Books with author Jennifer Muro

Like his fallen brother Lucifer, Hadrian has been ordered by his fellow angels into a reflective state known as the Bliss. Having also grown enamored by the same darkness that inhabits human souls, he feels that Lucifer's banishment was too severe. Forever influenced by that horrific event, Hadrian vows revenge and ventures to Earth to follow him, unwittingly starting an eternal competition for the control of human and angelic souls alike. In this Angel Star novella, THE BLISS will show how the battle between dark and light truly began.

Some secrets cannot be kept--in life or in death. Months have passed since Rune has heard a single whisper from her long-dead mother, the great witch of Bavaria. But the absence of one evil has only made room for another. After rightfully inheriting her ancestral home, Pyrmont Castle, Rune settles into a quiet life taking care of two orphans left in the wake of the terrible witch hunt that claimed dozens of lives in the nearby village. As the days grow colder, the castle’s secrets beckon, and something darker seems to have been awakened, as well. Rune finds herself roaming where no one has set foot in a long time. In the bowels of the fortress is a locked room full of memories that hang like cobwebs--shelves stacked with jars, strange specimens, putrid liquids, and scrolls of spells. Rune is undeniably drawn to what she finds there, and she begins to dabble in the possibilities of magic, hoping she will find a cure for the strangeness overwhelming the castle. And the key may lie in the dark forest she once called home and the boy she thought she knew.

Intricate and charming collage illustrations crafted from torn and cut paper and found materials shine in this exuberant celebration of imagination and play. When a young girl packs her stuffed animals into her wagon and heads off to the park, she is inspired by both her toys and the playground equipment, and soon she is hiding like a squirrel, climbing like a monkey, sliding like a penguin, and so on--all relayed in catchy rhymed couplets. Each page offers clues to a friendly preschool guessing game and captures the unique pleasures of a day spent at the playground.

The traditional American song "Buffalo Gals" is irresistibly adapted into book form with cut-paper illustrations that have a down-home look. A little gal invites her favorite redheaded dolly&150the one with the hole in her stockin'&150to dance, and the two friends leap and frolic till the moon comes up. Jennifer Merz's warm, richly textured art and catchy, sing-along text will set little feet tapping again and again. A book for all little dancin' girls who love their faithful dollies.