Imagine if you had the ability to change your appearance at will. To alter the color of your hair, eyes, lips, and nails; maybe even your skin? Perhaps give yourself a tan, freckles, or a tattoo. And then swap it again, all in the blink of an eye.What if you could change your clothes to anything you wanted – that dress you saw in the window; those boots you just couldn’t afford – all with a simple thought?Suppose your senses were perfect. Better than perfect. You could see and hear and smell more acutely than you ever thought possible. On occasion, you could even glimpse into the future.You were stronger. Healthier.You were a Princess. An heir to a Kingdom in a beautiful land.What if the most powerful warriors in the land wanted you dead, and would stop at nothing to kill you?In Princess of the Gods: Descendant, a peaceful Kingdom is turned upside down when a teenage Princess discovers her true lineage: She comes from an ancient bloodline that traces straight back to the Old Gods.But this makes her a threat to the New Gods.After an attack on her home destroys the world she knows, every moment of her life becomes a fight for survival.Armed with a pair of energy weapons powerful enough to cut into solid stone – and the ability to change her clothing and appearance with a simple thought – the girl fights back, knowing that it's the only way she’ll ever be able to save her Kingdom.But will her energy blades and superhuman powers be enough to save her from the forces that want her dead?

     Fresh from Duck Soup (1933), Julius, Leonard, Arthur and Herbert Marx - or as the world knows them, Groucho, Chico, Harpo and Zeppo - are transported by a freak electrical storm to Nacogdoches, Texas in the year 1826. Landing in the midst of the Fredonian Rebellion (the first attempt by settlers in Texas to secede from Mexico) and into the company of the only other Jewish person in town, they are in deep dreck. Falling in with Stephen F. Austin and inadvertently filling his head with knowledge of what is to come, our heroes risk tampering with the future of Texas, and perhaps the entire U.S.A., in their quest to return to their own time. Will they find their way back? Or will they be doomed to live out their lives without indoor plumbing?

    

    The effects are instant. She’s charming, vivacious, and popular. But strangely, so are some other kids she knows. The media goes into a frenzy when the disease turns contagious, and then deadly, and the doctor who gave it to them disappears. Aislyn must find a way to stop it, before it's too late.Part medical thriller, part social justice commentary, Charisma will have readers on the edge of their seats.

    Includes the stories "Where I Live," "Harrison Bergeron," "Who Am I This Time?," "Welcome to the Monkey House," "Long Walk to Forever," "The Foster Portfolio," "Miss Temptation," "All the King's Horses," "Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog," "New Dictionary," "Next Door," "More Stately Mansions," "The Hyannis Port Story," and "D.P."

    No one was, although Mia and her fifteen-month-old sister had a slight advantage: their father, a hardcore doomsday prepper, left them a safe haven to help them survive their new reality. Andrew Greene is Mia's childhood friend. On track to graduate college at nineteen years old, his sharp mind gives him an edge against the competition. How will the trio survive the harsh winters of Pennsylvania? How will they survive attacks from hungry wildlife? What will they do when faced with perhaps their greatest danger: the other survivors? Can they live in this new world? Or will their Shelter turn into their tomb?

     As England descends into economic chaos, sixteen-year-old Barry Mortimer's life turns upside down when his father moves the family from their cozy home in the city to a grim, brick mansion on the outskirts of town. Why isn't anyone allowed to visit the Mortimers' new home? What is Father doing in the cellar and why is he keeping it a secret? As rumors of skyrocketing prices and food shortages become reality, Barry's world begins to crumble. Can his family hold together as a nation collapses around them? Terrifying because it could happen tomorrow... SUMMARY Written by award-winning author John Rowe Townsend, Noah's Castle tells the story of a family trying to survive during a total collapse of the British economy. Money is worthless, unemployment skyrockets, and food and other goods become scarce. As conditions worsen and people begin to starve, how do people react? When does law-and-order break down and civilized behavior end? How do people balance the needs of their family against those of society? Noah's Castle examines these questions but doesn't provide easy answers, resulting in a unique and thought-provoking story of survival.

