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The Wrong Shoes: The vital new novel from the bestselling creator of Big Bright Feelings
by Tom PercivalA beautiful and urgent exploration of the experience of child poverty from Tom Percival, creator of the bestselling Big Bright Feelings series, for fans of Boy at the Back of the Class. Working in partnership with the National Literacy Trust, £1 from the sale of a hardback copy in the UK will go towards supporting children in poverty. 'Powerful and moving with the potential to change lives' Hannah Gold'Full of empathy and most importantly, heart' Phil EarleThere's a bunch of kids in there and suddenly they're all looking at me like someone who can actually do something, not just some weirdo with the wrong shoes and a rubbish coat . . . Will has the wrong shoes – he's always known it but doesn't know how to change it. Navigating the difficulties of home and school when you feel you stick out is tough, but finding confidence with the help and empathy of friends can be all you need to see the way. Praise for The Wrong Shoes: &‘An extraordinary, powerful and moving book that has the potential to change lives.&’ Hannah Gold &‘Every chapter is full of experience & empathy & most importantly, heart&’ Phil Earle &‘Reading fiction is about walking in the shoes of people whose lives are very different to ours and allowing more readers to see themselves in stories. The Wrong Shoes is the perfect example of both – the right book at the right time&’ Tom Palmer &‘A brilliant book – such a perfect marriage of words and illustrations and an important story told with real heart&’ Christopher Edge &‘A hopeful, honest, big-hearted read. You&’ll be rooting for the main character, Will, from the very first page . . . &’ Clara Vulliamy &‘A beautifully illustrated, deeply moving, empathy-boosting story . . .&’ Rashmi Sirdeshpande &‘A superbly courageous and timely book. Will is a protagonist so many children and adults will identify with, really beautiful&’ Steven Lenton
The X List: The National Society of Film Critics' Guide to the Movies That Turn Us On
by Jami BernardNational Society of Film Critics dares to go where few mainstream critics have gone before-to the heart of what gets the colored lights going, as they say in A Streetcar Named Desire. Here is their take on the films that quicken their (and our) pulses-an enterprise both risky and risque, an entertaining overview of the most arousing films Hollywood has every produced. But make no mistake about it: This isn't a collection of esoteric "critic's choice" movies. The films reflect individual taste, rubbing against the grain of popular wisdom. And, because of the personal nature of the erotic forces at play, these essays will reveal more about the individual critics than perhaps they have revealed thus far to their readers. The Society is a world-renowned, marquee-name organization embracing some of America's most distinguished critics, more than forty writers who have followings nationally as well as devoted local constituencies in such major cities as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Minneapolis. Yes, The X List will have something for every lover of film-and for every lover.
The X-Files (TV Milestones Series)
by Theresa L. GellerPremiering in 1993 on FOX Network, The X-Files followed the investigations of two FBI special agents, Fox Mulder and Dr. Dana Scully as they pursued the supernatural, the bizarre, and the alien, as well as the government conspiracies at work to conceal the truth of their existence. For nine seasons, Chris Carter’s series broke new ground in complex narrative television by integrating science fiction and horror with the forensic investigation of the detective genre. Shaped by the conspiracy films of the 1970s, the series had the ability to comment on the contemporary political climate one week and poke fun at its own self-seriousness the next. Responding to its cinematic visual style, haunting score, complex and nuanced writing, witty dialog, and the exceptional acting of David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, who elevated the show with their chemistry, fans embraced The X-Files, making it one of the most beloved cult television series to this day. The aim of this book is to provide the reader with several points of entry into the television series, with social, cultural, and political analyses framed by the examination of the show’s many overlapping genres. Divided into chapters highlighting the episodic standalones known as the “monster-of-the-week” (MOTW) and the serial mythology or “mytharc,” the first section of the book explores the ways the MOTWs represented social differences in stories of fantastic, supernatural beings both strange and estranged. Through comparative analyses and detailed discussions of individual episodes, it becomes clear that the MOTWs were less concerned with the alien than with alienation, using the figure of the “monster” to focus on a range of ethnic, racial, and social outsiders. The latter half of the book turns to the serialized mythology, examining both the arc of the alien conspiracy as well as the fan-driven relationship between Mulder and Scully. While the romance subplot was powered in part by the show’s fans, the alien-government conspiracy mythology was Carter’s unique vision. This volume argues that The X-Files was a milestone because it employed the generic tropes of science fiction to call our attention to contemporary global politics and the history behind them. Specifically, Theresa Geller maps the ways the series used the mytharc not to predict the future, but to unbury the violence and injustice of our own past. With its return to television as an “event series” in 2016, this volume offers a timely assessment of the show’s cultural relevance and social significance. Fans of the show, as well as readers interested in cultural studies, genre criticism, race and ethnicity, fan studies, social commentary, and gender studies will appreciate this insightful examination of the series.
