Books published by publisher City Owl Press

Set amid the perils of illegal border crossings, The Iguana Tree is the suspenseful saga of Lilia and Hector, who separately make their way from Mexico into the United States, seeking work in the Carolinas and a home for their infant daughter.Michel Stone s harrowing novel meticulously examines the obstacles each faces in pursuing a new life: manipulation, rape, and murder in the perilous commerce of border crossings; betrayal by family and friends; exploitation by corrupt officials and rapacious landowners on the U.S. side; and, finally, the inexorable workings of the U.S. justice system.Hector and Lilia meet Americans willing to help them with legal assistance and offers of responsible employment, but their illegal entry seems certain to prove their undoing. The consequences of their decisions are devastating. In the end, The Iguana Tree is a universal story of loss, grief, and human dignity.

All over the world, horses and people work together. From racing to helping around the farm, going to horse shows, and going for a ride, horses and humans team up for all sorts of activities. Horses are some of the grandest yet some of the friendliest animals. Get ready to meet those special friends up close! Animals from all over the world star in the bright and irresistible Snapshot Picture Library series. Gorgeous photography, ranging from dramatic to laugh-out-loud funny, will engage readers of any age, while young readers will particularly delight in the lively, easy-to-read, playful text. From the friendly and familiar animals found on a farm or in your very own home to exotic or endangered species that many people may never see, the Snapshot Picture Library series is your ticket not only to other places but to other ways of seeing and thinking about the world we love and share.

Daniel Morgan was known as the best horseman, the fastest runner, the fiercest fighter and the strongest wrestler. On a bitter cold day in January 1781, at an upcountry cattle pasture known as "the cow pens," the cantankerous brigadier general led an army of militiamen, Continental soldiers and cavalry in a stunning defeat of the British.Told in both narrative and verse, the Cowpens story is a classic war story from beginning to end.Come to the Cow Pens!, illustrated with numerous maps by John Robertson, includes an introduction by South Carolina's leading historian, Dr. Walter Edgar. "Beginning with the settlement of the backcountry by thousands of Scots-Irish immigrants and continuing through the horrors of the brutal war in the Carolina backcountry.

Publisher's note: this lost diary is intended to be read between books 8 and 9.1817. Abigail Bauer is a hero. Chosen by the very same magic pen that brought the Grimms' fairy tales to life, it's up to her to learn how to do battle with the Corrupted. But the life of the chosen is not the life Abigail wants. She wants to return to her family. She wants to experience love. The only way to free herself of this burden is to seek out answers about the Corrupted, and that means finding the brothers responsible.

Publisher's note: This "lost diary" is intended to be read after episode 10 of The Grimm Chronicles.A murderer hunts children in the night. But the only people afraid are the Corrupted, for the murderer is a hero, one who for the first time has made it her mission to hunt down the children of fairy tales. Armed with daggers and a keen eye, this hero will stop at nothing to destroy the Corrupted, even if it means sacrificing innocents along the way. This hero will not hesitate. She will not provide mercy. She knows her place and accepts it. And at night, asleep, she dreams of another hero. One who has the potential to change the world. But only with a little help.Juliette Rosa Ramirez was the last hero before Alice Goodenough. When Alice found her skeleton in Edward's basement, she couldn't imagine what the previous hero had gone through. Now, finally, we will know.

Thomas Paine’s Common Sense is just that – a simple passionate presentation of the case against monarchy, and for American Independence. But it was also much more: An inflammatory immediate best seller. It was reprinted numerous times in its first year and remains the all-time best selling American title. Today it is read for its place in history and as an example of persuasive writing. This is the Bradford edition of 14 February, 1776. It includes Paine’s appendix urging an immediate declaration of independence, and his Appeal to the Quakers. “No writer has exceeded Paine in ease and familiarity of style, in perspicuity of expression, happiness of elucidation, and in simple and unassuming language.” -- Thomas Jefferson.. “A pamphlet called ‘Commonsense’ makes a great noise. One of the vilest things that ever was published to the world. Full of false representations, lies, calumny, and treason, whose principles are to subvert all Kingly Governments and erect an Independent Republic.” -- Nicholas Cresswell. “I dreaded the effect so popular a pamphlet might have among the people, and determined to do all in my Power to counteract the effect of it.” -- John Adams.

