Includes illustrated, fun, phonics stories of no more than 100 words, focusing on phonemes of more than one letter as well as simple polysyllabic words.
To escape the lab, she has to survive the deadliest race on Earth The tests never stopped, but they told her she'd be fine. She was nearly indestructible. She knew it was a lie. Genetic test subjects like her usually died by thirty, and they always died in pain. But on her 21st birthday, she’s given a chance to escape the lab and live forever. She just has to survive the deadliest race on earth. Critical Praise “Vivid and fast-paced, Run Lab Rat Run explores the coming era of human augmentation at every level, from scientific to ethical, asking ‘What if every possibility comes true? Might we split into dozens of species?’ This is the real deal in speculative fiction.” – David Brin, author of The Postmanand Existence. "Gattaca meets the Hunger Games in this dystopian science fiction adventure" - K.A. Fox, USA Today Bestselling Author of the Murphy's Law Series "Shawn C. Butler pulls the reader into a world of genetic enhancements and mutations, artificial intelligence, robots and implants...a cautionary tale; a complex, thought-provoking and twisted story of specieism and discrimination, competition, power and control." - ReadingCafe "5 stars! Recommended tolovers of gripping futuristic tales with themes of society, inequality, and genetic modification. Run Lab Rat Run proved to be an insightful and gripping read, surrounding core themes of society, discrimination, and genetic modification. It was a highly thought-provoking read." - Bookish Beyond “I was instantly immersed in the book. Such fantastic, descriptive language without being verbose. Written so that it was a scarily believable future. A strong female lead who is also beautifully flawed such that we can empathise with her.” – Isobel Ross "A fun and entertaining read that presents science fiction in a very believable way. Brilliant metaphors and imagery that could only be written by someone with personal experience in pushing a body to its limits." - Tim Y “Shawn Butler presents us with a glimpse into this possible future in an entertaining tale of an athletic competition gone mad.” – Lazarus Lake (aka Gary Cantrell), Founder of the Barkley Marathons Inspiration Run Lab Rat Run's core message is about what it means to be genetically engineered. What does “human” mean, and how will we share the planet with bioengineering humans who are, possibly, far superior physically and mentally to our “natural” selves? Will we have a caste system, a hierarchy analogous to white supremacy, with the most modified on top? Those questions and many more occurred to me when CRISPR was introduced to the world.CRISPR offered new way of genetically modifying pretty much anything, cheaply and easily. It’s obvious that within a few years, and far less than a generation, human beings will be editing themselves–first for disease resistance, then for genetic anomalies, and then for, well, whatever we want. If that doesn’t scare you, you’re not paying attention. Run Lab Rat Run is about one very possible world where value is determined by degrees of modification; a world I sincerely hope we do not choose.
Deep beneath a modern metropolis lies the Catacombs, a kingdom of remarkable rats of superior intellect . . . Juniper and his maverick band of rebel rats have been plotting ever since the Bloody Coup turned the Catacombs, a once-peaceful democracy, into a brutal dictatorship ruled by decadent High Minister Killdeer and his vicious henchman, Billycan, a former lab rat with a fondness for butchery. When three young orphan rats—brothers Vincent and Victor and a clever female named Clover—flee the Catacombs in mortal peril and join forces with the rebels, it proves to be the spark that ignites the long-awaited battle to overthrow their oppressors and create a new city: Nightshade City. This digital edition now includes the first chapter of The White Assassin, the second book in the Nightshade Chronicles.
