In Book One, The Fallen Star, eighteen year-old Gemma's life has never been normal. Up until recently, she has been incapable of feeling emotion. And when she’s around Alex, the gorgeous new guy at school, she can feel electricity that makes her skin buzz. Not to mention the monsters that haunt her nightmares have crossed over into real-life. But with Alex seeming to hate her and secrets popping up everywhere, Gemma’s life is turning into a chaotic mess. Things that shouldn’t be real suddenly seem to exist. And as her world falls apart, figuring out the secrets of her past becomes a matter of life and death. In Book Two, The Underworld, Gemma thought her mind was gone, but she was wrong. And now she is left trying to figure out the truth to what Stephan is planning to do with her and the star, before it’s too late.But finding out the truth is hard, especially since Gemma doesn’t know who she can trust. There may be only one person who Gemma can turn to for answers, but that means having to go to the one place no one wants to go—The Underworld.In Book Three, The Vision, Gemma thought she was trapped—that Stephan had finally won. But then time resets and she’s given another chance.The clock is ticking as Gemma tries to figure out how to change the vision that ends the world in ice. If she can, then maybe she can save the world from Stephan and give her and Alex a chance at a real future. But changing visions can be dangerous, and sometimes one small mistake can lead to disastrous results.BookWhisperer's review—May 22, 20115 out of 5 stars"This is definitely a book to be recommended."Katina Hernandez’s (Tigris Eden) review—May 2, 20115 out 5 stars“There are so many twists and turns in the story and the ending will leave you wanting more. Sorensen wrote a dark and intriguing book.”Book Passion for Life’s review—June 23, 2011“Overall, this is a fantastic debut novel. Jessica has done a great job and I’m dying to get my hands on the next book.”Books of the Fallen Star SeriesBook 1: The Fallen StarBook 2: Th Underworld Book 3: The Vision Book 4: The Promise (NOW AVAILABLE)

    history took place at a roadhouse called The Station in West Warwick, Rhode Island. That night, in the few minutes it takes to play a hard-rock standard, the fate of many of the unsuspecting nightclub patrons was determined with awful certainty. The blaze was ignited when pyrotechnics set off by Great White, a 1980s heavy-metal band, lit flammable polyurethane "egg crate" foam sound insulation on the club's walls. In less than 10 minutes, 96 people were dead and 200 more were injured, many catastrophically. The final death toll topped out, three months later, at the eerily unlikely round number of 100.The story of the fire, its causes, and its legal and human aftermath is one of lives put at risk by petty economic decisions—by a band, club owners, promoters, building inspectors, and product manufacturers. Any one of those decisions, made differently, might have averted the tragedy. Together, however, they reached a fatal critical mass.Killer Show is the first comprehensive exploration of the chain of events leading up to the fire, the conflagration itself, and the painstaking search for evidence to hold the guilty to account and obtain justice for the victims. Anyone who has entered an entertainment venue and wondered, "Could I get out of here in a hurry?" will identify with concertgoers at The Station. Fans of disaster nonfiction and forensic thrillers will find ample elements of both genres in Killer Show.

    Bullies harass him, the principal is on his case, and the girl he likes doesn't like him back. On top of all that, Vlad is half vampire, and has to struggle with strange cravings and hiding his enlarged fangs. Then Vlad realizes he has a much bigger problem: He's being hunted by a vampire killer who is closing in... fast!Joss McMillan's perfect life is shattered when he witnesses his sister's murder—at the hands of a vampire. He then learns that his family is part of the Slayer Society, a group whose mission is to rid the world of vampires, and he is their newest recruit. As Joss trains, bent on seeking revenge for his sister, he discovers powers that could make him the youngest, strongest Slayer in history....

    . . or watches him punch and kick her mother to within an inch of her life. How could this be? Her older sisters teach her how to survive, even when he comes for her in the night.A girl learns to become invisible, to look the other way, to say nothing when a curious stranger asks if she's okay. To lie. To expect nothing, not even from relatives.To cry without tears.To pray silently.When she is fourteen, and weary, a girl begins to wish she were dead. Cruel Harvest is the compelling story of how she lived instead.

