earlier generation and can be attributed, at least in part, to the upbringing of offspring. In the present, Eric/ Patrik try to find a suitable parenting means; even the incompetent police chief becomes obliquely involved in raising an infant, albeit belatedly. Used in this novel skilfully is the utilization of a secondary story, delivered to us a couple of pages at a time, at long intervals; This sub-plot is perfectly timed, revealing the killer’s motive or insanity, at just the correct pace. In fact it''s not at any one particular moment when you realise who the killer is – that’s the skill. The remote resort of Fjällbacka has seen its share of disaster, though perhaps none worse than that of the young child found in a fisherman′s net. The gruesome post-mortem shows that this is no case of accidental drowning. The death of Sara, an eight-year-old girl, is no less shocking for Patrik Hedström having just become a father. This is a child both he and his partner Erica knew well. It is his grim task to discover who could be behind the methodical murder. What he does not know is how this case will reach into the blackened heart of Fjällbacka and the town′s history, ripping apart its idyllic façade, perhaps permanently. An interesting aside is that the parents of the dead child live with the maternal grandmother, Lilian, an acerbic hag engaged in a never ending battle with her ''Neighbour from Hell'' Kaj, who has built a new domicile next door to her profound chagrin; Kaj has a reclusive autistic son, Morgan, who spends many hours isolated in his room working on his computer; the finer of suspicion begins to point to him as the possible murderer, particularly as he had seen and spoken to the child on the fatal day they died. The plot is further complicated by the fact that Erica is a good friend of Sara''s mother, Charlotte – bonded by both recently having had children. Another detective story with a plot twist that takes until the end to discern; enjoyable literature- not too demanding but intelligent; the only qualm is perhaps that most detective stories seem to have a protagonist detective - this doesn''t which some might miss. This novel would be more satisfying if only the author planned a much nicer motive;If only the killer wasn''t the person.

The Stone Cutter

The main character in the story is Eddie Carbone, an Italian American longshoreman, who lives with his wife, Beatrice and his orphaned niece, Catherine. As the play begins, Eddie is protective and kind toward Catherine, although his feelings grow into something more than avuncular as the play develops. His attachment to her is brought into perspective by the arrival from Italy of Beatrice''s two cousins, Marco and Rodolpho. They have entered the country illegally, hoping to leave behind hunger and unemployment for a better life in America. Marco is an exceptionally strong man, said by Eddie''s friends to be ''a regular bull.'' He also has a starving family in Italy (a wife, and 3 sons, one with tuberculosis). Rodolpho is in his late 20''s, fair skinned, blond, and unattached. He is unconventional in that he sings (notably ''paper doll''), dances, is good at sewing and dress making and is also a good cook. Catherine soon begins a relationship with Rodolpho. After three weeks, the pair have been seeing each other, and Eddie sets about pointing out all of Rodolpho''s flaws to Catherine and Beatrice. He persistently complains that Rodolpho is "not right," referring to Rodolpho''s effeminate qualities, such as sewing, cooking and singing. He is embarrassed by Rodolpho''s reputation for singing during work. When Catherine decides to marry Rodolpho, Eddie becomes desperate and begs his lawyer, Alfieri (who is also the narrator), to help him. However, he is told that the only way the law is able to help him is if he informs the Immigration Bureau of the presence of the two illegal immigrants. Due to his earlier assertion that "it''s an honor" to give the men refuge, he refuses to betray them. At home he continues to passively insult Rodolpho, and ends up offering to teach Rodolpho to box, however Eddie uses this opportunity to hit Rodolpho. In retaliation, Marco challenges Eddie to lift a chair from the bottom of its leg, when Eddie fails to do this, Marco picks up the chair with one hand from the bottom of its leg and lifts it above his head. This demonstrates Marco''s superior strength and that he will always be watching over Rodolpho, should Eddie harm him. In the second Act, Eddie catches Rodolpho leaving the bedroom with Catherine. He then sees Alfieri a second time. Eddie ignores his lawyer''s advice to let events run their course, and calls the Immigration Bureau. This betrayal proves disastrous: he comes back to learn that Catherine and Rodolpho are engaged, and Beatrice informs him two more illegal immigrants have moved into the upstairs apartment. Suddenly, the Immigration Officers arrive and shortly arrest the four immigrants. As the detainees are being taken from the tenement, Marco breaks free from the group, "dashes into the room" and spits in Eddie''s face. This happens inside Eddie''s house – however Eddie''s rage is such that he follows Marco out into the street. He berates Marco for the insult, failing to notice that the gathering crowd are growing as one to conclude that Eddie is the traitor. This suspicion is confirmed as Marco singles Eddie out as the one who "killed my children." Rodolpho is allowed to stay in the country due to his marriage, but Marco faces imminent deportation. Reluctantly, he promises Alfieri not to take revenge on Eddie (as is the Sicilian custom) and is let out on bail. In the final scene of the play, Eddie is shown to be furious with his humiliation and refuses to attend the wedding. He rejects Rodolpho''s offer to reconcile and refuses to get out of the house when he learns Marco is arriving. The play ends with a fight between Eddie and Marco, in a street filled with his friends and family. Eddie brandishes a knife and attacks Marco, who turns the blade onto Eddie, killing him. It is not known whether Marco actually intended to stab Eddie, and his reaction is not described. Eddie dies as the curtain falls, calling out to Beatrice.

