In Unlocking the Past, Martin Jones, a leading expert at the forefront of bioarchaeology—the discipline that gave Michael Crichton the premise for Jurassic Park—explains how this pioneering science is rewriting human history and unlocking stories of the past that could never have been told before. For the first time, the building blocks of ancient life—DNA, proteins, and fats that have long been trapped in fossils and earth and rock—have become widely accessible to science. Working at the cutting edge of genetic and other molecular technologies, researchers have been probing the remains of these ancient biomolecules in human skeletons, sediments and fossilized plants, dinosaur bones, and insects trapped in amber. Their amazing discoveries have influenced the archaeological debate at almost every level and continue to reshape our understanding of the past.Devising a molecular clock from a certain area of DNA, scientists were able to... Views: 541
The town of Journey's End may not literally be at the end of the world, but it sure feels like it to Nolie Stanhope. Spending the summer with her scientist father in the tiny Scottish village isn't exactly Nolie's idea of a good time, but she soon finds a friend: native Journey's Ender Bel McKissick.
While Nolie's father came to Journey's End to study the Boundary--a mysterious fog bank offshore--Bel's family can’t afford to consider it a threat. The McKissick’s livelihood depends on the tourists drawn by legends of a curse. Still, whether you believe in magic or science, going into the Boundary means you'll never come back.
…Unless you do. Albert Etheridge, a boy who disappeared into the Boundary in 1914, suddenly returns--without having aged a day and with no memory of the past hundred years. Then the Boundary starts creeping closer to the town, threatening to consume everyone within.
While Nolie's father wants to have the village evacuated, Bel's parents lead the charge to stay in Journey's End. Meanwhile, Albert and the girls look for ways to stop the encroaching boundary, coming across an ancient Scottish spell that requires magic, a quest, and a sacrifice. Views: 541
Nick Slate, in order to protect his father and little brother, reluctantly must help the Accelerati complete Tesla's great device. Their power-mad leader wants nothing less than to control the world's energy--but there are still three missing objects to track down.
Nick's friends can't help him, as they are spread across the globe grappling with their own mysteries--with Vince in Scotland, Caitlin and Mitch on their way to New Jersey, and Petula's whereabouts unknown. On his own, Nick must locate Tesla's final inventions-- which are the most powerful of all, capable of shattering time and collapsing space.
Praise for Tesla's Attic
"...Shusterman and Elfman have crafted a plot more devious, characters far quirkier, climaxes (yes, there are two) more breathless, and a narration much, much funnier than recent mad-science offerings. Sticking with a third-person narration frees the authors to be as wryly and sophisticatedly witty as they please without compromising the veracity of their middle-school cast, resulting in storytelling as delightful as the story being told."
-Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books (starred review)
"Lively, intelligent prose elevates this story of teenagers versus mad scientists, the third-person point of view offering a stage to various players in their play of galactic consequence. A wild tale in the spirit of Back to the Future, with a hint of Malamud's The Natural tossed in."--Kirkus Reviews
"This collaboration between Shusterman and Elfman tempers the scarier elements of Nick's quest with deft, humorous writing and plenty of the ordinary adventures of a new kid in school finding his niche. Hand this one to fans of Rick Riordan's Kane Chronicles or Kenneth Oppel's Airborne."--Booklist
2014 VOYA Magazine Top Shelf Honoree
A Junior Library Guild Selection Views: 541
Marim, a young Tessilar, travels to Cynnes Tarth and meets a boy whose life she can save only by uncovering the long forgotten secret of the island's magic.Cynnes Tarth has a secret. The people have forgotten what lies within the fog, but they do remember to be careful. Don't let the children play too much in warmlake. Don't go into the forest. Most of all, don't show any interest in the brinlins that live among the reeds. But Marim, a young Tessilar stranded on the island, doesn't know the rules. In hopes of establishing herself as a healer, she agrees to see a boy who is wasting away no matter how much he eats. When she recognizes his affliction as magical in nature, she must deduce what no one can tell her if she hopes to save his life. Views: 541
The train to Provincetown carries a strange, bearded figure attired totally in black. A near fatal brain injury has robbed him of his memory. He's bound for Provincetown where he hopes to find out what happened to him - but along the way he's compelled to leave the train to help out total strangers. He wonders if he'll ever get to the end of the line and solve his personal mystery.The train running from Bourne to Provincetown has a strange rider. Bearded and dressed entirely in black, with a wide brimmed hat, the ‘figure in black’ does not know who he is. He suffered a near fatal brain injury that left him with no memory, but gave him the curse/blessing of second sight. Bound for Provincetown, he’s sure he’ll find out what happened to him there, at the end of the line. Getting there is proving very difficult, for something inside his shattered brain, forces him off the train to help total strangers in need. There are 22 stops between Gray Gables, the welcome mat to Cape Cod, and Provincetown - the end of the 64 mile long sandbar. The figure in black thinks that the place the Native Americans called "The End of the Earth" might also be the end of his life but he's determine to get there, if he can last that long. Views: 540
Jake:
Katie Higgins was the first girl I ever loved. We spent one summer together at Lake Fisher when we were sixteen and then I never saw her again. My life is shit, my job is gone, and my dad had a stroke, so I find myself back at Lake Fisher once again. And so does Katie. Her last name isn't Higgins anymore, because Katie is married with three kids and one more on the way, but when she shows up at Lake Fisher with her kids, danger trails her all the way there. I could do a lot of things. I could leave and go home. I could stay and deal with it. But what I want most of all is just to take care of Katie. If I concentrate on her, maybe I won't have to face my own problems. Yeah, that's it. Fix Katie.
