Books with author M Reynolds

Marcia, a young woman nearing twenty, is on her way to jail. She has been busted, again, this time for using heroin. As she passes buildings and bus stops that remind her of her childhood, she tries to recall what incidents led her to her dilemma. With barely a goodbye, her mother leaves her at the steps of the jail. Terrified, she is processed and placed in a new world—cell 6, bed 8.Unexpected Angels is a true account of a young woman, once an academic superstar, who is thrown into jail to await trial on a narcotics charge. At nineteen, she's already a three time loser. She must dig deep inside herself and find her power or lose it, possibly forever. Aided by the bonds she makes with the women inmates, and in particular, through her extraordinary friendship with a feisty, street-smart black woman, she finally finds her true strength and learns how to fight for her life. While reliving Marcia's amazing experience, you will meet the women who made a difference in her life, her unexpected angels.Carmela ran guns for her father, his method of putting food on the family table. Raped by the snitch who turned her in, she still dreamed her prince charming would come to take her away.Olivia, an illiterate, single mother of seven, is serving one year for welfare fraud. She needed money to buy her son clothes to wear to school. So she took a nighttime janitorial job and failed to report the income. She was sentenced to a year in jail. Now the government is threatening to put six of her children in foster care.You'll also meet Deely, a chatty 19-year old whose boyfriend, after ripping apart the purse of an old woman and finding no money, threw the woman in the trunk of his car. She suffocated. Deely was charged as an accomplice to murder.And how could anyone forget Vicki, the cellblock queen? In detention and jail most of her 23 years, she mastered the art of doing time. Fighting when she has to, conning when she can, Vicki reigns supreme. A girl doesn't dare make Vicki mad. Except for Marcia. Once enemies, they became friends who would change each others lives foreverEach woman wears the label “criminal.” To Marcia, they were angels whose stories deserve to be told.Although the story is about Marcia, the reader can be any woman, or man, who could also use an angel in their life to find their way. It's a story about loss and rediscovery, about climbing out of the depth of despair to seeing the glorious light of possibility. Read it if you need some hope in your life, too.

Inventive, empathetic, and strange in all the best ways, The Spinner of Dreams draws from the author’s own experiences to create a story that feels timeless and universal. As she did in her debut The Land of Yesterday, K. A. Reynolds thoughtfully explores mental health and crafts an adventure that fits right alongside middle grade classics like The Phantom Tollbooth.Annalise Meriwether—though kind, smart, and curious—is terribly lonely.Cursed at birth by the devious Fate Spinner, Annalise has always lived a solitary life with her loving parents. She does her best to ignore the cruel townsfolk of her desolate town—but the black mark on her hand won’t be ignored.Not when the monster living within it, which seems to have an agenda of its own, grows more unpredictable each day. There’s only one way for Annalise to rid herself of her curse: to enter the Labyrinth of Fate and Dreams and defeat the Fate Spinner. So despite her anxiety, Annalise sets out to undo the curse that’s defined her—and to show the world, and herself, exactly who she is inside.

Just when thirteen-year-old Rafe Ryder thinks his year can't get any stranger, he is proven wrong. After he and his classmates have averted a plot to destroy the elite angelic training ground known as Mystfira, as well as the very heavens themselves, Rafe is left to grapple with his newfound identity and figure out a way to get himself and the other Ryder-Knight students home to Earth. But when his friends start disappearing one by one, Rafe must take action. Are his friends alive? Have they fallen victim to the treacherous world of Mystfira, or to a more nefarious plot conjured by the dark spirits in Baeldavar? Along with a crotchety leprechaun named Seamus, Rafe and his two remaining friends must reckon with Time itself to solve the mystery before their classmates are lost forever.

On the island of Bali in Southeast Asia, rice farming is a way of life. The people live in tune with the natural rhythms and cycles of the water and the soil. Ingrained in their community and culture, rice farming connects them to the land and one another. Balinese farmers have planted rice using an intricate system of water sharing and crop rotation for more than a thousand years. Intertwined with their spiritual, social, and day-to-day lives, this system has made Bali a leading producer of one of the world's most important crops. And because Balinese rice farming respects the balances of nature, it serves as a remarkable example of sustainable agriculture in an increasingly industrialized world. With lush photographs and captivating text, Jan Reynolds explores the traditional world of rice farming on the beautiful island of Bali. Readers of all ages will come away with an enhanced awareness of how we farm, eat, and live today, and the effects these practices have on the world of tomorrow.

