From Pokémon to the rapper Eminem, pop-culture icons are not simply commercial pied pipers who practice mass hypnosis on our youth. Indeed, argues the author of this lively and persuasive paean to the power of popular culture, even trashy or violent entertainment gives children something they need, something that can help both boys and girls develop in a healthy way. Drawing on a wealth of true stories, many gleaned from the fascinating workshops he conducts, and basing his claims on extensive research, including interviews with psychologists and educators, Gerard Jones explains why validating our children's fantasies teaches them to trust their own emotions and build stronger selves.

    The perfect grades, the perfect scores, and the perfect extracurriculars. Valedictorians were knocking at the gate, but Becky realized that in their quest for admission many of these students were missing something. Their transcripts were golden, their interviews polished, but they weren’t applying for college, they were competing for it—and in the end they didn’t know what prize they were really striving for.In Valedictorians at the Gate, Sabky looks beyond the smoke and mirrors of the intimidating admissions gauntlet and places the power firmly where it should be: in the hands of the students themselves. Offering prescriptive, actionable advice for students and their (hopefully not helicoptering) parents, Sabky illuminates the pathway to finding the school that is the ideal match.Witty and warm, informative and inspiring, Valedictorians at the Gate is the needed tonic for overstressed, overworked, and overwhelmed students on their way to the perfect college for them.

    But what if we found out that failure could actually help us succeed?In Chasing Failure, Ryan Leak shares the science behind why people are afraid to fail, mixing in real-life stories and adding practical steps to help us intentionally chase failure in order to embrace the opportunities that come with it. Everyone fails in life—but if you’re willing to learn, improve, and grow because of your failures, you are already on the road to success.As a motivational speaker, whether addressing people in corporations, churches, or youth events, Ryan has a message of hope: failure is right around the corner, so be brave enough to chase it! The good life is on the other side, and as he says, “God promises to be with you always, even through the failure.”Packed with wisdom, specific strategies, and a key takeaway included at the end of each chapter, Chasing Failure will help you:Explore whether your dream idea is worth pursuing Count the cost and create an action plan for your ideaLearn how to effectively deal with criticismUnderstand how to embrace failure and learn how it can propel youBy blending personal stories, get-up-and-go encouragement, and practical step-by-step advice, Ryan Leak will show you how chasing failure could be the quickest way to success.

    He became a self-made millionaire before he was 25.But, life wasn't always this grand for him. He was the only person in his family earning an income. And, he came from an oppressed family that grew up in the slums. Regardless, the apps he published were downloaded by over 15 million people.His apps have been featured in many places, including Wired.com, NBC News, and CNN. Now he's sharing the story on how he did it, the crises he struggled with, and what his father taught him to be successful.App companies have paid him thousands of dollars for consultant work, and he has helped them increase their download numbers by over 1000%. One of those apps was downloaded by over 100,000 users in one day. And now he is revealing his marketing secrets for the first time in this book.Note: This book was written with non-technical people in mind. The book covers both life and entrepreneurial lessons, and not all of the book is about app development.

    and none of the mess you live with now. Declutter Your Home and Let Go of Your Stuff Without Losing Your Nostalgic Memories In this book, Claire shares tips that will help you give up the bulk of your sentimental clutter while keeping your most precious treasures to use and display. Learn how to shrink your collections of nostalgic items such as: Your children's baby clothes and toys Mementos from your own youth Clothes you've kept for decades Heirlooms you inherited Books you've kept for years Gifts you don't want (but feel you have to keep) Holiday decorations And everything else that brings back happy memories. Claire will teach you the art of discarding items that trigger your memories without actually losing those memories. If you've been hoarding too much stuff because you fear losing the memories along with the stuff, you need this book. This Decluttering Guide is Packed with Advice Whether you're downsizing the family home or you simply need to learn how to declutter in a way that honors your memories, this book is for you. If your adult children are moving out, or you're faced with going through the belongings of a beloved parent or other loved one, this will be one of your books that you refer to again and again, as it lists categories of sentimental items, and how to deal with each. Yes, You Can Declutter Without Losing Your Treasured Memories You don't have to live with overflowing closets, an attic full of boxes and a basement packed with more of the same, just because it's so hard for you to sort through and give up belongings linked to your past. The truth is, you CAN finally free yourself of clutter while keeping your most treasured belongings. There are many decluttering books and downsizing books, but this one is written by someone with personal experience. Claire and her family gave up more than half their possessions when they downsized from their large family home to a much smaller house. She let go of things she'd been carrying around for most of her life, as well as treasured mementos from many years of raising her large family to adulthood. In this book, she spells out the steps a sentimental person can take to reduce their clutter while keeping their memories intact. Read The Sentimental Person's Guide to Decluttering now, and start on the path to conquering clutter without giving up happy memories.

