The Star Beast

The Star Beast is a 1954 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein about a high school senior who discovers that his late father's extra-terrestrial pet is more than it appears to be.

Abdullah was a young and not very prosperous carpet dealer. His father, who had been disappointed in him, had left him only enough money to open a modest booth in the Bazaar. When he was not selling carpets, Abdullah spent his time daydreaming. In his dreams he was not the son of his father, but the long-lost son of a prince. There was also a princess who had been betrothed to him at birth. He was content with his life and his daydreams until, one day, a stranger sold him a magic carpet.

"Mom didn’t think it was funny when I took off my leg at school, put it in my locker, and then tied a rag around my stump with fake blood on it. After that, though, the kids at school pretty much knew if anyone was going to be cracking jokes about my leg, it was gonna be me."
So says thirteen-year-old Alastair Hudson in this darkly humorous comingof- age story about the relationship between Alastair—who calls himself Stump to draw shocked attention to his missing leg—and his father, who left the family after the accident that resulted in the amputation five years earlier. ...

At the age of 16, it's standard procedure for every girl at Lynnie Russo's posh Los Angeles prep school to get a car. So on her 16th birthday, Lynnie is startled when she opens the small gift box from her father—it doesn't contain the shiny new set of keys she was expecting. Instead she finds a worn-out bird charm bracelet. What can he be thinking? When she cuts school to go try surfing so as to have a special day, instead of grounding her, her father hands her a manuscript box and says, "Your mother wanted you to have this when it seemed you were losing perspective. I think now's the time."

Sorcerer's Son

As Cray Ormoru, son of the enchantress Delivev, grows to be a man in magical Castle Spinweb, he yearns to find his father, who disappeared years before on a heroic mission. And so Cray sets out on the journey which would take him from town to castle to a fortress of bronze, totally unprepared for the sorrows and dangers that lie ahead. For the fate of Cray's father would only be discovered by the light of demon fire..