The story is not only engaging and inspiring but also informs readers of the struggles many people face with international adoptions. The Marvelous Journey Home is the perfect blend of realism and invention. The reader is given unique insight into the perspectives of several players in the adoption process including adoptive parents, the children and adoption officials and supervisors. The story also carefully touches on another journey elusive to many, the journey of death. The author makes an enlightening association between the two journeys to help the reader better understand and accept death.

    As the elder son of a respected Illinois family at the turn of the century, Christian dutifully sets aside his own creative talents and dreams to take his place in the family business. His younger, prodigal brother Harry, however, always gets what he wants and doesn’t mind letting others—especially his awkward brother—pay the cost. But when Harry thinks he’s found his soul mate in the wealthy socialite Anna Clark, Christian fears his future sister-in-law really has gotten away with murder. In order to protect his brother from his beguiling prize, Christian must challenge his family’s wishes, stand up to Harry and uncover Anna’s dark secrets before someone else is destroyed. All this while another more lethal danger threatens them all. November 1918 would be the deadliest month in US History as the Spanish Influenza epidemic swept through America, killing more civilians at home than in all the battles of the Great War in Europe. Amidst this sudden struggle to survive, all three young people will be forced to reveal their true colors.The Reverend's Other Son is a fiction novel set at the end of the First World War and features romantic and inspirational plotlines interwoven with captivating and accurate historical detail. Approximately 75,000 words, intended for young adult and adult readers. DLR Designs created the original cover art.

    To ride alongside your favorite horror authors as they take you on a trip you will never forget. There is no turning back.From new legends to old familiar haunts, the stories held within this tome will make you question whether anywhere is safe. Over 30 authors have crafted the most authentic and horrifying representation of each state. Not a single dark road will be left untraveled. You will never want to leave home again.

    This title includes practical techniques and examples.

    You can now easily extend the framework, change its behavior, and replace whole components to bend it to your will, all without messy hacks. This pioneering book is the first resource that deep dives into the new Rails 3 APIs and shows you how use them to write better web applications and make your day-to-day work with Rails more productive. Rails Core developer Jose Valim guides you through seven different tutorials, each of them using test-driven development to build a new Rails extension or application that solves common problems with these new APIs. You will understand how the Rails rendering stack works and customize it to read templates from the database while you learn how to mimic Active Record behavior, like validations, in any other object. You will find out how to write faster, leaner controllers, and you'll learn how to mix Sinatra applications into your Rails apps, so you can choose the most appropriate tool for the job. In addition, you will improve your productivity by customizing generators and responders. This book will help you understand Rails 3's inner workings, including generators, template handlers, internationalization, routing, and responders. With the knowledge you'll gain, you'll be ready to tackle complicated projects more easily than ever before, creating solutions that are well-tested, modular, and easy to maintain.

    Not even that aversion, however, will prevent him from finding friends now lost in a land ravaged by strange powers. After all, it was his orders that sent them there.Together with his Sil'ath sword-brother, he retraces the steps of their friends to Keldrin's Landing, the barest toehold of civilization in a land fiercely resentful of the intrusion. They find the city besieged from without and within, swollen with refugees fleeing a countryside plagued by magical forces run amok.Saving a half-breed healer earns the enmity of a powerful man, but sets them on the trail of their missing friends. An enigmatic stranger bearing a name out of dark legend aids them for reasons of his own. A lone huntress dogs their steps, seeking vengeance against a monster from her past.Deeper into the heart of the darkness they go as they begin to uncover the true scope of the threat facing their world. Something is drawing the magic of the land away to the east by force, and blackest evil gathers in the spreading wasteland to the south, as ancient foes prepare to renew a titanic conflict.And no matter which prevails, the world will be destroyed.To save his friends and his world, Amric must unite a small band of misfits and lead them against the destruction of all. In so doing, he will be forced to confront the truth of his own origins, a past he has forgotten but which has never forgotten him.

    Written in typical no-nonsense style, it lays out the basis of Mike's “minimalist” maintenance philosophy for owner-flown general aviation aircraft. An owner who follows the book's guidance can save a small fortune on maintenance costs and end up with a safer, more reliable aircraft.Owners are advised to perform the absolute least amount of maintenance required to make their aircraft safe, reliable and legal… and nothing more. The book explains in detail why engine and propeller TBOs and most other manufacturer-prescribed maintenance intervals should be disregarded. And “Manifesto” explains exactly how to do it.About the Author:Mike Busch is arguably the best-known A&P/IA in general aviation. In 2008, he was honored by the FAA as “National Aviation Maintenance Technician of the Year.” Mike has been a prolific aviation writer for more than four decades. His “Savvy Aviator” columns have appeared in numerous publications including EAA Sport Aviation, AOPA’s Opinion Leader’s Blog, AVweb, and magazines for the three largest GA type clubs (ABS, CPA, and COPA). He is renowned for his free monthly maintenance webinars and his standing-room-only forums at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. Mike has been a pilot and aircraft owner for 45 years with 7,500+ hours logged, and he is a CFIA/I/ME. He’s founder and CEO of Savvy Aircraft Maintenance Management, Inc., the world’s largest firm providing maintenance-management services for owner-flown aircraft.