    With the exciting prospect of a new life in a beautiful French town, she packs her bags and moves to her cottage. Sophie's first tentative steps almost falter as sad memories crowd her thoughts but a handsome Frenchman, whose dark eyes and delicious voice touch the deepest recesses of Sophie's heart, strengthens her resolve. From his studio in town, Xavier cannot take his eyes from the young woman's slender beauty. He's waited years for her to come back to him and he cannot miss this chance to clear his conscience, but is he strong enough to confess his guilt and beg her forgiveness for the tragedy that killed both her parents, or will Sophie condemn him as harshly as he has condemned himself over the past five years? With the family solicitor attempting to seduce her out of far more than just her inheritance, while at the same time destroying Xavier's hard won reputation, Sophie finds herself at the centre of a cruelly twisted conspiracy with only the slimmest chance of rescue or escape. Can Xavier pull himself from the depths of despair and self destruction in time to save the woman he loves or will the haunted dreams and innocent actions of a thirteen year old girl become an insurmountable barrier for him to overcome? This book contains some sensual scenes and adult content

    Saved by his sister in a terrible bargain struck with their leader, Wyn dedicates his life to finding her. He becomes a legend in a time when the country was wild and free, and full of bad men as well as pioneer spirit. As the lonely cowboy metes out justice to the men responsible for changing the course of his life, he meets a girl, and begins to ponder over a life which might have been. Filled with beauty and complexity, with plenty of action for western fans, The Wild Country is a rip-roaring tale in the best tradition of legends told over a campfire.

    The tiny elephant’s life was pretty much perfect until one fateful night when poachers crept into it. In the cloak of darkness, they sprang on his herd, separating him from his mother and the rest of the elephant herd. After a harrowing escape, Thunder must dig deep inside to find the courage to find his way home. With helpful friends and the watchful eye of the Great Tusker in the sky, Thunder’s journey is the adventure of a lifetime.A thrilling, inspiring tale of bravery and family. – Kirkus Reviews

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    Others believe their dark powers spun the fabric of time itself. They are mystery.But here is truth: After ages of formless existence, the Arbitrators craved physicality once more. In their search for a worthy body to inhabit, they destroyed the world Ajyin – home of the gentle, blue-fleshed Numah and the combative, carapaced Olokun.But not all was lost. General Vega and his vile Olokun warriors enslaved the remaining Numah. They relocated to Neos, Ajyin’s thriving moon.There, under Vega’s imperious rule, the Numah toiled to extract minerals for a defensive barrier called the Aegis Shield. It would protect Neos from the Arbitrator’s return, the General vowed.However, the Arbitrators’ hunger sparked a great fire – a blaze of revenge and revolution that soon found its home in the heart of Yoto, a weak and cowardly Numah. Now Yoto’s days of cowardice are over. He is transformed, a powerful and dangerous being beyond Vega’s control …… And the Arbitrators’ dark presence haunts the world of Numah and Olokun once more …3D Comic based upon the novel available now for mobile devices.

    Such a book on one’s nightstand, particularly if one is in the midst of the grieving process, could offer solace in a way that fiction never could." Kirkus Review"HEAVEN’S CHILD is a memoir of hope and serenity, of acceptance that “death is a part of life,” that “learning to live and love is a lifelong process and that our greatest gift is today.” The message is inspirational: all we really have in life to hold on to is the bond of love with our family. Death may interrupt the journey, but it can never stop us from completing it." - IndieReader Review, 5 STARWhen Caroline Flohr’s sixteen-year-old twin daughter, Sarah, is killed in an accident involving eight teens taking a mid-night joyride, what’s left behind? And how do you move forward?An intimate self-examination told through the eyes and heart of Sarah's mother Caroline, Heaven's Child is a magical memoir that teaches us how to surrender to our losses and celebrate the gifts of death while rediscovering life. Tackling deep questions and universal misunderstandings, the story draws readers to journey beside Caroline as she opens the domestic scenes of home, heart, family, and community. Heaven’s Child provides the solace needed to overcome our greatest losses. The story encourages you to find your life’s purpose and helps you realize that you never journey alone. The book covers sudden loss; death of a child; relationships within a family; funerals and traditions; doubts, faith and hope; marriages, divorces, and parenting; forgiveness and healing; the power of memories and intuition; inner strength, and the resilience of the human spirit. Heaven’s Child shows us that the grieving process is personal, that it’s not just about death but also about any loss in our life; that grieving is not about endings…but about new beginnings.

