The 6 Most Important Decisions You'll Ever Make: A Guide for Teens

MAKING SMART CHOICES IN CHALLENGING TIMES The challenges teens face today are tougher than at any time in history: academic stress, parent communication, media bombardment, dating drama, abuse, bullying, addictions, depression, and peer pressure, just to name a few. And, like it or not, the choices teens make while navigating these challenges can make or break their futures. In The 6 Most Important Decisions You'll Ever Make, Sean Covey, author of the international bestseller The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, gives teens the strong advice they need to make informed and wise decisions.Using real stories from teens around the world, Sean shows teens how to succeed in school, make good friends, get along with parents, wisely handle dating and sex issues, avoid or overcome addictions, build self-esteem, and much more. Jam-packed with original cartoons, inspiring quotes, and fun quizzes, this innovative book will help teens not only survive but thrive during their teen years and beyond. Building upon the legacy of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, this is an indispensable resource for teens everywhere.
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Midnight Web

Be careful what you wish for... January Jaxson's settling into her life in Moonshadow Bay, and her new relationship with wolf shifter Killian O'Connell. Her job with Conjure Ink is proving both fascinating as well as dangerous. But little does January realize that she's about to let the actual genie out of the proverbial bottle. When she bought an old bottle in a thrift shop, January didn't expect to be purchasing a guest for her home. Now, with a djinn on her hands, she finds herself promising to track down something for her unexpected houseguest so he can finally gain his freedom. At the same time, she's thrown into one of the spookiest hauntings she's ever experienced when a local restaurant suddenly falls prey to ghosts seeking revenge. Will she be able to get rid of her houseguest and keep the ghosts from killing their latest target, or will this job prove too much for January as she faces the big 4-1? Reading Order...
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Dog Aliens 1: Raffle's Name

A six month old puppy gets abandoned in the mountains. He meets a she wolf and discovers an odd talent that he has for manipulating the thoughts of others: wolves, other dog aliens like himself, and even humans. This talent comes in handy when he finds himself in a cage at the animal shelter, but he goes a bit overboard with it!Clem is a dog with a secret: he is an alien from outer space. Every morning he digs out of his yard to join his fellow Kaxians. So far, his humans have just filled in the holes, so he should be fine, right? But Clem must keep his secret.No humans can know that dogs are aliens. This gets difficult when Clem's latent psi abilities start to appear!Dog aliens can't wait for their humans to leave them home alone. That's the only time they can do their covert intergalactic trading duties. The little dogs are aliens, too, but they are from a rival planet called Nique, and anyway, who cares about them?There is a happy ending, and no dogs or humans are harmed in the story, although there are scary parts and sad parts. The dog tells the story!The sequel, Dog Aliens 2: Oreo, is now available!
Views: 360

A Novel Approach to Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors

I have been a fan of Shakespeare for many, many years, and have been helping students enjoy reading his plays for over a decade. But sometimes, when a student or adult wants to enjoy Shakespeare without the benefit of a group to read the plays aloud with, it would be nice to have Shakespeare in the form of a novel.I have been a fan of Shakespeare for many, many years, and have been helping students enjoy reading his plays for over a decade. But sometimes, when a student or adult wants to enjoy Shakespeare without the benefit of a group to read the plays aloud with, it would be nice to have Shakespeare in the form of a novel. I have taken much of Shakespeare’s dialogue from Comedy of Errors and tried to add just enough scene and character identification to make the play make sense. I hope you enjoy this novel look at one of my favorite Shakespeare comedies!
Views: 359

War Dances

In his first new fiction since winning the National Book Award for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, best-selling author Sherman Alexie delivers a virtuoso collection of tender, witty, and soulful stories that expertly capture modern relationships from the most diverse angles. War Dances brims with Alexie’s poetic and revolutionary prose, and reminds us once again why he ranks as one of our country’s finest writers. With bright insight into the minds of artists, entrepreneurs, fathers, husbands, and sons, Alexie populates his stories with average men on the brink of exceptional change: In the title story, a son recalls his father’s “natural Indian death” from alcohol and diabetes, just as he learns that he himself may have a brain tumor; “The Ballad of Paul Nonetheless,” dissects a vintage clothing store owner’s failing marriage and courtship of a Puma-clad stranger in airports across the country; and “Breaking and Entering” recounts a film editor’s fateful confrontation with an thieving adolescent. Brazen and wise War Dances takes us to the heart of what it means to be human. The new beginnings, successes, mistakes, and regrets that make up our daily lives are laid bare in this wide-ranging new work that is quintessential
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Star Maker

