Books published by publisher Sparkle Press

2016 Annual Indie Excellence Awards- Finalist in the Young Adult Fiction CategoryAs featured in:Parade: Gifts For Your Teen Bookworm, POPSUGAR: 10 New Book Series that Recapture that Twilight Magic, Kids Book Buzz: YA Holiday Book Guide, Hypable: Must-Reads for Teen Read Week, Glitter Magazine: 10 YA Heartthrobs to Fill Your Edward/Jacob Void, SheKnows: Holiday Gifts for Book Lovers, The Reading Room: Books to Pair with Your Favorite Winter DrinkPart Viking, part Eskimo, Neiva Ellis knew her family’s ancestral home, the island of Spirit, Alaska, held a secret. A mystery so sensitive everyone, including her beloved grandmother, was keeping it from her. When Neiva is sent to stay on the island while her parents tour Europe she sets out on a mission to uncover the truth, but she was not prepared for what laid ahead. On the night of her seventeenth birthday, the Eskimo rite of passage, Neiva is mysteriously catapulted into another world full of mystical creatures, ancient traditions, and a masked stranger who awakens feelings deep within her heart. Along with her best friends Nate, Viv and Breezy, she uncovers the truth behind the town of Spirit and about her own heritage. When an evil force threatens those closest to her, Neiva will stop at nothing to defend her family and friends. Eskimo traditions and legends become real as two worlds merge together to fight a force so ancient and evil it could destroy not only Spirit but the rest of humanity.

Fifteen-year-old Courtney wants to be normal like her friends. But there’s something frighteningly different about her―and it’s not just the mysterious tattoo her conspiracy-obsessed grandfather marked her with when she was a child. The last thing Courtney wants to do is end up crazy and dead like her grandfather―but what about the tattoo? And the alien scouts who visit Courtney in her bedroom at night, claiming to have shared an alliance with her grandfather? With her new friend Agatha’s apocalyptic visions, Courtney begins connecting the dots between the past, present, and future―of her bloodline, and the ancient history that surrounds it. So is she going mentally insane, like her family claimed her grandfather did, or is she actually a “chosen one” with ancestral connections to another world? Either way, Courtney has a mission: untangle her past, discover the truth, and stop the apocalypse before anyone from school finds out she’s missing.

Ever since eleven-year-old Dexter Duckworth and his brother, Dougal, lost their mom, everything has been different. But “different” takes on a whole new meaning when, one day just before Christmas (or Kissmas, as they call it), Dexter finds a golden rock in the forest that hatches into an adorable alien. Gobbledy is smarter than he seems and is lost on planet Earth. Before long, Gobbledy takes Dexter, Dougal, and their best friend Fi on an adventure of friendship, family, and loss—one that requires them all to stay out of trouble, protect Gobbledy from a shadowy group called the Planetary Society, and prepare for their school’s Winter Extravaganza Play, where Dexter has to be a dreaded Gingerbread Man. Gobbledy is a fun-filled holiday story that adds up to two brothers, three friends, unlimited jars of peanut butter, a ketchup factory, and one little alien far, far from home.

*Winner of the 2014 Next Generation Indie Book Award for Young Adult Fiction.*As Princess of Wonderland Palace and the future Queen of Hearts, Dinah's days are an endless monotony of tea, tarts, and a stream of vicious humiliations at the hands of her father, the King of Hearts. The only highlight of her days is visiting Wardley, her childhood best friend, the future Knave of Hearts--and the love of her life. When an enchanting stranger arrives at the Palace, Dinah watches as everything she's ever wanted threatens to crumble. As her coronation date approaches, a series of suspicious and bloody events suggests that something sinister stirs in the whimsical halls of Wonderland. It's up to Dinah to unravel the mysteries that lurk both inside and under the Palace before she loses her own head to a clever and faceless foe. Part epic fantasy, part twisted fairy tale, this dazzling saga will have readers shivering as Dinah's furious nature sweeps Wonderland up in the maelstrom of her wrath. Familiar characters such as Cheshire, the White Rabbit, and the Mad Hatter make their appearance, enchanting readers with this new, dark take on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. But be warned...not every fairytale has a happy ending. This is the story of a princess who became a villain.

"Three years after witnessing the kidnapping of her best friend Robin, Paige Bellen is expected to continue on with life as usual. Now, with her closest friend out of the country, a messy relationship with Robin's boyfriend, and a family that handles her with kid gloves, Paige isn't sure if she'll ever be able to move forward in life. Bear Witness explores the aftermath of a crime in a small town, and what it means when tragedy colors the experience of being a young adult."

An Exiled Princess. An Ancient Tribe. A Dangerous Stranger. Dinah, the former Princess of Wonderland Palace, has been chased into the wilds of Wonderland after the murder of her brother and the ruin of her coronation. Now, as her half-sister Vittiore sits on the throne beside her father, the brutal King of Hearts, Dinah finds herself alone in the forbidding Twisted Wood with only Morte, a homicidal beast, for company. Hunted by the King and his army of Cards, Dinah struggles to evade those who long for her head, including Cheshire, the King's clever advisor, who is slowly tightening his grasp around her. The former Princess finds herself at the center of a web of conspiracy reaching far beyond the Palace and deep into the mysterious Yurkei mountain tribes. But Dinah knows something that her allies and enemies do not: that the most dangerous conflict of all has already begun as she battles the rage inside of her, and love slips further from her grasp. But be warned...not every fairy tale has a happy ending. This is the story of a princess who became a villain.

