Zulaikha, a thirteen-year-old girl in Afghanistan, faces a series of frightening but exhilirating changes in her life as she defies her father and secretly meets with an old woman who teaches her to read, her older sister gets married, and American troops offer her surgery to fix her disfiguring cleft lip.
The narrative centers on a son's journey to reconnect with his father, who was lost in Afghanistan. This poignant tale explores themes of loss, healing, and the enduring bond between parent and child. Through heartfelt moments and reflections, the story delves into the complexities of grief and the search for understanding, offering readers a touching perspective on family and resilience.
Kelton Fielding, feeling like an outsider, seizes the opportunity to gain acceptance during a snowmobile race at McCall's Winter Festival. He plans to impress his classmates by taking a risky shortcut through the wilderness. However, when popular kids Swann Siddiq and Hunter Higgins join him, the situation escalates into a fight for survival as they face worsening weather and avalanche threats. The trio must rely on their ingenuity and cooperation to navigate the perilous conditions, transforming the competition into a life-or-death challenge.
In this timely and thrilling novel, Ender's Game meets Ready Player One and several terabytes of fast-paced video game action as five gamers are recruited into a tech giant's secret program. After Rogan Webber levels up yet again on his favorite video game, Laser Viper , the world-famous creator of the game invites him to join the five best players in the country for an exclusive tournament. The gamers are flown to the tech mogul's headquarters, where they stay in luxury dorms and test out cutting edge virtual-reality gaming equipment, doing digital battle as powerful fighting robots. It's the ultimate gaming experience.But as the contest continues, the missions become harder, losing gamers are eliminated, and the remaining contestants face the growing suspicion that the game may not be what it seems. Why do the soldiers and robots they fight in Laser Viper act so weird? What's behind the strange game glitches? And why does the game feel so... real?Rogan and his gamer rivals must come together, summoning the collective power of their Gamer Army to discover the truth and make things right... in a dangerous world where video games have invaded reality.