    Stories about the sinking have becomelegendary - how the band played tothe end, how lifeboats were lowered half-empty - but amongst the films,novels and academic arguments, only those who were there canseparate truth from fiction. This book gives the story back to those people.After the sinking, inquiries into the loss of 1,517 lives were held in both the UK and US. The 1,000 or more pages of transcripts represent the most thorough and complete account of thesinking, told in the voices of those who were there. For the first time, these transcripts of the courtroom questions and answers have been specially edited and arranged chronologically, uncovering and drawing out the real drama ofthe Titanic's final night. Thewitnesses are transformed into characters in a much biggerstory, and the events are described from the perspectives of people inevery part of the ship, from a stoker in the boiler room escaping just before the watertight doors sealed behind him, to first classpassengers trying to buy their way onto lifeboats.This compelling book provides a unique insight into what really happened on the night, and the terrible, courageous, cowardly and tragic choices individuals had to make.

    The history of Little Crow and the 1862 war between the US and Dakota Indians over territory in Minnesota

    This is not John McCrae's collection of poems, but rather is the single poem "In Flanders Fields", for which John McCrae is most well-known.

    They were thieves and killers who burned houses to the ground and kidnapped women and children. They were protectors of a Nation – guerrilla fighters serving their country. They were husbands and fathers who built homes in lush valleys for their families.They were – the same men.In 1775 perspective came with the color of your skin. An orphan boy, Totsuhwa, is taken under the wing of legendary Cherokee war chief Tsi’yugunsini, the Dragon. But even under a dragon’s wing isn’t safe when a covetous nation forms around them.Amid the battles, Totsuhwa fights the reoccurring pain of loss until he meets Galegi, who becomes his wife. Trying to raise their son in a peace the new world won’t allow, they teach him the strictest Cherokee traditions while white assimilation, encroachment, and treachery grows. General Andrew Jackson wages war against tribes across the southeast and the toll is high. With his people gradually losing everything, Totsuhwa must find a way to save his family — and the Cherokee nation — before all is lost.Cherokee Talisman recreates the neglected history that existed when one nation was born and another almost died.

    Her dad lost his job, her mom works fourteen hour days to pay the bills and yet somehow there are high-end shopping bags and an iPod in her older sister’s room. Naturally, Val becomes suspicious but her sister’s lips are sealed. Then by accident, she uncovers a dark, dangerous secret hidden behind her sister’s bright smiles and cool indifference. Val has no idea how far and how deep the repercussions of her sister’s secret will reach but she’ll do whatever it takes to keep her family safe. Will she succeed before her sister’s secret destroys everyone she loves?

    Tess was raised in an orphanage. She doesn't know much about her family, and she doesn't really care. Angela showed up-seven months pregnant-and said, "I'm going to take care of you". So Tess left the orphanage, but she didn't plan on ending up in a creepy, old house with this woman she doesn't know and doesn't trust. Then, the dreams begin-dreams that make Tess think she's been to this creepy house before and that make her think Angela isn't the stranger she appears to be. What is the link between them, and why did Angela suddenly show up and take her away from life as an orphan? Soon, the dreams escalate, and Tess finds herself in serious danger. It's almost as though the house is out to get her. To put a stop to the horror, Tess must take a closer look at her past. Who was her family, and where did they go? Could the house have once belonged to them? As secrets are revealed, Tess doesn't like what she sees; worse, she might not be the only one in danger. It's never a good idea to awaken the ghosts of the past-especially when those ghosts may not have Tess's best interests in mind.

