Akron Public Library

A brother and sister visit a pet store after being told that they are allowed to choose one pet to take home, but they have a lot of trouble making up their minds when they see all the wonderful animals they can choose from. Includes an afterward about Dr. Seuss' love of animals and the discovery of this lost manuscript.

Alexander Karpenko is no ordinary child, and from an early age, it is clear he is destined to lead his countrymen. But when his father is assassinated by the KGB for defying the state, he and his mother will have to escape from Russia if they hope to survive. At the docks, they are confronted with an irreversible choice: should they board a container ship bound for America, or Great Britain? Alexander leaves that choice to the toss of a coin. In a...

There are three ways up to Castle View from the town of Castle Rock: Route 117, Pleasant Road, and the Suicide Stairs. Every day in the summer of 1974, twelve-year-old Gwendy Peterson has taken the stairs, which are held by strong, if time-rusted, iron bolts and zig-zag up the cliffside. Then one day when Gwendy gets to the top of Castle View, after catching her breath and hearing the shouts of kids on the playground below, a stranger calls to her....

First published in 1920, this collection of short fiction by the author of The Great Gatsby presents eight classic stories, including--Bernice Bobs Her Hair, The Offshore Pirate, The Ice Palace, and Benediction.

Everything changes in a single moment for Dawn Edelstein. She’s on a plane when the flight attendant makes an announcement: Prepare for a crash landing. She braces herself as thoughts flash through her mind. The shocking thing is, the thoughts are not of her husband but of a man she last saw fifteen years ago: Wyatt Armstrong. Dawn, miraculously, survives the crash, but so do all the doubts that have suddenly been raised. She has led a good life....

A dark episode from college haunts Kyle's future after he graduates from Yale and takes a shady job at a large law firm where his new employer blackmails him into unethical work, which includes a scheme that could put Kyle in jail, or even get him killed.

Edgar Roy, an alleged serial killer held in a secure, fortress-like Federal Supermax facility, is awaiting trial. He faces almost certain conviction. Sean King and Michelle Maxwell are called in by Roy's attorney, Sean's old friend and mentor Ted Bergin, to help work the case. But their investigation is derailed before it begins - en route to their first meeting with Bergin, Sean and Michelle find him murdered.

Daunted by the singular tastes and dark secrets of the beautiful, tormented young entrepreneur Christian Grey, Anastasia Steele has broken off their relationship to start a new career with a Seattle publishing house. But desire for Christian still dominates her every waking thought, and when he proposes a new arrangement, Ana cannot resist. They rekindle their searing sensual affair, and Ana learns more about the harrowing past of her damaged, driven,...

When Jodi Winfield comes to Lancaster to house-sit, the last thing she expects to find is a dsheveled little girl alone on the side of the road. The young teacher is mystified when she learns there have been no reports of a missing child and the girl herself is no help, since she can't speak English. It's as if the child appeared out of nowhere. Jodi, then turns her attention to Hickory Hollow--and the cloistered world of the Old Order Amish--in...

Upbeat cancer survivor Lydia and her pragmatic sister, Margaret, start a "Knit to Quit" group in their Blossom Street yarn store in Seattle, bringing in a delightful assortment of customers for weekly self-help sessions, including a local baker who wants a baby as much as Lydia does, a super-stressed chocolate magnate who takes the knitting class after his doctor suggests it, and a young woman who is trying to quit obsessing about a broken engagement....