A brother and sister who are angry with each other learn from their father the benefits of forgiveness through a series of symbolic images. Contains a note to parents.
"The Skies Above explains nearly any and everything weather-related...enlightening and a worthwhile source" -- Portland Book Review 2022 National Outdoor Book Award Silver Medalist in Nature/Environment Full-color photography and illustrations Details seasonal events, from Nor’easters and northern lights to fire whirls and tornadoes Sidebars dive into fascinating facts, quirky phenomena, historic weather events, myths, and more Written by self-professed weather geek Dennis Mersereau, The Skies Above is designed to inspire equal parts amazement and curiosity. Accessible science, illuminating illustrations, and stunning photography bring the meteorological world to life. From basics such as weather fronts and types of precipitation to more unusual occurrences like polar vortexes, meteor showers, solar eclipses, and the spectacular mammatus clouds that signify a supercell thunderstorm, Mersereau tracks key phenomena across the seasons and demystifies celestial events visible to the naked eye but still enigmatic to most. He also delves into how climate change affects weather, forecasts, and other events, such as devastating wildfires and historic hurricanes churning across the Atlantic Ocean. The Skies Above provides readers with a deeper understanding of the processes and events that fill our skies, which not only soothes the anxiety produced by raucous storms, but instills a stronger and more meaningful appreciation of the beauty of days both stormy and calm.
Already excerpted in the New Yorker, Black Cloud Rising is a compelling and important historical novel that takes us back to an extraordinary moment when enslaved men and women were shedding their bonds and embracing freedom By fall of 1863, Union forces had taken control of Tidewater Virginia, and established a toehold in eastern North Carolina, including along the Outer Banks. Thousands of freed slaves and runaways flooded the Union lines, but Confederate irregulars still roamed the region. In December, the newly formed African Brigade, a unit of these former slaves led by General Edward Augustus Wild—a one-armed, impassioned Abolitionist—set out from Portsmouth to hunt down the rebel guerillas and extinguish the threat. From this little-known historical episode comes Black Cloud Rising, a dramatic, moving account of these soldiers—men who only weeks earlier had been enslaved, but were now Union infantrymen setting out to fight their former owners. At the heart of the narrative is Sergeant Richard Etheridge, the son of a slave and her master, raised with some privileges but constantly reminded of his place. Deeply conflicted about his past, Richard is eager to show himself to be a credit to his race. As the African Brigade conducts raids through the areas occupied by the Confederate Partisan Rangers, he and his comrades recognize that they are fighting for more than territory. Wild’s mission is to prove that his troops can be trusted as soldiers in combat. And because many of the men have fled from the very plantations in their path, each raid is also an opportunity to free loved ones left behind. For Richard, this means the possibility of reuniting with Fanny, the woman he hopes to marry one day. With powerful depictions of the bonds formed between fighting men and heartrending scenes of sacrifice and courage, Black Cloud Rising offers a compelling and nuanced portrait of enslaved men and women crossing the threshold to freedom.
The magnificent conclusion to one of the greatest science fiction sagas of our time The time of reckoning has arrived. As a final genocidal Crusade threatens to enslave humanity forever, a new messiah has come of age. She is Aenea and she has undergone a strange apprenticeship to those known as the Others. Now her protector, Raul Endymion, one-time shepherd and convicted murderer, must help her deliver her startling message to her growing army of disciples. But first they must embark on a final spectacular mission to discover the underlying meaning of the universe itself. They have been followed on their journey by the mysterious Shrike--monster, angel, killing machine--who is about to reveal the long-held secret of its origin and purpose. And on the planet of Hyperion, where the story first began, the final revelation will be delivered--an apocalyptic message that unlocks the secrets of existence and the fate of humankind in the galaxy.
Clouds above the Hill is one of the best-selling novels ever in Japan, and is now translated into English for the first time. Volume I describes the growth of Japan's fledgling Meiji state, a major "character" in the novel. We are also introduced to our three heroes, born into obscurity, the brothers Akiyama Yoshifuru and Akiyama Saneyuki, who will go on to play important roles in the Japanese Army and Navy, and the poet Masaoka Shiki, who will spend much of his short life trying to establish the haiku as a respected poetic form. An epic portrait of Japan in crisis, Clouds above the Hill combines graphic military history and highly readable fiction to depict an aspiring nation modernizing at breakneck speed.
Explore and understand the natural and human wonders of our planet Now in its third edition, this landmark encyclopedia both celebrates our planet and explains the science underpinning the forces and processes that have made and shaped it. Artworks, photographs, terrain models, and maps are used in combination to capture the beauty and power of landscapes and natural events and to show their hidden sides, explaining for example how an earthquake is triggered and how burning fossil fuels is driving a climate emergency. Directory sections placed throughout the book provide systematic and in-depth reference guides to core scientific information, such as more than 100 types of rocks and minerals. Similar sections contain visual profiles of some of the undisputed wonders of the natural world, from the Andes and Himalayas to the Grand Canyon, Sahara Desert, and Amazon Rainforest. Thoroughly revised and updated to include new and spectacular landscape photography and capture the latest developments in fast-changing areas of geology and Earth science—including Earth history, climate change, and urban geography—this is an indispensable visual reference book for anyone who wants to understand how our planet works.
• Written by a critically-acclaimed natural-history author • Shares author’s fun journey to understanding clouds • Written for the curious—but non-science—minded Author Maria Mudd Ruth fell in love with clouds the same way she stumbles into most passions: madly and unexpectedly. A Sideways Look at Clouds is the story of her quite accidental infatuation with and education about the clouds above. When she moved to the soggy Northwest a decade ago, Maria assumed that locals would know everything there was to know about clouds, in the same way they talk about salmon, tides, and the Seahawks. Yet in her first two years of living in Olympia, Washington, she never heard anyone talk about clouds—only the rain. Puzzled by this lack of cloud savvy, she decided to create a 10-question online survey and sent it to everyone she knew. Her sample size of 67 people included men and women, new friends in Olympia, family on the East Coast, outdoorsy and indoorsy types, professional scientists, and liberal arts majors like herself. The results showed that while people knew a little bit about clouds, most were like her—they had a hard time identifying clouds or remembering their names. As adults, they had lost their curiosity and sense of wonder about clouds and were, essentially, not in the habit of looking up. A Sideways Look at Clouds acknowledges the challenges of understanding clouds and so uses a very steep and bumpy learning curve—the author’s—as its plot line. The book is structured around the ten words used in most definitions of a cloud: “a visible mass of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere above the earth.” A captivating story teller, Maria blends science, wonder, and humor to take the scenic route through the clouds and encourages readers to chart their own rambling, idiosyncratic course.
In Rising Higher, the author offers encouragement and hope to those who struggle with generational dysfunction. She uniquely combines the practicality of counseling principles with the power of spirituality and grace in the healing of generational dysfunction. Because of God's grace, you can soar above the storm clouds of dysfunction. Just as an airline pilot knows to rise above tumultous weather, we have an inner compass that motivates us to do so as well. We can rise higher. We were made to soar!