After We Were Stolen

by Brooke Beyfuss
After We Were Stolen
Author: Brooke Beyfuss
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2022-07-19
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1728248701
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"Not a typical cult novel...Despite Avery's clear trauma and struggle for closure, her voice is strong and clear." – Booklist "Avery's voice resonates...Powerful and moving." – New York Journal of Books An emotionally wrought, psychologically twisty coming-of-age story perfect for book clubs about a girl who escapes from a cult after a deadly fire destroys her family's compound, only to be haunted by That Night as she tries to build a new life for herself. A fire. Her escape. And the realization her entire life has been a lie. When nineteen-year-old Avery awakens to flames consuming her family's remote compound, she knows it's her only chance to escape her father's grueling survival training, bizarre rules, and gruesome punishments. She and her brother Cole flee the grounds for the first time in their lives, suddenly homeless in a world they know nothing about. After months of hiding out, they are arrested for shoplifting and a shocking discovery is made, resulting in the pair being separated. Avery is alone and desperate. She is uncertain if her "parents" survived the fire and is terrified to find out. But when the police investigation reveals there may be more survivors, Avery must uncover the truth about the fire to truly be free. Suspenseful, emotionally charged, and deeply thought-provoking, After We Were Stolen delves into the idea of family—those we're born into and those we make—resilience, and the lengths a cult survivor will go to finally be free of her painful past. Praise for After We Were Stolen: "Brooke Beyfuss's After We Were Stolen kept me feverishly turning pages, anxious and eager to find out what happened to Avery and Cole as they emerge from a life they never asked for and into one they're totally unprepared to navigate." —Melanie Abrams, author of Meadowlark "After We Were Stolen is an intelligent and heartrending story of vulnerability, power, resistance, and redemption. An excellent read that is sure to be a favorite book club pick." —Rebecca Taylor, author of The Secret Next Door

Before We Were Yours

by Lisa Wingate
Before We Were Yours
Author: Lisa Wingate
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2017-06-06
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0425284697
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THE BLOCKBUSTER HIT—Over two million copies sold! A New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly Bestseller “Poignant, engrossing.”—People • “Lisa Wingate takes an almost unthinkable chapter in our nation’s history and weaves a tale of enduring power.”—Paula McLain Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge—until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents—but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty. Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family’s long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption. Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals—in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country—Lisa Wingate’s riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong. Publishers Weekly’s #3 Longest-Running Bestseller of 2017 • Winner of the Southern Book Prize • If All Arkansas Read the Same Book Selection This edition includes a new essay by the author about shantyboat life.

Stolen

by Lucy Christopher
Stolen
Author: Lucy Christopher
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2014-01-07
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0545361117
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A stunning debut novel with an intriguing literary hook: written in part as a letter from a victim to her abductor. Sensitive, sharp, captivating!Gemma, 16, is on layover at Bangkok Airport, en route with her parents to a vacation in Vietnam. She steps away for just a second, to get a cup of coffee. Ty--rugged, tan, too old, oddly familiar--pays for Gemma's drink. And drugs it. They talk. Their hands touch. And before Gemma knows what's happening, Ty takes her. Steals her away. The unknowing object of a long obsession, Gemma has been kidnapped by her stalker and brought to the desolate Australian Outback. STOLEN is her gripping story of survival, of how she has to come to terms with her living nightmare--or die trying to fight it.

Once Stolen

by D.N. Bryn
Once Stolen
Author: D.N. Bryn
Publisher: D.N. Bryn
Total Pages: 275
Release: 2021-07-27
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1736296604
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No one with half a brain would rob the jungle's most notorious energy cartel—but their power-producing stones are the only thing that soothes Cacao's mysterious pain, and after being banished from his homeland for similar thefts, the lonely naga is desperate enough to try. When his ramshackle thievery goes wrong, a chaotic escape leaves him chained to the cartel's prisoner: a self-proclaimed hero with a hidden stash of power stones so large that Cacao would never need to steal again. He's determined to get his hands on it, even if it means guiding the annoyingly smug, annoyingly valiant, and even more annoyingly beautiful hero back home. But their path runs straight through the mist-laden and monster-filled swamp that exiled Cacao, with scheming poachers and a desperate cartel leader on their tail. The selfish and the self-righteous can only flee together for so long before something snaps... Return to the These Treacherous Tide's steampunk-inspired world of mermaids and reimagined mythological creatures in this fast-paced, standalone adventure with an insult-slinging, opposites attract, hate-to-love romance between a grouchy thief and a sassy, self-proclaimed hero.

Stolen Girl

by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Stolen Girl
Author: Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Total Pages: 147
Release: 2019-02-26
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1338233068
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A companion to Making Bombs for Hitler and The War Below, this novel follows a Ukrainian girl who was kidnapped as a child to be raised by a Nazi family. Nadia is haunted by World War II. Her memories of the war are messy, coming back to her in pieces and flashes she can't control. Though her adoptive mother says they are safe now, Nadia's flashbacks keep coming.Sometimes she remembers running, hunger, and isolation. But other times she remembers living with a German family, and attending big rallies where she was praised for her light hair and blue eyes. The puzzle pieces don't quite fit together, and Nadia is scared by what might be true. Could she have been raised by Nazis? Were they her real family? What part did she play in the war?What Nadia finally discovers about her own history will shock her. But only when she understands the past can she truly face her future.Inspired by startling true events, Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch delivers a gripping and poignant story of one girl's determination to uncover her truth.