The Yale Swallow Protocol
by Steven B. Leder Debra M. SuiterThe Yale Swallow Protocol is an evidence-based protocol that is the only screening instrument that both identifies aspiration risk and, when passed, is able to recommend specific oral diets without the need for further instrumental dysphagia testing. Based upon research by Drs. Steven B. Leder and Debra M. Suiter, an easily administered, reliable and validated swallow screening protocol was developed and can be used by speech-language pathologists, nurses, otolaryngologists, oncologists, neurologists, intensivists and physicians assistants. In addition, the protocol can be used in a variety of environments, including acute care, rehabilitation and nursing homes. The Yale Swallow Protocol meets all of the criteria necessary for a successful screening test, including being simple to administer, cross-disciplinary, cost effective, acceptable to patients and able to identify the target attribute by giving a positive finding when aspiration risk is present and a negative finding when aspiration risk is absent. Additionally, early and accurate identification of aspiration risk can significantly reduce health-care costs associated with recognized prandial aspiration.
The Yarn Whisperer: My Unexpected Life in Knitting
by Clara Parkes“In this charming series of linked essays,” the renowned knitter and author explores the meaning and importance of knitting in her life (Vogue Knitting).In The Yarn Whisperer, Clara Parkes offers reflections and stories from a lifetime of knitting through twenty-two captivating, poignant, and laugh-out-loud funny essays. Recounting tales of childhood and adulthood, family, friends, adventure, privacy, disappointment, love, and celebration, Parkes hits upon the universal truths that drive knitters to create. With surprising insight and wry humor, she draws clever parallels between life’s twists and turns what knitters see on their needles. Stockinette, ribbing, cables, even the humble yarn over can instantly evoke places, times, people, conversations, all those poignant moments that we’ve tucked away in our memory banks. Over time, those stitches form a map of our lives (From the preface).
The Year Time Stopped: The Global Pandemic In Photos
by Christina Hawatmeh Nour ChamounCurated by the founders of Scopio, a community-based image marketplace, a stunning and unforgettable visual history that captures the world’s response to major events that defined 2020: the COVID pandemic and the sweeping movements for racial and social justice.In 2020, the world experienced massive change. Millions of lives were ended—and millions more upended—by the Covid-19 pandemic. The shocking police killings of Black men and women gave rise to powerful social movements and widespread collective action to rectify centuries of injustice and racism in the United States and globally. Together, these three colossal events tested the resilience of the social fabric bringing us all together. Attempting to illuminate and make sense of this new reality, photographers from around the world documented these transformational moments as they unfolded. Carefully combing through their archive, the founders of Scopio have curated these photographs to tell the story of the year 2020. It began with a collective sense of isolation and fear to eventually people coming together and protesting the social injustices that were uncovered later that year.Representing artists from around the globe, The Year Time Stopped seeks to empower us and give credence to the extraordinary circumstances that changed our world. The 200 images in this striking visual collection are indelible, impassioned, and unforgettable. Taken together, they are a singular testament to this unprecedented time.