Publisher's note: this journal is a stand-alone prequel to The Grimm Chronicles and should be read between books 5 and 6.200 years ago, the Brothers Grimm brought their stories to life. Since then, heroes have emerged to destroy the creatures known as the Corrupted.During the Civil War, the magic pen is passed along to a freed slave by the name of Eugene Washington. As one of the agents of the Underground Railroad, Eugene has been transporting slaves north, using safehouses--known as "stations"--to keep them safe along the way.One night, he passes a convoy of wounded soldiers. One of them has a present and a story to tell. The present: a magic fountain pen, capable of creating objects out of thin air. The story: the fairy tales told by the Brothers Grimm are real. And the characters hide amongst us, very quietly committing evil acts. Eugene must stop them.Eugene is the hero, and he has a special purpose: a mysterious woman in his dreams, plagued by a Corrupted more powerful than any that have come before him. This is the lost journal of Eugene, collected from fragments left behind more than 100 years ago. This story also includes "Jorinda and Jorindel," an original fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm.

Travelling storyteller Joel ben Izzy recounts an international mix of creepy tales that will take you from a taxi in Hong Kong to a graveyard in Israel, from the frozen Yukon to the suburbs of Los Angeles. You'll end up in a cave in the hills outside of Rome where Joel found the title story - or rather, it found him. As he recounts it you'll hear the bizarre tale of Joel's first job as a storyteller, which was very nearly his last. You'll hear the following: Creepy Car Tales (from California, Hawaii & Hong Kong) How I Got Bill the Chicken (California) The Cremation of Sam McGee (Canada) King Solomon & Death/The Graveyard in Safed (Israel) The Green Hand (Italy) This collection of stories, all told with music to match, is as funny as it is scary. It received an Award of Excellence from the Film Advisory Board.

Travelling storyteller Joel ben Izzy recounts some of the tales closest to his heart in this voyage of laughter and tears that will take you around the world and back again. Starting with the title story, based on a Polish folktale, ben Izzy weaves together stories with memories of his father. Among the tales are some hilarious stories of Hershel of Ostropol and a wild Hatian story about the king of the elephants. You'll hear the following: My Father and Hershel of Ostropol (California & The Ukraine) Buried Treasures (Poland & Czechoslovakia) The Road Back Home (Spain & Haiti) One Last Hershel Tale (The Ukraine) This tape was chosen as an Editor's Choice by Booklist Magazine.

Most history books describe the American Revolution as a war between men, but in the Carolinas, heroic women like Martha Bratton played a part in defeating the British and ensuring independence for the thirteen colonies. Fearless Martha: A Daughter of the American Revolution is a fictionalized and illustrated biography of this plucky female patriot for young readers.Each captivating chapter describes this resilient and fearless young mother in her commitment to preserve and protect her family and home in the backcountry of South Carolina. When her husband rides off to join a militia and fight for independence, Martha and her children—four daughters and a rambunctious six-year-old boy—try to hold their lives together. Between blowing up a secret cache of gunpowder before Tories can confiscate it to blowing off a rattlesnake’s head, Martha Bratton stands tall as battles wage around her during the summer of 1780.In a riveting scene on the front porch of her home, Martha meets the enemy face to face as a British soldier holds a blade to her neck and her children cower behind her. Recreated through imagination, public records and backcountry traditions, Fearless Martha is a powerful story of bravery in a tumultuous time.

Named both an E-Lit Gold Medal winner (Horror), a Silver Feather (IWPA) winner, and a Lucky Cinda winner while leading all books in recommendations for the Bram Stoker in the YA category (2012), THE COLOR OF EVIL: A Paranormal Thriller, is the first book in the young adult series by the same name (THE COLOR OF EVIL).Tad McGreevy has a power that he has never revealed, not even to his life-long best friend, Stevie Scranton. When Tad looks at others, he sees colors. These auras tell Tad whether a person is good or evil. At night, Tad dreams about the evil-doers, reliving their crimes in horrifyingly vivid detail. But Tad doesn't know if the evil acts he witnesses in his nightmares are happening now, are already over, or are going to occur in the future. He has no control over the horrifying visions. He has been told (by his parents) never to speak of his paranormal power. All Tad knows is that he wants to protect those he loves. And he wants the bad dreams to stop. At Tad's eighth birthday party (April 1, 1995) in Cedar Falls, Iowa, the clown his parents hire to entertain Tad's third-grade classmates is one of the bad people. Pogo, the Killer Clown (aka Michael Clay) is a serial killer. So begins 53 nights of terror as Tad relives Pogo's crime, awakens screaming, and recites the terrifying details to his disbelieving family. The situation becomes so dire that Tad is hospitalized in a private institution under the care of a psychiatrist---who also does not believe the small boy's stories of having paranormal power. And then the police arrest Pogo, the Killer Clown. Flash forward to the beginning of Tad's junior year in high school, 8 years later. Tad is 16 and recovered from the spring of his third-grade year. When Michael Clay was caught and imprisoned, the crime spree ended and so did Tad's bad dreams. Until now, in the year of our Lord 2003, when evil once again stalks the land.