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Tide, Feather, Snow: A Life in Alaska
by Miranda Weiss"Tide, Feather, Snow is about the resplendence and subtleties of coastal Alaska, and about one woman’s attempt to be fully present in them. Weiss serves as a skilled and poetic witness to a place undergoing incessant change." — Anthony Doerr, author of The Shell CollectorA memoir of moving to Alaska—and staying—by a writer whose gift for writing about place and natural beauty is reminiscent of John McPhee and Jonathan Raban.An extreme landscape in both its beauty and challenges, Alaska is a place where know-how is currency and a novice's mistakes can be fatal. But it is a place for glorious reinvention—a refuge for those desperate to escape . . . and for those looking for something more.Miranda Weiss, a young woman who grew up landlocked in a well-kept East Coast suburb, moved to Homer, Alaska, with her boyfriend, determined to make a place for herself in this unfamiliar country where the years are marked by seasons of fish, and where locals carry around the knowledge of tides, boats, and weather as ballast. In Tide, Feather, Snow, Weiss introduces readers to the memorable people and peculiar beauty of Alaska's vast landscape, as she takes us along on her remarkable personal journey of adventure, physical challenge, and culture clash.
The Last Season
by Eric BlehmDestined to become a classic of adventure literature, The Last Season examines the extraordinary life of legendary backcountry ranger Randy Morgenson and his mysterious disappearance in California's unforgiving Sierra Nevada--mountains as perilous as they are beautiful. Eric Blehm's masterful work is a gripping detective story interwoven with the riveting biography of a complicated, original, and wholly fascinating man.
The Last Season
by Eric BlehmDestined to become a classic of adventure literature, The Last Season examines the extraordinary life of legendary backcountry ranger Randy Morgenson and his mysterious disappearance in California's unforgiving Sierra Nevada--mountains as perilous as they are beautiful. Eric Blehm's masterful work is a gripping detective story interwoven with the riveting biography of a complicated, original, and wholly fascinating man.
The Double-Daring Book for Girls
by Andrea J. Buchanan Miriam PeskowitzThe follow up to the bestselling The Daring Book for Girls—more outrageous fearless fun from making a raft to the art of the Japanese Tea Ceremony.In response to the resounding success of The Daring Book for Girls comes a second volume with all original material that promises to be full of even more daring adventure than the first. Girls will learn how to surf, horseback riding tips, April Fool’s Day history and pranks, how to make a labyrinth, how to sing, all about cowgirls, and how to organize a croquet tournament. Just as packed with creative and exciting material as the original, but double the fun, The Double-Daring Book for Girls is an adventure guidebook of stories, activities, facts, and games for daring girls everywhere.
Fancy Nancy: Every Day Is Earth Day (I Can Read! #Level 1)
by Jane O'ConnorBeing green is important to Nancy--so important that she wants her family to take care of the Earth morning, noon, and night!
Superdove: How the Pigeon Took Manhattan ... And the World
by Courtney HumphriesWhy do we see pigeons as lowly urban pests and how did they become such common city dwellers? Courtney Humphries traces the natural history of the pigeon, recounting how these shy birds that once made their homes on the sparse cliffs of sea coasts came to dominate our urban public spaces. While detailing this evolution, Humphries introduces us to synanthropy: The concept that animals can become dependent on humans without ceasing to be wild; they can adapt to the cityscape as if it were a field or a forest.Superdove simultaneously explores the pigeon's cultural transformation, from its life in the dovecotes of ancient Egypt to its service in the trenches of World War I, to its feats within the pigeon-racing societies of today. While the dove is traditionally recognized as a symbol of peace, the pigeon has long inspired a different sort of fetishistic devotion from breeders, eaters, and artists—and from those who recognized and exploited the pigeon's astounding abilities. Because of their fecundity, pigeons were symbols of fertility associated with Aphrodite, while their keen ability to find their way home made them ideal messengers and even pilots. Their usefulness largely forgotten, today's pigeons have become as ubiquitous and reviled as rats. But Superdove reveals something more surprising: By using pigeons for our own purposes, we humans have changed their evolution. And in doing so, we have helped make pigeons the ideal city dwellers they are today. In the tradition of Rats, the book that made its namesake rodents famous, Superdove is the fascinating story of the pigeon's journey from the wild to the city—the home they'll never leave.