The Year of Cozy: 125 Recipes, Crafts, and Other Homemade Adventures
by Adrianna AdarmeFrom the author of the popular blog, A Cozy Kitchen, comes a beautifully photographed one-stop-shop book with all the recipes and projects you’ll need for some cozy inspiration this holiday season—and all year long. You’ll love Adrianna Adarme’s easy-to-follow instructions and will enjoy getting lost in her warm and comforting photographs. Organized by the months of the year and by categories as “Live,” “Do,” and “Make, ” this book offers ideas for activities, recipes, and DIY projects that make the little moments in life just as exciting as the big. Adarme gives us special (but totally doable) things we can do for others and ourselves. From quick recipes to easy crafts, she focuses on simple, inexpensive undertakings that have a big reward: happiness. The Year of Cozy will surely inspire you to march into your kitchen and craft closet to make something you can truly be proud of.
The Year of Julius and Caesar: 59 BC and the Transformation of the Roman Republic (Witness to Ancient History)
by Stefan G. ChrissanthosHow Caesar's attack on Bibulus marked the beginning of the end of the Roman free state and the descent of the Republic into violence and civil war.The year 59 BC—when Gaius Julius Caesar and Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus served as joint consuls—marked a major turning point in the history of the Roman Republic. It was a dramatic and momentous time of political intrigue, bloodshed, and murder, one that boasted some of the most famous personalities ever to grace the Roman historical stage. Arguing that this pivotal year demands extended study, Stefan G. Chrissanthos's The Year of Julius and Caesar is the first focused investigation of the period.Chrissanthos uses a single event as his centerpiece: the violent attack orchestrated by Caesar and the "First Triumvirate" on Bibulus and his followers in the Forum on April 4. Before that day, he reveals, 59 had been a typical year, one that provides valuable insight into Roman government and political gamesmanship. But the assault on Bibulus changed everything: the consul retired to his house for the rest of the year, allowing Caesar and his allies to pass legislation that eventually enabled Caesar to take complete control of the Roman state. This detailed reconstruction draws on archeological and literary evidence to describe a watershed year in the history of the late Roman Republic, establish an accurate chronology, and answer many of the important historical questions surrounding the year 59. Written in an engaging and accessible style, The Year of Julius and Caesar will appeal to undergraduates and scholars alike and to anyone interested in contemporary politics, owing to the parallels between the Roman and American Republics.
The Year of Knots: Modern Projects, Inspiration, and Creative Reinvention
by Windy ChienAn acclaimed artist celebrates the creative possibilities of macramé and knots in this memoir and guide featuring projects and tutorials.Every day for a year, artist Windy Chien learned to tie a new kind of knot and then shared the results on Instagram—a project that both reinvented her life and revolutionized knot art. In The Year of Knots, Chien describes how knot-making led her on a path of discovery. She shares projects, tutorials, and transformative personal stories, all aimed at inspiring readers to make knotting—and creativity in general—part of a meditative daily practice. The knots in this book are gorgeously documented step-by-step. Knotted projects abound—from wall hangings to a necklace, a dog leash, a hanging light, and more. At the heart of the story is the simple, empowering idea that a single year is all the time you need to make a life-changing creative leap.
The Year of the Bomb
by Ronald KiddIn 1955 California, as Invasion of the Body Snatchers is filmed in their hometown, Paul discovers a real enemy when he and three friends go against a young government agent determined to find communists at a nearby university or on the movie set.
