Books with author Gabriel

A town held together with secrets. A wealthy widow looking for an heir. Her choice could shame high society into submission. Eighty-year-old Southern aristocrat Iris Temple’s health may be failing, but her wit is as sharp as ever. Before she joins her ancestral ghosts, she must pick an heir to take over her sprawling estate—and the book of secrets that's kept her family in power for generations. But between her scheming son, her estranged daughter who abandoned Savannah years ago, and her illegitimate half-sister, she’s working with slim pickings. While only her half-sister and cook have put up with her outlandish diet and constant bickering, she can't ignore the powerful hold her late father's 100-year-old mistress has over the two women. When someone leaks embarrassing snippets from the Temple family book, she half suspects the voodoo-practicing centenarian as the elites of Savannah teeter on the edge of revolt. With Iris fading fast, her ragtag bunch of potential heirs must reveal the leaker before the book's secrets tear the sleepy town apart.Temple Secrets is a hilarious women’s fiction novel with a Southern gothic flair. If you like wisecracking humor, headstrong women, and twisty mysteries, then you’ll love Susan Gabriel’s compelling tale of an unconventional inheritance.Buy Temple Secrets to get your fill of gossip and giggles with a Southern gothic mystery today!

THINGS GET SCIENTIFIC...Two weeks have passed since the Green Beans solved the mystery of Hollow Oak, making remarkable discoveries in the process. In the wake of their findings, Jack has been placed within the huge, eerie manor of his new guardian – an eccentric uncle, known as Lefty O’Houlihan.Before long, Jack comes to suspect that something strange is afoot in his new home. Weird noises, curious sights, and his uncle’s odd behavior have led Jack to believe that all is not well at Lefty’s Manor.Seeking help, Jack finds that his friends are more than ready for adventure and investigation. Neil, Sara, and Maria gladly answer the call, along with Nibbler, the faithful Labradoodle.From the rumors that the Green Beans have been able to gather, it seems that Lefty may have once been a brilliant scientist… until his ‘strange genius’ spiraled out of control, forcing him to part ways with his former employers. Now, the Green Beans are determined to uncover the truth behind Lefty’s current scientific project… and what it may mean for the future of Hollow Oak.“The Green Beans” is a series of middle grade novels featuring elements of adventure, mystery, science fiction, and the paranormal. Recommended for ages 9-12 (and anybody who is still young at heart).

SOMETHING LIES BENEATH…Only a handful of days have passed since the nefarious efforts of Jasper, the evil school janitor, were squashed. Although they are exhilarated with their victory, the Beans have come to realize that Jasper is but the tip of the iceberg in the schemes of a larger organization of dubious methods and goals.Be that as it may, they’re happy to have a break from the astonishing events of recent weeks, and their field trip to the Portsmouth Museum of Historical Artifacts seems like the perfect way to relax. It doesn't take long, however, for the Beans to realize that serious weirdness is afoot, and things are not as they initially appear.In this museum, nothing is what it seems at face value. There are artifacts of mysterious, unknown power, and the staff members are acting awfully peculiar. Most significant of all, the building’s primary purpose may not be to serve as a museum at all, but to hide the gargantuan secret that lies beneath it… a secret so big, its unveiling may transform the communities of Portsmouth and Hollow Oak.“The Green Beans” is a series of middle grade novels featuring elements of adventure, mystery, science fiction, and the paranormal. Recommended for ages 9-13 (and anybody who is still young at heart).

THEY ARE NOT ALONE...Following the explosive events at the Portsmouth Museum of Historical Artifacts, the Beans find themselves with much to do. With mad scientists running amok and monsters on the loose, things have gotten slightly out of control.Hoping for answers, they embark on a journey of scientific inquiry and exploration, beginning their search at nearby Smuttynose Island. As so oftentimes happens for the Beans, however, things don’t exactly follow the intended plan.Soon enough, they become stranded on the island, confronted by a series of obstacles that challenge them on every level... and it doesn’t take long for them to realize Smuttynose might not be as deserted as they once believed.A mysterious figure moves among the shadows, attempting to foil their every move. An even more disturbing suspicion is that some thing might be on the island, as well... a thing that just might be beyond the Beans, despite their growing experience in the realms of weirdness.“The Green Beans” is a series of middle grade novels featuring elements of adventure, mystery, science fiction, and the paranormal. Recommended for ages 9-13 (and anybody who is still young at heart).