A View from the Bridge

Third-grader Ellen Tebbits lives with her parents on Klickitat Street in Portland, Oregon. The book opens when Ellen heads to her dance class at the studio run by the mother of a classmate, Otis Spofford, who is always teasing her. When she arrives, she heads to change in a broom closet so the other girls cannot see her terrible secret: Ellen is wearing woolen underwear. After class, she accidentally walks in on a new girl in class, Austine Allen, who''s also wearing the dreaded underwear. Soon, the two become best friends. Other chapters in the book deal with Ellen''s first-ever time going horseback riding, her efforts to bring a giant beet to school for show-and-tell, and Ellen and Austine''s efforts to put up with Otis'' antics. During summer vacation, Ellen and Austine decide to dress as twins on their first day back to school. The plan is for their mothers to make identical dresses for them. Austine''s mother, however, cannot sew, so her dress doesn''t turn out well. As the day goes on Austine begins to amuse herself by tugging on the sash of Ellen''s dress. Ellen gets irritated and finally slaps Austine in the lunch line when her sash comes undone. Unfortunately, Austine was innocent; Otis had pulled on her dress. Austine begins spending time with other girls and ignores Ellen, who thinks everyone looks down on her for slapping her best friend. In the final chapter, the teacher chooses Ellen and Austine to go outside and clean the chalkboard erasers. Austine continues to ignore Ellen, who becomes so angered by this that she yanks on the sash on Austine''s dress and rips it. Both girls end up in tears and, after learning that Otis was the culprit in the lunch line and that both of their mothers made them wear their dreaded woolen underwear that day, they mend their friendship.