The Year of the Dogs
by Vincent J. MusiFrom an opera-loving Labrador to a tooting bulldog, a chronicle of the character and personality of everyday dogs from a National Geographic photographer. Discover the stunning collection of photographs that shows the majesty, playfulness, and joy that is man&’s best friend: As a National Geographic photographer, taking pictures of lions, tigers, and bears was a regular day&’s work for Vincent Musi, but in 2017 he gave himself a new challenge: dogs. Using the same lighting and photographic techniques he uses for his National Geographic photography, Musi spent a year shooting portraits of dogs and compiling them into a book complete with all of the tail wags, wet noses, and dogs of all shapes and sizes. With delightful and informative bios displayed next to each portrait, The Year of the Dogs will have you entertained and doggedly coming back for more. &“This gorgeous tribute to man&’s best friend is the perfect gift for the dog-lover in your life—or anyone who needs to be convinced that dogs have just as much personality as humans.&” —The Pioneer Woman &“You&’ve probably seen work by Vincent Musi before. He&’s a regular National Geographic photographer and his work has covered topics like volcanoes, illegal immigration, global warming, hurricanes and the like. His latest book, though, is quite different in subject matter. It&’s a book about dogs—your average pet pooch—and it&’s fabulous . . . Paging through the book is a delight.&” —Photo District News &“For the dog lover who also loves photography, you can&’t go wrong with this coffee table book from photographer Vincent J. Musi.&” —InStyle (Holiday Gift Pick)
The Year's Work at the Zombie Research Center (The Year's Work: Studies in Fan Culture and Cultural Theory)
by John Gibson Stephen Schneider Jonathan P. Eburne Stephen Shapiro Dan Hassler-Forest Andrea Ruthven Stephen Watt Tatjana Soldat-Jaffe Atia Sattar Seth Morton Erik Bohman Jack Raglin&“Playful and (un)deadly serious . . . chew[s] through a near-exhaustive array of films, television, literature, culture, music and even cocktails.&”—Times Literary Supplement They have stalked the horizons of our culture, wreaked havoc on moribund concepts of dead and not dead, threatened our sense of identity, and endangered our personal safety. Now zombies have emerged from the lurking shadows of society&’s fringes to wander the sacred halls of the academy, feasting on tender minds and hurling rot across our intellectual landscape. It is time to unite in common cause, to shore up defenses, firm up critical and analytical resources, and fortify crumbling lines of inquiry. Responding to this call, Brain Workers from the Zombie Research Center poke and prod the rotting corpus of zombie culture trying to make sense of cult classics and the unstoppable growth of new and even more disturbing work. They exhume &“zombie theory&” and decaying historical documents from America, Europe, and the Caribbean in order to unearth the zombie world and arm readers with the brain tools necessary for everyday survival. Readers will see that zombie culture today &“lives&” in shapes as mutable as a zombie horde—and is often just as violent. &“An intelligent and highly engaging collection that will appeal to legions of zombie fans, to students in the humanities, and to scholars working in fields that have already been affected by or are now preparing for the zombie apocalypse. It blends entertaining, illuminating, and accessible readings of zombies and zombie culture with unique interventions made from authoritative positions of expertise.&”—Julian Murphet, author of Faulkner&’s Media Romance
The Year's Work in Lebowski Studies (The Year's Work)
by William Preston RobertsonA massive underground sensation, The Big Lebowski has been hailed as the first cult film of the internet age. In this book, 21 fans and scholars address the film's influences—westerns, noir, grail legends, the 1960s, and Fluxus—and its historical connections to the first Iraq war, boomers, slackerdom, surrealism, college culture, and of course bowling. The Year's Work in Lebowski Studies contains neither arid analyses nor lectures for the late-night crowd, but new ways of thinking and writing about film culture.
The Year's Work in Showgirls Studies (The Year's Work: Studies in Fan Culture and Cultural Theory)
by Kara Keeling Adrian Martin Shawna Tang Anna Breckon Kieryn McKay Jane Chi Park Zahra Stardust Billy StevensonThe Year's Work in Showgirls Studies is a fan culture volume that deconstructs how and why Showgirls, a 1995 drama with a female lead bent on becoming a famous performer in Las Vegas, became a much-contested cult film despite being a critical failure when it released. The collection orchestrates a conversation between scholarly essay work and archival documentation offering a magnificent representation of the array of responses generated by the film, its makers, its promoters, and its audience. A multifaceted approach to the film, its popularity, and its social relevance results in a new text for understanding normative social hierarchies of sexuality, race, and gender. The Year's Work in Showgirls Studies engages with the figurative and actual place of sex work and feminized affective labor in our society.
