{"product_id":"birthright-isbn-9780515137118","title":"Birthright","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom beloved author Nora Roberts\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003ecomes the #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller about shattering loss and shocking discovery—set in a small town nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains…\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eWhen five-thousand-year-old human bones are found at a construction site in the small town of Woodsboro, the news draws archaeologist Callie Dunbrook out of her sabbatical and into a whirlwind of adventure, danger, and romance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhile overseeing the dig, she must try to make sense of a cloud of death and misfortune that hangs over the project—fueling rumors that the site is cursed. She must cope with the presence of her irritating\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003ebut irresistible\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003eex-husband, Jake. And when a stranger claims to know a secret about her privileged Boston childhood, she must question her own past as well...“Suspenseful.”—\u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Pulls at the heartstrings.”—\u003ci\u003eThe Columbus Dispatch\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Another must-read by Nora Roberts…A healthy dose of intrigue [and] ahhh-inspiring romance.”\u003ci\u003e—Grand   Forks Herald\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Nora Roberts is one of America’s bestselling writers, and \u003ci\u003eBirthright\u003c\/i\u003e makes it obvious why…Entertaining.”—\u003ci\u003eFort Worth Star-Telegram\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “In a word, it’s awesome…The dialogue between Callie and Jake is smart, often humorous and fun.”—\u003ci\u003eThe State \u003c\/i\u003e(Columbia,  SC)\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “The literary equivalent of a big delicious meal whipped up by a talented home cook. She offers a dash of exoticism and innovation…Satisfying.”—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An electrifying story filled with danger, heartache, love, passion and murder. An amazingly intense and utterly gripping tale!”—\u003ci\u003eRT Book Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eNora   Roberts\u003c\/b\u003e is the #1 \u003ci\u003eNew   York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of more than   200 novels. She is also the author of the bestselling In Death series written   under the pen name J. D. Robb. There are more than 500 million copies of her   books in print.Prologue\u003cp\u003eThe bright red nose of Rudolph, his very favorite reindeer,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eblinked on and off until Douglas’s eyes were dazzled.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe tried to entertain himself by counting the red dots that\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eswam in front of his eyes, the way the Count counted on\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSesame Street.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne, two, three! Three red dots! Ha ha ha ha ha!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut it made him feel a little bit sick.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe mall was full of noise, the blasts of Christmas music\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethat added to his impatience, the shouts of other children,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe crying of babies.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe knew all about crying babies now that he had a little\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003esister. When babies cried you were supposed to pick them\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eup and walk around with them singing songs, or sit with\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethem in the rocking chair and pat them on the back till they\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eburped.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBabies could burp right out loud and nobody made\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethem say scuze me. Because, dummy, babies couldn’t talk!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut Jessica wasn’t crying now. She was sleeping in the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003estroller and looked like a doll baby in her red dress with the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewhite frilly junk on it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat’s what Grandma called Jessica. Her little doll\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ebaby. But sometimes Jessie cried and cried and her face\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003egot all red and scrunched up. Nothing would stop her from\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ecrying, not the singing or the walking or the rocking chair.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDouglas didn’t think she looked much like a doll baby\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethen. She looked mean and mad. When that happened,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMama got too tired to play with him. She was never too\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003etired to play with him before Jessica got in her belly.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSometimes he didn’t like having a little sister who cried\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand pooped in her pants and made Mama too tired to play.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut most of the time it was okay. He liked to look at her\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand watch the way she kicked her legs. And when she\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003egrabbed his finger, really tight, it made him laugh.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrandma said he had to protect Jessica because that’s\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewhat big brothers do. He’d worried so much about it that\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ehe’d snuck in to sleep on the floor beside her crib just in\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ecase the monsters who lived in the closet came to eat her in\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe nighttime.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e2 _ Nora Roberts\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut he’d woken in his own bed in the morning, so\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003emaybe he’d only dreamed he’d gone in to protect her.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThey shuffled up in line, and Douglas glanced, a bit uneasily,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eat the smiling elves who danced around Santa’s\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eworkshop. They looked a little bit mean and mad—like\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJessica when she was crying really loud.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf Jessica didn’t wake up, she wasn’t going to get to sit\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eon Santa’s lap. It was stupid for Jessie to be all dressed up\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eto sit on Santa’s lap, because she couldn’t say scuze me\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewhen she burped, and she couldn’t tell Santa what she\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewanted for Christmas.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut he could. He was three and a half years old. He was\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ea big boy now. Everyone said so.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMama crouched down and spoke to him softly. When\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eshe asked if he had to pee, he shook his head. She had that\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003etired look on her face and he was afraid if they went to the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ebathroom they’d never get back in line and see Santa.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe gave his hand a squeeze, smiled at him and promised\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eit wouldn’t be much longer.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe wanted a Hot Wheels, and a G.I. Joe, and a Fisher-\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePrice garage, and some Matchbox cars and a big yellow\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ebulldozer like the one his friend Mitch got for his birthday.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJessica was too young to play with real toys. She just\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003egot girl stuff like funny dresses and stuffed animals. Girls\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewere pretty dopey, but baby girls were even more dopey.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut he was going to tell Santa about Jessica, so he\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewouldn’t forget to bring stuff for her when he came down\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe chimney at their house.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMama was talking to someone, but he didn’t listen. The\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003egrown-up talk didn’t interest him. Especially when the line\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003emoved, people shifted, and he saw Santa.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe was big. It seemed to Douglas, on the first ripple of\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efear, that Santa wasn’t so big in the cartoons or in the pictures\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ein the storybooks.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe was sitting on his throne in front of his workshop.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere were lots of elves and reindeer and snowmen.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEverything was moving—heads and arms. Big, big smiles.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSanta’s beard was very long. You could hardly see his\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBIRTHRIGHT _ 3\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eface. And when he let out a big, booming ho ho ho, the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003esound of it squeezed Douglas’s bladder like mean fingers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLights flashed, a baby wailed, elves grinned.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe was a big boy now, a big boy now. He wasn’t afraid\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eof Santa Claus.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMama tugged his hand, told him to go ahead. Go sit on\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSanta’s lap. She was smiling, too.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe took a step forward, then another, on legs that began\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eto shake. And Santa hoisted him up.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMerry Christmas! Have you been a good boy?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTerror struck Douglas’s heart like a hatchet. The elves\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewere closing in, Rudolph’s red nose blinked. The snowman\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eturned his wide, round head and leered.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe big man in the red suit held him tight and stared at\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ehim with tiny, tiny eyes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eScreaming, struggling, Douglas tumbled out of Santa’s\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003elap, hit the platform hard. And wet his pants.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePeople moved in, voices streamed above him so all he\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ecould do was curl up and wail.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThen Mama was there, pulling him close, telling him it\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewas all right. Fussing over him because he’d hit his nose\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand made it bleed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe kissed him, stroked him and didn’t scold him for\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewetting his pants. His breath was still coming in hard little\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003egasps as he burrowed into her.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe gave him a big hug, lifted him up so he could press\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ehis face to her shoulder.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStill murmuring to him, she turned.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd began to scream. And began to run.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eClinging to her, Douglas looked down. And saw Jessica’s\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003estroller was empty.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Berkley","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300586737893,"sku":"NP9780515137118","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780515137118.jpg?v=1767722659","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/birthright-isbn-9780515137118","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}