Ellen Tebbits

The book begins with Asterix and Obelix hunting wild boar. One boar is worried, but the other tells him they will escape the Gauls. The Gauls start chasing the boars, but one boar, however, is crafty and leads them straight into a Roman patrol. As the boar predicted, the Gauls forget both the boars and beat the daylights out of the patrol instead. In the midst of the battle, the boars escape with their lives. Later in the story Asterix ponders on their constantly finding Roman patrols whenever they go boar-hunting. Back in Rome, Julius Caesar hears of this, thinks the Gauls are training wild boars to find Roman patrols, and is humiliated. He orders M. Devius Surreptitius, the head of the Roman Secret Service, to send an agent to infiltrate the Gauls. This agent is a Gaulish-Roman druid known as Dubbelosix, who travels in a folding chariot full of secret devices. Dubbelosix and Surreptitius communicate via a carrier fly. However it is revealed Surreptitius is plotting to overthrow Caesar and sends a self-destructing letter to Dubbelosix telling him they will rule together, though Dubbelosix says he will rule Rome himself. In the Gaulish village, Getafix is extremely frustrated and depressed, because he has run out of rock oil. Without rock oil, he can''t make any more magic potion and the village will soon fall against the Romans. The next day, Ekonomikrisis the Phoenician merchant arrives in Gaul. This cheers Getafix up, but he soon finds out that Ekonomikrisis forgot to bring any rock oil. This causes him to have a stroke, and chief Vitalstatistix tells Asterix and Obelix to fetch another druid to treat him. This druid turns out to be Dubbelosix who successfully revives Getafix with an alcoholic tonic. Asterix decides that the best thing to do would be for himself, Obelix and Dogmatix to go to Mesopotamia and bring back the rock oil. Dubbelosix insists on coming with them and they set off on Ekonomikrisis'' ship. Along the way, they fight pirates and Roman warships, obviously winning each battle. But there''s one thing that they don''t know: Dubbelosix is sending covert messages to the Romans so they can prevent the Gauls from completing their quest. The Phoenician ship is finally able to land at Judea, where Asterix, Obelix, Dogmatix and Dubbelosix disembark and head for the city of Jerusalem. The Romans form a heavy presence in the city but some sympathising merchants help the Gauls to get in secretly in spite of an attempt by Dubbelosix to alert the city guards. Leaving the treacherous druid behind, Asterix and Obelix make contact with Ekonomikrisis'' friend, Samson Alius who advises them to go to Babylon since all the rock oil in Jerusalem has been seized and destroyed by the Romans. The way to Babylon is across a huge desert, but in the middle of the desert, Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix find a source of rock oil in the ground so they fill a waterskin with it and head back home. Since Caesar has all ports sealed off to prevent their escape, the two Gauls simply capture Caesar''s personal galley &mdash; along with Surreptitius and Dubbelosix who have been awaiting the developments on board. However a message is sent to the Romans that makes them decide to attack the village, thinking they cannot make magic potion. Unfortunately, just before landing back in Gaul, Dubbelosix grabs hold of the waterskin of rock oil and, as he tries to force it open, Obelix, despite the objections of Asterix, leaps upon him, causing the waterskin to break open and send the oil into the sea; the first oil spill in recorded history. Asterix has lost all hope, but when they come back to the village, they find the Gauls fighting Romans as merrily as ever. It turns out that Getafix has been able to substitute beetroot juice for rock oil and thus produce more magic potion, it also tastes nicer. Asterix has a stroke when he realises that the journey has been for nothing. All ends well for the Gauls; at their usual celebratory feast the crafty boars comment that the holidays are over. The Gauls send the bound and gagged Dubbelosix and Surreptitius back to Caesar in a gift-wrapped box. Caesar sends them to the Circus Maximus as punishment for failure &mdash; with a new show added for a twist: they are covered in honey and chased by bees.

Asterix and the Black Gold

The main story of The Testament is set within a framing narrative which concerns a publisher who recollects the "strange disappearance" of the novel''s main character, Gideon Mack, and the discovery of Mack''s "last testament". The testament itself comprises the main narrative. It recounts the life of its author, a son of the manse (meaning the son of a minister of the Scottish Kirk), who has followed in his father’s steps, eventually becoming minister to the small town of Monimaskit. Since Gideon does not, however, believe in God as such, he becomes increasingly disillusioned with his existence, until an accident sends him tumbling into a local gorge. Believed to be dead, he emerges three days later, claiming to have met and conversed with the Devil, who has confirmed several of his doubts. After scandalising and alienating his friends, the parish, and the Kirk at large, Gideon once again disappears, leaving his written account for posterity. The epilogue to the novel is presented as the report of the freelance journalist who first brought the manuscript to the publisher’s attention. He interviews several of the inhabitants of Monimaskit who were mentioned in Gideon’s testament.

