Queen of the Tiles
Queen of the Tiles

Author: Hanna Alkaf

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2022-04-19

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 153449457X

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They Wish They Were Us meets The Queen’s Gambit in this “stunning…unforgettable” (Publishers Weekly) thriller set in the world of competitive Scrabble, where a teen girl is forced to investigate the mysterious death of her best friend when her Instagram comes back to life with cryptic posts and messages. CATALYST 13 points noun: a substance that speeds up a reaction without itself changing When Najwa Bakri walks into her first Scrabble competition since her best friend’s death, it’s with the intention to heal and move on with her life. Perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to choose the very same competition where said best friend, Trina Low, died. It seems that even though Najwa is trying to change, she’s not ready to give up Trina just yet. But the same can’t be said for all the other competitors. With Trina, the Scrabble Queen herself, gone, the throne is empty, and her friends are eager to be the next reigning champion. All’s fair in love and Scrabble, but all bets are off when Trina’s formerly inactive Instagram starts posting again, with cryptic messages suggesting that maybe Trina’s death wasn’t as straightforward as everyone thought. And maybe someone at the competition had something to do with it. As secrets are revealed and the true colors of her friends are shown, it’s up to Najwa to find out who’s behind these mysterious posts—not just to save Trina’s memory, but to save herself.

Mass Hysteria in Schools
Mass Hysteria in Schools

Author: Robert E. Bartholomew

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2014-01-14

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 0786478888

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This book comprehensively surveys the colorful history of mass hysteria and kindred phenomena in schools, documenting outbreaks of demonic possession during witchcraft scares, to modern incidents of collapsing bands, itching frenzies, ghost panics and mystery illnesses. Strange behaviors and illnesses in students are examined through the centuries. Possessed children went into trance states and began to bark like dogs in 16th and 17th century Holland; an epidemic of twitching, trembling and blackout spells swept through European schools during the latter 1800s; an outbreak of Tourette's-like symptoms struck schoolgirls in western New York in 2011-12. In addition to the US and Europe, separate chapters detail accounts from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Oceania. A variety of theories to explain outbreaks are examined.

The Dragon's Promise
The Dragon's Promise

Author: Elizabeth Lim

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Published: 2022-08-30

Total Pages: 497

ISBN-13: 0593300955

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the critically acclaimed author of Six Crimson Cranes comes the thrilling next adventure! A journey to the kingdom of dragons, a star-crossed love, and a cursed pearl with the power to mend the world or break it... Fans of Shadow and Bone will devour this soaring fantasy. Princess Shiori made a deathbed promise to return the dragon's pearl to its rightful owner, but keeping that promise is more dangerous than she ever imagined. She must journey to the kingdom of dragons, navigate political intrigue among humans and dragons alike, fend off thieves who covet the pearl for themselves and will go to any lengths to get it, all while cultivating the appearance of a perfect princess to dissuade those who would see her burned at the stake for the magic that runs in her blood. The pearl itself is no ordinary cargo; it thrums with malevolent power, jumping to Shiori's aid one minute, and betraying her the next—threatening to shatter her family and sever the thread of fate that binds her to her true love. It will take every ounce of strength Shiori can muster to defend the life and the love she's fought so hard to win.

Southern Girls with Big Vocabularies
Southern Girls with Big Vocabularies

Author: Ellie Pyle

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2010-10-25

Total Pages: 266

ISBN-13: 0557681715

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'There seemed to be almost a conspiracy of Southern female writers to render the cult of friendship between women of the South invincible and unassailable. Where were the books about what happened when the sisterhood failed? Were there no stories about the times it all went terribly, horribly wrong?' ' Chapter 10, Southern Girls with Big VocabulariesDella, Tessa, Lelia and Bea were best friends from kindergarten or first grade until their senior year of high school. But 'eleven years, seven months, seventeen days' before Tessa's thirtieth birthday, something terrible happened. On Tessa's thirtieth birthday, she receives a call from Bea asking Tessa to do the one thing she has dreaded most'¦ come home.Set primarily in Richmond, Virginia, this coming of age story spans 25 years of pop-culture references, conflicts of Catholic sex-ed, and meditations on misery, as it alternates between the story of four childhood friends unknowingly headed toward tragedy, and portraits of the women they become.

Precocious Charms
Precocious Charms

Author: Gaylyn Studlar

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2013-01-15

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 0520955293

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In Precocious Charms, Gaylyn Studlar examines how Hollywood presented female stars as young girls or girls on the verge of becoming women. Child stars are part of this study but so too are adult actresses who created motion picture masquerades of youthfulness. Studlar details how Mary Pickford, Shirley Temple, Deanna Durbin, Elizabeth Taylor, Jennifer Jones, and Audrey Hepburn performed girlhood in their films. She charts the multifaceted processes that linked their juvenated star personas to a wide variety of cultural influences, ranging from Victorian sentimental art to New Look fashion, from nineteenth-century children’s literature to post-World War II sexology, and from grand opera to 1930s radio comedy. By moving beyond the general category of "woman," Precocious Charms leads to a new understanding of the complex pleasures Hollywood created for its audience during the half century when film stars were a major influence on America’s cultural imagination.

The Girl and the Ghost
The Girl and the Ghost

Author: Hanna Alkaf

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2020-08-04

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 006294097X

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* Chosen as a 2020 Kirkus Prize Finalist for Young Readers' Literature! * A Malaysian folk tale comes to life in this emotionally layered, chilling middle grade debut, perfect for fans of The Book of Boy and The Jumbies. I am a dark spirit, the ghost announced grandly. I am your inheritance, your grandmother’s legacy. I am yours to command. Suraya is delighted when her witch grandmother gifts her a pelesit. She names her ghostly companion Pink, and the two quickly become inseparable. But Suraya doesn’t know that pelesits have a dark side—and when Pink’s shadows threaten to consume them both, they must find enough light to survive . . . before they are both lost to the darkness. Fans of Holly Black’s Doll Bones and Tahereh Mafi’s Furthermore series will love this ghostly middle grade debut that explores jealousy, love, and the extraordinary power of friendship.

I Ran With The Gang
I Ran With The Gang

Author: Alan Longmuir

Publisher: Luath Press Ltd

Published: 2018-11-14

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 1912387212

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The Bay City Rollers were one of the brightest things to happen in the tumultuous 1970s, illuminating a dark decade marred by falling stock markets, a plummeting economy and industrial unrest. Alan Longmuir, an apprentice plumber from Edinburgh, was inspired by the Beatles to form a band. After enlisting his brother and throwing a dart at a map, they became the Bay City Rollers. In I Ran with the Gang , Alan recounts his incredible journey from the Dalry backstreets to the Hollywood hills and back again. Along the way, he punctures some of the myths and untruths that have swirled around the group, and unflinchingly tells of the acrimony and exploitation that led to the disintegration of the band. Most of all, though, Alan captures the great adventure of five young boys from Edinburgh who for a few heady years threatened to turn the whole world tartan.