Poor Miss Finch by Wilkie Collins is a novel about a wealthy, but blind girl who temporarily regains her sight while being in a romantic triangle with two brothers. Lucilla Finch (21) has been blind since infancy. Shortly after the narrator, Madame Pratolungo, arrives to serve as her paid companion, Lucilla falls in love with Oscar Dubourg, her shy and solitary neighbor, also wealthy, who devotes himself to craftsmanship in precious metals. After...

"In the ancient moors of Scotland, the king of Calidon lies on his deathbed, cursed by a ring that cannot be removed from his finger. When a mysterious fey stranger appears to save the king, he also carries a secret that could tear the royal family apart. The kingdom's only hope will lie with two young men raised worlds apart. Aric is the beloved heir to the throne of Calidon; Albaric is clearly of noble origin yet strangely out of place. The Oddling...

This daring tale of revenge and exotic intrigue is demonstrative of Stevenson's broad range and unique genius. "The Master of Ballantrae", first published in 1889, follows the conflict between two Scottish brothers of noble origins during the tumultuous Jacobite Risings of 1745. Greed and envy threaten to tear the brothers apart as a race for the family inheritance intensifies. James Durie, the protagonist and Master of Ballantrae, is as charming...

A remote castle in Wales inhabited by three older men is the last place on earth that a young, lively girl of 18 would want to spend time. And yet, when forced by circumstances to take up residence there for six weeks prior to coming of age, Jessie surprises them all by finding immense enjoyment in the experience and by capturing each of her adopted uncles' hearts. As the time grows near for her to return to England, the three brothers find it necessary...

Stark and vibrant, the two halves of this sutured book expose the Frankenstein-like scars of the assemblage we call & ldquo;human. & rdquo; In & ldquo;Another Governess & rdquo; a woman in a decaying manor tries to piece together her own story. In & ldquo;The Least Blacksmith & rdquo; a man cannot help but fail his older brother as they struggle to run their father & rsquo;s forge. Each of the stories stands alone, sharing neither characters nor settings....

Sixteen-year-old Sid barely remembers his birth mother and has no idea who his father was.

Raised on an idyllic island by loving foster parents, Sid would be content to stay there forever, drawing, riding his bike, hanging out with his friend Chloe and helping out with Fariza, a newly arrived foster child. But when a stranger named Phil arrives on the island with disturbing news about his birth family—including a troubled

...

The novel shifts among the points of view of three characters: Jackson, a 45-year-old loner living in a house near where he and his brother grew up in western Nebraska, has grown disillusioned with America's materialistic path and is plotting a sinister act involving the state capitol building. His brother, Lem, a former pro baseball prospect, is driving hell-bent from his home in Glendale, Ariz., in the middle of the night, having become alarmed...

Jake was the ultimate big brother: cool, suave with the girls, tough, and a Vietnam veteran. Peter, the younger brother, was always the "good kid," eventually becoming a monk at St. John's Abbey. But they came of age on the North Dakota plains at a time when sex, drugs, and rock & roll blasted onto the prairie. Thirty years later, neither brother can escape his past.

Jack writes a letter to the Librarian because he needs help. His brother has been eaten by a book!

On a trip to a pond with a local nature group, twins Josh and Danny accidentally eat a muffin laced with Petty Potts' SWITCH spray and are transformed into very stinky beetles.