After a close encounter of the hotspot kind, Nadine’s paws are full figuring out how to feed her thirsty vampire of a brother, trying to convince the CDC she actually can be a shapeshifter infected with the lycanthropy virus, and dodging the pack of crazy women out for her blood—or her brother’s body. She’s not sure if they want her or her brother, but she doesn’t want to find out. Nadine knows one thing for certain: her backwater town is too small for everybody coming to pay her family of two a visit. Maybe she doesn’t have a male platypus’s venomous spurs, but she’s ready to put up a fight to protect her brother, and not even the sexy plaid-clad stranger strutting his stuff is going to lure her away from home. Assuming she’ll be given a choice in the matter is only the first of her mistakes. Warning: this novel contains the mythical plaidypus and other deadly puns, romance, bodies, a minimum of two Canadians, and a mandatory magical adventure to Australia. Proceed with caution. Plaidypus can be read as a standalone.
Single, female lycanthrope: check. Bills to pay: check. A bounty for the hottest single lycanthrope on the block: check. As the sole holdout of the corporate buyout of her apartment building, Joyce Gray is determined to transform her stubborn pride into a masterpiece in order to stay off the streets. Dipping her hands into the dark world of bounty hunting would give her the funds needed to find a new home, somewhere safe from the wolf who’d infected her with the lycanthropy virus. On the surface, the job is simple. For a period of three days, she must keep Wayne Barnes from returning to the New York City area. The owner of the corporation determined to reduce her apartment complex to rubble has a reputation of being straitlaced and playing for keeps. Worse, her virus is ready to roll over to have her belly rubbed and enjoy some positive and intimate attention. But with twenty thousand on the table and a chance to get ahead for once in her life, she’s prepared to get her hands dirty no matter the cost. What she doesn’t know will change her life and plunge her into the murky depths of the black market, where secrets are worth more than money, life is cheap, and anything can be purchased for a price.
Lester and Reba not only provide us with a bold new framework for weaving read-alouds seamlessly into the fabric of the classroom, they also show us how to do it with grace and art. At the heart of their work are richly annotated lists of read-alouds for a variety of purposes. The authors' intimate knowledge and experience with these books make the annotations sing. - Lucy Calkins Open this book and invite the richness, the excitement of story and poetry into your classroom every single day. Take note, chapter by chapter, of the endless possibilities and ways to steer your students toward the powerful enchantment of books. Laminack and Wadsworth ask you to never forget "the power of literacy in the lives of learners," and this book will serve as a perfect reminder, time and time again. - Rebecca Kai Dotlich, author of Lemonade Sun and Other Poems of Summer The read-aloud of yesteryear was often limited in its ambition and application - a well-intended routine for getting students' attention or settling them down. But today's read-aloud is a vibrant, deliberate part of good teaching, an essential, effective strategy for introducing sophisticated ideas to young learners throughout the school day by immersing them in rich language and literate behaviors. The influence of reading aloud can be profound, and Learning Under the Influence of Language and Literature shows you how to plan for and implement the read-aloud for maximum instructional effect. Learning Under the Influence of Language and Literature revolutionizes the read-aloud. Lester Laminack and Reba Wadsworth lay out six types of read-alouds each of which targets key instructional goals, including: addressing standards in the curriculum building community demonstrating the craft of writing enriching vocabulary enticing children to read independently modeling fluent reading. Whether you read aloud once a day, or six times a day, Laminack and Wadsworth give you all the strategies you need to make the read-aloud a successful and effective way to lead your students to new understandings. You'll discover how, why, and when to read aloud, and find both specific suggestions for planning instruction around it and numerous ideas for entry points into it. Best of all, they provide an extensively annotated list of four hundred titles to use with each of the six types of read-aloud, including ample suggestions for how each fits within the reading and writing curriculum.
Pepper Lowrance, formerly known as Penelope Francis, continues her search for the miscreant vampire who stole her life and her humanity, transforming her into a vampire. With the master of the Lowrance brood at her side, she takes the first steps towards toppling her father's empire in order to protect her new kind and spare her mother from a fate worse than only death. But when someone unleashes a horde of newly turned and hungry vampires on an unsuspecting Manhattan, Pepper pursues her role as a seeker of justice for the dead and a protector of the living. Taking to the streets as the Silent Stalker is only the beginning of the hunt for the culprits behind the deaths plaguing the city. To find the answers she needs, she must embrace what it means to be Emerick's partner in life and beyond death while also accepting everything she has become—including being a vampire.
This wonderful resource from two authors with an infectious enthusiasm for children's literature will help readers select and share quality books for and with young children. Specifically focused on infants through the third grade, Sharing the Journey contains descriptive book annotations, instructive commentary, and creative teaching activities tailored for those important years. Extensive book lists throughout will help readers build a library of quality children's literature. Books representing other cultures are included to help celebrate diversity as well as cultural connection. Genre chapters include poetry, fantasy, and realistic and historical fiction. A chapter on informational books demonstrates how young children can be introduced to, and learn to enjoy, nonfiction.
Join the world of balloons, pancakes, and musical instruments—just a few items to help improve early literacy in the library, the classroom, and at home. Literacy-builders covered range from music and instruments to magnetic letters, alphabet beads, and food. Literacy is a popular topic of discussion among librarians. Especially important is "early literacy," what children know about reading and writing before they can actually read and write. In this book, experienced librarians Kathy Barco and Melanie Borski-Howard share hands-on techniques that they have used to successfully promote early literacy and encourage family involvement. Storytime and Beyond teaches readers how to use "literacy doodads"—inexpensive props that add excitement to storytimes and can be used outside the library or classroom—to enhance the basic components of any early literacy program: talking, singing, reading, writing, and playing. Many of the doodads can be created as family do-it-yourself projects, and some can be adapted to work with non-readers of any age. Instruments can also be a great way to get children's attention and teach literacy skills, whether it's a drum to beat while reading a story or a maraca for children to shake during a song, and lesson plans for musical storytimes address how to use rhythm, singing, and dancing to make early literacy fun.
When someone steals Diana's cat, a former lab animal rescued from death's door, she calls on one of the most dangerous beings in the universe for help. Cutting a deal with the devil isn't the smartest move, but there's no way in hell she'll abandon Mr. Flooferson the Magnificent to his fate. Teaming up with the son of a demon, an angel, and one hell of a woman might push Diana to the limits of her courage and sanity. Unless she wants to sell her soul to the devil, she must cope with her new partner, make the most of a bad situation, and find out who stole her cat and why. What she learns will forever change humanity—and lead to a battle destined to forever change the heavens and the devil's many hells.