This World Fantasy Award winner in the vein of Animal Farm delves into a lab worthy of a mad Nazi scientist—but run by a brilliantly sadistic rodent. In the annals of American literature, there has never been a character quite like Doctor Rat, PhD. From one of the most indispensable storytellers in speculative fiction, this biting satire introduces a narrator of learned charm and humor, and a twisted logic that is absolutely chilling. Doctor Rat is a credit to his species. A survivor of the most refined scientific experiments, now removed from the maze, he has become a valued and productive member of the academic community. When he must administer a lethal dose, he comforts his fellow rats with his compassionate slogan: “Death is freedom.” But everything changes when animals worldwide begin to rebel, refusing to accept their proper places in the natural order of things: as test subjects, pets, or food. And only Doctor Rat has the courage to defend mankind from the ungrateful animal kingdom. Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “dazzlingly original” and “occasionally quite beautiful,” Doctor Rat is a sly and stylish indictment of fanaticism in mice and men. “A truly imaginative impresario . . . [Doctor Rat] teases your conscience with educated wit and versatile improvisation, not to mention the casual flick of the tail about to be cut off.” —Kirkus Reviews
"One of the 25 Greatest Rock Memoirs of All Time” --Rolling Stone Magazine (#8) “Sensitive and emotionally raw… it’s also wildly funny”--The New York Times Book Review A powerfully original memoir of pregnancy and mental illness by the legendary founder of the seminal rock band Throwing Muses, 'a magnificently charged union of Sylvia Plath and Patti Smith' - The Guardian Kristin Hersh was a preternaturally bright teenager, starting college at fifteen and with her band, Throwing Muses, playing rock clubs she was too young to frequent. By the age of seventeen she was living in her car, unable to sleep for the torment of strange songs swimming around her head - the songs for which she is now known. But just as her band was taking off, Hersh was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia. Rat Girl chronicles the unraveling of a young woman's personality, culminating in a suicide attempt; and then her arduous yet inspiring recovery, her unplanned pregnancy at the age of 19, and the birth of her first son. Playful, vivid, and wonderfully warm, this is a visceral and brave memoir by a truly original performer, told in a truly original voice.
The Rat family needs a vacation--and what could be better than a dude ranch? But the owners of the ranch turn out to be--horrors--rat terriers! In eight riotous stories you will also meet a pig who learns table manners and a mouse who keeps house for a tomcat. A funny companion to Rats on the Roof.
It is not only the past that lies in ruins in Patna, it is also the present. But that is not the only truth about the city that Amitava Kumar explores in this vivid, entertaining account of his hometown. We accompany him through many Patnas, the myriad cities locked within the city—the shabby reality of the present-day capital of Bihar; Pataliputra, the storied city of emperors; the dreamlike embodiment of the city in the minds and hearts of those who have escaped contemporary Patna's confines. Full of fascinating observations and impressions, A Matter of Rats reveals a challenging and enduring city that exerts a lasting pull on all those who drift into its orbit. Kumar's ruminations on one of the world's oldest cities, the capital of India's poorest province, are also a meditation on how to write about place. His memory is partial. All he has going for him is his attentiveness. He carefully observes everything that surrounds him in Patna: rats and poets, artists and politicians, a girl's picture in a historian's study, and a sheet of paper on his mother's desk. The result is this unique book, as cutting as it is honest.
Pearl deals with death, life, and family in this haunting, humorous, and poignant debut that School Library Journal calls a “well-written depiction of adolescence and the pervasive, perplexing nature of loss.” The world can tip at any moment…a fact that fifteen-year-old Pearl is all too aware of when her mom dies after giving birth to her baby sister, Rose. Rose, who looks exactly like a baby rat, all pink, wrinkled, and writhing. This little Rat has destroyed everything, even ruined the wonderful relationship that Pearl had with her stepfather, the Rat’s biological father. Mom, though…Mom’s dead but she can’t seem to leave. She keeps visiting Pearl. Smoking, cursing, guiding. Told across the year following her mother’s death, Pearl’s story is full of bittersweet humor and heartbreaking honesty about how you deal with grief that cuts you to the bone, as she tries not only to come to terms with losing her mother, but also the fact that her sister—The Rat—is a constant reminder of why her mom is no longer around.
A tale of Nazi lives, mass murder, love, Cold War espionage, a mysterious death in the Vatican, and the Nazi escape route to Perón's Argentina,"the Ratline"—from the author of the internationally acclaimed, award-winning East West Street. "Hypnotic, shocking, and unputdownable." —John le Carré, internationally renowned bestselling author Baron Otto von Wächter, a lawyer, husband, and father, was also a senior SS officer and war criminal, indicted for the murder of more than a hundred thousand Poles and Jews. Although he was given a new identity and life via “the Ratline” to Argentina, the escape route taken by thousands of other Nazis, Wächter and his plan were cut short by his mysterious, shocking death in Rome. In the midst of the burgeoning Cold War, was he being recruited by the Americans or by the Soviets—or perhaps both? Or was he poisoned by one side or the other, as his son believes—or by both? With the cooperation of Wächter’s son Horst, who believes his father to have been “a good man,” award-winning author Philippe Sands draws on a trove of family correspondence to piece together Wächter’s extraordinary life before and during the war, his years evading justice, and his sudden, puzzling death. A riveting work of history, The Ratline is part historical detective story, part love story, part family memoir, and part Cold War espionage thriller.