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Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of its monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable and beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul.

High-school senior Tyler Miller used to be the kind of guy who faded into the background: average student, average looks, average dysfunctional family. But ever since he got busted for spraying graffiti on the school, and spent the summer doing outdoor work to pay for it, he stands out like you wouldn't believe.

On the seventh day, there was a choice.

The Last Apprentice series follows the terrifying adventures of the Spook's apprentice, Thomas Ward. But Tom's is only one story. There are others.

The Spook himself was once an apprentice. How did he begin his training?

And what of Alice, the young witch who is Tom's closest ally? How did she overcome her dark past?

The Spook and his apprentice, Thomas Ward, deal with the dark. Together they rid the county of witches, ghosts, and boggarts. But now there's some unfinished business to attend to in Priestown. Deep in the catacombs of the cathedral lurks a creature the Spook has never been able to defeat; a force so evil that the whole county is in danger of being corrupted by its powers. The Bane!

Warning: Not to be listened to after dark.

For years, Old Gregory has been the Spook for the county, ridding the local villages of evil. Now his time is coming to an end. But who will take over for him? Twenty-nine apprentices have tried: some floundered, some fled, some failed to stay alive.

Charlie Gordon knows that he isn't very bright. At 32, he mops floors in a bakery and earns just enough to get by. Three evenings a week, he studies at a center for mentally challenged adults. But all of this is about to change for Charlie. As part of a daring experiment, doctors are going to perform surgery on Charlie's brain.

The native people of the Copper Isles, the raka, know that the ancient prophecy handed down by their trickster god is on the brink of coming to pass. But what they don't know is that all their hopes rest on the slender shoulders of Aly Homewood, formerly Alianne of Pirate's Swoop.

This third book in the Song of the Lioness quartet continues Alanna's saga as she strikes out alone and discovers herself anew.

At last, Alanna of Trebond has become the first female knight errant in Tortall. She sets out on an impossible quest to find the Dominion Jewel, a legendary gem that, in the right hands, has limitless power for good. But while she searches for the one thing that can save her war-torn country, her nemesis returns from the dead and begins to wreak havoc.

The magic is out of control!

On a journey to Gold Ridge, the four young mages-in-training, Daja, Sandry, Tris, and Briar, find their special magics overlapping, sometimes in frightening and destructive ways. One burst of this combined magic leads Daja to create an astonishing vine made of living metal.

The four young mages, Tris, Sandy, Daja, and Briar, are just starting to settle into their new home at Winding Circle Temple. But even as they struggle to cope with the powerful magic that binds them together, Winding Circle comes under attack by pirates armed with fierce new weapons.

Tucker is a streetwise city mouse. He thought he'd seen it all. But he's never met a cricket before, which really isn't surprising, because, along with his friend Harry Cat, Tucker lives in the very heart of New York City - the Times Square subway station. Chester Cricket never intended to leave his Connecticut meadow.

Because of a bet, Billy is in the uncomfortable position of having to eat 15 worms in 15 days. The worms are supplied by his opponent, whose motto is "The bigger and juicier, the better!" At first Billy's problem is whether or not he can swallow the worm placed before him, even with a choice of condiments from peanut butter to horseradish.

"Is this my hidden Mutant Power, the ability to screw up absolutely any decent situation?"