Lorelei Clark's only concern was her future as a classically trained soprano, that is, until the day her father was tragically killed. Shattered by his death, she hesitantly accepts an invitation from a mysterious aunt to visit her lavish oceanside home in Cape Cod. She quickly discovers that her aunt and the two women who live with her are harboring a frightening secret they are sirens, terrifying mythical creatures responsible for singing doomed sailors to their deaths. Even more astounding, Lorelei is one of them. In this new world where water comes alive at her touch and an ancient power pulses beneath the tide, the most important rule Lorelei must learn is that a siren never interferes with fate. When she breaks this rule by rescuing a handsome sailor who should have died at sea, the sirens vow she must finish the job or face grave consequences. Finding herself inexplicably attracted to him, she must fight to keep him safe from the others, even if it means risking her own life and her heart in the process.

Seventeen-year-old Melanie Kennicut is beautiful. Her entire life revolves around this beauty because her overly controlling mother has been dragging her to casting calls and auditions since she was four years old. According to Joanne Kennicut, Melanie was born to follow in her footsteps. But Melanie never wanted this life. When a freak car accident leaves her with facial lacerations that will require plastic surgery, she can't help but wonder if this is the answer to her prayers. For the first time in her life, she has a chance to live like a normal teenager‹at least for a little while‹away from the photo shoots and movie sets that have dominated her entire existence. But after Melanie allows her best friend to come to the house to see her, Joanne decides to hide her daughter in Montana for the remainder of the summer. There, Melanie won't be seen by anyone they know, and her face will heal in time for the scheduled surgery in late August. Joanne’s plan backfires, however, when Melanie meets Sam, a Native American boy hired by the home's owner to tend to the property. Sam is nothing like the Hollywood boys Melanie knows‹he¹s poor, his father's a drunk who possesses a bizarre gift inherited from a Kootenai Shaman, and his only brother disappeared into the mountains after the death of their mother eight years before. What transpires over a mere 36 hours after Sam and Melanie meet changes both of their lives in ways they never thought possible.USA Best Book Awards: Fiction: Young Adult, Finalist

Dying wasn’t on seventeen-year-old Xander Hemlock’s summer to-do-list. Finding ways to spend more time with his girlfriend, Lila, was the most critical thinking he planned on doing. But that was before he found himself trapped in a realm of only darkness with thirty days to convince Lila he’s not actually dead―well, not completely, anyway. As Xan tries to show Lila she isn't alone, she struggles to comprehend how her life has changed so completely. Six months ago her life was perfect: she was on her way to becoming a professional dancer, her parents were still married, and her boyfriend was alive. But now, with her anorexic tendencies stronger than ever, she must decide which is the lesser of two evils: letting go to be with a boy she doesn't love, or holding on to the unreasonable, yet overpowering, feeling that Xan is still within reach...and trying to show her something. Improbable and endearing, Within Reach is a story of two soulmates discovering that sometimes it takes more than one lifetime to get it right.

Huskers is about an introspective and resourceful young boy who becomes a reluctant leader when six of his friends, losers all, choose to follow him on a journey. It is about their desire and their need to become more than the little boys they perceive themselves to be.Huskers is an account of their quest and how, together, they learn to accept and overcome their individual flaws, struggle with their growing awareness of girls, and confront and conquer their personal demons. Along the broken and rocky climb, each finds inner strength and, as a team, they discover their character and realize the true value of sport. Seen through the clarity of a simpler time and place―rural Nebraska in 1960, Huskers is a testimony to the true values children should be learning through participation in youth sports.USA Best Book Awards: Fiction: General, Finalist

Die, reincarnate, repeat. It's been a long fifteen hundred years... After centuries of deaths and rebirths, wizard Emma Hale—formerly known as Merlin—wants nothing more than to find the present incarnation of King Arthur and break the spell binding their souls in this morbid cycle. Too bad she has no idea how she cast that spell in the first place. Oh, and she's also got to fend off the shadow creatures aiming to kill Arthur all over again. Which might be easier if Arthur's current host wasn't so cocky yet distractingly good-looking that Emma is falling even harder for the man she can't have. Now that Arthur's spirit is awakening, every creature of darkness in a thousand-mile radius is slavering for a taste. Worse, a merciless adversary from Emma's past has reappeared, intent on destroying them both—for good. But the quest to finally free their souls will unearth secrets that could shatter Emma and her king before their enemies even have the chance. This omnibus edition contains all three books in the Legends Reborn trilogy: Magic Waking, Soul's Blade, and Dragon of Destiny. It also includes four never-before-seen bonus scenes, giving readers a look inside Darton's point of view and a glimpse of the characters' future.

It’s winter in Girard, Pennsylvania and the pond is completely frozen over—ready for a young boy to go skating!—but Georgie’s ice skates are too small. All Georgie wants for Christmas is a new pair of skates. But times are tough in 1920s Pennsylvania, and he gets the disappointing news Santa might not come this year. Follow Georgie as he decides to take matters into his own hands—and discovers what Christmas is all about. The Santa Thief is a heartwarming tale of boyhood set in 1920s Pennsylvania for children ages 4–8.