Fateful Harvest: The True Story of a Small Town, a Global Industry, and a Toxic Secret
by Duff WilsonI see soil in a new light, and I wonder about my own lawn and garden. What have I sprinkled on my backyard? Is somebody using my home, my food, to recycle toxic waste? It seems unbelievable, outlandish -- but what if it's true?A riveting expose, Fateful Harvest tells the story of Patty Martin -- the mayor of a small Washington town called Quincy -- who discovers American industries are dumping toxic waste into farmers' fields and home gardens by labeling it "fertilizer." She becomes outraged at the failed crops, sick horses, and rare diseases in her town, as well as the threats to her children's health. Yet, when she blows the whistle on a nationwide problem, Patty Martin is nearly run out of town.Duff Wilson, whose Seattle Times series on this story was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, provides the definitive account of a new and alarming environmental scandal. Fateful Harvest is a gripping study of corruption and courage, of recklessness and reckoning. It is a story that speaks to the greatest fears -- and ultimate hope -- in us all.
The Secret Life of Lobsters: How Fishermen and Scientists Are Unraveling the Mysteries of Our Favorite Crustacean
by Trevor Corson“Lobster is served three ways in this fascinating book: by fisherman, scientist and the crustaceans themselves. . . . Corson, who worked aboard commercial lobster boats for two years, weaves together these three worlds. The human worlds are surely interesting; but they can’t top the lobster life on the ocean floor.” — Washington PostIn this intimate portrait of an island lobstering community and an eccentric band of renegade biologists, journalist Trevor Corson escorts the reader onto the slippery decks of fishing boats, through danger-filled scuba dives, and deep into the churning currents of the Gulf of Maine to learn about the secret undersea lives of lobsters.This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.
On the Run: An Angler's Journey Down the Striper Coast
by David DiBenedetto“[A] lively account of a fall spent chasing the striped-bass migration from Maine to the Outer Banks” (Sports Illustrated).Each autumn, one of nature’s most magnificent dramas plays out when striped bass undertake a journey, from the northeastern United States to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, in search of food and warmer seas. Writer and angler David DiBenedetto followed this great migration—the fall run—for three months in the autumn of 2001.On the Run offers vivid portrayals of the zany and obsessive characters DiBenedetto met on his travels—including the country’s most daring fisherman, an underwater videographer who chucked his corporate job in favor of filming striped bass, and the reclusive angler who claims that catching the world-record striper in 1982 sent his life into a tailspin. Along his route, DiBenedetto also delves into the natural history and biology of this great game fish, and depicts the colorful cultures of the seaside communities where the striped bass reigns supreme.
The Thoreau You Don't Know: What the Prophet of Environmentalism Really Meant
by Robert "Sully" SullivanRobert Sullivan, the New York Times bestselling author of Rats and Cross Country, delivers a revolutionary reconsideration of Henry David Thoreau for modern readers of the seminal transcendentalist. Dispelling common notions of Thoreau as a lonely eccentric cloistered at Walden Pond, Sullivan (whom the New York Times Book Review calls “an urban Thoreau”) paints a dynamic picture of Thoreau as the naturalist who founded our American ideal of “the Great Outdoors;” the rugged individual who honed friendships with Ralph Waldo Emerson and other writers; and the political activist who inspired Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, and other influential leaders of progressive change. You know Thoreau is one of America’s legendary writers…but the Thoreau you don’t know may be one of America’s greatest heroes.