The Testament Of Gideon Mack

Tithe follows the story of sixteen-year-old American Kaye Fierch, a young nomad who tours the country with her mother''s rock band. The book begins in Philadelphia, at a gig her mother''s band Stepping Razor is playing in a seedy bar in Philadelphia. After her mother''s boyfriend and guitarist, Lloyd, attempts to stab her mother under the enchantment of Nephamael (a knight of the Unseelie Court) her mother takes her back to Kaye''s grandmother''s house in New Jersey to stay. Once at her grandmother''s house, Kaye begins to look for her old "imaginary" friends she had during her childhood, faeries named Lutie-Loo, Spike, and Gristle. However, she fails to find them and, begins to suspect that they were simply figments of her imagination. Her suspicions dissolve when she finds and saves the life of Roiben, a faerie knight, by pulling an iron-tipped arrow from his chest. In return, he grants her three truthfully answered questions about anything she chooses, which she does not immediately use. Soon after this, Spike and Lutie-Loo contact her and warn her that Roiben is a murderer who has killed Gristle. As revenge, Kaye tricks Roiben into telling her his full name (she later learns that faeries can be controlled by their true names). Later on, her friends tell her that she is a changeling and that she should keep her human appearance, because the Unseelie Court wishes to use her as a "Tithe" in order to bind the Solitary Fey to the Court''s queen, Nicnevin. Since Kaye is not mortal, the ritual will be forfeit, and the fey whom the Unseelie Court wishes to bind will go free. Kaye attempts to control her newfound abilities by enlisting the help of a Kelpie to teach her how to use magic. She is soon kidnapped by a group of fairies, as planned and is taken to the Unseelie Court to go through the sacrificial ceremony. Before the ceremony Roiben takes her to be prepared, having a dress made for her and allowing her to stay with him the night, where they acknowledge their feelings for one another. At the climax of the ceremony, Kaye uses Roiben''s name to order him to free her from her bonds before she is killed, resulting in a bloodbath between Roiben and the court before they flee safely. In the process, he kills the queen of the Unseelie Court and many of her guards. Kaye and Roiben spend the day at Kaye''s home, and discover that strange events are affecting the mortal world. Odd reports of mauling and kidnappings are reported on the news and Roiben makes Kaye understand that this is a result of the solitary fey being free for the next seven years. Kaye receives a call from her friend Janet, inviting her to come to a Halloween rave held at the waterfront, she tries to persuade her not to go but fails. After a failed attempt to receive help from her "imaginary" faerie friends, Roiben and Kaye attend the rave. They are separated, and Kaye successfully locates her friends, but briefly leaves them to apologize to Janet''s boyfriend for bewitching him earlier in the novel. However, she finds that the kelpie who lives near the waterfront has taken Janet into the water to kill her. In the novel, it is suggested that Janet went with him out of loneliness and a desire to get revenge on her boyfriend for going off with Kaye. Kaye follows but is too late and she manages to convince the kelpie to relinquish her body. Roiben finds Kaye mourning for her friend and gets her home. The next morning, she and Roiben travel to the Seelie Court''s camp some distance away to see if Corny is there. They reach a dead end, but discover that the knight (Nephamael) has proclaimed himself the king of the Unseelie Court. Roiben is suspicious of the situation and thinks that it is a trap for Kaye and him. Later, Roiben''s suspicions are proved correct when they enter the Unseelie Court. Nephamael, who had discovered Roiben''s true name from Spike before killing him, uses it to take control over Roiben. He orders him to seize Kaye, but Roiben uses trickery to let her get away. Kaye then devises a plan to poison Nephamael, while Corny and Roiben amuse him. She goes through with it; however, before Nephamael is dead, the Seelie Queen arrives, hoping to take over the court (right after her arrival Corny goes insane and stabs Nephamael multiple times, ultimately killing him). Roiben prevents the Queen''s takeover attempt by claiming the throne as his.

