Books with author J Garden Macdonald

Welcome to Kluskey's spacer hangout. Here, spacers swap yarns of ghost ships, space monsters, the weird and wonderful and the downright daft.The five little men who walk into Kluskey’s are no ordinary customers. They are Shantaitha, monks from the planet Gide, making an epic journey across human space. On the way, they would like Kluskey Burgers. (A 3,800 word short story).

Skipper Alex von Strada is one of the Fleet’s highest achieving officers, commanding the corvette Minnow with a company of eccentric officers and last-chance crew sent to him for rehab. The updated 2nd Edition includes the free first chapter of Fourth Fleet Irregulars Book 2: Karadon.After a PR disaster has activists and media storming the Admiralty gates, First Lord Dix Harangay sends Minnow out on a makework patrol. Inspector Mako Ireson goes with them to investigate what’s really going on. Mako has never been on a starship before. He can’t tell port from starboard, doesn’t know what the 0-G sign means at freefall hatchways, and may need to change his underwear after the launch.Nobody is expecting that the “mission zero” they've been sent on will turn into a real operation. When it does, the Minnow’s crew has to rise to the challenge and justify their skipper’s faith in them.This is the first mission of the legendary Fourth Fleet Irregulars, the unit you send for when you need a miracle.For Mako Ireson, it will be the adventure of a lifetime.

Tired of being a wimp? Try being a goat! Welcome to Raybury Village where corn is king and strange is normal. Billy Smudge and his best friend Shamus McNutt are about to have an adventure they will never forget. Someone is experimenting on animals in a secret laboratory and Billy is convinced that HE is one of the experiments! But the trouble is double when the boys find out that the mad scientist is someone they thought they knew and trusted!Diary of a Real "Kid" pokes fun at the multitude of "diary" books available in a light and humorous way. Twelve-year-old, Billy Smudge is a wannabe writer with a passion for "Stranger Than Weird" magazine. Billy's well-fed imagination takes a wild leap though when he wakes up one day and discovers that he is turning into a goat. Yep, a real "kid." Along with his best friend, Shamus McNutt, the boys navigate a series of misadventures on their way to discovering what caused the mysterious transformation. There is plenty of fun, a sprinkling of light sarcasm, friends, teachers, siblings and even a mad scientist. Everyone learns something about the 'power of suggestion' and how it might just be possible to become what you 'think' you are. It's a wild escape with lots of visual cues. Cartoon characters further the plot and make funny commentary. As the story is written from Billy's point of view, the comics mimic his narration and allow deeper insight into his feelings. Educators and parents will find this book suitable for most readers in the 8 - 12 year- old range, including reluctant readers. Diary of a Real "Kid" was written with the intent to amuse and entertain but a great deal of thought and attention has been given to the responsibility of writing for young people. 5 Stars From Reader's ChoiceWatch out for the puns! In the tradition of the “Diary of” books comes this one-of-a-kind Diary of a Real Kid: The Stranger Than Weird Story of How Billy Smudge Turned into a Goat by J. Garden Macdonald. When Billy Smudge and his best friend, Shamus McNutt, break into the school (to retrieve Billy’s stinky gym clothes so Mr. Atlas won’t say Billy smells like a farm animal), Billy topples into the science lab and accidentally swallows some purple goo. That night Billy dreams he’s a goat and the next day he has goat hairs on his chin. And he starts eating really weird stuff. Billy and Shamus try to get help from their science teacher, Dr. Prankenstein, but he's just too weird. Billy starts fainting (apparently he’s turning into a fainting goat) and everything just goes from bad to worse. Before it’s all over, Billy is surprised to learn about who certain people really are and who he himself is becoming. Diary of a Real Kid is a quick, light read that should appeal to preteens, especially boys. Cartoon drawings are scattered throughout and they further the story as some of them show what Billy is thinking. True to the cartoonish feel, most of the characters are one-dimensional, but it all works. You have the boys, who spend their weekly allowance on "Stranger Than Weird" magazine, a giggling girl gang, a bossy older sister and her pizza-delivering boyfriend, and a mad scientist with a talking cat. Diary of a Real Kid doesn’t take itself too seriously and yet Macdonald sneaks in a really positive message to kids (real kids, not goat kids) about who they can become. Diary of a Real Kid should find a place on the bookshelves of 4th-6th grade classrooms everywherJ.M. Macdonald is an award-winning author with 3 grown children.

Spend the day with Adventure Girl Kat Auton. History is being made today with the launch of the Friendship, the most advanced ship ever seen in human space. It will be crewed by chethari, quarians and humans from across the League and Allianzi, and will soon be heading out on its first missions. Kat, the youngest member of the Friendship's media team, is reporting on the build up to the big event; front stage, back stage, all the atmosphere as it happens. But it is going to be a much bigger day than even Kat is expecting.

