Melissa is a nobody. Wilf is a slacker. Bondi is a show-off. At least that's what their middle school teachers think. To everyone's surprise, they are the three students chosen to compete for a ten thousand-dollar scholarship, solving clues that lead them to various locations around Chicago. At first the three contestants work independently, but it doesn't take long before each begins to wonder whether the competition is a sham. It's only by secretly joining forces and using their unique talents that the trio is able to uncover the truth behind the Ambrose Deception -- a truth that involves a lot more than just a scholarship. With a narrative style as varied and intriguing as the mystery itself, this adventure involving clever clues, plenty of perks, and abhorrent adults is pure wish fulfillment.
A junior high student is on the run from men in black with a scary science experiment in his backpack in this exciting adventure. Jeremy’s troubles begin when his eccentric neighbor leaves him an “experiment” for safekeeping—a jackalope! This so-called mythological creature looks like a bunny rabbit but comes with razor-sharp antlers and is purported to be a ruthless killer. When government agents show up at Jeremy's house seeking the jackalope for their own nefarious purposes, Jeremy must find a way to protect the jackalope, and himself. So, he reluctantly joins forces with Agatha, his holier-than-thou genius neighbor. Together, with the jackalope (and his weapons-grade antlers) tucked away in a backpack, they have only one chance to save Jack and still get their science fair projects in on time . . . With her striking sense of humor, Emily Ecton has created a hilarious and suspenseful adventure, complete with a compelling and unforgettable cast of characters. Praise for Project Jackalope “A very satisfying thriller. . . . Readers will . . . be eager for a sequel.” —Kirkus Reviews “Will keep readers smiling to the very end.” —School Library Journal
Prometheus Deception Robert Ludlum is the acknowledged master of suspense and international intrigue. For over thirty years, in over twenty international bestsellers, he has a set a standard that has never been equaled. Now, with the Prometheus Deception, he proves that he is at the very pinnacle of his craft. Nicholas Bryson spent years as a deep cover operative for the American secret intelligence group, the Directorate. After critical undercover mission went horribly wrong, Bryson was retired to a new identity. Years later, his closely held cover is cracked and Bryson learns that the Directorate was not what it claimed - that he was a pawn in a complex scheme against his own country's interests. Now, it has become increasingly clear that the shadowy Directorate is headed for some dangerous endgame - but no one knows precisely who they are and what they are planning. With Bryson their only possible asset, the director of the CIA recruits Bryson to find, reinfiltrate, and stop the Directorate. But after years on the sidelines, Bryson's field skills are rusty, his contacts unreliable, and his instincts suspect. With everything he thought he knew about his own life in question, Bryson is all alone in a wilderness of mirrors - unsure what is and isn't true and who, if anyone, he can trust - with the future of millions in the balance. Sigma Protocol Ben Hartman is vacationing in Zurich, Switzerland when he chances upon his old friend Jimmy Cavanaugh—a madman who's armed and programmed to assassinate. In a matter of minutes, six innocent bystanders are dead. So is Cavanaugh. But when his body vanishes, and his weapon mysteriously appears in Hartman's luggage, Hartman is plunged into an unfathomable nightmare... Meanwhile, Anna Navarro, field agent for the Department of Justice, has been asked to investigate the sudden, random deaths of eleven men throughout the world. The only thing that connects them? A secret file, over a half-century old, that's linked to the CIA—and is marked with the same puzzling codename: Sigma. As Anna follows the connecting thread—and Hartman finds himself on the run—she ends up in the shadows of a relentless killer who is one step ahead of her...victim by victim. Now, she and Hartman together must uncover the diabolical secrets long held behind Sigma. It will threaten everything they think they know about themselves—and confirm their very worst fears...
Ambrose Bukowski is a twelve-year-old with a talent for mismatching his clothes, for saying the wrong thing at the worst possible time, and for words. In short, he’s a self-described nerd. Making friends is especially hard because he and his overprotective mother, Irene, have had to move so often. And when bullies at his latest school almost kill him by deliberately slipping a peanut into his sandwich to set off his allergy, it's his mother who has the extreme reaction. From now on, Ambrose has to be home-schooled. Then Ambrose strikes up an unlikely friendship with the landlord's son, Cosmo, an ex-con who's been in prison. They have nothing in common except for Scrabble. But a small deception grows out of control when Ambrose convinces a reluctant Cosmo to take him to a Scrabble club. Could this spell disaster for Ambrose?
Family secrets, sinister murders, a divided Edinburgh - the next thrilling medical mystery in the historical crime series featuring duo Will Raven and Sarah Fisher
So whats in the Petri dish Dr. Periwinkle? A Synopsis: Whats it like to know that your future and a decision that could possibly change your future in a huge way is going to be decided not as much by scientists, but by politicians? Thats exactly what Dr. Oliver Periwinkle learns only after a few months as Chair of the Albert Einstein Department of Science and Technology at Belvedere Crossing University. Excited by the prospect of joining the faculty of one of the nations pre-eminent research institutions in the fall of 2000; he brings with him the promise of a significant federal grant to continue a highly controversial Stem cell initiative. Obviously life is good. But as quickly as fortunes can blossom, they can turn, and turn they do as a bizarre series of events start to unfold. So begins the often amusing and delightful romp through the Halls of Letters that chronicle a litany of asinine behavior, a gluttony of academic has-beens, political crackpots, government double-talk and of coursecorruption and greed. So whats in the Petri dish is set in a university environment fractured by cynicism and an insanity that has run-a-muck. Periwinkle encounters a host of good guys and bad guys, G-men and Wise-guys in a brush with Nobel Prize fortune and fame; corporate espionage and congressional hearings where I have no recollection of that Senator, more often than not is bellowed by just about anyone with something to hide. It is an exaggeration of the absurda microcosm that peeks behind its own closed doors, secret files, and clandestine meetings only to discover time and time again, the enemy is us. So whats in the Petri dish is the coming of age of a nave latter day scholar who is indoctrinated to a culture of perpetual chaos as a university transforms in the midst of perhaps one of the greatest scientific discoveries of our time. Here we get a glimpse of idealism as it comes face to face with reality while society struggles with a phenomenon that will ultimately shape and define its values. Alas, So whats in the Petri dish is a venture into higher educations inner sanctum; yet never once promising the reader to emerge any smarter, but perhaps wiser for making the journey. Many deem it a clear case of morality vs. mortality, rightor is it? Ever since that sheep, I know Ive been a little curious. What about you? Dr. Michael Fontaine is a university Professor, former journalist and freelance photographer.
By integrating star studies and film industry studies, Hollywood Stardom reveals the inextricable bonds between culture and commerce in contemporary notions of film stardom. Integrates the traditions of star studies and industry studies to establish an original and innovative mode of analysis whereby the ‘star image’ is replaced with the ‘star brand’ Offers the first extensive analysis of stardom in the ‘post-studio’ era Combines genre, narrative, acting, and discourse analysis with aspects of marketing theory and the economic analysis of the film market Draws on an extensive body of research data not previously deployed in film scholarship A wide range of star examples are explored including George Clooney, Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise, Daniel Day-Lewis, Tom Hanks, Will Smith, and Julia Roberts
A classic Gothic gem by the author of The Lost Locket of Windbrace Hall. As soon as she arrives on remote Harrow Island, shy Megan Cooper regrets an swering the ad for the position of secretary to Lord Ambrose Hawkins. Soon, strange and terrifying things begin to happen, as Megan is drawn into a web of evil intrigue, from which there is no escape.