13 Free Books from Charles River Editors (K)

The Charles River Editors have added to their batch of free books in the Kindle store

1. Everything You Need to Know About Good to Great
2. The History of Syria: 1900-2012
3. Decisive Moments in History: The Manhattan Project
4. American Legends: The Life of Alexander Hamilton
5. American Legends: The Life of Theodore Roosevelt
6. American Legends: The Life of Ronald Reagan
7. American Legends: The Life of Benjamin Franklin (Illustrated)
8. The World's Greatest Generals: The Life and Career of Robert E. Lee
9. The World's Greatest Generals: The Life and Career of Stonewall Jackson
10. The Legends of Mount Rushmore: The Lives of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt
11. American Legends: The Life of Thomas Jefferson (Illustrated) *repeat
12. American Legends: The Life of John F. Kennedy *repeat
13. American Legends: The Life of Martin Luther King Jr. *repeat

Today's Deals

Little White Rabbit ($12.99 Kindle [Fire and Android App only], $3.99 B&N [NOOK Color and Tablet only]), by Kevin Henkes, is the Nook Daily Find for Families. Despite being an Agency priced title, apparently the publisher thinks these are different books, since they don't work on the same devices, and has priced the one at B&N lower. I don't even want this title, but I'm reporting the lower price, in hopes that if enough of us do so, Amazon can pressure HarperCollins into matching the price for those who do want it on their Kindle Fire.

Book Description
In the newest picture book from best-selling Caldecott Medalist Kevin Henkes, a curious young rabbit hops through the wide world before finally ending up safe at home.

This NOOK Kids Read and Play book features narration, animation and interactivity. Kids can choose to hear the story read aloud and play activities on select pages of the book. Animations replay with a simple tap. Plus, kids can tap to enlarge text and pinch & stretch to zoom in on pictures.

Today's Kindle Deal of the Day is 11 engaging young-adult novels, all on sale for 99 cents apiece. It looks like these are all from Marshall Cavendish Children's Books and the age range covered starts with tweens and works up to the older teen and young adult, so you'll probably be able to find one or two for most kids 10+ (even yourself).

Whether confronting alienation and racism in a mid-1960s Alaskan boarding school, or fighting mind control in an Orwellian world secretly run by corporations, all of today's young-adult novels explore the complicated and adventurous struggles that boys and girls face as they come of age.

1. Memento Nora, by Angela Smibert
   In the future, it doesn't pay to remember.
   
   In Nora's world you don't have to put up with nightmares. Nora goes with her mother to TFC--a Therapeutic Forgetting Clinic. There, she can describe her horrible memory and take the pill that will erase it. But at TFC, a chance encounter with a mysterious guy changes Nora's life. She doesn't take the pill. And when Nora learns the memory her mother has chosen to forget, she realizes that someone needs to remember. With newfound friends Micah and Winter, Nora makes a comic book of their memories called Memento. It's an instant hit, but it sets off a dangerous chain of events. Will Nora, Micah, and Winter be forced to take the Big Pill that will erase their memories forever?
   
