After his execution, a detested crown prince discovers himself in the past without his status and power but with enough knowledge to seek revenge. Executed for crimes he did not commit, Crown Prince William Dran Evronsworth regresses to a time when he was just Willow, an unrecognized shepherd in the province. Determined to achieve revenge against the one who betrayed him, Willow returns to the capital a little (but not that much) wiser, gathering strange allies along the way. Why is Ny, an insignificant beggar, constantly putting himself in life or death situations? Who is the girl who speaks with crows? Also, there's an apocalypse brewing.
NYT bestselling author Susan Wittig Albert returns to Depression-era Darling, Alabama . . . where the ladies of the Dahlias, the local garden club, are happy to dig a little dirt! In the seventh book of this popular series, it looks like the music has ended for Darling’s favorite barbershop quartet, the Lucky Four Clovers—just days before the Dixie Regional Barbershop Competition. Another unlucky break: a serious foul-up in Darling’s telephone system—and not a penny for repairs. And while liquor is legal again, moonshine isn’t. Sheriff Buddy Norris needs a little luck when he goes into Briar Swamp to confront Cypress County’s most notorious bootlegger. What he finds upends his sense of justice. Once again, Susan Wittig Albert has told a charming story filled with richly human characters who face the Great Depression with courage and grace. She reminds us that friends offer the best of themselves to each other, community is what holds us together, and luck is what you make it. Bonus features: Liz Lacy’s Garden Gate column on “lucky” plants, plus the Dahlias’ collection of traditional Southern pie recipes and a dash of cookery history. Reading group questions, more recipes, and Depression-era info @www.DarlingDahlias.com “Captivating . . . Charming characters, a fast-paced plot, and a strong sense of history help make this a superior cozy.” —Publishers Weekly “The author of the popular China Bayles mysteries brings a small Southern town to life and vividly captures an era and culture—the Depression, segregation, class differences, the role of women in the South—with authentic period details. Her book fairly sizzles with the strength of the women of Darling.” —Library Journal Starred Review
Clover discovers the Magical Animal Adoption Agency in the first in a marvelous new illustrated chapter book series! Despite her name, Clover has always felt decidedly unlucky. So when she stumbles upon a mysterious cottage in the Woods, she can hardly believe her good fortune. It's the Magical Animal Adoption Agency, and it houses creatures of all kinds. Fairy horses, unicorns, and a fiery young dragon are just the beginning! Mr. Jams, the Agency's owner, agrees to hire her as summer helper and Clover hopes her luck has finally changed. But when she's left alone to care for the Agency, a sneaky witch comes after the magical creatures! Will Clover outsmart her in time to protect the animals? The first installment in a new illustrated chapter book series by Kallie George, featuring enchanting illustrations by Alexandra Boiger, will charm young readers as Clover learns that courage and heart can be even more powerful than good luck.
After making it through the Subterranean Lake with the gang, Yuto and his monsters prepare for the next event: a raid boss battle to celebrate the unlocking of Zone Five! But before the event, Yuto stumbles upon a rare ingredient. As the rumors of his coveted culinary discovery spread, Yuto finds more and more players flocking to him in the hopes of gleaning information about it—even in the middle of the raid boss event! The event brings out new and familiar faces alike. Can everyone manage to work together to take down the boss?
Despite her name, Clover has always felt decidedly unlucky. So when she stumbles upon a mysterious cottage in the Woods, she can hardly believe her good fortune. It's the Magical Animal Adoption Agency, and it houses creatures of all kinds. Fairy horses, unicorns, and a fiery young dragon are just the beginning! Mr. Jams, the Agency's owner, agrees to hire her as summer helper and Clover hopes her luck has finally changed. But when she's left alone to care for the Agency, a sneaky witch comes after the magical creatures! Will Clover outsmart her in time to protect the animals? The first installment in a new illustrated chapter book series by Kallie George, featuring enchanting illustrations by Alexandra Boiger, will charm young readers as Clover learns that courage and heart can be even more powerful than good luck. Praise for Clover's Luck "[This] gentle tale of magic and self-reliance will entertain confident new independent readers. Clover's sweet story is a good next step for lovers of the Magic Tree House." -Kirkus Reviews "The first novel in George's new series is a charming story, delicately written, with a winning heroine. Clover's first adventure with the magical animals at the agency comes to a conclusion that will satisfy young readers." -Booklist Online
There is trouble in Xanth again—all kinds of trouble, in fact. The Gap Dragon had escaped from the Gap and was ravaging across the land. The forget-spell that had covered the Gap was breaking up into small forget-whorls that wandered about, giving amnesia to all they touched. Good Magician Humfrey might have had the Answer, but he had overdosed on water from the Fountain of Youth and was only a helpless baby. And Ivy, three-year-old daughter of King Dor and Queen Irene, as lost in the jungles south of the Gap. While Irene sought her without much hope, Ivy was wandering further into danger, her memories erased by a passing forget-whorl. Her path was leading her directly to where the Gap Dragon was seeking dinner.
