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As the Dust of the Earth: The Literature of Abandonment in Revolutionary Russia and Ukraine (Jews in Eastern Europe)
by Harriet MuravAn estimated forty thousand Jews were murdered during the Russian Civil War between 1918 and 1922. As the Dust of the Earth examines the Yiddish and Russian literary response to the violence (pogroms) and the relief effort, exploring both the poetry of catastrophe and the documentation of catastrophe and care.Brilliantly weaving together narrative fiction, poetry, memoirs, newspaper articles, and documentary, Harriet Murav argues that poets and pogrom investigators were doing more than recording the facts of violence and expressing emotions in response to it. They were interrogating what was taking place through a central concept familiar from their everyday lifeworld—hefker, or abandonment. Hefker shaped the documentation of catastrophe by Jewish investigators at pogrom sites impossibly tasked with producing comprehensive reports of chaos. Hefker also became a framework for Yiddish writers to think through such incomprehensible violence by creating new forms of poetry. Focusing less on the perpetrators and more on the responses to the pogroms, As the Dust of the Earth offers a fuller understanding of the seismic effects of such organized violence and a moving testimony to the resilience of survivors to process and cope with catastrophe.
Making an African City: Technopolitics and the Infrastructure of Everyday Life in Colonial Accra
by Jennifer HartIn Making an African City, Jennifer Hart traces the way that British colonial officials, Accra Town Council members, and a diverse group of technocrats used regulation to define what an "acceptable" city looked like. Unlike cities elsewhere on the continent, Accra had a long history of urbanism that predated British colonial presence. By criminalizing some activities and privileging others, colonial officials sought to marginalize indigenous practices of Accra residents and shape the development of a new, "modern" city.Hart argues, however, that residents regularly pushed back, protesting regulations, refusing to participate in newly developed systems, reappropriating infrastructure, demanding rights to city services, and asserting their own informal vision for the future of the city. While urban plans and regulations ultimately failed to substantively remake the city, their effects were and are still felt by urban residents, who are often subject to but not served by urban infrastructure.Making an African City explores how the informalization of Accra's development was a historical process, not a natural and self-evident phenomenon, which connects the history of the city with the history of urban development and the growth of technocracy around the world.
Rolling: Blackness and Mediated Comedy (Comedy & Culture)
by Anshare Antoine Gerald R. Butters Jr. Ellen Cleghorne Kelly Cole Phillip Lamarr Cunningham Ken Feil Lisa Guerrero Timothy Havens Felicia D. Henderson Jacqueline Johnson Alfred L. Martin Jr. Scott Poulson-Bryant Mel Stanfill Joshua TrueloveSince slavery, African and African American humor has baffled, intrigued, angered, and entertained the masses.Rolling centers Blackness in comedy, especially on television, and observing that it is often relegated to biopics, slave narratives, and the comedic. But like W. E. B. DuBois's ideas about double consciousness and Racquel Gates's extension of his theories, we know that Blackness resonates for Black viewers in ways often entirely different than for white viewers. Contributors to this volume cover a range of cases representing African American humor across film, television, digital media, and stand-up as Black comic personas try to work within, outside, and around culture, tilling for content. Essays engage with the complex industrial interplay of Blackness, white audiences, and comedy; satire and humor on media platforms; and the production of Blackness within comedy through personal stories and interviews of Black production crew and writers for television comedy.Rolling illuminates the inner workings of Blackness and comedy in media discourse.
Peace in the Waiting: When You Love People Who Don't Love God
by June ChapmanYour call to love those who don&’t know Jesus does not mean you need to save them. Through real-life guidance and encouragement, Peace in the Waiting helps us navigate the grief, confusion, and urgency we feel for loved ones who have rejected or wandered away from God. Is your heart weary from praying for someone you love to know Jesus? Peace in the Waiting offers a hope-filled path as you turn from your own doubts and frustration to God&’s sovereignty and comfort. Drawing on her experience with a close friend, author June Chapman explores: How to name and process our sorrow over friends and family who don&’t know God Our confusion about some people being saved and not others Our questions about unanswered prayers Why we need to remember that a loved one&’s salvation is not up to us How we can embrace peace even in the longing we have for others to follow Jesus Peace in the Waiting calls us to take the focus off ourselves and trust in God&’s promises so that we might have a renewed sense of hope for those we love most.
