Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire


Book Description

Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire is the first book in a spellbinding fantasy adventure series by screenwriter John August. Some trails lead to magic. Some lead to danger. As Arlo looked around, the walls of his room began to vanish, revealing a moonlit forest. Only his bed remained, and the frame of his window, through which he saw the girl. The world on her side of the glass was sparkling with silver and gold, like a palace made of autumn leaves. She looked off to her right. Someone was coming. Her words came in an urgent whisper: "If I can see you, they can see you . . . Be careful, Arlo Finch.” Arlo Finch thought becoming a Ranger meant learning wilderness skills, like camping and knots. But upon arriving in the tiny town of Pine Mountain, Colorado, Arlo soon learns there's so much more. His new friends Indra and Wu teach him how to harness the wild magic seeping in from the mysterious Long Woods—a parallel realm of wonder and danger. First he must master the basics, including snaplights, thunderclaps and identifying supernatural creatures. But Arlo Finch is no ordinary Ranger, and this is no ordinary time. A dark and ancient force is sending threats into the real world . . . our world. Through perilous adventures and close calls, Arlo is awakened to his unique destiny—but the obstacles he faces will test the foundations of the Ranger's Vow: loyalty, bravery, kindness, and truth. A Junior Library Guild selection




Arlo Finch in the Lake of the Moon


Book Description

“A thrilling adventure full of magic and wonder. John August is a master storyteller.” —Ransom Riggs, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children From acclaimed screenwriter John August, Arlo Finch in the Lake of the Moon continues the spellbinding fantasy adventure series about the magic that lies just beyond our world. Some legends are real. For Arlo Finch and the Rangers of Pine Mountain Company, summer camp is more than canoeing and hiking. It’s also a chance to search for ancient forest spirits and discover mysterious messages encoded in tree bark. But when Arlo and his best friends Indra and Wu stumble upon clues about the long-lost Yellow Patrol, Arlo uncovers a stunning history that leads right back to his very own family.




Arlo Finch in the Kingdom of Shadows


Book Description

“A thrilling adventure full of magic and wonder.” —Ransom Riggs, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Arlo Finch in the Kingdom of Shadows is a captivating fantasy-adventure story by master screenwriter John August. After a harrowing summer camp, Arlo Finch is back in Pine Mountain, Colorado, preparing to face a new school, new threats, and two new Rangers in Blue Patrol. Arlo is about to undertake his most dangerous journey yet: all the way to China to try to bring his father home. But when the mysterious Eldritch reveal their true agenda, Arlo must make an impossible choice: save his friends and family, or save the Long Woods. Both worlds will never be the same.




Brazen


Book Description

With her characteristic wit and dazzling drawings, celebrated graphic novelist Bagieu profiles the lives of these feisty female role models, some world famous, some little known. From Nellie Bly to Mae Jemison, the stories in this comic biography are sure to inspire the next generation of rebel ladies. Full color..




Am I Alone Here?


Book Description

This National Book Critics Circle Award is “an entrancing attempt to catch what falls between: the irreducibly personal, messy, even embarrassing ways reading and living bleed into each other, which neither literary criticism nor autobiography ever quite acknowledges.” —The New York Times “Stories, both my own and those I’ve taken to heart, make up whoever it is that I’ve become,” Peter Orner writes in this collection of essays about reading, writing, and living. Orner reads and writes everywhere he finds himself: a hospital cafeteria, a coffee shop in Albania, or a crowded bus in Haiti. The result is a book of unlearned meditations that stumbles into memoir. Among the many writers Orner addresses are Isaac Babel and Zora Neale Hurston, both of whom told their truths and were silenced; Franz Kafka, who professed loneliness but craved connection; Robert Walser, who spent the last twenty-three years of his life in a Swiss insane asylum, working at being crazy; and Juan Rulfo, who practiced the difficult art of silence. Virginia Woolf, Eudora Welty, Yasunari Kawabata, Saul Bellow, Mavis Gallant, John Edgar Wideman, William Trevor, and Václav Havel make appearances, as well as the poet Herbert Morris--about whom almost nothing is known. An elegy for an eccentric late father, and the end of a marriage, Am I Alone Here? is also a celebration of the possibility of renewal. At once personal and panoramic, this book will inspire readers to return to the essential stories of their own lives.




Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire


Book Description

Screenwriter John August's debut novel about a 12-year-old boy who joins a special scout team to learn how to survive in both the wilds of the forest and the magical world that lies within it.