“There are two things I am afraid of. One is dying young. The other is Johnny Monroe.”Small southern towns have few secrets. But when a grieving daughter confronts the local bully, she unwittingly triggers a series of traumatic events that will change her life forever.Appalachia, 1941. Thirteen-year-old Louisa May "Wildflower" McAllister's heart still aches for her father. A year after her dad's tragic sawmill accident, she relies on her strength of spirit and her heightened intuition to deal with a critical mother and cope with the aftermath. Despite these hardships, Wildflower has a resilience that is forged with humor, a love of the land, and an endless supply of questions.But when she's targeted by the town's teenage bad boy, she may need more than her "secret sense" to survive.Will Wildflower fall to another tragedy or will her strength be enough to carry her through?With prose as lush and colorful as the American south, The Secret Sense of Wildflower is powerful and poignant, brimming with energy and angst, humor and hope. * * *Named a Best Book of 2012 by Kirkus Reviews: “A quietly powerful story, at times harrowing but ultimately a joy to read.”“This was chosen by our book club as our book for the month. I am so happy it was! It was the best book of the year.” – Cecilia C.“I've never read a story as dramatically understated that sings so powerfully and honestly about the sense of life that stands in tribute to bravery as Susan Gabriel's The Secret Sense of Wildflower.” – T.T. Thomas

MIDDLE SCHOOL MAYHEM...Maria and Sara are bummed out. While their friends are off adventuring on Smuttynose Island, undoubtedly engaging in all kinds of escapades and shenanigans, the sisters are stuck at Hollow Oak Elementary for another routine day of school. Could anything, they wonder, be more boring? As the hours begin to unfold before them, however, they quickly realize this day is anything but normal. A formidable presence has made itself known in the school, and increasingly strange happenings are occurring at an alarming rate. Their father, Chief Fresco, is determined to resolve the matter, but he isn’t nearly as well versed in the realms of supreme weirdness as his daughters are. When it comes to unparalleled oddities, the girls are the experts, not the lawman of Hollow Oak. It will take more than the chief's efforts to eliminate the school’s strange problems - it's going to take the entire Fresco Family.“The Green Beans” is a series of middle grade novels featuring elements of adventure, mystery, science fiction, and the paranormal. Recommended for ages 9-13 (and anybody who is still young at heart).

The ultimate rapid language-learning guide! For those who’ve despaired of ever learning a foreign language, here, finally, is a book that will make the words stick. At thirty years old, Gabriel Wyner speaks six languages fluently. He didn’t learn them in school -- who does? -- rather, he learned them in the past few years, working on his own and practicing on the subway, using simple techniques and free online resources. In Fluent Forever Wyner reveals what he’s discovered. The greatest challenge to learning a foreign language is the challenge of memory; there are just too many words and too many rules. For every new word we learn, we seem to forget two old ones, and as a result, fluency can seem out of reach. Fluent Forever tackles this challenge head-on. With empathy for the language-challenged and abundant humor, Wyner deconstructs the learning process, revealing how to build a foreign language in your mind from the ground up. Starting with pronunciation, you’ll learn how to rewire your ears and turn foreign sounds into familiar sounds. You'll retrain your tongue to produce those sounds accurately, using tricks from opera singers and actors. Next, you'll begin to tackle words, and connect sounds and spellings to imagery, rather than translations, which will enable you to think in a foreign language. And with the help of sophisticated spaced-repetition techniques, you'll be able to memorize hundreds of words a month in minutes every day. Soon, you'll gain the ability to learn grammar and more difficult abstract words--without the tedious drills and exercises of language classes and grammar books. This is brain hacking at its most exciting, taking what we know about neuroscience and linguistics and using it to create the most efficient and enjoyable way to learn a foreign language in the spare minutes of your day.

STRANGE THINGS ARE AFOOT...In the rural town of Hollow Oak, life is good for a team of young baseball players known as the Green Beans. Their days are filled with friendship, fun, and the game that they love.In recent days, Neil (the Beans’ fearless centerfielder) has heard strange things in the forest that lies just beyond the outfield fence. Although he hasn’t been able to pinpoint the source of the weird noises, he can’t shake the feeling of being watched. Neil has begun to suspect that there’s something prowling within the woods, hidden among the trees and shadows. He’s not sure what it is… but whatever it is, it’s BIG.His curiosity engaged, Neil convinces his closest friends (and a Labradoodle named Nibbler) to join him on a quest to discover what's roaming the forest of Hollow Oak. Excited by the prospect of adventure, they eagerly agree to join him in the search. But the Beans will soon realize they are not prepared for what awaits them, and that there is more to this mystery than they can imagine…“The Green Beans” is a series of middle grade novels featuring elements of adventure, mystery, science fiction, and the paranormal. Recommended for ages 9-12 (and anybody who is still young at heart).

The ultimate rapid language-learning guide! For those who’ve despaired of ever learning a foreign language, here, finally, is a book that will make the words stick. At thirty years old, Gabriel Wyner speaks six languages fluently. He didn’t learn them in school -- who does? -- rather, he learned them in the past few years, working on his own and practicing on the subway, using simple techniques and free online resources. In Fluent Forever Wyner reveals what he’s discovered. The greatest challenge to learning a foreign language is the challenge of memory; there are just too many words and too many rules. For every new word we learn, we seem to forget two old ones, and as a result, fluency can seem out of reach. Fluent Forever tackles this challenge head-on. With empathy for the language-challenged and abundant humor, Wyner deconstructs the learning process, revealing how to build a foreign language in your mind from the ground up. Starting with pronunciation, you’ll learn how to rewire your ears and turn foreign sounds into familiar sounds. You'll retrain your tongue to produce those sounds accurately, using tricks from opera singers and actors. Next, you'll begin to tackle words, and connect sounds and spellings to imagery, rather than translations, which will enable you to think in a foreign language. And with the help of sophisticated spaced-repetition techniques, you'll be able to memorize hundreds of words a month in minutes every day. Soon, you'll gain the ability to learn grammar and more difficult abstract words--without the tedious drills and exercises of language classes and grammar books. This is brain hacking at its most exciting, taking what we know about neuroscience and linguistics and using it to create the most efficient and enjoyable way to learn a foreign language in the spare minutes of your day.