Global Discord: Values and Power in a Fractured World Order
by Paul TuckerHow to sustain an international system of cooperation in the midst of geopolitical struggleCan the international economic and legal system survive today’s fractured geopolitics? Democracies are facing a drawn-out contest with authoritarian states that is entangling much of public policy with global security issues. In Global Discord, Paul Tucker lays out principles for a sustainable system of international cooperation, showing how democracies can deal with China and other illiberal states without sacrificing their deepest political values. Drawing on three decades as a central banker and regulator, Tucker applies these principles to the international monetary order, including the role of the U.S. dollar, trade and investment regimes, and the financial system.Combining history, economics, and political and legal philosophy, Tucker offers a new account of international relations. Rejecting intellectual traditions that go back to Hobbes, Kant, and Grotius, and deploying instead ideas from David Hume, Bernard Williams, and modern mechanism-design economists, Tucker describes a new kind of political realism that emphasizes power and interests without sidelining morality. Incentives must be aligned with values if institutions are to endure. The connecting tissue for a system of international cooperation, he writes, should be legitimacy, creating a world of concentric circles in which we cooperate more with those with whom we share the most and whom we fear the least.
Puerto Rico: A National History
by Jorell Meléndez-BadilloA panoramic history of Puerto Rico from pre-Columbian times to todayPuerto Rico is a Spanish-speaking territory of the United States with a history shaped by conquest and resistance. For centuries, Puerto Ricans have crafted and negotiated complex ideas about nationhood. Jorell Meléndez-Badillo provides a new history of Puerto Rico that gives voice to the archipelago&’s people while offering a lens through which to understand the political, economic, and social challenges confronting them today.In this masterful work of scholarship, Meléndez-Badillo sheds light on the vibrant cultures of the archipelago in the centuries before the arrival of Columbus and captures the full sweep of Puerto Rico&’s turbulent history in the centuries that followed, from the first indigenous insurrection against colonial rule in 1511—led by the powerful chieftain Agüeybaná II—to the establishment of the Commonwealth in 1952. He deftly portrays the contemporary period and the intertwined though unequal histories of the archipelago and the continental United States.Puerto Rico is an engaging, sometimes personal, and consistently surprising history of colonialism, revolt, and the creation of a national identity, offering new perspectives not only on Puerto Rico and the Caribbean but on the United States and the Atlantic world more broadly.Available in Spanish from our partners at Grupo Planeta
The Beauty of Falling: A Life in Pursuit of Gravity
by Claudia de RhamA world-renowned physicist seeks gravity&’s true nature and finds wisdom in embracing its force in her lifeClaudia de Rham has been playing with gravity her entire life. As a diver, experimenting with her body&’s buoyancy in the Indian Ocean. As a pilot, soaring over Canadian waterfalls on dark mornings before beginning her daily scientific research. As an astronaut candidate, dreaming of the experience of flying free from Earth&’s pull. And as a physicist, discovering new sides to gravity&’s irresistible personality by exploring the limits of Einstein&’s general theory of relativity. In The Beauty of Falling, de Rham shares captivating stories about her quest to gain intimacy with gravity, to understand both its feeling and fundamental nature. Her life&’s pursuit led her from a twist of fate that snatched away her dream of becoming an astronaut to an exhilarating breakthrough at the very frontiers of gravitational physics.While many of us presume to know gravity quite well, the brightest scientists in history have yet to fully answer the simple question: what exactly is gravity? De Rham reveals how great minds—from Newton and Einstein to Stephen Hawking, Andrea Ghez, and Roger Penrose—led her to the edge of knowledge about this fundamental force. She found hints of a hidden side to gravity at the particle level where Einstein&’s theory breaks down, leading her to develop a new theory of &“massive gravity.&” De Rham shares how her life&’s path turned from a precipitous fall to an exquisite flight toward the discovery of something entirely new about our surprising, gravity-driven universe.