Wilder Boys


Book Description

Two brothers need all their wilderness skills to survive when they set off into the woods of Wyoming in search of their absent father. Jake and Taylor Wilder have been taking care of themselves for a long time. Their father abandoned the family years ago, and their mother is too busy working and running interference between the boys and her boyfriend, Bull, to spend a lot of time with them. Thirteen-year-old Jake spends most of his time reading. He pores over his father’s journal, which is full of wilderness facts and survival tips. Eleven-year-old Taylor likes to be outside playing with their dog, Cody, or joking around with the other kids in the neighborhood. But one night everything changes. The boys discover a dangerous secret that Bull is hiding. And the next day, they come home from school to find their mother unconscious in an ambulance. Afraid that their mom is dead and fearing for their own safety, the Wilder Boys head off in search of their father. They only have his old letters and journal to help them, but they bravely venture onward. It’s a long journey from the suburbs of Pittsburgh to the wilderness of Wyoming; can the Wilder Boys find their father before Bull catches up with them?




The Bear House


Book Description

In a gritty medieval world where the ruling houses are based on the constellations, betrayal, intrigue, and a king's murder force the royal sisters of the Bear House on the run! Moody Aster and her spoiled sister Ursula are the daughters of Jasper Lourdes, Bear Major and high king of the realm. Rivals, both girls dream of becoming the Bear queen someday, although neither really deserve to, having no particular talent in... well, anything. But when their jealous Uncle Bram murders their father in a bid for the crown, the girls are forced onto the run, along with lowly Dev the Bearkeeper and the half-grown grizzly Alcor, symbol of their house. As a bitter struggle for the throne consumes the kingdom in civil war—and attracts demonic attention from even darker powers—the sisters must rely on Dev, the bear cub, two mysterious princes from opposing houses, and each other to survive… and find wells of courage, cunning, and skill they never knew they had. For there are many houses in the Bear Highen—the House of the Hemoth Bear, the House of the White Bear, the House of the Ox, the House of the Lion, the House of the Lynx, the House of Hounds, the House of the Blue Giraffe, and the House of the Shadow Dragon—each of them guided and protected by a ferocious namesake beast. But only one can rule. Perfects for fans of Shannon Messenger, Holly Black, John Flanagan, and Diane Magras, this action-packed fantasy-adventure has sky-high stakes, electrifying action, stellar magic, powerful girls, and surprises for even the canniest reader… “An epic, complex narrative.”—Publishers Weekly “Stellar… Thrilling… Enchanting.”—Kirkus Reviews “Truly wonderful.”—School Library Journal “Magnificent.”—The Canadian Children’s Book Center A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection




Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit


Book Description

After inheriting a grieving fox spirit, a Chinese American boy must learn to embrace his heritage to solve the mystery of his brother's death in Jesse Q Sutanto's magical, action-packed middle grade fantasy, Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit. Theo Tan doesn't want a spirit companion. He just wants to be a normal American kid, playing video games, going to conventions, and using cirth pendants to cast his spells like everyone else. But, when his older brother dies, Theo ends up inheriting Jamie's fox spirit, Kai. Kai isn't happy about this either. Theo is nothing like Jamie, and the two of them have never gotten along. But, when they realize the mysterious journal Jamie left Theo is filled with clues and secret codes, it's clear that something strange was going on with Jamie's internship at Reapling Corp. But the only way onto the campus is the highly competitive "Know Your Roots" summer camp program, a celebration of Chinese and Indian cultures designed to help connect students with their heritage. Theo and Kai will have to put aside their differences long enough to honor Jamie's last wishes, or the mystery he died for will remain unsolved forever...




The Skeptical Vegan


Book Description

PETA's 2017 Vegan Cookbooks We Can’t Cook Without Vegan Confessions of an Ex-Omnivore and His Survival Guide to Living Fully (Literally and Metaphorically). Growing up in an all-women household and coddled endlessly by his Italian mother and grandmother, Eric Lindstrom was nourished to obesity on meaty sauces, fried eggs, and butter-laden cookies. After spending the first half of his life as an adamant omnivore, Lindstrom went 100% vegan. Reluctantly. Overnight. From burgers to beets, from pork to parsnips. It’s time for a down-to-earth book that proves anyone can go vegan (even someone who once ate sixty-eight chicken wings in a sitting). How can a man adopt a vegan approach? Won’t he die of protein deficiency? What if he is married to a vegan woman? How would he order a salad at a Minnesota steakhouse? What should he bring to a gluten-free, nut-free, macrobiotic, nightshade-free, oil-free, vegan potluck (true story)? Part confession and part survival guide, The Skeptical Vegan explains how simple it really is to be vegan, covering topics from food and nutrition to social challenges and lifestyle. Snarky, witty, and opinionated to a fault, Lindstrom speaks as a male vegan, contesting the notion that “real men” should only eat meat. With twenty original “veganized” recipes including portobello steaks, carrot hot dogs, tofu wings, “meaty” chili, and cauliflower bites (which helped him shed thirty pounds), Lindstrom demonstrates how to take control of your diet while still eating “meatily” and taking into account the ethical considerations of living a better life for the animals, the environment, and yourself.