    This book makes it easy From how to install and run Java to understanding classes and objects and juggling values with arrays and collections, you will get up to speed on the new features of Java 6 in no time.Discover how toUse object-oriented programmingWork with the changes in Java 6 and JDK 6Save time by reusing codeMix Java and Javascript with the new scripting toolsTroubleshoot code problems and fix bugsAll on the bonus CD-ROMCustom build of JCreator and all the code files used in the bookBonus chapters not included in the bookTrial version of Jindent, WinOne, and NetCaptor freewareSystem Requirements: For details and complete system requirements, see the CD-ROM appendix.Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

    Being only twenty-five years old, she should have been being wild, reckless, and having fun, not fighting the hardest battle of her life, alongside a husband who no longer loved her. After their divorce, True wanted to be free and enjoy every day. Falling in love was not in the plan. She most definitely hadn't foreseen falling in love with an arrogant, womanizing hustler like Coop. Yet, she did. However, as soon as True tells him all her truth, he'll revert back to that unbearable goon that wreaked havoc on the streets of Chicago. Coop grew up an orphan, passed from foster home to foster home. A hustler, his right-hand man, was his only family. His love was the game. His side chick was money. Then he met True. She filled gaps in his life that he didn't even know needed filling. Looking at her, being in her presence, was like the first warm, sunny day after a brutal Chicago winter. Being with her felt like being lost in the right direction. Coop had thawed out his icy heart and given it to True... just for her to break it. True was gone, unable to fix what she’d broken, but, lucky for Coop, True found a way. Remi has been with Banks for ten years. She remained loyal through every lie and infidelity in hopes that her patience and understanding will eventually bring her “happily ever after” with her one true love. Finally, Banks gives her what she has always wanted… a ring. However, that ring came with such a devastating blow, leaving Remi unsure how she will ever recover… until she meets True and Coop. Unbeknownst to her, these two strangers will mend her broken heart and cause her life to never, ever be the same again. * This is a heart-wrenching, yet warming, story of broken women who find love in their darkest hours from the most unexpected and hardened hearts.

    The data world was revolutionized a few years ago when Hadoop and other tools made it possible to getthe results from queries in minutes. But the revolution continues. Analysts now demand sub-second, near real-time query results. Fortunately, we have the tools to deliver them. This report examines tools and technologies that are driving real-time big data analytics.

    A musical that evokes a unique emotional response, it tracks the story of its heroine, Celie, from sexual abuse by her stepfather to physical abuse by her husband to "a roof-raising story of triumph." This gorgeously producedcompanion volume revisits what is so powerful about the show. The Color Purple: A Memory Book has the look and feel of a beautiful antique scrapbook, a keepsake for those who have experienced the musical and want to be able to experience its soaring emotions at any time, or who want to share Celie's journey with their loved ones. But it will also be a memory book of the road The Color Purple took — from Alice Walker's memories right through to the sketches for the costumes and sets, from the cast's own struggles to the entire libretto, all of which have given Celie's against-the-odds triumph new life. Revealing, poignant, and stunning, The Color Purple: A Memory Book is a must-have book for anyone moved by Celie's story.

    That’s all it’s supposed to be.One wild, unforgettable night.And then we'd go our separate ways.... I was wrong. Get the complete Clarke Brothers series, featuring brooding mountain heroes with hearts of gold, and the heroines that make them hot.  Absolutely Kindle-melting!

    As soon as she opens the door, she sees him hovering in her living room, between the crimson settee and the dogwood-patterned rug. He wants her to solve his murder and says the best way to do that is by combining energy with him in a channeling to relive the night minute by minute and gather clues, together. Of course, she can hardly wait.It’s the beginning of a strange new journey for Carly, one that involves a curse, a bunch of ghost clients impatiently waiting to get their cold cases solved by reliving their murders, and a dead ex-husband tagging along, pretending to be her Watson. Book 2: After the Suffragette’s Suicide Carly meets her first ghost-client: suffragette and local women's rights leader, Bessilyn Hind. According to history, Bessilyn committed suicide at her 35th birthday party after her fiancé broke up with her. Only one problem: she doesn't remember it that way. She's appalled history books have been written that imply she would do something so drastic over a man. And she wants to know who murdered her (along with retractions on history, pronto).Through channeling, Carly is taken right to the party in 1906 to figure things out for the suffragette. Book 3: Behind the Boater’s Cover-Up The third book features a story the Landover locals refer to as "the accident." In 1957, a group of recent high-school graduates went late-night partying on a boat after a sock hop. They didn't return. In the end, it was ruled an unfortunate accident. The only problem: Gloria Thomas, one of the partiers that night, has a different version. And Carly is going to help her set the record straight.However, while channeling with the ghost and reliving the memories from 1957, Carly sees her older friends back when they were younger, and the shocking way the accident was covered up. Turns out, there are a lot of secrets in Landover, and like the dead, they're much safer buried.This box set contains the first three books in the Ghosts of Landover Mystery series.

    [Penguin Readers Level 5]

    The sleepy little hill-town of Mussoorie—British in its garb and Indian in its soul—is jolted out of its reverie by a mysterious murder. A woman is found dead in her bed, her body laid out perfectly, and the door locked from inside. Sundry suspects and sensational speculations about black magic and crystal-gazing abound, but no one has been able to identify the murderer. Outgrowing the small town, the story travels to all the way to faraway London, and catches the fancy of the master of mysteries, Arthur Conan Doyle…Interwoven with clever wit and lively humour, A Murder in Mussoorie and Other Tales will transport you to a world of wonder and adrenaline-pumping adventure.