Try to Love the Questions: From Debate to Dialogue in Classrooms and Life (Skills for Scholars)
by Lara SchwartzAn essential guide to dialogue in the college classroom and beyondTry to Love the Questions gives college students a framework for understanding and practicing dialogue across difference in and out of the classroom. This invaluable guide explores the challenges facing students as they prepare to listen, speak, and learn in a college community and encourages students and faculty alike to consider inclusive, respectful communication as a skill—not as a limitation on freedom.Among the most common challenges on college campuses today is figuring out how to navigate our politically charged culture and engage productively with opposing viewpoints. Lara Schwartz introduces the fundamental principles of free expression, academic freedom, and academic dialogue, showing how open expression is the engine of social progress, scholarship, and inclusion. She sheds light on the rules and norms that govern campus discourse—such as the First Amendment, campus expression policies, and academic standards—and encourages students to adopt a mindset of inquiry that embraces uncertainty and a love of questions.Empowering students, scholars, and instructors to listen generously, explore questions with integrity, and communicate to be understood, Try to Love the Questions includes writing exercises and discussion questions in every chapter, making it an indispensable resource for anyone interested in practicing good-faith dialogue.
Long Problems: Climate Change and the Challenge of Governing across Time
by Thomas HalePolitical strategies for tackling climate change and other &“long problems&” that span generationsClimate change and its consequences unfold over many generations. Past emissions affect our climate today, just as our actions shape the climate of tomorrow, while the effects of global warming will last thousands of years. Yet the priorities of the present dominate our climate policy and the politics surrounding it. Even the social science that attempts to frame the problem does not theorize time effectively. In this pathbreaking book, Thomas Hale examines the politics of climate change and other &“long problems.&” He shows why we find it hard to act before a problem&’s effects are felt, why our future interests carry little weight in current debates, and why our institutions struggle to balance durability and adaptability. With long-term goals in mind, he outlines strategies for tilting the politics and policies of climate change toward better outcomes.Globalization &“widened&” political problems across national boundaries and changed our understanding of politics and governance. Hale argues that we must make a similar shift to understand the &“lengthening&” of problems across time. He describes tools and strategies that can, under certain conditions, allow policymakers to anticipate future needs and risks, make interventions that get ahead of problems, shift time horizons, adapt to changing circumstances, and set forward-looking goals that endure. As the climate changes, politics must, too. Efforts to solve long-term problems—not only climate change but other issues as well, including technology governance and demographic shifts—can also be a catalyst for a broader institutional transformation oriented toward the long term. With Long Problems, Hale offers an essential guide to governing across time.
Making Democracy Count: How Mathematics Improves Voting, Electoral Maps, and Representation
by Ismar VolićHow we can repair our democracy by rebuilding the mechanisms that power itWhat’s the best way to determine what most voters want when multiple candidates are running? What’s the fairest way to allocate legislative seats to different constituencies? What’s the least distorted way to draw voting districts? Not the way we do things now. Democracy is mathematical to its very foundations. Yet most of the methods in use are a historical grab bag of the shortsighted, the cynical, the innumerate, and the outright discriminatory. Making Democracy Count sheds new light on our electoral systems, revealing how a deeper understanding of their mathematics is the key to creating civic infrastructure that works for everyone.In this timely guide, Ismar Volić empowers us to use mathematical thinking as an objective, nonpartisan framework that rises above the noise and rancor of today’s divided public square. Examining our representative democracy using powerful clarifying concepts, Volić shows why our current voting system stifles political diversity, why the size of the House of Representatives contributes to its paralysis, why gerrymandering is a sinister instrument that entrenches partisanship and disenfranchisement, why the Electoral College must be rethought, and what can work better and why. Volić also discusses the legal and constitutional practicalities involved and proposes a road map for repairing the mathematical structures that undergird representative government.Making Democracy Count gives us the concrete knowledge and the confidence to advocate for a more just, equitable, and inclusive democracy.