   Angie Smibert's remarkable debut novel takes readers on a thrilling ride through shadowy world where corporations secretly rule--and wish you'd just keep shopping.
2. Blackbriar, by William Sleator
   Danny can feel something sinister about his new home, Blackbriar, an old, abandoned cottage in the English countryside. The residents of a nearby town refuse to speak of the house and can barely look Danny in the eyes. Then Danny begins to have strange dreams of fire and witches, and awakes to shrieks of laughter that seem to come from another time and place. With help from his friend, Lark, Danny begins to unravel the mysteries of Blackbriar and its frightening past, through the discovery of an ancient doll and a chilling list of names and dates carved on the cellar door. But what might be most terrifying of all is the mystery that does not lie in the past but in the here and now ...
3. Soccerland (International Sports Academy), by Beth Choat
   "One day I’m going to play for the U.S. Women’s National Team." That’s what Flora Dupre promised her mom, before her mom died of cancer. Flora and her mom had created a place called Soccerland, an escape world where they went and just talked soccer. And now Flora’s dream of playing for the U.S.A. might be coming true. Flora’s received the invitation of a lifetime: the chance to try out for the Under-15 U.S. Girls’ Soccer Team, an opportunity that could put Flora on the road to making her dream a reality and reaching the real "Soccerland." But when Flora arrives at the International Sports Academy, the level of talent there is like nothing she’s ever seen before. Flora struggles to hold her own, grappling with new positions on the pitch, injuries, a frustrating coach, and contempt from other players. But Flora is a big, strong Dupre girl—and she’s not going to go down easy.
4. My Name Is Not Easy, by Debby Dahl Edwardson
   My name is not easy. My name is hard like ocean ice grinding the shore . . . Luke knows his Iñupiaq name is full of sounds white people can’t say. So he leaves it behind when he and his brothers are sent to boarding school hundreds of miles away from their Arctic village. At Sacred Heart School, students—Eskimo, Indian, White—line up on different sides of the cafeteria like there’s some kind of war going on. Here, speaking Iñupiaq—or any native language—is forbidden. And Father Mullen, whose fury is like a force of nature, is ready to slap down those who disobey. Luke struggles to survive at Sacred Heart. But he’s not the only one. There’s smart-aleck Amiq, a daring leader— if he doesn’t self-destruct; Chickie, blond and freckled, a different kind of outsider; and small, quiet Junior, noticing everything and writing it all down. They each have their own story to tell. But once their separate stories come together, things at Sacred Heart School—and the wider world—will never be the same.
5. Cloaked In Red, by Vivian Vande Velde
   So you think you know the story of Little Red Riding Hood, the girl with the unfortunate name and the inability to tell the difference between her grandmother and a member of a different species? Well, then, try your hand at answering these questions: Which character (not including Little Red herself) is the most fashion challenged? Who (not including the wolf) is the scariest? Who (not including Granny) is the most easily scared? Who is the strangest (notice we're not "not including" anyone, because they're all a little off.)? Who (no fair saying "the author") has stuffing for brains? Master storyteller Vivian Vande Velde crafts eight new stories involving one of the world's most beloved (and mixed-up) characters in literature. You may never look at fairy tales in quite the same way again.
6. Sizzle, by Lee McClain
   Sizzle . . . or burn? Linda Delgado has the best nose in all of Arizona—for cooking, that is. She may be only fourteen, but Linda loves making fresh Mexican food with her aunt Elba and blogging about food with her best friend, Julia. But after Aunt Elba suffers a ministroke, Linda is catapulted across the country and into a whole new life. In Pittsburgh, living with bossy Aunt Pat and her seven kids, Linda feels completely out of place. Worst of all, Aunt Pat is a local celebrity with her own TV show, Cooking from Cans—and she won’t let Linda in the kitchen. Linda might go loco if she doesn’t get some fresh food—like now. Then Linda finally gets her chance to sizzle—alongside cute-guy-with-a-secret Dino Moretti (who even smells delicious) and her jealous cousin Chloe. Linda’s new life is about to heat up fast.
7. Shelter From The Wind, by Marion Dane Bauer
   It used to be just Stacy and her dad, ever since Stacy’s mother left them five years ago. But Stacy’s stepmother, Barbara, seems to have taken over their world—and now she’s pregnant, too. One hot June morning Stacy runs away, not sure where she’s going or what she’s looking for—her mother, maybe? She heads across the Oklahoma panhandle where she has always lived, without supplies, without a plan.
   
   After a scary night alone on the prairie, a pair of white German shepherd dogs finds her. They lead her to their mistress, Old Ella, a woman who lives alone in a small secluded cabin. It is here that Stacy confronts the true source of her anger and learns what it really means to be a woman, a daughter, a friend. First published in 1976, Shelter from the Wind is a heart-rending story of a girl’s coming of age set against the backdrop of the harsh Oklahoma panhandle.
8. Rebound, by Bob Krech
   It looked like every black kid in the school was going out for the team. And then me. Pale skin, long nose, sandy brown hair, and a cowlick that won’t stay down. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t being the only white guy.
   
   Black kids play basketball. White kids wrestle. That’s the way it is at Franklin High School and especially in Ray Wisniewski’s neighborhood, the tight knit Polish-American town of Greenville, New Jersey. But Ray’s got a passion for basketball, even after the varsity coach cuts him two years in a row. When a new coach comes on the scene, Ray’s luck rebounds, but now he has to deal with Robert, the team’s high scorer, a kid who hates Ray simply because he’s white.
   