The Year's Work in the Oddball Archive (The Year's Work: Studies in Fan Culture and Cultural Theory)
by Grant Farred Timothy Sweet Aaron Jaffe Joseph Campana Charles M. Tung Dennis Allen Theodore Bale Atia Sattar Beth A. McCoy Robin Blyn Seth Morton&“By playing with notions of collecting and cataloging, this anthology offers a range of investigations into detritus and forgotten ephemera.&”—Colin Dickey, coeditor of The Morbid Anatomy Anthology The modern age is no stranger to the cabinet of curiosities, the freak show, or a drawer full of odds and ends. These collections of oddities engagingly work against the rationality and order of the conventional archive found in a university, a corporation, or a governmental holding. In form, methodology, and content, The Year&’s Work in the Oddball Archive offers a counterargument to a more reasoned form of storing and recording the avant-garde (or the post-avant-garde), the perverse, the off, the bent, the absurd, the quirky, the weird, and the queer. To do so, it positions itself within the history of mirabilia launched by curiosity cabinets starting in the mid-fifteenth century and continuing to the present day. These archives (or are they counter-archives?) are located in unexpected places—the doorways of Katrina homes, the cavity of a cow, the remnants of extinct animals, an Internet site—and they offer up &“alternate modes of knowing&” to the traditional archive. &“An unruly―and much-needed―model for how to do the archive differently.&”—Scott Herring, author of The Hoarders: Material Deviance in Modern American Culture &“It was a pleasure to read through this collection, and I suspect some of the essays, if not the entire book, will find itself on the syllabus for my Archive and Ephemera graduate course.&”—Museum Anthropology Review &“A finely wrought collection of curiosities . . . A vital intervention into how we talk about the stuff that surrounds us.&”—Colin Dickey, coeditor of The Morbid Anatomy Anthology
The Year-Round Solar Greenhouse: How to Design and Build a Net-Zero Energy Greenhouse
by Lindsey Schiller Marc PlinkeComprehensive coverage of passive solar greenhouse design including material selection, building methods and how to store thermal energy using a variety of simple and innovative strategies. Over a dozen case studies provide real-life inspiration, capped off with how-to guidance for building a durable, energy-efficient greenhouse. Variations include underground and aquaponic greenhouses and integrating solar panels to grow off-grid, year-round.
The Years of Alienation in Italy: Factory and Asylum Between the Economic Miracle and the Years of Lead
by Alessandra Diazzi Alvise Sforza TarabochiaThe Years of Alienation in Italy offers an interdisciplinary overview of the socio-political, psychological, philosophical, and cultural meanings that the notion of alienation took on in Italy between the 1960s and the 1970s. It addresses alienation as a social condition of estrangement caused by the capitalist system, a pathological state of the mind and an ontological condition of subjectivity. Contributors to the edited volume explore the pervasive influence this multifarious concept had on literature, cinema, architecture, and photography in Italy. The collection also theoretically reassesses the notion of alienation from a novel perspective, employing Italy as a paradigmatic case study in its pioneering role in the revolution of mental health care and factory work during these two decades.
The Years with Ross
by James ThurberFrom iconic American humorist James Thurber, a celebrated and poignant memoir about his years at The New Yorker with the magazine’s unforgettable founder and longtime editor, Harold Ross“Extremely entertaining. . . . life at The New Yorker emerges as a lovely sort of pageant of lunacy, of practical jokes, of feuds and foibles. It is an affectionate picture of scamps playing their games around a man who, for all his brusqueness, loved them, took care of them, pampered and scolded them like an irascible mother hen.” —New York TimesWith a foreword by Adam Gopnik and illustrations by James ThurberAt the helm of America’s most influential literary magazine from 1925 to 1951, Harold Ross introduced the country to a host of exciting talent, including Robert Benchley, Alexander Woollcott, Ogden Nash, Peter Arno, Charles Addams, and Dorothy Parker. But no one could have written about this irascible, eccentric genius more affectionately or more critically than James Thurber, whose portrait of Ross captures not only a complex literary giant but a historic friendship and a glorious era as well. "If you get Ross down on paper," warned Wolcott Gibbs to Thurber," nobody will ever believe it." But readers of this unforgettable memoir will find that they do.Offering a peek into the lives of two American literary giants and the New York literary scene at its heyday, The Years with Ross is a true classic, and a testament to the enduring influence of their genius.