The Little Book of Beetles (Little Books of Nature #2)
by Arthur V. EvansA charming, richly illustrated, pocket-size exploration of the world&’s beetlesPacked with surprising facts, this delightful and gorgeously designed book will beguile any nature lover. Expertly written and beautifully illustrated throughout with color photographs and original color artwork, The Little Book of Beetles is an accessible and enjoyable mini reference about the world&’s beetles, with examples drawn from across the globe. It fits an astonishing amount of information in a small package, covering a wide range of topics—from anatomy, diversity, and reproduction to habitat and conservation. It also includes curious facts and a section on beetles in myths, folklore, and modern culture from around the world. The result is an irresistible guide to the amazing lives of beetles.A beautifully designed pocket-size book with a foil-stamped cloth coverFeatures some 140 color illustrations and photosMakes a perfect gift
The Little Book of Trees (Little Books of Nature #4)
by Herman Shugart Peter WhiteA charming, richly illustrated, pocket-size exploration of the world&’s treesPacked with surprising facts, this delightful and gorgeously designed book will beguile any nature lover. Expertly written and beautifully illustrated throughout with color photographs and original color artwork, The Little Book of Trees is an accessible and enjoyable mini reference about the world&’s trees, with examples drawn from across the globe. It fits an astonishing amount of information in a small package, covering a wide range of topics—from tree anatomy, diversity, and architecture to habitat and conservation. It also includes curious facts and a section on trees in myths, folklore, and modern culture from around the world. The result is an irresistible guide to the amazing lives of trees.A beautifully designed pocket-size book with a foil-stamped cloth coverFeatures some 140 color illustrations and photosMakes a perfect gift
The Little Book of Spiders (Little Books of Nature #3)
by Simon PollardA charming, richly illustrated, pocket-size exploration of the world&’s spidersPacked with surprising facts, this delightful and gorgeously designed book will beguile any nature lover. Expertly written and beautifully illustrated throughout with color photographs and original color artwork, The Little Book of Spiders is an accessible and enjoyable mini reference about the world&’s spiders, with examples drawn from across the globe. It fits an astonishing amount of information in a small package, covering a wide range of topics—from anatomy, diversity, and reproduction to habitat and conservation. It also includes curious facts and a section on spiders in myths, folklore, and modern culture from around the world. The result is an irresistible guide to the amazing lives of spiders.A beautifully designed pocket-size book with a foil-stamped cloth coverFeatures some 140 color illustrations and photosMakes a perfect gift
The Little Book of Butterflies (Little Books of Nature #1)
by Andrei Sourakov Alexandra A. SourakovA charming, richly illustrated, pocket-size exploration of the world&’s butterfliesPacked with surprising facts, this delightful and gorgeously designed book will beguile any nature lover. Expertly written and beautifully illustrated throughout with color photographs and original color artwork, The Little Book of Butterflies is an accessible and enjoyable mini reference about the world&’s butterflies, with examples drawn from across the globe. It fits an astonishing amount of information in a small package, covering a wide range of topics—from anatomy, diversity, and reproduction to habitat and conservation. It also includes curious facts and a section on butterflies in myths, folklore, and modern culture from around the world. The result is an irresistible guide to the amazing lives of butterflies.A beautifully designed pocket-size book with a foil-stamped cloth coverFeatures some 140 color illustrations and photosMakes a perfect gift
The Art of Remembering: Essays on African American Art and History (The Visual Arts of Africa and its Diasporas)
by Gwendolyn DuBois ShawIn The Art of Remembering art historian and curator Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw explores African American art and representation from the height of the British colonial period to the present. She engages in the process of "rememory"—the recovery of facts and narratives of African American creativity and self-representation that have been purposefully set aside, actively ignored, and disremembered. In analyses of the work of artists ranging from Scipio Moorhead, Moses Williams, and Aaron Douglas to Barbara Chase-Riboud, Kara Walker, Kehinde Wiley, and Deana Lawson, Shaw demonstrates that African American art and history may be remembered and understood anew through a process of intensive close looking, cultural and historical contextualization, and biographic recuperation or consideration. Shaw shows how embracing rememory expands the possibilities of history by acknowledging the existence of multiple forms of knowledge and ways of understanding an event or interpreting an object. In so doing, Shaw thinks beyond canonical interpretations of art and material and visual culture to imagine “what if,” asking what else did we once know that has been lost.