A story of family. A story of war.As if having her home planet destroyed was not enough, Grace Grey must contend with a possible new threat – from her very rescuers!Ever since she was a child Grace Grey has had strange abilities, and now they are coming to light. Abilities that her brother and her parents have been trying to hide, both from her and the government. It was possible she would have gone her entire life on a remote world without noticing – until alien war threatened her peaceful planet.After her parents are killed and her home overrun by a bug-like alien species, Grace and her brother are extracted as civilian refugees by an elite team known as the Hellhounds.With the lunar warp gate destroyed, Grace finds herself on an eighteen-month journey to the rim of the system as they flee the alien menace. With her brother James locked away in medical stasis, the only people left to watch over her are the very Hellhounds she was told to avoid. But do they really have her best interests at heart? Or are they not as sinister as James had wanted her to believe?She is left to face all of these questions on her own, without her family’s guidance and shelter, in the midst of the evacuation efforts off of her burning world. And when an offer to join the Hellhounds is presented, she has to make a life changing decision.You may also enjoy Ghost Divide, the adventure of an average space marine in the Ghost League universe

In the void between worlds armored warriors clash with a vicious, horrific alien race intent on destroying the human species. Fleets collide in a war of technology, humanity struggling to keep pace with the newest developments in space warfare. Deploying the best in exoarmored soldiery, equipped with every form of weaponry possible, the human race struggles to survive in this new conflict. Giants on the battlefield, the Riders, Titans, and Hellhounds race across the galaxy to defend humanity from the vicious and evil bug like scarabs.But Griffin Locke and Marie Cutter have no exoarmor. Nor do they have jetpacks. No energy swords, concussion hammers, or augmented genes. They are UPAF space marines, armed with only a standard issue rifle and their wits. How do a handful of soldiers make it through the battle of the ages, caught between an alien enemy and their own commanders? When everything is out to kill them these unlikely few survive, only to learn an unsettling truth about themselves. Enjoy the first installment of Locke's adventures, set in the universe of Rex Seven: Hellhounds!

Skipper Alex von Strada is one of the Fleet’s highest achieving officers, commanding the corvette Minnow with a company of eccentric officers and last-chance crew sent to him for rehab. When journalist Jerome Tandenki calls the Admiralty PR office to find out what’s going on with a story he’s heard about the Minnow, the clueless Harles Hollis tells him it is top level classified. As the biggest PR disaster in Fleet history explodes in their faces, the Admiralty finds that nobody will believe their explanation. With activists and media storming the Admiralty gates, First Lord Dix Harangay sends Minnow out on a makework patrol in the hope of calming the situation down. Inspector Mako Ireson goes along to investigate what's really going on. Mako has never been on a starship before. He can’t tell port from starboard and doesn’t know what the 0-G sign means at freefall hatchways, but the Minnow has good coffee so he's happy to head out into deep space with them. As the Minnow responds to such urgent distress calls from other ships as “we’re running low on sugar”, and stops for shoreleave at a cold and stinking slimeworld, nobody is expecting that the “mission zero” they’ve been sent on will turn into a real operation. When it does, the Minnow’s crew has to rise to the challenge as they face overwhelming odds. This is the first mission of the legendary Fourth Fleet Irregulars; the people you send for when you need a miracle. For Mako Ireson, it will be the adventure of a lifetime.

Starr Bailey was born with six fingers on each hand. In a future time where clones are common and rare is beautiful, she is pitted against her love for science and her love for Raymond Sprocket, an ambitious delivery boy who gets involved in the illegal transportation of contraband goods between Hessa3 and Earth. But there is a deadly side-effect of interplanetary travel that threatens to drive Raymond to madness and the only person who can help him wants to keep Starr for himself. Young Adult

Story Book - Picture Book - Cookbook In One Fun BookYou're a child and want to cook like an adult. But what is a recipe? How do you follow a recipe? Now in a simple step by step, picture storybook cookbook format, your child is taken by the hand and shown how to make yummy in the tummy muffins. Muffin they will be proud of.Read the story, see the picture and with adult supervision make an bake the yummy muffins. Yes it's easily done in this fun picture storybook -one recipe cookbook great for all ages. (Yes, even beginner muffin adult cooks.)Great for toddlers who enjoy a fun bedtime picture story book, following the pictures while hearing the story. Early readers will love reading the go forward fun story while discovering how to make and bake muffins. Curious boys and girls who are wishing to learn how to cook, will discover how to make and cook muffins by reading and following the how to do each step words and pictures. And will be enjoy reading.Adults will no longer be confused how to teach what a recipe is or how does a child follow a cookbook recipe. Open the happy door to the wonderful world of cooking. Giving your child a simple yet powerful first understanding how a recipe fits in with cooking and how to simply follow it. Also giving your child when done reading and cooking, yummy no-sugar muffins. A book and muffins they will be proud of, and happy to share with you and their friends. You'll be so proud of your little muffing cook and enjoying your time reading, making and baking muffins with them.Get exploring and cooking with - Kids Yummy Muffin Recipe Cookbook today. Make reading fun while discovering the love of cooking.

Dream Monsters wake little Daisy, sending out a cry for Mommy! When morning, Daisy lets her best friend Joya know, her Mom says the monsters are only dreams. But she doesn't want them. It doesn't take long for Joya to hatch an adventurous plan. Taking the girls outside searching for the cute flying creature to ask how to end Daisy's monster dreams. They ask, but it doesn't work! The monsters are still roaming free in Daisy's dreams. Thus sending both girls back outside where they get the full secret to a monster-less sleep. Now it's all up to Daisy. Will she be bold, brave and smart facing her monsters? Will the Monster to Butterfly secret work, especially while Daisy sleeps? Wonderful uplifting picture storybook with fun go-along happy illustrations children and parents enjoy reading. Click Now... Get and find out the Monster to Butterfly Secret