The Yellow House: Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Arles
by Martin GayfordThis chronicle of the two months in 1888 when Paul Gauguin shared a house in France with Vincent Van Gogh describes not only how these two hallowed artists painted and exchanged ideas, but also the texture of their everyday lives. Includes 60 B&W reproductions of the artists' paintings and drawings from the period.
The Young Green Witch's Guide to Plant Magic: Rituals and Recipes from Nature
by Robin Rose BennettAn essential guide for any kid who wants to connect with natural magic, learn more about herbalism, and become more confident as they embrace their power with activities that support mindfulness and self-love. Green witches often start their journey by deciding to become best friends with one plant at a time. That plant becomes your ally. You come to know them, and in doing so, to know more about yourself. The plant will offer you teachings of physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional healing on the deepest levels to help you to grow, to feel safe in your body, and to become ever more joyful. In this book, readers will learn about nine plants that inspire wellness and self-care, as well as follow herbal recipes, start a green witch journal, practice magical rituals, and more. Whether you are making a body oil, a facial steam, or drinking a delicious tea in a moon ritual, the plants will awaken your magic and open you up to the joy and healing of the green world!
The Young Leonardo: Art and Life in Fifteenth-century Florence
by Larry J. FeinbergLeonardo da Vinci is often presented as the 'transcendent genius', removed from or ahead of his time. This book, however, attempts to understand him in the context of Renaissance Florence. Larry J. Feinberg explores Leonardo's origins and the beginning of his career as an artist. While celebrating his many artistic achievements, the book illuminates his debt to other artists' works and his struggles to gain and retain patronage, as well as his career and personal difficulties. Feinberg examines the range of Leonardo's interests, including aerodynamics, anatomy, astronomy, botany, geology, hydraulics, optics and warfare technology, to clarify how the artist's broad intellectual curiosity informed his art. Situating the artist within the political, social, cultural and artistic context of mid- and late-fifteenth-century Florence, Feinberg shows how this environment influenced Leonardo's artistic output and laid the groundwork for the achievements of his mature works.
The Young Pretender
by Michael Arditti"An engrossing, enthralling and utterly captivating read, The Young Pretender tells a simply remarkable story with bounce, energy, wit, and lively authenticity . . . Michael Arditti's brilliant imaginative achievement offers high comedy, dark tragedy and everything between" STEPHEN FRY"The Young Pretender is an absolute joy - charming and funny, with the lightest hint of melancholy, and a wonderfully imaginative recreation of the Georgian theatre scene" KATE SAUNDERS"I loved how Arditti conjures...the smell of the theatre and the ghosts of these bygone players that haunt the stage...and the wonderful period details. Arditti wears his research so lightly" LARUSHKA IVAN-ZADEH, reviewing on Radio 4's FRONT ROW *****Mobbed by the masses, lionised by the aristocracy, courted by royalty and lusted after by patrons of both sexes, the child actor William Henry West Betty was one of the most famous people in Georgian Britain.At the age of thirteen, he played leading roles, including Romeo, Macbeth and Richard III, in theatres across the country. Prime Minister William Pitt adjourned the House of Commons so that its members could attend his debut as Hamlet at Covent Garden. Then, as rivals turned on him and scandal engulfed him, he suffered a fall as merciless as his rise had been meteoric."Arditti's voice as Betty is impeccable. He is touchy, sometimes myopic, sincere in his ambitions. His attempts to reclaim lost glory are run through with an affecting melancholy" The TimesThe Young Pretender takes place during Betty's attempted comeback at the age of twenty-one. As he seeks to relaunch his career, he is forced to confront the painful truths behind his boyhood triumphs. Michael Arditti's revelatory new novel puts this long forgotten figure back in the limelight. In addition to its rich and poignant portrait of Betty himself, it offers an engrossing insight into both the theatre and society of the age. The nature of celebrity, the power of publicity and the cult of youth are laid bare in a story that is more pertinent now than ever."Entrancing and disturbing" ALLAN MASSIE, The Scotsman"Michael Arditti tells a story of a Regency child star with great panache and compassion, bringing a forgotten celebrity back to life for the modern age. A compelling read I was sad to finish." LINDA GRANT"Michael Arditti is a writer who takes risks. His material is always compelling and provocative, his techniques sophisticated and oblique" PATRICIA DUNCKER, Independent on Sunday "Arditti is a master storyteller" PETER STANFORD, Observer