   As Ray fights to make his way onto the Franklin High Varsity, he finds that things are not as simple as he once thought—that a kind friend can be full of hate. A beautiful girl can be ugly inside. A well-intentioned coach can cause more harm than good. And prejudice can be defined in many ways in a world that isn’t black-and-white.
9. Kathleen, Please Come Home, by Scott Odell
   Fifteen-year-old Kathleen Winters has always been a good girl, trying to please her mother. But now, things are changing. First, there’s the new girl, Sybil Langley. Sybil is confident, rebellious, and worldly--everything Kathleen wishes she could be. As Kathleen is drawn under Sybil’s spell, she moves closer and closer toward crossing a dangerous line. Then there’s Ramón. Kathleen knows it’s risky to date an illegal immigrant, but she’s never met anyone like Ramón. They fall helplessly in love--but the most beautiful experience of Kathleen’s life soon becomes the most catastrophic. Kathleen takes off for Mexico and slowly spirals into drug addiction and chaos. In the end, only Kathleen can bring herself back home. Set against the backdrop of 1970s Baja California, Mexico, Scott O’Dell’s powerful novel takes readers on one girl’s unforgettable journey of self-destruction and discovery.
10. Mindblind, by Jennifer Roy
    Fourteen-year-old Nathaniel Clark lives in two worlds—the outside world of his family and friends and his own, special, inside Aspie world, where he’s not forced to interact with people or worry about wearing his clothes right-side out. The world where he can solve mathematical problems that elude even the brightest graduate students. The world where he feels he can find his own inner truth. People say he’s a genius, but Nathaniel thinks differently. According to a book he once read, a true genius uses his talent to make a contribution to the world. Nathaniel takes the definition literally, and begins his quest for genius status. "I will start, right after I wash the chocolate off my face. If I want to be seen as a genius, I should not look like an idiot." Nathaniel has a sky-high IQ and perfect SAT scores, but Jennifer Roy and her husband, Greg, have a remarkable 8-year-old son, Adam, who not only inspired the character of Nathaniel Clark, but also created the "Amazing Race" charts and the narrative at the back of MindBlind.
11. Spotting for Nellie, by Pamela Lowell
    Claire Perry knows a split second can change everything. It can be the difference between sticking a perfect landing or falling off the beam. It can be the difference between a really fun party or a totally messed up one. Or sometimes, as Claire finds out, it can even be the difference between life . . . or death. For Claire’s younger sister, Nellie, an elite gymnast who is "destined for gold," things have always come easy. A split second is usually all it takes to capture the attention of a boy at a party, and the judges at a meet, or their critical father—everyone. Then one night, one decision, one split second—changes their world forever. The two sisters get into a car accident that leaves one of them with a traumatic brain injury. Now, the sisters will have to figure out what’s worth fighting for and what are the limits of guilt, forgiveness, and sisterhood. Memories will come crashing back and secrets will come to light—whether they’re ready for them . . . or not.

The Consequence of Skating ($3.50 Kindle, B&N), by Steven Gillis, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
Gillis as only Gillis can: the politics of love, human action as theater, and the dreams we dream and chase forever. The Consequence of Skating, Steven Gillis' fourth novel, blends politics, drama, ice skating, mountain climbing, the music industry, and world affairs—not to mention artificial intelligence and G.O.D.—to create an inimitable tour de force. Centering on Mickey Greene, an actor who has fallen from grace, the novel follows Mick as he maneuvers through a series of adventures that set him on a course of reconstructing his life in a way he never before imagined.

Steven Gillis is the author of the novels Walter Falls, The Weight of Nothing—both finalists for the Independent Publishers Book of the Year and ForeWord magazine Book of the Year 2003 and 2005—and Temporary People. Steve's stories, articles, and book reviews have appeared in over three dozen journals. A six-time Pushcart nominee and four time Best Of . . . Notable Stories winner, a collection of Steve's stories—titled Giraffes—was published in February 2007. A second collection of Steve's stories, titled The Principles of Landscape, will be published by Black Lawrence Press in 2011. A member of the Ann Arbor Book Festival board of directors and a finalist for the 2007 Ann Arbor News Citizen of the Year, Steve taught writing at Eastern Michigan University.

Thursdays at Eight ($1.89 / £1.19 UK), by Debbie Macomber, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $9.09).

Book Description
Every Thursday at eight, four women meet to talk and share their lives.

As one life-changing year unfolds it becomes a true celebration of friends helping each other through the tough times. Having just suffered a heartbreaking divorce, Clare is bitter and angry. Then she learns some devastating news about her ex-husband. Elizabeth, in her late fifties, is recently widowed and finds herself back in the dating game. And that means putting the past behind her. Twenty-something Karen is desperate to be an actress – if only her parents didn’t want her to be more like her respectable sister. Julia is turning forty. Her kids are finally in their teens and she’s just started her own business. Now she finds out that she’s pregnant.