Using real stories with quantitative reasoning skills enmeshed in the story line is a powerful and logical way to teach biology and show its relevance to the lives of future citizens, regardless of whether they are science specialists or laypeople.” —from the introduction to Science Stories You Can Count On This book can make you a marvel of classroom multitasking. First, it helps you achieve a serious goal: to blend 12 areas of general biology with quantitative reasoning in ways that will make your students better at evaluating product claims and news reports. Second, its 51 case studies are a great way to get students engaged in science. Who wouldn’t be glad to skip the lecture and instead delve into investigating cases with titles like these: • “A Can of Bull? Do Energy Drinks Really Provide a Source of Energy?” • “ELVIS Meltdown! Microbiology Concepts of Culture, Growth, and Metabolism” • “The Case of the Druid Dracula” • “As the Worm Turns: Speciation and the Maggot Fly” • “The Dead Zone: Ecology and Oceanography in the Gulf of Mexico” Long-time pioneers in the use of educational case studies, the authors have written two other popular NSTA Press books: Start With a Story (2007) and Science Stories: Using Case Studies to Teach Critical Thinking (2012). Science Stories You Can Count On is easy to use with both biology majors and nonscience students. The cases are clearly written and provide detailed teaching notes and answer keys on a coordinating website. You can count on this book to help you promote scientific and data literacy in ways to prepare students to reason quantitatively and, as the authors write, “to be astute enough to demand to see the evidence.”
I'm sure we can all agree that people drive you crazy sometimes. Though we all have similarities, we are by nature quite different. We inherit our own generational quirks, a mixing pot of emotions and hereditary habits. I can honestly say amid all our differences and shortcomings as human beings, I've had a certain love and care for people. It breaks my heart to see the pain in others' lives. I'm sure we can also agree on the fact that there's a lot of pain out there in the world. Darkness has a tight grip on our culture; it's time we take up the light and say, "Not anymore." This book is meant to bring light to this darkness that's consuming our culture. It's going to stir up some dust, make you curious, and maybe a little angry. Extinguish all resentment. Push it out of your heart. It only breeds more pain. Dig into the words; there are hidden meanings, within the hidden meanings, in these pages. We are meant to think and apply discipline and dedication to all we do. Don't add to the laziness of our culture, be diligent and courageous. Push through the pain. No pain, no gain. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18) The Creator's message is all around us; that's what we were made for, relationship to the Creator. Keep the communication line open constantly and endlessly, and be a witness to the many wonders. The Creator is ready to reveal the unseen, always and forever.
"It started with a single child, and quickly spread: you could get high by drinking your own shadow. At night, lights were destroyed so that addicts could sip shadow in the pure light of the moon. Gangs of shadow addicts chased down children on playgrounds, rounded up old ladies from retirement homes. Cities were destroyed and governments fell. If your shadow was consumed by addicts, you were forced to sip shadows yourself, or go mad. Now it is 150 years later, and what's left of the world is divided between the highly regimented life of those inside dome-cities that are protected from natural light, and those forced to the dangerous, hardscrabble life in the wilds outside. In rural Texas, Mira hunts shadow from animals for her bedridden, sleepless mother. Her shadow-addicted friend Murk hobbles across the blasted landscape on his wooden leg, molding himself on the image of Jim Morrison he saw on an ancient Doors record. Bale, a former Domer thrown in to exile, joins with them, and together they search for a possible mythological cure to the shadow sickness--but they must do so, it is said, before the return of Halley's Comet, which is only days away"--
Despite Toy Story's legacy, it didn't win a single Oscar. Somebody counted every single spot in 101 Dalmatians. There's a lot. Animators stopped working on The Lion King because they were certain it would fail. It made over $900 million. The original Cinderella story is 2,700 years old. The trailer for Lady and the Tramp spoilt the ending. It took 28 years to make The Thief and the Cobbler. Everybody mispronounces Mowgli's name in The Jungle Book. Walt Disney hated Peter Pan. There was meant to be 27 Emotions in Inside Out. Most of Disney's classics like Pinocchio and Bambi made very little money because they came out during World War II.