The Young Pretender
by Michael Arditti"An engrossing, enthralling and utterly captivating read, The Young Pretender tells a simply remarkable story with bounce, energy, wit, and lively authenticity . . . Michael Arditti's brilliant imaginative achievement offers high comedy, dark tragedy and everything between" STEPHEN FRY"The Young Pretender is an absolute joy - charming and funny, with the lightest hint of melancholy, and a wonderfully imaginative recreation of the Georgian theatre scene" KATE SAUNDERS"I loved how Arditti conjures...the smell of the theatre and the ghosts of these bygone players that haunt the stage...and the wonderful period details. Arditti wears his research so lightly" LARUSHKA IVAN-ZADEH, reviewing on Radio 4's FRONT ROW *****"A vivid, highly detailed portrait of life in rumbustious Regency London" Mail on SundayMobbed by the masses, lionised by the aristocracy, courted by royalty and lusted after by patrons of both sexes, the child actor William Henry West Betty was one of the most famous people in Georgian Britain.At the age of thirteen, he played leading roles, including Romeo, Macbeth and Richard III, in theatres across the country. Prime Minister William Pitt adjourned the House of Commons so that its members could attend his debut as Hamlet at Covent Garden. Then, as rivals turned on him and scandal engulfed him, he suffered a fall as merciless as his rise had been meteoric."Arditti's voice as Betty is impeccable. He is touchy, sometimes myopic, sincere in his ambitions. His attempts to reclaim lost glory are run through with an affecting melancholy" The TimesThe Young Pretender takes place during Betty's attempted comeback at the age of twenty-one. As he seeks to relaunch his career, he is forced to confront the painful truths behind his boyhood triumphs. Michael Arditti's revelatory new novel puts this long forgotten figure back in the limelight. In addition to its rich and poignant portrait of Betty himself, it offers an engrossing insight into both the theatre and society of the age. The nature of celebrity, the power of publicity and the cult of youth are laid bare in a story that is more pertinent now than ever."Entrancing and disturbing" ALLAN MASSIE, The Scotsman"Michael Arditti tells a story of a Regency child star with great panache and compassion, bringing a forgotten celebrity back to life for the modern age. A compelling read I was sad to finish." LINDA GRANT"Michael Arditti is a writer who takes risks. His material is always compelling and provocative, his techniques sophisticated and oblique" PATRICIA DUNCKER, Independent on Sunday "Arditti is a master storyteller" PETER STANFORD, Observer
The Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor: Or a Key to the Leading of Rigging and to Practical Seamanship
by Darcy LeverWidely used among young 19th-century officers in the Royal Navy and East India Company, this now-rare volume offers clear definitions and copious illustrations of the principles of rigging and other aspects of seamanship -- tacking, use of a compass, splicing ropes, making sails, and much more. A must for ship fanciers and naval historians.
The Young Witch’s Guide to Living Magically: Potions, Lotions, Rituals, and Spells for Kids
by Nikki Van De CarFrom the top-selling author of The Junior Witch's Handbook comes a guide to self-care that illuminates the connection between the mind and the body, with an emphasis on connecting to the natural world.The Young Witch's Guide to Living Magically teaches young witches that there is a strong connection between their body and spirit. With chapters on the internal, the external, and the home, young readers will learn to use charged crystals, healing herbs, and sacred spaces to help alleviate their stress and to create a better life for themselves. From projects such as baking lavender-chamomile cupcakes to creating shampoos to creating wind chimes and more, mystical expert Nikki Van De Car gives kids calming ways to bring peace, power, and magic into their busy lives.