The Last of His Kind: The Life and Adventures of Bradford Washburn, America's Boldest Mountaineer
by David Roberts“A breezy, readable volume that is one part adventure story, one part biography. . . . Tales, stunning and stirring, of mountaineering.” —Boston GlobeIn The Last of His Kind, renowned adventure writer David Roberts gives readers a spellbinding history of mountain climbing in the twentieth century as told through the biography of Brad Washburn, legendary mountaineering pioneer and photographer. Jon Krakauer, author of Into Thin Air, has praised David Roberts, saying, “Nobody alive writes better about mountaineering”—and nowhere is that truth more evident than in this breathtaking account of the life and exploits of America’s greatest mountain climber.“A longtime friend of Washburn and a former mountaineer, Roberts is an ideal candidate for writing Washburn's biography.” —Publishers Weekly“Part of the reason that David Roberts's biography of mountain climber Bradford Washburn is titled “The Last of His Kind” is that so often Washburn was the first of his kind: He achieved nine first ascents of peaks in North America alone, taking striking photographs along the way.” —Washington Post“Excellent.” —Booklist“A well-crafted biography. . . . Roberts’s style effectively captures the suspense and danger of Washburn’s adventures. A thorough and admiring portrait.” —Kirkus Reviews
Fancy Nancy Sees Stars (I Can Read Level 1)
by Jane O'ConnorNancy can hardly wait for her class visit to the planetarium in this Fancy Nancy story from the beloved New York Times bestselling author-illustrator team Jane O’Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser. Nancy absolutely adores stars. She loves how they sparkle in the sky, and she can even name the constellations. When she finds out her class will visit the planetarium she is ecstatic—that's a fancy word for excited. But when it starts to rain Nancy is afraid she might not be able to see the stars. Will the rain keep Nancy from watching stars sparkle?Fancy Nancy Sees Stars is a Level One I Can Read book, which means it's perfect for children learning to sound out words and sentences. The back matter features a list of the rich vocabulary words that are used throughout the story along with their definition.
Coral Reefs
by Seymour SimonSeymour Simon knows how to explain science to kids and make it fun. He was a teacher for more than twenty years, has written more than 250 books, and has won multiple awards. <P><P>In Coral Reefs, Simon introduces elementary-school readers to the oceans’ reefs through wonderful descriptions and stunning full-color photographs. He encourages appreciation of the ecology of coral reefs, explains why they are in danger, and suggests ways kids can help save the endangered reefs. Lexile Measure: NC1110L
Fancy Nancy: Stellar Stargazer! (I Can Read!)
by Jane O'Connor<P> Fancy Nancy thinks that everything in the sky is simply stellar, from the sun and the moon to the stars -and their constellations (that's 'a fancy word for the shapes that stars make!). So nothing could make her happier than a special sleepover under the stars with her dad and her little sister, JoJo. <P>Together Nancy and JoJo wish on stars, moon bathe, and even eat astronaut ice cream! But when rain clouds cover up the stars, what's a stellar stargazer to do? <P>Picture descriptions present.
The Remarkable Rocket: Story (Harper Perennial Classic Stories)
by Oscar WildePlaywright, poet, essayist, flamboyant man-about-town, Oscar Wilde pack an astonishing amount of work, genius, and controversy into two short decades, producing masterworks in every literary genre. This selection includes almost all of his short stories, including "The Canterville Ghost," "The Fisherman and his Soul," and "The Remarkable Rocket." Alongside THE MODEL MILLIONAIRE, Harper Perennial will publish the short fiction of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Herman Melville, Willa Cather, Leo Tolstoy, and Stephen Crane to be packaged in a beautifully designed, boldly colorful boxset in the aim to attract contemporary fans of short fiction to these revered masters of the form. Also, in each of these selections will appear a story from one of the new collections being published in the "Summer of the Short Story." A story from Simon Van Booy's forthcoming collection, LOVE BEGINS IN WINTER, will be printed at the back of this volume.
The Dream of the Ridiculous Man: Stories
by Fyodor DostoyevskyThe first-rate collection includes "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man," "Bobok," "The Christmas Tree and the Wedding," and five other short masterpieces.