A hopeful grandmother. A sassy young girl. Their audacious summer stunt could change their southern town forever. Charleston, 1964. Ida Trueluck is still adjusting to life on her own. Moving into her son's house creates a few family conflicts, but the widow's saving grace is her whipsmart granddaughter Trudy. Ida makes it her top priority to give the girl a summer she'll never forget. When a runaway truck nearly takes her life, Trudy makes fast friends with the boy who saves her. But since Paris is black, the racism they encounter inspires Trudy's surprising summer mission: to take down the Confederate flag from the South Carolina Statehouse. And she knows she can't do it without the help of her beloved grandmother. With all of Southern society conspiring against them, can Trudy, Ida, and their friends pull off the impossible? Trueluck Summer is a Southern historical women's fiction novel set in a time of great cultural change. If you like courageous characters, heartwarming humor, and inspirational acts, then you'll love Susan Gabriel's captivating tale.

A hopeful grandmother. A sassy young girl. Their audacious summer stunt could change their southern town forever. Charleston, 1964. Ida Trueluck is still adjusting to life on her own. Moving into her son's house creates a few family conflicts, but the widow's saving grace is her whip-smart granddaughter Trudy. Ida makes it her top priority to give the girl a summer she'll never forget. When a runaway truck nearly takes her life, Trudy makes fast friends with the boy who saves her. But since Paris is black, the racism they encounter inspires Trudy's surprising summer mission: to take down the Confederate flag from the South Carolina Statehouse. And she knows she can't do it without the help of her beloved grandmother. With all of Southern society conspiring against them, can Trudy, Ida, and their friends pull off the impossible?Trueluck Summer is a Southern historical women's fiction novel set in a time of great cultural change. If you like courageous characters, heartwarming humor, and inspirational acts, then you'll love Susan Gabriel's captivating tale.Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.At the corner of King Street, I wait for the traffic light to change, tapping my foot on the sidewalk. The pie is heavy and my fingers ache from the twine. Callie’s Diner is less than a block away. A dark cloud covers the sun and momentarily softens the heat. For about the hundredth time that day I wish for a summer adventure.In the next second, a Sunbeam Bread truck barrels down Broad Street from the opposite direction. Something about it seems off. The truck weaves into the other lane, and a car veers out of the way. The driver of the car sits on his horn. A moment later the truck comes straight for me. I freeze, my legs refusing to move as danger prickles up my spine. Brakes squeal, and I hold my breath. An instant before I am smashed flatter than one of Nana Trueluck’s pralines that she always makes at Christmas, a brown hand jerks me out of the way and the truck crashes into a streetlamp right where I was standing. The engine sizzles, and a cloud of steam rises from the hood. “Are you okay?” the boy asks. In that moment, I realize I have never seen a colored boy up close. He is about my age, though shorter and skinnier, and is much stronger than he appears, given he just pulled me out of the path of a runaway truck.“You saved my life,” I say. He blinks like he is as surprised as I am.“My name is Trudy Trueluck.” I extend my hand.He hesitates, like maybe he has never touched a white girl before. But then he shakes my hand. “Paris Moses,” he says. “No relation.” “No relation?” I ask. “No relation to the guy in the Bible,” he says.“Oh,” I say. The lemon meringue pie I was to deliver to Callie’s Diner is a gooey mess on the sidewalk.“That could have been me,” I say to Paris, “except there would be blood and guts instead of yellow filling.”He offers a quick grimace followed by a smile. At that moment I know that Paris Moses and I will become friends.

"There are two things I am afraid of. One is dying young. The other is Johnny Monroe."Small southern towns have few secrets. But when a grieving daughter confronts the local bully, she unwittingly triggers a series of traumatic events that will change her life forever.Appalachia, 1941. Thirteen-year-old Louisa May "Wildflower" McAllister's heart still aches for her father. A year after her dad's tragic sawmill accident, she relies on her strength of spirit and her heightened intuition to deal with a critical mother and cope with the aftermath. Despite these hardships, Wildflower has a resilience that is forged with humor, a love of the land, and an endless supply of questions.But when she's targeted by the town's teenage bad boy, she may need more than her "secret sense" to survive.Will Wildflower fall to another tragedy or will her strength be enough to carry her through?With prose as lush and colorful as the American south, The Secret Sense of Wildflower is powerful and poignant, brimming with energy and angst, humor and hope.* * *Named a Best Book of 2012 by Kirkus Reviews: "A quietly powerful story, at times harrowing but ultimately a joy to read.""This was chosen by our book club as our book for the month. I am so happy it was! It was the best book of the year." - Cecilia C."I've never read a story as dramatically understated that sings so powerfully and honestly about the sense of life that stands in tribute to bravery as Susan Gabriel's The Secret Sense of Wildflower." - T.T. Thomas