    In his latest book, he draws on what he learned from his own ten-year journey as well as from coaching thousands of others to walk you through the seven stages to discovering and doing meaningful work. Relevant to any job or industry, you’ll learn step-by-step how to:1. Get Clear on the work you were uniquely made to do and why.2. Get Qualified to do the work you were created for.3. Get Connected with the right people who can open the doors to your dream.4. Get Started by overcoming the emotions and mistakes that often hold people back.5. Get Promoted by developing winning habits and traits.6. Get Your Dream Job by doing work you love and accomplishing results that matter to you.7. Give Yourself Away by expanding the dream to leave a legacy.This is your moment. You are needed, and you were made to contribute. It’s time to exit the daily grind and use your talents to start living your dream once and for all.

    In this Spud Fit Challenge DIY guide, featuring twelve super simple (and cheap!) recipes and a variety of mindfulness techniques to help you reset your body and mind, he shows you the how's, what's and why's of his unusual regime - the tale of which went viral and captivated people across the globe. It's a scenario that will be depressingly familiar to all 'experienced dieters': towards the end of 2015, the former elite junior kayaker found himself more than 120 pounds (55kgs) overweight and feeling helpless, frustrated and in despair after yet another failed attempt at losing weight. With a lifetime of fad diets that only ever aimed to treat symptoms behind him, and armed only with the advice of 'the experts' whose discussion always began and ended with the message 'simply' to practise moderation, he had reached an impasse. Why couldn't he do moderation, like 'normal' people seemed to be able to? Sitting on the couch that day having reached his lowest point and not knowing the way out of the black hole that was swallowing his ability to enjoy life, he had that lightbulb moment: he was addicted to food. His mind raced - no other addict would ever be told to practise moderation, they would be told to quit their vice entirely. In that moment he realised that quitting food - or coming as close to it as possible - was the answer. Weeks of research told him that the humble potato, the food that has allowed vast populations to not only survive but to thrive over generations, was the perfect vehicle for his experiment: The Spud Fit Challenge was born! Good health is way more simple than we've been led to believe. There is a food that you can eat in abundance and that food provides you with all the nutrition your body needs to thrive for a long time. A good diet should not involve obsessing over every detail about what you put in your mouth - this does nothing to treat the underlying cause of your troubled relationship with food. This is the Spud Fit Challenge in a nutshell: let simplicity set you free. This guide will provide you with both the mental techniques that have helped Andrew to power through cravings without looking back as well as some ‘Spud Fit approved’ recipes to pique your interest - everything you need to successfully complete your own Spud Fit Challenge.

    Look no longer! Inside this innovative helper, you'll find kid-tested and parent-approved techniques for learning math, science, writing, history, manners, and more that you can easily adapt to your family's homeschooling needs. And even if you don't homeschool, you'll find this book a great teaching tool outside the classroom. You'll discover fun and educational activities for kids ages 3 to 12, including how to:·Create maps based on favorite stories, such as Treasure Island or The Wizard of Oz ·Make letters out of French fries as an alphabet learning aid ·Explore architecture by building igloos, castles, and bridges with sugar cubes and icing ·Review spelling words by writing them on the sidewalk with chalk ·And many more!This comprehensive collection of tried-and-true—and generally inexpensive—ideas provides the best-of-the-best homeschooling activities that can be done anywhere, anytime, and by anyone.