    Yet, as A. James Gregor argues in this book, they themselves functioned as religions. He presents an intellectual history of the rise of these political religions, tracing a set of ideas that include belief that a certain text contains impeccable truths; notions of infallible, charismatic leadership; and the promise of human redemption through strict obedience, selfless sacrifice, total dedication, and unremitting labor.Gregor provides unique insight into the variants of Marxism, Fascism, and National Socialism that dominated our immediate past. He explores the seeds of totalitarianism as secular faith in the nineteenth-century ideologies of Ludwig Feuerbach, Moses Hess, Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Giuseppe Mazzini, and Richard Wagner. He follows the growth of those seeds as the twentieth century became host to Leninism and Stalinism, Italian Fascism, and German National Socialism—each a totalitarian institution and a political religion.

    That night, Sater came home and began writing the first lyric of Spring Awakening: "Mama Who Bore Me" - a lyric which still stands, verbatim, just as he first wrote it. Ten years later, in the wake of the enormous international success of this groundbreaking, multiaward-winning show, its original director, Michael Mayer, urged Sater to write notes explicating its famously evocative, poetic lyrics. In rich detail, Sater's notes address the literary sources and allusions of each lyric. He also writes feelingly of what prompted the songs over the course of the show's eight years of development. In so doing, Sater expands on his partnership with Sheik and his experiences with original cast members, Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff, now also known from Glee. These notes will prove invaluable for fans of the show, for all those interested in theater, and most especially for all the young performers who will play the roles and sing these songs.

    Robert R. Williams challenges the view that they are mutually exclusive. He identifies four areas of convergence. First, Hegel and Nietzsche express and define modern interest in tragedy as a philosophicaltopic. Each seeks to correct the traditional philosophical and theological suppression of a tragic view of existence. This suppression of the tragic is required by the moral vision of the world, both in the tradition and in Kant's practical philosophy and its postulates. For both Hegel andNietzsche, the moral vision of the world is a projection of spurious, life-negating values that Nietzsche calls the ascetic ideal, and that Hegel identifies as the spurious infinite. The moral God is the enforcer of morality. Second, while acknowledging a tragic dimension of existence, Hegel andNietzsche nevertheless affirm that existence is good in spite of suffering. Both affirm a vision of human freedom as open to otherness and requiring recognition and community. Struggle and contestation have affirmative significance for both. Third, while the moral God is dead, this does not put anend to the God-question. Theology must incorporate the death of God as its own theme. The union of God and death expressing divine love is for Hegel the basic speculative intuition. This implies a dipolar, panentheistic concept of a tragic, suffering God, who risks, loves, and reconciles. Fourth, Williams argues that both Hegel and Nietzsche pursue theodicy, not as a justification of the moral God, but rather as a question of the meaningfulness and goodness of existence despite nihilism and despite tragic conflict and suffering. The inseparability of divine love and anguish means thatreconciliation is no conflict-free harmony, but includes a paradoxical tragic dissonance: reconciliation is a disquieted bliss in disaster.

    Or is it?Jeep Allhands says that time bends in Vinegarone, and that life as we know it emanates from a large tree – the Lone Madrone. A descendant of the original Native Americans who called this part of Texas home, Jeep maintains a sanctuary for a handful of homeless men who bask in the humility of this foreboding land as they mend their souls.Life with his crew and Kimmisue, the daughter of the only woman he ever loved, gets turned on its end when Jeep befriends a confused, homeless woman, Candi LaRue. Jeep does what he does best. He heals Candi's physical and emotional wounds. Afterwards, he integrates her into the odd mix of personalities at home. Just as all seems to be going right, Candi recalls what brought her to Texas in the first place. She was hunting a criminal, and she can't give up the chase. There's one catch, nobody ever leaves Vinegarone...

    When Brian Carstairs is convicted for a murder he didn't commit, he is left free to walk the streets -- if he dares. But first, he must undergo the process that will turn him into a man without a face. For the rest of his life, for however long he manages to live, he will be hiding in the shadows. He will have no rights. He will become prey, hunted for sport. To the rest of the world, he'll no longer be human; he will be the thing used to frighten naughty children. A Null.