Healing through Sound: Awakening Your Audible Body
by Vickie Dodd• Shows how sound, even humming, can change the body&’s tissues, rearrange posture, and release long-held emotional trauma and stress • Explains how to listen deeply to the body and discover the rhythms of the areas to be treated as well as how to intuit the sounds required for healing • Offers practices to help you immediately release tension and explains how to use your voice to release emotional conflicts so your body can naturally heal You are made of sound. By listening deeply, you can hear the rhythms and stories of the audible body. With the power of the voice, you can heal the body layer by layer, awakening your cells while releasing long-held tensions, stress, and emotional trauma. In this guide to sound as bodywork, sound healer Vickie Dodd shares her system for addressing trauma locked in the physical body with the healing power of sound. Touching on the function of the nervous system and the parasympathetic breath, she reveals how sound travels the inner pathways of the body, eliciting responses from the body memory of tissues and muscles while bypassing the mind. Sharing examples from sessions with her clients across five decades, she explains how sound can change the body&’s tissues, rearrange posture, and release undigested emotional experiences. She teaches how to prepare the body for the work of sounding and releasing and explains the vocabulary of healing sounds, in particular the power of vowels to start the healing process. Presenting experiential exercises, the author explores how to listen deeply and precisely to the body&’s stories and discover the rhythms of the areas to be treated as well as how to intuit the sounds required for healing—your unique soundprint. She offers practices to help you immediately experience a release of tension and stress and explains how to use your voice to release emotional conflicts so your body can naturally heal. She explores how to sing love songs to your shadow, transform negative patterns into harmonious ones, and discover the grace and peace that arise as your body&’s stories and tissues come to rest. Revealing the vast potential of sound to heal and transform, Vickie Dodd shows how each of us can dialogue with our own body for release, restoration, and vitality.
Seiðr Magic: The Norse Tradition of Divination and Trance
by Dean Kirkland• Explains the techniques used to achieve trance in seiðr, how to journey in the Nine Realms, and the different gods and spirits you may encounter • Discusses the tools of seiðr, such as the seiðr staff and hood, and how to create them, empower them, and care for them • Details Norse divination methods, ways to alter fate, healing techniques, the use of protective songs, and the practice of Norse soul retrieval While Norse rune work is well known, there is another major ancient Norse magical practice: seiðr (pronounced &“sayther&”), a form of trance spirit work and divination. Although seiðr is often considered an ancient form of witchcraft, recent archaeological evidence suggests it is more closely related to shamanism. In this practical guide to seiðr, Dean Kirkland, Ph.D., reconstructs the magical and shamanic techniques of the seiðr priest or priestess using the sagas and other literature from the Viking age, tools found in the archaeological record, and surviving indigenous shamanic traditions. He addresses the misconception that seiðr was a practice reserved only for women and shows how anyone called to this work would have been accepted in ancient Norse society. He discusses the tools of seiðr and how to create them, empower them, and care for them. He explores the use of protective songs (varðlokkur) that involve forming bonds with spirits, a practice he likens to the medicine songs of Amazonian shamans. He explains the techniques used to achieve trance in seiðr and how they are based on finding balance between the light and the darkness. Looking at trance journeying in the Nine Realms of the Norse cosmos, the author discusses the different gods and spirits the seiðr practitioner may encounter in the Upper Realms, the Middle Worlds, and the Lower Realms. He shares exercises on the Wyrd, divination methods in seiðr, as well as ways to alter Ørlög, or fate, through spiritual work. Discussing soul-healing techniques in seiðr, the author looks in depth at the Norse shamanic practices of soul retrieval and reintegration of the soul parts. He then explores seiðr&’s role in death, dying, and dealing with the dead, including work with the Valkries and the ancestors. Presenting a historically based handbook for contemporary heathens, this book offers a practical path for anyone seeking to explore Norse trance magic and mysticism.