Stolen

by Elizabeth Gilpin
Stolen
Author: Elizabeth Gilpin
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2021-07-20
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1538735423
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A gripping chronicle of psychological manipulation and abuse at a “therapeutic” boarding school for troubled teens, and how one young woman fought to heal in the aftermath. At fifteen, Elizabeth Gilpin was an honor student, a state-ranked swimmer and a rising soccer star, but behind closed doors her undiagnosed depression was wreaking havoc on her life. Growing angrier by the day, she began skipping practices and drinking to excess. At a loss, her parents turned to an educational consultant who suggested Elizabeth be enrolled in a behavioral modification program. That recommendation would change her life forever. The nightmare began when she was abducted from her bed in the middle of the night by hired professionals and dropped off deep in the woods of Appalachia. Living with no real shelter was only the beginning of her ordeal: she was strip-searched, force-fed, her name was changed to a number and every moment was a test of physical survival. After three brutal months, Elizabeth was transferred to a boarding school in Southern Virginia that in reality functioned more like a prison. Its curriculum revolved around a perverse form of group therapy where students were psychologically abused and humiliated. Finally, at seventeen, Elizabeth convinced them she was rehabilitated enough to “graduate” and was released. In this eye-opening and unflinching book, Elizabeth recalls the horrors she endured, the friends she lost to suicide and addiction, and—years later—how she was finally able to pick up the pieces of her life and reclaim her identity.

Stolen Songbird

by Danielle L. Jensen
Stolen Songbird
Author: Danielle L. Jensen
Publisher: Watkins Media Limited
Total Pages: 463
Release: 2014-04-01
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1908844973
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USA Today bestseller For five centuries, a witch’s curse has bound the trolls to their city beneath the ruins of Forsaken Mountain—time enough for their nefarious magic to fade from human memory and into myth. But a prophecy has spoken of a union that will set the trolls free, and when Cécile de Troyes is taken beneath the mountain, she learns there is far more to the myth than she could have imagined. Cécile has only one thing on her mind after she is brought to Trollus: escape. But if she is to succeed, she must bide her time and find a way to outsmart the clever, fast, and inhumanly strong trolls that hold her captive. But while awaiting the perfect opportunity, Cécile unexpectedly falls for the enigmatic troll prince to whom she has been bonded and married. Their love gradually changes her perspective, opening her heart to new friends and opening her eyes to the hardships of the enslaved half-troll, half-human creatures of Trollus. As rebellion brews and the political games of Trollus escalate, Cécile becomes more than a trapped father’s daughter. She becomes a princess, a witch, and the hope of a people—someone who has the power to change Trollus forever.

The Stolen Cascadura

by Beverley-Ann Scott
The Stolen Cascadura
Author: Beverley-Ann Scott
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Total Pages: 406
Release: 2007-10-16
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1467898716
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Eddy is an ambitious teenager. He attends one of the most prestigious boy’s colleges on the island and has big dreams. The only problem is that he lives on the Beetham, and to be from the Beetham in Trinidad society means that you would always be considered the lowest of the low, no matter what you do. The stigma of crime, drugs, violence and poverty would always be associated with people from that area. Being the best friend of the son of one of the richest and most influential men in the business world certainly does not help. The two are like brothers until Brian almost loses his life and the hand of money hungry kidnappers. Brian’s mother Sally tries desperately to salvage a marriage that is already beyond repair. Her husband’s infidelity is not as frightening to her as the thought of her becoming a divorcee. Matt defines who she is in the world and without her identity as his wife, life could become unbearable. However she slowly discovers that infidelity has its own vicious consequences. Jesse Guevara is the eldest of five and the daughter of simple Santa Cruz Valley farmers. She is smart and beautiful and her teachers at St. Joseph’s Convent believe that she will be able to get a scholarship. Lisa is her best friend and although faced with the challenge of living with an alcoholic replacement for her father, never loses her joie de vivre. Jesse, Brian, Eddy and Lisa are all from different backgrounds and different socioeconomic status. However, when the lives of these four young people and their families collide through circumstance, their vulnerability is revealed and their secrets exposed. Each of them discovers that there is something they hold dear to their hearts. Something that once stolen can never be replaced.

The Book of Stolen Dreams

by David Farr
The Book of Stolen Dreams
Author: David Farr
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2023-05-02
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1665922591
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An exhilarating, wondrous middle grade debut about a brother and sister on a quest that “swoops from thrilling to terrifying to heartwarming and back again” (BookPage) to defeat a tyrannical ruler and protect a magical book. “[W]ill appeal to readers of Kelly Barnhill and Lemony Snicket” (Publishers Weekly). Rachel and Robert live a gray, dreary life under the rule of cruel and calculating Charles Malstain. That is, until one night, when their librarian father enlists their help to steal a forbidden book. Before their father is captured, Rachel and Robert are given one mission: find the missing final page. But to uncover the secrets of The Book of Stolen Dreams, the siblings must face darkness and combat many evils to be rewarded with the astonishing, magical truth about the book. Nevertheless, they resolve to do everything in their power to stop it from falling into Charles Malstain’s hands. For if it does, he could rule their world forever.