Star Maker is a science fiction novel by Olaf Stapledon, published in 1937. The book describes a history of life in the universe, dwarfing in scale Stapledon's previous book, Last and First Men (1930), a history of the human species over two billion years. Star Maker tackles philosophical themes such as the essence of life, of birth, decay and death, and the relationship between creation and creator. A pervading theme is that of progressive unity within and between different civilizations. Some of the elements and themes briefly discussed prefigure later fiction concerning genetic engineering and alien life forms. Arthur C. Clarke considered Star Maker to be one of the finest works of science fiction ever written.
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Adjustment Team: Short Story

After getting held up on his way to work, Ed Fletcher worries about the repercussions he will face when he reaches his office. Little does he know that his late arrival will give him a glimpse behind the very fabric of human existence and put him at odds with powers he cannot comprehend. Philip K. Dick was an American science-fiction novelist, short-story writer and essayist. His first short story, “Beyond Lies the Wub,” was published shortly after his high school graduation. “Adjustment Team” was adapted into the 2011 film The Adjustment Bureau, starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. Many of Philip K. Dick’s other stories have been similarly adapted, including “The Minority Report,” “Paycheck,” “Second Variety” (adapted into the film Screamers) and “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” (adapted into the film Total Recall). HarperCollins brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperCollins short-stories collection to build your digital library.
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The Johnstown Flood

EDITORIAL REVIEW: David McCullough is known to millions as the author of the critically acclaimed, best-selling books *The Great Bridge, The Path Between the Seas,* and *Mornings on Horseback,* and as host of the popular PBS television series "Smithsonian World?' *The Johnstown Flood,* David McCullough's first book, was praised by *Time* magazine as a "meticulously researched, vivid account of one of the most stunning disasters in U.S. history." At the end of the last century, Johnstown,.Pennsylvania, was a booming coal-and-steel town filled with hard-working families striving for a piece of the nation's burgeoning industrial prosperity. In the mountains above Johnstown, an old earth dam had been hastily rebuilt to create a lake for an exclusive summer resort patronized by the tycoons of that same industrial prosperity: among them Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Andrew Mellon. Despite repeated warnings of possible danger, nothing was done about the dam. Then came May 31, 1889, when the dam burst, sending a wall of water thundering down the mountain, smashing through Johnstown, and killing more than 2,000 townspeople. It was a tragedy that became a national scandal. From research in the voluminous records, diaries, letters, interviews with numbers of survivors, and a rare, previously unknown transcript of a private investigation conducted by the Pennsylvania Railroad, David McCullough vividly re-creates the chain of events that led to the catastrophe, and then unfolds the incredible story of the flood itself and its aftermath. Graced by David McCullough's remarkable gift for writing richly textured, sympathetic social history, *The Johnstown Flood* is an absorbing, classic portrait of life in 19th-century America, of overweening confidence, energy, and tragedy. It also offers a powerful historical lesson for our century and all times: the danger of assuming that because people are in positions of responsibility they are necessarily behaving responsibly.
Views: 356

Glossed and Found

Originally written under the name "India Ink."Murder is never pretty...When Venus Envy's new makeup artist vanishes on the night of the Thanksgiving Gala, Persia knows that something is terribly wrong. The police think Lisa drowned—her car was found parked near Lookout Pier, and a storm had raged through town the night of the dance. But Persia refuses to believe it. Lisa Tremont was terrified of water and would never have gone out on a pier by herself, and Lisa had just confided to Persia that she'd discovered what happened to a missing inheritance belonging to her and her sister. Could Lisa have stumbled too close to the thief? Working against the clock, Persia must find her friend while fending off escalating threats from her ex-boyfriend Elliot as the holidays close in with their glittering beauty.
Views: 356