The Gospel According to the Earth: Why the Good Book Is a Green Book
by Matthew Sleeth“Matthew Sleeth is a significant convert in the growing company of Christians who bring intelligence, passion, a biblically trained imagination, and mature Christian witness to the care of creation.” — Eugene Peterson, Author of Living the Message“Matthew Sleeth is a breath of fresh air. In The Gospel According to the Earth, he retells the Bible’s most familiar stories in ways that will stimulate your imagination, soften your heart, and challenge you to think more deeply about caring for creation.” Jonathan Merritt, author of Green Like God From Dr. Matthew Sleeth, the leading Christian voice for the green movement, comes a dynamic and surprising primer on all the Bible teaches on caring for the earth— and an ideal companion volume to The Green Bible.
The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America
by Douglas Brinkley<P>In this groundbreaking epic biography, Douglas Brinkley draws on never-before-published materials to examine the life and achievements of our "naturalist president." <P>By setting aside more than 230 million acres of wild America for posterity between 1901 and 1909, Theodore Roosevelt made conservation a universal endeavor. This crusade for the American wilderness was perhaps the greatest U.S. presidential initiative between the Civil War and World War I. Roosevelt's most important legacies led to the creation of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and passage of the Antiquities Act in 1906. His executive orders saved such treasures as Devils Tower, the Grand Canyon, and the Petrified Forest. <P>Tracing the role that nature played in Roosevelt's storied career, Brinkley brilliantly analyzes the influence that the works of John James Audubon and Charles Darwin had on the young man who would become our twenty-sixth president. With descriptive flair, the author illuminates Roosevelt's bird watching in the Adirondacks, wildlife obsession in Yellowstone, hikes in the Blue Ridge Mountains, ranching in the Dakota Territory, hunting in the Big Horn Mountains, and outdoor romps through Idaho and Wyoming. <P>He also profiles Roosevelt's incredible circle of naturalist friends, including the Catskills poet John Burroughs, Boone and Crockett Club cofounder George Bird Grinnell, forestry zealot Gifford Pinchot, buffalo breeder William Hornaday, Sierra Club founder John Muir, U.S. Biological Survey wizard C. Hart Merriam, Oregon Audubon Society founder William L. Finley, and pelican protector Paul Kroegel, among many others. He brings to life hilarious anecdotes of wild-pig hunting in Texas and badger saving in Kansas, wolf catching in Oklahoma and grouse flushing in Iowa. Even the story of the teddy bear gets its definitive treatment. <P>Destined to become a classic, this extraordinary and timeless biography offers a penetrating and colorful look at Roosevelt's naturalist achievements, a legacy now more important than ever. Raising a Paul Revere-like alarm about American wildlife in peril--including buffalo, manatees, antelope, egrets, and elk--Roosevelt saved entire species from probable extinction. <P>As we face the problems of global warming, overpopulation, and sustainable land management, this imposing leader's stout resolution to protect our environment is an inspiration and a contemporary call to arms for us all. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
After the Ice: Life, Death, and Geopolitics in the New Arctic
by Alun AndersonNew from Smithsonian Books, After the Ice is an eye-opening look at the winners and losers in the high-stakes story of Arctic transformation, from nations to native peoples to animals and the very landscape itself. Author Alun Anderson explores the effects of global warming amid new geopolitical rivalries, combining science, business, politics, and adventure to provide a fascinating narrative portrait of this rapidly changing land of unparalleled global significance.
The Green Bible--Old Testament
by Harper BiblesThe Green Bible will equip and encourage you to see God's vision for creation and help you engage in the work of healing and sustaining it. This first Bible of its kind includes inspirational essays from key leaders such as N. T. Wright, Barbara Brown Taylor, Brian McLaren, Matthew Sleeth, Pope John Paul II, and Wendell Berry. As you read the scriptures anew, The Green Bible will help you see that caring for the earth is not only a calling, but a lifestyle.