Kindle Fire $139

While they last, Amazon has Refurbished Kindle Fires at $139, as today's Gold Box Deal. Perhaps it's another sign that they are soon to be replaced or just that a lot of people returned them within 30 days and grabbed an eInk Kindle, instead. Barnes & Noble is still clearing out their original NookColor (over on eBay, if you buy one refurbished, they'll throw in a Simple Touch for only $20 more).

These units are usually impossible to tell from brand new (although the Keyboard unit often doesn't ship with the wall charger, buy you can pick one up for under $10 or just charge via your computer) and come with the same warranty from Amazon. You generally can't get the Amazon extended warranty on their refurbished units, but Square Trade has traditionally let you get them thru them (although I generally recommend against getting them on items like these that are relatively inexpensive and often end up getting replaced by newer technology after a couple of years).

Deal Description
Save $30 on a Certified Refurbished Kindle Fire. Each Certified Refurbished Kindle Fire is a pre-owned Kindle Fire that has been refurbished, tested, and is certified to look and work like new. They come with the same one-year limited warranty as a brand-new Kindle Fire. Kindle Fire: great for web, movies, apps, games, and more.

This offer is valid today only, March 29, 2012, when sold by Warehouse Deals. Offer good while supplies last.

Limit 5 per customer.

Neutrogena - Buy One Get One 50% Off (KSO)

This offer is only for those with a Kindle with Special Offers (including any Kindle Touch or Kindle Keyboard that opts in to Special Offers, which means you can add the offers, grab this one, then turn them back off!):

Buy One Neutrogena® Item, Get One 50% Off

Click on offer, then click on the link on the offer page to receive an email with the promo code. Sign-up for this offer expires on April 8.

You'll get an email (right away), a link to the Special Offer page and a promotion code to enter at checkout. Once you have the promotional code, you have until May 8, 2012 to complete your purchase. Like previous offers, this one requires you to use the full checkout process in order to enter your promotional code. Also, like all Amazon sales that use promotional codes, if you have a gift card balance, you must use it for the payment (if there is not a sufficient balance, then you can pick which credit card or other payment to use).

Limit one offer per customer and per device.

Shop early, of course, as their selection often dwindles as the offer goes on. This is another bonus offer, that isn't on the "normal" schedule (every 4 days, although some dates now get skipped), but it's also one that gives you plenty of time to sign up for it. If you don't see it on your Kindle, first try leaving the WiFi on for an hour or so and, if that doesn't work, try doing a Restart from the Settings menu (not a factory reset, though).

Today's Deals

A couple of notes about Harry Potter and Pottermore, some of which I made in comments yesterday, plus a few new ones:

• If you buy the bundle, then you get all seven books individually in your library at Pottermore (and at Amazon or the other partners, if you choose to send them there).
• The books appear at Amazon in your Books section, not Personal Documents. Also, they are apparently flagged to be sent to EVERY device in your account when they hit Amazon -- this still only counts as one download at Pottermore (and you can continue sending them to your Kindles over the years and it doesn't affect Pottermore downloads).
• The US version includes the illustrations and has nice covers (both on Kindle and the EPUB downloads). There don't appear to be any special fonts, but when there is something like a written note, it appears as a graphic (so far) and is quite readable. The UK/GB edition does not have illustrations other than a couple up front and never had fancy fonts, so it isn't an issue for those. Also, the covers are completely different (apparently the last ones used on the paperbacks, not the originals, from what I can tell).
• Although you can't purchase an out-of-country edition for yourself, you can gift them to someone in that country (all you need is an email address); those in Canada get the UK edition and also are able to send the copies to their nook/Sony accounts (in the UK, it's Amazon only), for those interested in that ability. All the recipient will need is the gift code received in email and to set up an account; the books will then be in their library and can be accessed and linked to their accounts (no CC info needed). For those in the US, the bundle works out to $57.54 for the US edition and $61.65 to send a gift of the GB edition.
• Mastercard is a bit more apt to flag your card as fraudulent use on the site - some had theirs frozen (mine did this) and the charge refused, others had the charge go thru and then received calls to keep the card from being frozen. Apparently some debit cards were more Pottermore friendly, as they actually let you enter a code and didn't fail the "added security" set that I never even had a chance to respond to. If you only have a single credit/debit card, you'll want to make sure yours didn't get flagged after using it on the site.
• Apparently the Pottermore site has required that Amazon and the other partners add DRM to the copies that are sent to your accounts there. This despite the addition of the same social DRM (your unique ID encrypted on the inside page). No matter, as you can get the EPUB from the site as one of your 8 downloads and use that as you personal backup.
• Although not that well publicized, Amazon has set up a special page for the Harry Potter Kindle books, which includes links to two exclusive interviews, one with JK Rowling and the other with illustrator Mary Grandpré. The UK page only includes the Rowling interview link, of course.