Katie:
I haven't seen Jake in eighteen years, but the moment I lay eyes on him, I feel safer than I have in a very long time. Memories swamp me every time I look out over the clear, cool water. A first kiss. A first boyfriend. A first love. That old spark is still there. I just can't act on it, and neither can Jake. Our story started eighteen years ago, and then we both made lives with other people. Jake is willing to tell me about his, but I can't share mine with him. Ever. We can be friends and spend another summer together, right? Sure, we can. Views: 540
The first book in the Gary Maddox Series:Sydney private investigator Gary Maddox scratches out a living doing personal injuries surveillance. A mother asks him to find out who killed her drug-dealing son. The son deserved to die. But the mother deserves justice and offers Gary a lot of money. Soon he's battling drug dealers, corrupt cops, hit-men and thugs. He's well armed and not dead yet.I have been abandoned in a stark landscape. I have no idea who I am or why I've been cast out. My only protection is a Ruger double-action revolver. I discover if I can make it through the no-man's-land alive, I might have a chance at amnesty. All I have to do is trek the two-hundred-and-fifty miles north through desolate wasteland to the Gate. Alone.I could say this is the worst day of my life, but I honestly have no idea.Into the Wasteland follows one young woman's journey through treacherous landscapes, backstabbing strangers, and lethal challenges. If she survives, her path will lead her to a final destination beyond anything she could have imagined.All author's proceeds from sales of this dystopian novella series benefits battered women’s shelters.Lisa's novellas are written without explicit intimacy or violence. As such they are suitable for teens and up. Views: 540
Why did the New York Stock Exchange suspend trading without warning on July 8, 2015? Why did certain Toyota vehicles accelerate uncontrollably against the will of their drivers? Why does the programming inside our airplanes occasionally surprise its creators? After a thorough analysis by the top experts, the answers still elude us. You don't understand the software running your car or your iPhone. But here's a secret: neither do the geniuses at Apple or the Ph.D.'s at Toyota—not perfectly, anyway. No one, not lawyers, doctors, accountants, or policy makers, fully grasps the rules governing your tax return, your retirement account, or your hospital's medical machinery. The same technological advances that have simplified our lives have made the systems governing our lives incomprehensible, unpredictable, and overcomplicated. In Overcomplicated, complexity scientist Samuel Arbesman offers a fresh, insightful field guide to living with complex... Views: 540
Determined to halt China’s increasing dominance, forces within Russia and the U.S. push the three countries to the edge of war, with Michael Anderson once more drawn into a conspiracy of deceit. The U.S. President’s grip on events rapidly spirals out of control, Philippine protests over China's militarisation of the South China Sea turning the Midterm elections into a chaotic scramble for power.Determined to halt China’s increasing dominance to the east and south, forces within Russia and the United States push the three countries to the edge of war...Warned of a terrorist attack, the target unknown, Michael Anderson is once more drawn into a conspiracy of deceit, struggling to understand the complex games played out across three continents. His focus moves from London to Washington, the U.S. Midterm elections turning into a chaotic scramble for power as the American President’s grip on events at home and abroad rapidly spirals out of control.In the South China Sea, Philippine protests over China’s creeping militarisation of the Spratly Islands escalate into a series of clashes, the United States’ apparent unwillingness to protect her old ally provoking an angry reaction on the streets of Washington. With Beijing and Moscow both seeking to take advantage of the internal battles within the White House, the fight for supremacy over the disputed islands threatens the President’s own survival.Set seventeen months after the events of The Will of the People, the story brings together many of the characters from the first novel and forms the second part of the Conspiracy Trilogy. Views: 540