    It employs the concept of the chronotope, which refers to the phenomenon whereby the spatial and temporal frameworks explicit or implicit in a text have the same structure and uncovers various such chronotopes in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter and in particular the tragedies of Aeschylus. Mikhail Bakhtin's pioneering use of the chronotope was in literary analysis. This study by contrast derives the variety of chronotopes manifest in Greek texts from the variety of socially integrative practices in the developing polis - notably reciprocity, collective ritual, and monetised exchange. In particular, the tragedies of Aeschylus embodies the reassuring absorption of the new and threatening monetised chronotope into the traditional chronotope that arises from collective ritual with its aetiological myth.

    immigration debate has raised some of the most difficult questions our nation has ever faced: How can we preserve the integrity of sovereign borders while also respecting the dignity of human beings? How should a border-that imaginary line in the sand-be humanely and effectivelymaintained? And how should we regard the stranger in our midst?To understand the experience of those directly impacted by the immigration crisis, Ananda Rose traveled to the Sonoran desert, a border region where the remains of some 2,000 migrants have been recovered over the past decade. There she interviewed Minutemen, Border Patrol agents, Catholic nuns, humanitarian aid workers, left-wing protestors, ranchers, and many other ordinary citizens of southern Arizona. She discovers two starkly opposed ideological perspectives: that of religious activists who embrace a biblically inspired hospitality that stresses love of strangers and a borderlesscompassion; and that of law enforcement, which insists on safety, security, and strict respect for international borders. But by embracing the stories these people tell about their lived experience-whether the rancher angered over seeing his property damaged by trespassing migrants, or the migrantwho has left three children behind in a violent shantytown in the hope of providing them a better life through southbound remittances, or the Border Patrol agent stuck between his loyalty to law and the pain of finding a baby girl dead in the desert-Rose takes readers beyond predictable andentrenched partisan views to offer a more nuanced portrait of the conflict on the border. Ultimately, she argues, the immigration question turns on how we choose to view the other-with compassion or with fear.In writing that is intimate, insightful, even-handed, and often gut-wrenchingly vivid, Showdown in the Sonoran Desert offers a fresh new way to frame one of the most important debates of our time.

    The Moral League has come to Kansas in the form of Nigel Nelson, extremist candidate for Governor. Alex and Blake, two beat cops with a passion for justice and donuts are the only ones standing in the way as a dark cloud of hatred sweeps across the hearts and minds of colleagues and friends. As people they once knew walk down a dark path towards persecution and cruelty, Alex and Blake realize there's more between them then they've ever let themselves admit, but time is running out as a new world rises before them… one that is crueler than they ever could have imagined.Librarian's Note: This is an alternate cover edition.

    “Tah-hy! They are coming!”The Nez Perce lived and traveled freely throughout the Inland Northwest for generations, but after gold was discovered there in 1860, immigration surged.  The U.S. government faced intense pressure to renegotiate the Treaty of 1863 and shrink the reservation. Not wanting to relinquish their homeland, Chief Joseph and his father refused to accept the new treaty.  In 1877 government representatives tried to force Joseph and other Nez Perce to relocate.Chief Joseph moved his band to White Bird Canyon, where other Nimiipuu were also gathered. On June 17, 1877, his daughter Tah-hy heard two shots not far from camp. Soon a barrage of gunfire broke out. It was the start of war—one that swept the twelve-year-old and her people into a harrowing journey across the American West. Relentlessly pursued on the grueling trek, they endured multiple battles, cold, hunger, and death. Survival required all of Tah-hy’s strength and courage. Eventually, after months of exile and heartbreak, she and her people began their path to a new way of life.Based on actual events and narrated by Tah-hy’s youthful voice, this exquisitely illustrated biographical novel is intended for young adults, but will also interest older readers. "Be Brave, Tah-hy!" presents many aspects of the Nez Perce Dreamer culture—especially female roles and perspectives—and reminds us what was lost when the Nimiipuu were overpowered and displaced.

    Every year since they were sixteen, Kevin and his three closest friends would pack up the car and drive to the lake. Even as adults, they still found time to get together and carry on this tradition. One year, Kevin had other commitments which he could not break, and therefore he was unable to go. It was the first year in the last decade that the four of them would not all be together for their annual camping trip.