Abandoned

The second book in a thrilling sci-fi action adventure, set on Donovan, a treacherous alien planet where corporate threats and dangerous creatures imperil the lives of the planet's colonists.New York Times bestselling author W. Michael Gear returns us to the world he laid out with such sure purpose in Outpost. The struggle for survival sharpens as resources dwindle, technology fails, and the grim reality of life on Donovan unfolds. Supervisor Kalico Aguila has bet everything on a fragile settlement far south of Port Authority. There, she has carved a farm and mine out of wilderness. But Donovan is closing in. When conditions couldn't get worse, a murderous peril descends out of Donovan's sky—one that will leave Kalico bleeding and shattered.Talina Perez gambles her life and reputation in a bid to atone for ruthlessly murdering a woman's husband years ago. Ironically, saving Dya Simonov may save them all.Lieutenant Deb Spiro is losing it,... **The second book in a thrilling sci-fi action adventure, set on Donovan, a treacherous alien planet where corporate threats and dangerous creatures imperil the lives of the planet's colonists.** *New York Times* bestselling author W. Michael Gear returns us to the world he laid out with such sure purpose in *Outpost*. The struggle for survival sharpens as resources dwindle, technology fails, and the grim reality of life on Donovan unfolds. Supervisor Kalico Aguila has bet everything on a fragile settlement far south of Port Authority. There, she has carved a farm and mine out of wilderness. But Donovan is closing in. When conditions couldn't get worse, a murderous peril descends out of Donovan's sky--one that will leave Kalico bleeding and shattered. Talina Perez gambles her life and reputation in a bid to atone for ruthlessly murdering a woman's husband years ago. Ironically, saving Dya Simonov may save them all. Lieutenant Deb Spiro is losing it, and by killing a little girl's pet alien, she may have precipitated disaster for all. In the end, the only hope will lie with a "lost" colony, and the alien-infested reflexes possessed by Security Officer Talina Perez. On Donovan, only human beings are more terrifying than the wildlife.
Views: 356

Lying in Wait and Other True Cases

Ann Rule presents another collection of fascinating and disturbing true-crime stories—drawn from her real-life personal files—in this seventeenth volume in the #1 New York Times bestselling Crime Files series. MOVING IN FOR THE KILL In this all-new collection of investigative accounts from her private archives, “America’s best true-crime writer” (Kirkus Reviews) exposes the most frightening aspect of the murderous mind: the waiting game. Trusted family members or strangers, these cold-blooded killers select their unsuspecting prey, wait for the perfect moment to strike, then turn normality into homicidal mayhem in a matter of moments. Ann Rule will have you seeing the people and places around you with heightened caution as you read these shattering cases, including: • New mothers murdered, their infants kidnapped, in an atrocious baby-selling scheme • The man who kept his criminal past hidden from his wife—and his wife from his mistress—until he coldly disposed of one of them • The beautiful daughter of a State Department official ran away from the privileged world she knew and hitched a ride with a man she didn’t . . . with fatal consequences • For months, a vicious, rage-filled serial rapist eluded police and terrorized Seattle’s women—when would he strike next, and how far would his violence escalate? • A criminal known for his Houdini-like escapes is serving time for murder in a botched robbery—now the convict is being served dinner in a civilian’s home, where he has one more trick up his sleeve • A long-lost relative who came home to visit, leaving a bloody trail through Washington and Oregon; no one realized how dangerous he and his ladylove were—until it was far too late. . . . With her ability to translate the most complex cases into storytelling “as dramatic and chilling as a bedroom window shattering at night” (The New York Times), Rule expertly analyzes the thoughts and deeds of the sociopath, in this seventeenth essential Crime Files volume.
Views: 355

See Under

In this powerful novel by one of Israel's most prominent writers, Momik, the only child of Holocaust survivors, grows up in the shadow of his parents' history. Determined to exorcise the Nazi "beast" from their shattered lives and prepare for a second holocaust he knows is coming, Momik increasingly shields himself from all feeling and attachment. But through the stories his great-uncle tells him—the same stories he told the commandant of a Nazi concentration camp—Momik, too, becomes "infected with humanity." Grossman's masterly fusing of vision, thought, and emotion make See Under: Love a luminously imaginative and profoundly affecting work.
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Bare Bones

It's a summer of sizzling heat in Charlotte where Dr. Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist for the North Carolina medical examiner, looks forward to her first vacation in years. A romantic vacation. She's almost out the door when the bones start appearing. A newborn's charred remains turn up in a woodstove. A small plane crashes in a North Carolina cornfield on a sunny afternoon. Both pilot and passenger are burned beyond recognition. And what is the mysterious black substance covering the bodies? Most puzzling of all are the bones discovered at a remote farm outside Charlotte. The remains seem to be of animal origin, but Tempe is shocked when she gets them to her lab. With help from a special detective friend, Tempe must investigate a poignant and terrifying case that comes at the worst possible moment. Daughter Katy has a new boyfriend who Tempe fears may have something to hide. And important personal decisions face Tempe. Is it time for emotional commitment? Will she have the chance to find out? Everything must wait on the bones. Why are the X rays and DNA so perplexing? Who is trying to keep Tempe from the answers? Someone is following her and Katy. That someone must be stopped before it's too late.
Views: 354