You've seen your own blood, when you have a cut or a scrape. You can see the veins in your wrist, and you've seen the scab that forms as a cut heals. But do you know what blood does for you? Without blood, you couldn't play, or grow, or learn. That's because just about every part of your body needs blood, from your muscles to your bones to your brain. How does your body use blood? Read and find out!
This vividly rendered Civil War history presents “a lively guided tour of Washington during the 24 hours or so around Lincoln’s swearing-in” (Adam Goodheart, Washington Post). By March 4, 1865, the Civil War had left intractable wounds on the nation. Tens of thousands crowded Washington’s Capitol grounds that day to see Abraham Lincoln take the oath for a second term—and witness what was perhaps the greatest inaugural address in American history. Lincoln stunned the nation by arguing that both sides had been wrong, and that the war’s unimaginable horrors might have been God’s just verdict on the national sin of slavery. In Every Drop of Blood, Edward Achorn reveals the nation’s capital on that momentous day—with its mud, sewage, and saloons, its prostitutes, spies, reporters, social-climbing spouses and power-hungry politicians. Swirling around the complex figure of Lincoln, a host of characters are brought to life, from grievously wounded Union colonel Selden Connor to the embarrassingly drunk new vice president, Andrew Johnson, to poet-journalist Walt Whitman; from soldiers’ advocate Clara Barton and African American leader Frederick Douglass to conflicted actor John Wilkes Booth. In indelible scenes, Achorn captures the frenzy and division in the nation’s capital at this crucial moment in America’s history. His story offers new understanding of our great national crisis, and echoes down the decades to resonate in our own time.
A bold and original retelling of the story of race in America Why has a nation founded upon precepts of freedom and universal humanity continually produced, through its preoccupation with race, a divided and constrained populace? This question is the starting point for Scott Malcomson's riveting and deeply researched account, which amplifies history with memoir and reportage. From the beginning, Malcomson shows, a nation obsessed with invention began to create a new idea of race, investing it with unprecedented moral and social meaning. A succession of visionaries and opportunists, self-promoters and would-be reformers carried on the process, helping to define "black," "white," and "Indian" in opposition to one another, and in service to the aspirations and anxieties of each era. But the people who had to live within those definitions found them constraining. They sought to escape the limits of race imposed by escaping from other races or by controlling, confining, eliminating, or absorbing them, in a sad, absurd parade of events. Such efforts have never truly succeeded, yet their legacy haunts us, as we unhappily re-enact the drama of separatism in our schools, workplaces, and communities. By not only recounting the shared American tragicomedy of race but helping us to own, even to embrace it, this important book offers us a way at last to move beyond it.
Mohan Karan has been blessed with exceptional good looks-and a rare blood type. An orphan with few connections, he finds that his degree in English literature is unable to secure him a proper job. However, he discovers he can make good money by selling his blood to a private blood bank. And while this opens up unexpected possibilities for this unemployed graduate, little does he realize that it all comes at great personal cost. This short, blistering novel launched Joginder Paul's literary career, cleverly exploring the insidious ways in which the mighty habitually prey upon the vulnerable. Incisive in its observations, A Drop of Blood also ably tackles themes of female desire. Snehal Shingavi's lucid translation makes this important work available in English for the first time.
Magic, Vampires & Family Drama Since arriving in Greenvalley, Lucille has made new friends, discovered she’s a witch, and started hunting monsters. Her life seems perfect, apart from the occasional life-and-death situation. But there’s one thing she’s sorely missing: her father’s affection. When a vampire coven takes up residence in the crypts of Greenvalley Cemetery, Lucille and her friends take up the fight. However, everything changes when she encounters the charming Count Artorius and his daughter Isabelle. Despite being undead, his coven offers more love and affection than Lucille’s father ever had. Lucille yearns to join his coven, but to do so, she must die. A Drop of Blood is a bonus adventure in the action-packed YA urban fantasy series, Ashuan Greed. It takes place between part 3 and 4 of A Drop of Magic, but can be read as a standalone. Grab this free adventure filled with danger, longing, and the search for one's true identity today.
Anthony Murphy panted as he ran through the twisty tunnel. He could hear the things behind him, but he couldn’t see them. They shuffled and gibbered in the dark tunnel as he desperately tried to outrun them. He knew moving and starting high school would be hard, but this was ridiculous. He had started out the week with high hopes, and now his new friend was missing, his family was in danger, and his blood was a hot commodity. All it took to get his newly discovered relatives back to their home was a few drops of his blood, but apparently, they wanted a lot more than that.
When clues link a beautiful woman's disappearance to a sensitive mission to deliver an agent across the North Korean border, Bing, a director of state security in a volatile region of China, receives reluctant help from his uncle, Inspector O, to navigate an increasingly complex investigation.