Shadow Work for the Soul: Seeing Beauty in the Dark
by Mary Mueller Shutan• Explains how your shadow develops and how your reactivity to specific people and situations reflects the ways you project your shadow onto others • Presents a wide variety of shadow work tools, emotional intelligence exercises, and self-inquiry practices to help you identify your shadow and heal and release any shadow-related traumas • Explores the concept of collective shadows, including online shadows and relationship shadows, and reveals how to free yourself from shadow projections Throughout our lives, we repress and deny the parts of our authentic selves that our families, peers, and the world told us were wrong, unlovable, or &“too much,&” and from this repression our shadow is born. By the time we reach adulthood, much of our authentic self is shadow. The connection we once had to who we truly are has been severed, and we no longer feel vibrant and enthusiastic about life. In this practical and trauma-informed guide to deep shadow work, Mary Mueller Shutan explains how to find compassion for your dark side, reconnect with the repressed and abandoned parts of yourself, and reclaim the resiliency and joy of your authentic, whole self. She reflects on the positive, protective role of the shadow and describes how it is composed not only of the trauma and darkness we have experienced, but also the light we have yet to absorb. She explains how your reactivity to specific people and situations—your &“triggers&”—reflects your own pain and the ways you project your shadow onto others and the outer world. Presenting a wide variety of shadow work tools and emotional intelligence exercises, the author teaches you how to identify your shadow projections and safely and skillfully work with the difficult emotions that may arise during shadow work. As you discover and understand more of your personal dark places, the author then introduces the concept of collective shadows that are created by society yet affect us individually, including online shadows and relationship shadows. She explains how to identify and free yourself from the projections of collective shadows to promote individual and collective health. Offering a self-directed process for healing trauma and reclaiming the eclipsed light of your shadow, Shutan shows how shadow work allows you to move beyond the restrictions you&’ve placed on yourself and others and see the beauty inherent in the dark places of the self.
The Hidden Power of Aikido: Transcending Conflict and Cultivating Inner Peace
by Susan Perry• Explains Aikido solutions for peacefully resolving difficulties that arise with intimidating and unpredictable people, those who are stubborn or don&’t listen, insincere people who want something from you, and chaotic situations • Presents Aikido&’s step-by-step protocol for developing the receptiveness of the beginner&’s mind and deescalating potentially violent or dangerous situations • Shares stories of how Aikido helped the author transform interpersonal difficulties into peaceful interactions In addition to the physical practice, the modern martial art of Aikido also offers profound principles for transforming interpersonal conflict into peaceful interaction. Illuminating the inner philosophical and practical aspects of Aikido, forty-seven-year Aikido practitioner and 6th-degree blackbelt Susan Perry, Ph.D., uses personal stories of joy, achievement, and hardship to demonstrate real-life applications of the transformational principles of Aikido. She introduces what Aikido is and where it comes from, providing a brief biography of its founder, Morihei Ueshiba. She explains in detail how Aikido helped her resolve difficulties at work, as a student, and as a teacher/sensei. Through each story shared, the author offers a glimpse of the beginner&’s mind in action, the key to changing even the violent energy of an attack into peaceful interaction. Presenting Aikido&’s step-by-step protocol for developing the receptiveness of the beginner&’s mind, a state essential to personal transformation, Perry explains how distraction and timing can be used to deescalate potentially violent or dangerous situations. She discusses the founder&’s philosophy of conflict, showing how Aikido can help peacefully resolve difficulties that arise with pushy, intimidating, and unpredictable people, those who are stubborn or don&’t listen, insincere people who want something from you, and chaotic situations. She explains how a deepening practice of the martial art leads to an aiki state of inner peace, fusion, and boundless joy. Revealing how Aikido can help you face your fears and develop your heart and soul, this book shows how this martial art helps you embrace change, cultivate a strong center, and ultimately live a joyful life of engagement with the world.