Biomimicry
by Janine M. BenyusThis profound and accessible book details how science is studying nature's best ideas to solve our toughest 21st-century problems. If chaos theory transformed our view of the universe, biomimicry is transforming our life on Earth. Biomimicry is innovation inspired by nature - taking advantage of evolution's 3.8 billion years of R&D since the first bacteria. Biomimics study nature's best ideas: photosynthesis, brain power, and shells - and adapt them for human use. They are revolutionising how we invent, compute, heal ourselves, harness energy, repair the environment, and feed the world. Science writer and lecturer Janine Benyus names and explains this phenomenon. She takes us into the lab and out in the field with cutting-edge researchers as they stir vats of proteins to unleash their computing power; analyse how electrons zipping around a leaf cell convert sunlight into fuel in trillionths of a second; discover miracle drugs by watching what chimps eat when they're sick; study the hardy prairie as a model for low-maintenance agriculture; and more.
Power Trip: The Story of America's Love Affair with Energy
by Amanda LittlePower Trip is an adventurous, wonk-free, big-picture, solutions-oriented narrative by leading young journalist Amanda Little that maps out the history and future of America’s energy addiction. Infused with next-generation candor and optimism, Power Trip examines the ways in which oil and coal have shaped America as an international superpower—even as they posed political and environmental dangers to the nation and the world. Hard-hitting yet optimistic, Power Trip is a manifesto for the younger generations who are inheriting the earth.
Who Turned Out the Lights?
by Jean Johnson Scott BittleFrom the editors of PublicAgenda.org, an entertaining, irreverent, and absolutely essential nonpartisan guide to the energy crisis Energy: It's a problem that never goes away (despite our best efforts as a nation to ignore it). Why has there been so much talk and so little action? In Who Turned Out the Lights? Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson offer a much-needed reality check: The "Drill, Baby, Drill" versus "Every Day Is Earth Day" battle is not solving our problems, and the finger-pointing is just holding us up. Sorting through the political posturing and confusing techno-speak, they provide a fair-minded, "let's skip the jargon" explanation of the choices we face. And chapters such as "It's All Right Now (In Fact, It's a Gas)" prove that, while the problem is serious, getting a grip on it doesn't have to be. In the end, the authors present options from the right, left, and center but take just one position: The country must change the way it gets and uses energy, and the first step is to understand the choices.
The Giving Tree
by Shel SilversteinAs The Giving Tree turns fifty, this timeless classic is available for the first time ever in ebook format. This digital edition allows young readers and lifelong fans to continue the legacy and love of a classic that will now reach an even wider audience."Once there was a tree...and she loved a little boy."So begins a story of unforgettable perception, beautifully written and illustrated by the gifted and versatile Shel Silverstein. This moving parable for all ages offers a touching interpretation of the gift of giving and a serene acceptance of another's capacity to love in return.Every day the boy would come to the tree to eat her apples, swing from her branches, or slide down her trunk...and the tree was happy. But as the boy grew older he began to want more from the tree, and the tree gave and gave and gave. This is a tender story, touched with sadness, aglow with consolation.Shel Silverstein's incomparable career as a bestselling children's book author and illustrator began with Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back. He is also the creator of picture books including A Giraffe and a Half, Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros?, The Missing Piece, The Missing Piece Meets the Big O, and the perennial favorite The Giving Tree, and of classic poetry collections such as Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, Every Thing On It, Don't Bump the Glump!, and Runny Babbit.And don't miss the other Shel Silverstein ebooks, Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic!
Hunting Booger Bottom: Life Lessons from the Field
by Mike Schoby Michael Waddell“Michael [Waddell] is the real McCoy. Down to earth, clever, genuine, well-grounded, funny as all hell, kind, generous, decent, and surely one of the best natural hunters and woodsmen that I have ever grilled a sacred backstrap with.” —Ted Nugent From hunting legend Michael Waddell, star of multiple Outdoor Channel programs, comes a poignant and funny book about growing up in rural Georgia: Hunting Booger Bottom. Waddell offers priceless anecdotes from his lifetime of hunting with the fascinating—and often hilarious—cast of characters he’s met along the way. Breathtaking and dramatic, filled with practical advice and indelible folk wisdom—and a foreword by Ted Nugent—Hunting Booger Bottom offers an impassioned defense of sport hunting and is a must-read for anyone who has ever wandered the woods with “a stick and a string” (as Waddell refers to his bow.)