Tithe : A Modern Faerie Tale

The novel is told from the first person, the first sentence being, “My name is Erin Law.” The author then introduces the other characters, and indeed, tells the entire story, through her. Erin lives at Whitegates, a home for "damaged children". Erin''s father was a foreign sailor who left her mother after a brief affair. Years later, Errin was grief-stricken when her mother died. Many of the other children at Whitegates. Whitegates is run by a well-meaning but flawed woman named Maureen. Erin and January Carr and some other children frequently reject her superficial, half-hearted attempts at therapy. January Carr is Erin’s “running-away-friend”, and the two often escape from comfortable but suppressive Whitegates to live out of dumpsters in the city. One day, January decides to build a raft and float away down the river. Before leaving, Wilson Cairns tries to show Erin that the clay figures he is constantly molding actually come to life. Erin and January leave with their raft, but Mouse Gullane and his pet mouse Squeak insist on coming with them, Mouse tries to bribe them with money and small plastic toys he has dug out of the ground (one day Mouse hopes to uncover something really important buried in the earth). The others eventually allow him to come, even though they worry for the younger child’s safety. And indeed, they all almost die, as the raft is hurled along the fast-moving, polluted river and carried into the Black Middens, where they are all nearly engulfed by the mud. However, a strange young girl named Heaven Eyes rescues them. She cries, “Is you my sister? Is these mine brothers?” An old man whom Heaven Eyes refers to as Grampa tells her that they are not and that they should be dug back into the Middens. But she insists on bringing Erin, January, Mouse and Squeak into their home; a huge old stone building decorated with stone statues of angels. It is very close to the river. The building contains an old printing press, as well as boxes of corned beef, raisins, and chocolates. Grampa is still distrustful of the new children. Grampa is constantly writing in a book in which he records every thing he sees in and around the middens. Heaven Eyes shows them around the building, and Erin gets lost in a deep cellar, where she becomes spiritually lost and her despair over the death of her mother overcomes her. Heaven Eyes rescues her once more, stating that she must be careful as there are holes where one can slip into another place, a place of darkness. Grampa becomes more tolerant of Erin and her friends and allows them to help him dig in the Middens, which Mouse particularly enjoys. January, whoever, is very distrustful of Grampa and thinks they should leave. He begins to snoop around, despite Grampa’s warning, “No shenanigans”, and discovers evidence that Heaven Eyes was a child aboard a ship with her family. He suspects Grampa of kidnap and murder. When they find a body in the Black Middens, January feels vindicated, to the point that he threatens to leave the others behind and escape on his own if they refuse to come. Grampa becomes enraged and dangerous when he discovers January has been snooping. Heaven Eyes claims the body is a “saint”. That night, Errin and January dig up the body and discover that it is the mummified body of a dock-side worker that has lain in the mud for many, many years. They bring the body (or the”Saint”), back to land, and Heaven Eyes makes a bed for him. Grampa’s affection for all of them strengthens, and then, to their grief (especially Heaven Eyes’), he dies. “Lovely as lovely,” he says when Heaven Eyes tells him that Erin and her friends are her brothers and sisters. Then he becomes “Dead as dead,” according to Heaven Eyes. Then the mummified body of the Saint comes to life and guides Grampa’s spirit over the Black Middens and down into sparkling waters. When construction vehicles come to tear down the old building, and erect modern businesses in its place, Errin and her friends manage to rescue many of the treasures, including Grampa’s huge book. Then they take Heaven Eyes, whom they now call Anna May, back to Whitegates, where the extraordinary child is able to heal Maureen’s “damaged” soul. Maureen is able to finally become a true mother to the abandoned and orphaned children of Whitegates. Miraculously, January’s mother appears to take him home, and she is just as he imagined her. At Whitegates, Wison Cairns’ clay figures really do come to life. Erin and her friends vow to solve the mysteries of bygone decades recorded in Grampa’s book, and to continue his work. Errin explains that this story has no end and is part of all the other stories of the world.

Heaven Eyes

Using the help of a hacker friend, Joanna and Deborah try to break into the online records of Wingate Clinic, but are met with failure as it was a very well-protected system. They then decide to get the inside information by first getting in posing as prospective employees. They use Social Security Number of recently deceased women to forge their identity and get employed in the clinic. Joanna (under the alias of Prudence Heatherly) gets the work as a word processing employee while Deborah (under the alias of Georgina Marks) get a job of a lab assistant. In order to get access to the high security data, they steal the Access Card of Wingate Clinic''s owner, Spencer Wingate by giving him an overdose of liquor. Using the Access Card, they gain (un)authorized entry into the Server Room, from where the records are managed. Unfortunately for them, as all movements into the Server Room as well as the changes made in the file system are logged, their identity gets revealed. In parallel, they find out that while Joanna was subjected to organ theft, the Clinic illegally performs ovary culture (on stem cells) on all the stolen eggs as well as uses many workers as surrogate mothers. From here starts the chase where the Wingate Clinic''s officers try to kill the women and they try to save their lives and bring Wingate''s ill-deeds to the knowledge of the world. The novel has an open-ending, leaving the readers to guess what happens to the villains in the end.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Mind Switch

By Damon Knight

Bluebeard

By Kurt Vonnegut

Beyond the Deepwoods

By Chris Riddell

Snow Country

By Yasunari Kawabata

The Stone Cutter

No Author Listed

A View from the Bridge

By Arthur Miller

Ellen Tebbits

By Beverly Cleary

Asterix and the Black Gold

No Author Listed

The Testament Of Gideon Mack

By James Robertson

Tithe : A Modern Faerie Tale

By Holly Black

Heaven Eyes

By David Almond

Shock

By Robin Cook