An alien ship is coming, and not even Earth’s mightiest metahumans can stop it.Connor Connolly is hiding a secret that will change the world forever. Extraterrestrial life exists and it’s on its way to Earth. The refugees from Volaris promise to bring incredible technology that will change the world forever. But they’re not telling the whole story about their mysterious connection to metaband technology.Connor is determined to find the truth, but his metabands are gone. Relying on a stolen alien nanosuit is his only hope. With the stakes at an all-time high, he must partner with Midnight and Iris on a daring heist with one goal: find a way to Volaris. But it’ll be easier said than done. Along the way he must uncover the link with a strange metahuman who disappeared a decade ago. The Queen of Volaris might not be who she claims…New Empire is the fifth book in the bestselling Meta series.

“Fast, funny, frightening—and filled with shocks and surprises. These books are my kind of fun. I want to live on Monsterstreet!” —R.L. Stine, author of the Goosebumps series In the fourth Monsterstreet book, the best summer of Harper’s life could be her last... On the way to Camp Moon Lake, the most magical summer camp on earth, all Harper can think about is her parents’ looming divorce. Soon enough, though, the outdoor movie theater, the water park, and the chocolate buffet begin to work their magic on her.But then campers start to disappear, and Harper notices the counselors acting unusual. The cheerful facade of the camp falls apart to reveal strange secrets and a sinister plan. Escaping will take everything Harper has—maybe even her life. Don't miss any of the books in the thrilling Monsterstreet series!

Even the most well-known people have struggled to succeed! Find out what they learned and how they turned their failures into triumphs with this engaging and youthful guide on how to succeed long term.There is a lot of pressure in today’s society to succeed, but failing is a part of learning how to be a successful person. In his teaching career, Luke Reynolds saw the stress and anxiety his students suffered over grades, fitting in, and getting things right the first time. Fantastic Failures helps students learn that their mistakes and failures do not define their whole lives, but help them grow into their potential. Kids will love learning about some of the well-known people who failed before succeeding and will come to understand that failure is a large component of success. With stories from people like J. K. Rowling, Albert Einstein, Rosa Parks, Sonia Sotomayor, Vincent Van Gogh, Julia Child, Steven Spielberg, and Betsy Johnson, each profile proves that the greatest mistakes and flops can turn into something amazing. Intermixed throughout the fun profiles, Reynolds spotlights great inventors and scientists who discovered and created some of the most important medicines, devices, and concepts of all time, including lifesaving vaccines and medicines that were stumbled upon by mistake.

Middle grades and young adult authors speak candidly on the unspoken “rules” of adolescence in this collection of moving, inspiring, and often funny essays. This unique volume encourages readers to break with conformity and defy age-old, and typically inaccurate, orthodoxy—including such conventions as Boys can’t be gentle, kind, or caring; One must wear Abercrombie & Fitch in order to fit in; Girls should act like girls; and One must go to college after finishing high school. With contributions from acclaimed, bestselling, and award-winning young adult authors—including Gary D. Schmidt, author of The Wednesday Wars; Matthew Quick, author of The Silver Linings Playbook; Sara Zarr, author of Story of a Girl; and Wendy Mass, author of A Mango-Shaped Space—this collection encourages individuality by breaking traditionally held norms, making it an ideal resource for tweens and teens.

Nobody can say he is settled anywhere forever; it is only the mountains which do not move from their places. So goes a Maasai proverb, and so goes the lives of the Maasai in Africa. For hundreds of years they have moved with their herds of cattle and goats across thousands of miles in Kenya and Tanzania. Today the Maasai face new challenges. Their traditional way of life is threatened, lands are overgrazed, and wildlife is in danger. Maasai tribes are meeting these obstacles head-on adapting their lives and agricultural practices while keeping their vibrant, close-knit culture alive. Award-winning author-photographer Jan Reynolds presents a striking glimpse of these dynamic people. Only the Mountains Do Not Move shows one Maasai tribe s remarkable ability to forge a delicate balance between the richness of the past and the needs of the future.