Here We Go Again: A Novel
by Alison CochrunThe author of the &“sexy, insightful, and utterly charming&” (BuzzFeed) Kiss Her Once for Me returns with a new queer rom-com following once childhood best friends forced together to drive their former teacher across the country.A long time ago, Logan Maletis and Rosemary Hale used to be friends. They spent their childhood summers running through the woods, rebelling against their conservative small town, and dreaming of escaping. But then an incident the summer before high school turned them into bitter rivals. After graduation, they went ten years without speaking. Now in their thirties, Logan and Rosemary find they aren&’t quite living the lives of adventure they imagined for themselves. Still in their small town and working as teachers at their alma mater, they&’re both stuck in old patterns. Uptight Rosemary chooses security and stability over all else, working constantly, and her most stable relationship is with her label maker. Chaotic and impulsive Logan has a long list of misguided ex-lovers and an apathetic shrug she uses to protect herself from anything real. And as hard as they try to avoid each other—and their complicated past—they keep crashing into each other. Including with their cars. But when their beloved former English teacher and lifelong mentor tells them he has only a few months to live, they&’re forced together once and for all to fulfill his last wish: a cross-country road trip. Stuffed into the gayest van west of the Mississippi, the three embark on a life-changing summer trip—from Washington state to the Grand Canyon, from the Gulf Coast to coastal Maine—that will chart a new future and perhaps lead them back to one another.
Nen and the Lonely Fisherman
by Ian EagletonAn adventurous merman and kind fisherman find love and each other in this gorgeous update to the Little Mermaid story.Winner of the Polari Prize, the UK's first and largest LGBTQ+ book award.Far out at sea and deep below whispering waves lives a merman searching for a partner. In the forbidden world above, a kind fisherman wonders if something more is waiting for him beyond the horizon.When they find each other under a star-filled sky, their love will change both of their worlds.Celebrate queer joy and the uniting power of love with this award-winning, inclusive retelling of a classic fairy tale.
Before It's Gone: Stories from the Front Lines of Climate Change in Small-Town America
by Jonathan VigliottiFrom CBS News national correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti, a &“vivid&” (Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize–winning author) and &“stunning&” (Booklist) character-driven call to action on our climate, told through the stories of the pioneering Americans working to persevere as leadership inaction risks the very survival of our heartland and hometowns.Discussion of the climate crisis has always suffered from a problem of abstraction. Data points and warnings of an overheated future struggle to break through the noise of everyday life. Deniers often portray climate solutions as inconvenient, expensive, and unnecessary. And many politicians, cloistered by status and focused always on their next election, do not yet see climate as a winning issue in the short run, so they don&’t take any action at all. But climate change, and its devastating consequences, has kept apace whether we want to pay attention or not. CBS News national correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti has seen that crisis unfold for himself, spending nearly two decades reporting across the United States (and the world) documenting the people, communities, landmarks, and traditions we&’ve already surrendered. Vigliotti shares with urgency and personal touch the story of an America on the brink. Before It&’s Gone traces Vigliotti&’s travels across the country, taking him to the frontlines of climate disaster and revealing the genuine impacts of climate change that countless Americans have already been forced to confront. From massive forest fires in California to hurricanes in Louisiana, receding coastlines in Massachusetts and devastated fisheries in Alaska, we learn that warnings of a future impacted by climate are no more; the climate catastrophe is already here. This is the story of America, and Americans, on the edge, and a powerful argument that radical action on climate change with a respect for its people and traditions is not only possible, but also the only way to preserve what we love.
