When a dead German paratrooper lands in his street, Lev is caught looting the body and dragged to jail, fearing for his life. He shares his cell with the charismatic and grandiose Kolya, a handsome young soldier arrested on desertion charges. Instead of the standard bullet in the back of the head, Lev and Kolya are given a chance at saving their own lives by complying with an outrageous directive: secure a dozen eggs for a powerful colonel to use

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Mr. Putter gets an old cat to share his life with him.

Simon the cat is so old that most of his parts have stopped working, but just when he is ready to breathe his last breath, his family brings home a new kitten for him to raise.

Two nursing home roommates become friends and plot an adventure.

Lily is haunted by memories--of who she once was, and of a person, long gone, who defined her existence. She has nothing but time now, as she recounts the tale of Snow Flower, and asks the gods for forgiveness. In nineteenth-century China, when wives and daughters were foot-bound and lived in almost total seclusion, the women in one remote Hunan county developed their own secret code for communication: nu shu ("women's writing"). They painted letters...

On the first night of Hanukkah, Old Bear wanders into Bubba Brayna's house and receives a delicious helping of potato latkes when she mistakes him for the rabbi. Includes a recipe for latkes.

James has a bunch of balloons, each of which holds a special memory, but as his grandfather ages and loses his own balloons, James discovers that he is gaining new ones.

During a big snow, Mr. Putter decides to write a mystery novel, but what he ends up with is entirely different.

Henry and his slobbering dog Mudge are visiting Great-Grandpa Bill, who lives in a house with lots of other grandpas. Henry likes the grandpas because they play checkers and rock in rocking chairs. Mudge likes them because they feed him mint candies. When Henry and Mudge leave the house to go exploring, they find a beautiful swimming pond. They come back to let everybody know, and soon all the grandpas want to go swimming. Henry's father says, "We'll...