The author presents a collection of three animal-themed essays. In The Toad, the Turtle, and the Duck, a group of complete strangers bitterly discuss the order of things within the animal kingdom. In Hello Kitty, a miserable alcoholic cat attends AA. In The Squirrel and the Chipmunk, two lovers are torn apart by their quarreling families.

When a mouse is swallowed by a wolf, he learns that a duck devoured earlier has set up a table to enjoy the food the gluttonous predator eats.

In Hallasholm, Stig is contesting the annual Maktig competition to decide Skandia's greatest warrior. But a late-night knock on the door brings someone Stig never expected to see again, along with a request the Herons are hard-pressed to refuse: a rescue mission of epic proportions. Across the ocean, the southern city-state of Byzantos is plagued by a crew of pirates who've kidnapped the son of Empress Justina. Slipping out of Hallasholm under the...

After encountering a Jersey Devil while on a field trip to the Pine Barrens, Elliot and his new friend Uchenna help their weird teacher Professor Fauna rescue the mythological creature from a pair of greedy billionaire brothers.

Unable to convince his mother that his torn, stained, and smelly sneakers are irreplaceable, a young boy realizes that new sneakers have advantages, too.

A happy little fire truck, driven by Jill, zips all over town helping to put out fires and rescue animals.

Sixteen-year-old Genie's focus on getting into a top-tier college is destroyed when an enigmatic transfer student, Quentin, helps her transform into a demon-fighter.

"When Lei, seventeen, is stolen from her home to become one of nine Paper Girls, the Demon King's concubines, she proves to be more fire than paper." -- Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It's the highest honor they could hope for... and the most cruel. But this year, there's a ninth girl... and she's made of fire. Lei is a member of the lowest and most oppressed class in Ikhara. She's forced to go with...

In a near-future New York City where a service alerts people on the day they will die, teenagers Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio meet using the Last Friend app and are faced with the challenge of living a lifetime on their End Day.