A Short Walk Through a Wide World: A Novel
by Douglas WesterbekeThe Invisible Life of Addie LaRue meets Life of Pi in this dazzlingly epic debut that charts the incredible, adventurous life of one woman as she journeys the globe trying to outrun a mysterious curse that will destroy her if she stops moving.Paris, 1885: Aubry Tourvel, a spoiled and stubborn nine-year-old girl, comes across a wooden puzzle ball on her walk home from school. She tosses it over the fence, only to find it in her backpack that evening. Days later, at the family dinner table, she starts to bleed to death. When medical treatment only makes her worse, she flees to the outskirts of the city, where she realizes that it is this very act of movement that keeps her alive. So begins her lifelong journey on the run from her condition, which won&’t allow her to stay anywhere for longer than a few days nor return to a place where she&’s already been. From the scorched dunes of the Calashino Sand Sea to the snow-packed peaks of the Himalayas; from a bottomless well in a Parisian courtyard, to the shelves of an infinite underground library, we follow Aubry as she learns what it takes to survive and ultimately, to truly live. But the longer Aubry wanders and the more desperate she is to share her life with others, the clearer it becomes that the world she travels through may not be quite the same as everyone else&’s... Fiercely independent and hopeful, yet full of longing, Aubry Tourvel is an unforgettable character fighting her way through a world of wonders to find a place she can call home. A spellbinding and inspiring story about discovering meaning in a life that seems otherwise impossible, A Short Walk Through a Wide World reminds us that it&’s not the destination, but rather the journey—no matter how long it lasts—that makes us who we are.
Otherworldly
by F.T. LukensA skeptic and a supernatural being make a crossroads deal to achieve their own ends only to get more than they bargained for in this lively young adult romantic adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of Spell Bound and So This Is Ever After.Seventeen-year-old Ellery is a non-believer in a region where people swear the supernatural is real. Sure, they&’ve been stuck in a five-year winter, but there&’s got to be a scientific explanation. If goddesses were real, they wouldn&’t abandon their charges like this, leaving farmers like Ellery&’s family to scrape by. Knox is a familiar from the Other World, a magical assistant sent to help humans who have made crossroads bargains. But it&’s been years since he heard from his queen, and Knox is getting nervous about what he might find once he returns home. When the crossroads demons come to collect Knox, he panics and runs. A chance encounter down an alley finds Ellery coming to Knox&’s rescue, successfully fending off his would-be abductors. Ellery can&’t quite believe what they&’ve seen. And they definitely don&’t believe the nonsense this unnervingly attractive guy spews about his paranormal origins. But Knox needs to make a deal with a human who can tether him to this realm, and Ellery needs to figure out how to stop this winter to help their family. Once their bargain is struck, there&’s no backing out, and the growing connection between the two might just change everything.
Monster and Me 6: The Secret Beneath the Palace (Monster and Me)
by Cort LaneDiscover the joy of reading with Little Bee chapter books! Can the Freddy von Frankenstein brave the dark tunnels beneath the palace with his brother and sister to find and help a powerful fantastical?Freddy, F.M., and Riya decide they need to find out what's drawing fantasticals to their home after a swarm of sprites descends on the palace. But to do so, they'll need to venture down into the dark, windy tunnels below the palace again. After Freddy and Riya argue about which way to go, suddenly, a gust of magic wind steals their voices! Can they set aside their differences to figure find the magic source and get their voices back?