    This potato diet simply called for one to eat nothing but potatoes for a few days at a time, promising that fat men become as “lean as they ought to be.” One hundred and sixty-seven years later, we are fatter and sicker than ever, but the potato diet still works. Potatoes contains natural drug-like agents that affect inflammation, hunger, insulin, sleep, dreams, mood, and body weight. The potato is the best diet pill ever invented. The potato hack is a short-term intervention (3-5 days) where one eats nothing but potatoes. This short mono-food experiment will strengthen your immune system and provide you with all of the nutrition you need to remain energetic, sleep great, and, as a side-effect, lose weight. The potato hack will help you develop a new relationship with food, hunger, taste, and yourself. The potato hack is not just for the overweight. As noted in 1849, anyone with digestive complaints who follows an all-potato diet for a few days at a time will find their digestion improves greatly. Modern science shows that simple diets high in fiber create an intestinal microbiome that is highly diverse and stable. This diversity and stability is lacking in most people and leads to digestive complaints like Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and Small intestinal bacterial overgrowths (SIBO). The "modern dyspeptic gut" affects millions of people and costs billions of dollars annually. The answer might be as simple as 3-5 days of potatoes. You don't need this book to do the potato hack. Just eat potatoes until full every day for 3-5 days. It really is that simple! This book explains the science behind the potato hack, some variations on the basic hack, recipes, and what to do if it does not work as advertised. Also found in The Potato Hack is a comprehensive review of resistant starch, gut health, potato history, and a growing guide for those that want to grow their own. Most of the photography throughout the book was done by award-winning photographer, Ann Overhulse. The artfully photographed potatoes found on the cover and on 30 pages within are well worth the full price of the book. Guaranteed that after reading The Potato Hack, you will never look at potatoes the same.

    By a child-care authority and mother of an only child, this useful, knowledgeable book provides sound advice on creating an enriching environment that's stimulating and enjoyable for only children and their parents alike.From the Trade Paperback edition.

    

    She listened with disbelief to her husband, Chris, a respected pastor, confess to pornography addiction, numerous affairs, and the startling news that a woman was pregnant with his child.With raw honesty and intimate knowledge of pain and of God’s power to resurrect something new out of the debris of betrayal, Cindy reveals how to:seek guidance, counseling, and prayer support when deceptions surfacehelp the family heal from the grief and humiliationrebuild trust after porn, sex, and other addictions undermine a relationshipprotect a marriage from lies and unfaithfulnessrely on God to pursue forgiveness and move forward in new promisesCindy’s compassion, grasp of God’s Word, and the Bealls’ remarkable story will help wives and husbands trust God with their broken hearts and follow His leading, hope, and redemption.Foreword by Craig Groeschel, bestselling author and senior pastor of LifeChurch.tv.

    The exhilarating essays collected here include justly celebrated masterpieces - on Mansfield Park and on "Why We Read Jane Austen"; on Twain, Dos Passos, Hemingway, Isaac Babel; on Keats, Wordsworth, Eliot, Frost; on "Art and Neurosis"; and the famous Preface to Trilling's book The Liberal Imagination.

    When she arrived at MIT in the 1990s, Alien was quickly drawn to the school’s tradition of high‑risk physical trespassing: the original “hacking.” Within a year, one of her hallmates was dead and two others were arraigned. Alien’s adventures were only just beginning. After a stint at the storied, secretive Los Alamos National Laboratory, Alien was recruited by a top cybersecurity firm where she deployed her cache of virtual weapons—and the trespassing and social engineering talents she had developed while “hacking” at MIT. The company tested its clients’ security by every means possible—not just coding, but donning disguises and sneaking past guards and secretaries into the C‑suite. Alien now runs a boutique hacking outfit that caters to some of the world’s biggest and most vulnerable institutions—banks, retailers, government agencies. Her work combines devilish charm, old‑school deception, and next generation spycraft. In Breaking and Entering, cybersecurity finally gets the rich, character‑driven, fast-paced treatment it deserves.

    And not just during playtimes. We believe there is play in work and work in play, they write. It helps to have practical ways to carry that mindset into all aspects of the curriculum. In Purposeful Play, they share ways to:optimize and balance different types of play to deepen regular classroom learning teach into play to foster social-emotional skills and a growth mindset bring the impact of play into all your lessons across the day. We believe that play is one type of environment where children can be rigorous in their learning, Kristi, Alison, and Cheryl write. So they provide a host of lessons, suggestions for classroom setups, helpful tools and charts, curriculum connections, teaching points, and teaching language to help you foster mature play that makes every moment in your classroom instructional.Play doesn't only happen when work is over. Children show us time and time again that play is the way they work. In Purposeful Play, you'll find research-driven methods for making play an engine for rigorous learning in your classroom.