Meet Tasha: she lives with her divorcee mother, who?s back on the dating circuit, much to Tasha?s horror. Then her mother invites obnoxious, self satisfied novelist Jed Hazel and his cold, uncommunicative daughter Chloe to live with them, and Tasha?s world falls apart - but when she fights back by writing about their relationship on her blog, Blabbermouth, things go from bad to worse. And then her mother decidesthat a family holiday to the Grand Canyon will bring them closer together...
Tasha Flanigan loves to talk, especially on her blog, and when her mom brings home a creepy boyfriend and his daughter, Tasha can't help but talk about them.
When fourteen-year-old Telly Kade finds a suicide note from her best friend, but Kimmie66 is still present on the virtual reality worlds of the Internet, she is determined to uncover the truth about Kimmie's mysterious life to find out if it is a prank or a ghost.
Contributions by David M. Ball, Ian Gordon, Andrew Loman, Andrea A. Lunsford, James Lyons, Ana Merino, Graham J. Murphy, Chris Murray, Adam Rosenblatt, Julia Round, Joe Sutliff Sanders, Stephen Weiner, and Paul Williams Starting in the mid-1980s, a talented set of comics artists changed the American comic book industry forever by introducing adult sensibilities and aesthetic considerations into popular genres such as superhero comics and the newspaper strip. Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's Watchmen (1987) revolutionized the former genre in particular. During this same period, underground and alternative genres began to garner critical acclaim and media attention beyond comics-specific outlets, as best represented by Art Spiegelman's Maus. Publishers began to collect, bind, and market comics as “graphic novels,” and these appeared in mainstream bookstores and in magazine reviews. The Rise of the American Comics Artist: Creators and Contexts brings together new scholarship surveying the production, distribution, and reception of American comics from this pivotal decade to the present. The collection specifically explores the figure of the comics creator—either as writer, as artist, or as writer and artist—in contemporary US comics, using creators as focal points to evaluate changes to the industry, its aesthetics, and its critical reception. The book also includes essays on landmark creators such as Joe Sacco, Art Spiegelman, and Chris Ware, as well as insightful interviews with Jeff Smith (Bone), Jim Woodring (Frank) and Scott McCloud (Understanding Comics). As comics have reached new audiences, through different material and electronic forms, the public's broad perception of what comics are has changed. The Rise of the American Comics Artist surveys the ways in which the figure of the creator has been at the heart of these evolutions.
“A fantastical ghost story and a suspenseful military mystery . . . A daringly original fantasy novel” from the acclaimed authors of The Steel Seraglio (Publishers Weekly, starred review). In 1740, an Austrian infantry company more than two hundred strong arrives at the Prussian border. Their orders: to defend the town of Narutsin when war—inevitably—breaks out. But they don’t get the warm welcome they’re expecting. If anything, the locals seem strangely secretive, and the soldiers who previously garrisoned in the village have disappeared. Fearing the villagers may be consorting with the enemy, the commander orders his prim young lieutenant Klaes to investigate . . . On the outskirts of town, in a dilapidated manor known as Pokoj, the road-weary soldiers make their home for the winter. Accompanying them is Drozde, a camp follower and entertainer who possesses a very special talent: she can see and communicate with the dead. She’s the only one who knows that the crumbling mansion is far from empty. It’s teeming with ghosts—and they know her. Each spirit tells Drozde how they became a part of Pokoj’s sprawling history, hinting at its future as well as its past. As she listens to their tales, it becomes apparent that the story of the manor hasn’t yet ended—and that she and Klaes have their own parts to play in the horror that is to come . . . “All of the characters come alive on the pages—even the ghosts. . . . A compelling, accomplished novel.” —Strange Horizons “Delightfully odd . . . Subtle horror and extra special creepiness . . . A fine example of what the Careys are capable of.” —Starburst
Building on the author's work in The Big Book of Teen Reading Lists, this book provides 101 new and revised reading lists created in consultation with teachers and public librariansan invaluable resource for any educator who plans activities for children that involve using literature. Nancy J. Keane is the author of the award-winning website BooktalksQuick and Simple (nancykeane.com/booktalks), as well as the creator of the open collaboration wiki ATN Book Lists. With her latest book, 101 Great, Ready-to-Use Book Lists for Teens, she provides another indispensable resource for librarians and teachers. The lists in this book are the result of careful consultation with teachers and public librarians, and from discussions on professional email lists. These indispensable lists can be utilized in many waysfor example, as handouts to teachers as suggested reading, to create book displays, or as display posters in the library. This collection will facilitate the creation of valuable reading lists to support the extended reading demands of today's teens.
Get a backstage pass and see Judas Priest like you’ve never seen them before in this electrifying memoir by the band’s cofounder and former lead guitarist. Judas Priest formed in the industrial city of Birmingham, England, in 1969. With its distinctive twin-guitar sound, studs-and-leather image, and international sales of over 50 million records, Judas Priest became the archetypal heavy metal band in the 1980s. Iconic tracks like "Breaking the Law," "Living after Midnight," and "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" helped the band achieve extraordinary success, but no one from the band has stepped out to tell their or the band's story until now. As the band approaches its golden anniversary, fans will at last be able to delve backstage into the decades of shocking, hilarious, and haunting stories that surround the heavy metal institution. In Heavy Duty, guitarist K.K. Downing discusses the complex personality conflicts, the business screw-ups, the acrimonious relationship with fellow heavy metal band Iron Maiden, as well as how Judas Priest found itself at the epicenter of a storm of parental outrage that targeted heavy metal in the '80s. He also describes his role in cementing the band's trademark black leather and studs image that would not only become synonymous with the entire genre, but would also give singer Rob Halford a viable outlet by which to express his sexuality. Lastly, he recounts the life-changing moment when he looked at his bandmates on stage during a 2009 concert and thought, "This is the last show." Whatever the topic, whoever's involved, K.K. doesn't hold back.
Grab your cameras and get ready to take a blurry photo: it’s time to revisit the absolute best cryptids the Invader ZIM comics have to offer! Truthshriekers, the truth is out there. Actually, the truth is right here. In this book. Hamsquatch? Check. Agrillator? You betcha. SUPERBEAR? Most definitely. From a forest packed with sasquatch varieties to an abandoned amusement park teeming with supernatural creatures, this collection is creature-filled to the merman gills! Contains issues 14, 19, 27, and 31 of the Oni Press series Invader ZIM.
A memoir by the heavy metal icon and reality television star shares perspectives on his rise, fall and return as the frontman for the rock band, Twisted Sister.
