Sixteen-year-old Opal might be everything you hate in a person. She's snobby, conceited, and has more popularity than she knows what to do with in her sunny and densely populated Florida city. In contrast, Jack, nicknamed "Alaska" by Opal in regards to the quiet Alaskan town where he resides, is sweet, caring, and compassionate. The two are complete opposites in almost every way. When Opal is whisked away to some unheard of town in Alaska to spend spring break with her older brother and brand new and annoying stepsister, she is not happy. After all, spring break is a time to tan and lay by the pool, not freeze in the snow as you only get paler. But things get even more complicated when an accident leaves Opal and Jack lost in the middle of nowhere with nothing more than a survival backpack and each other. Though the two were brought together by chance and they disagree on practically everything, they now must rely on each other if they want to get back in one piece. With constant battles being thrown their way that seem nearly impossible to overcome, confessions that are bound to be unleashed, and the blossoming promise of second chances, there is no telling what lies ahead for these two. They only have one mission: find their way back to civilization in time before it's too late.

It's 1861 and slavery is still a poplar practice in the American South. 17 year old Clara is a slave, but she desperately wants to be a free woman. She hates the way she lives and her lack of control over anything in her life. She tries to find happiness in her friends and her lessons with her Mistress on reading and writing. Just when Clara is starting to accept that she will never be anything but a slave, her whole world turns upside down. As the southern part of the country rages over the results of the 1860 presidential election, Clara's life on a New Orleans plantation couldn't possibly be any harder. With talk of states succeeding and a big division being caused between the slaves, Clara's life is suddenly filled with drama, danger, and the ever present feeling of hope that change and freedom are right around the corner.

A collection of short stories by Hugh Howey

i told you not to forget me but you forgot that too. poetry #171 [copyright afterwords 2015]

you haven't really met me until it's three am and we're all alone.