    Her mom left, her dad is depressed, she's graduating, barely, and her boyfriend of almost three years dumped her for a college football scholarship. Lately she thinks life is all about hanging on by a thread and is gripping tight with everything she has. Then she meets Caleb. She saves his life, and when they bond with each other she sees their future life together flash before her eyes. She learns that not only is she his soul mate, and can feel his heartbeat in her chest, but there is a whole other world of people with gifts and abilities that she never knew existed. She herself is experiencing supernatural changes unlike anything she's ever felt before and she needs the touch of his skin to survive. Now, not only has her dad come out of his depression to be a father again, and a pain as well, but Caleb's enemies know he's imprinted and are after Maggie to stop them both from gaining their abilities and take her from him. Can Caleb save her or will they be forced to live without each other after just finding one another? And can the rival family that's now awoken like a sleeping giant be stopped before it all goes up in flames?SIGNIFICANCEACCORDANCEDEFIANCEREVERENCEINDEPENDENCE

    A horde of beasts known only as the scourge has ravaged the land, leaving only the village of Terreas to survive. Hemmed in on all sides by the scourge, the denizens of Terreas eke out a lonely existence, trying to survive in a land that is all but dead. Jasen Rabinn is a teenage boy trapped in Terreas but with a mind rooted outside the boundaries of his village. He longs for adventure, and when the mysterious Baraghosa – a sorcerer of a sort not native to Luukessia – comes to Terreas, a chain of events is set in motion that will carry Jasen beyond his simple town. To adventure. To danger. To his destiny.

    As he blows out the candles on his cake, he makes a token wish. Three days later, to his utter astonishment, that wish comes true.All his problems solved, Kyle is busy counting his blessings when a gaunt pensioner turns up at his door unannounced. The stranger then confounds Kyle by claiming credit for his recent good fortune, followed by a bizarre declaration … when Edmund Wishkin grants a wish, there’s always a price to pay.Whether he believes the old man or not, Kyle is about to discover the true cost of a wish fulfilled.

    A deadly challenge. The fate of the world is on Astra’s shoulders.Twenty-five-year-old Astra Ching has never sought the spotlight. So when a mysterious black orb appears with a challenge for Earth and selects her to compete in its strange—and very public—game, she’s not pleased to find herself a sudden superstar.The rules are bewildering, and there are no second chances for losers. Yet while Astra fights to stay alive and save the world from imminent destruction, the people of Earth are more interested in tabloids and gossip, like whether or not she’s engaging in a scandalous love affair with a fellow contestant . . . or the mysterious alien known only as Eleven.In her struggle to survive, Astra forms tentative alliances with a handful of trustworthy friends. But as the global gossip seeps into the game and contestants are eliminated with each round, Astra’s celebrity threatens to become infamy and the line between friend and foe blurs.Will she emerge from the arena a hero, or just another headline?

    

    Each book showcases more than 1,000 vocabulary words frequently included on the SAT. Brief definitions appear on the same page so that readers can quickly access and digest the meanings as they read along.

    He is stranded at a motorway service station and all he has left are the clothes he has on. He is approached by a smart eighteen year old with money, a four wheel drive and a video camera, who hums the eponymous song and has strong Neo Nazi views. Together they journey through England and get caught up in sabotaged fox hunt, an encounter with travellers and an illegal rave. They seem to get on, but Danny's luck has changed completely - for the worse. Wherever they go, a mysterious trail of death follows them. Danny is unknowingly trapped by the worst type of enemy imaginable, and one who is completely out of control.

    Robin Cook's signature cutting-edge suspense and bold strokes of reality. The consequences of managed health care in an age when even the wariest consumer may be at risk is the catalyst for Contagion, while a sinister cabal involved with unacceptable medical ethics provides the nerve-jangling backdrop for Chromosome 6. Invasion, published in hardcover for the first time, preys on our deepest fears as it explores a sudden outbreak of a disease unlike anything humankind has ever seen.