Today's Kindle Deal of the Day is Chaos Walking Trilogy, a YA dystopian SciFi thriller series by Patrick Ness, at 99 cents per volume. That means all of you can grab the entire trilogy for what I paid for the first volume and I can complete the series at a bargain. Since the synopsis of the second two contain slight spoilers, I'm going to blur them on the website (just hover your mouse over the section to clear it up).

The Knife of Never Letting Go
Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him -- something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.

The Ask and the Answer
Part two follows a boy and a girl who are caught in a warring town where thoughts can be heard - and secrets are never safe. Reaching the end of their flight in THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO, Todd and Viola did not find healing and hope in Haven. They found instead their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss, waiting to welcome them to New Prentisstown. There they are forced into separate lives: Todd to prison, and Viola to a house of healing where her wounds are treated. Soon Viola is swept into the ruthless activities of the Answer, while Todd faces impossible choices when forced to join the mayor's oppressive new regime. In alternating narratives the two struggle to reconcile their own dubious actions with their deepest beliefs. Torn by confusion and compromise, suspicion and betrayal, can their trust in each other possibly survive?

Monsters of Men
In the riveting conclusion to the acclaimed dystopian series, a boy and girl caught in the chaos of war face devastating choices that will decide the fate of a world. As a world-ending war surges around them, Todd and Viola face monstrous decisions. The indigenous Spackle, thinking and acting as one, have mobilized to avenge their murdered people. Ruthless human leaders prepare to defend their factions at all costs, even as a convoy of new settlers approaches. And as the ceaseless Noise lays all thoughts bare, the projected will of the few threatens to overwhelm the desperate desire of the many. The consequences of each action, each word, are unspeakably vast: To follow a tyrant or a terrorist? To save the life of the one you love most, or thousands of strangers? To believe in redemption, or assume it is lost? Becoming adults amid the turmoil, Todd and Viola question all they have known, racing through horror and outrage toward a shocking finale.

Hitch 22 ($1.57 / £0.99 UK), by Christopher Hitchens, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $12.99).

Book Description
Over the last thirty years, Christopher Hitchens has established himself as one of the world's most influential public intellectuals. His originality, bravery, range, and wit made him first a leading iconoclast of the political left and then, later in his career, a formidable advocate of secular liberalism. When the Twin Towers were attacked in September 2001, Hitchens was re-energised again, quickly emerging as one of the fiercest and most influential advocates of war on Iraq. In this long-awaited and candid memoir, Hitchens re-traces the footsteps of his life to date, from his childhood in Portsmouth, with his adoring, tragic mother and reserved Naval officer father; to his life in Washington DC, the base from which from he would launch fierce attacks on tyranny of all kinds. Along the way, he recalls the girls, boys and booze; the friendships and the feuds; the grand struggles and lost causes; and, the mistakes and misgivings that have characterised his life. "Hitch-22" is, by turns, moving and funny, charming and infuriating, enraging and inspiring. It is an indispensable companion to the life and thought of our pre-eminent political writer.

Anno Dracula ($3.99 Kindle, B&N), by Kim Newman, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
It is 1888 and Queen Victoria has remarried, taking as her new consort Vlad Tepes, the Wallachian Prince infamously known as Count Dracula. Peppered with familiar characters from Victorian history and fiction, the novel follows vampire Geneviève Dieudonné and Charles Beauregard of the Diogenes Club as they strive to solve the mystery of the Ripper murders.

Anno Dracula is a rich and panoramic tale, combining horror, politics, mystery and romance to create a unique and compelling alternate history. Acclaimed novelist Kim Newman explores the darkest depths of a reinvented Victorian London.

This brand-new edition of the bestselling novel contains unique bonus material, including a new afterword from Kim Newman, annotations, articles and alternate endings to the original novel.

The Muppets The Movie Junior Novel ($4.49 Kindle, $2.16 B&N), by Katharine Turner, is the Nook Daily Find for Families, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
This junior novelization based on the new Muppet movie features a full-color insert of photos from the film!