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The exceptionally, extraordinarily ordinary first day of school / by Lorenz, Albert,1941-;
On his first day at a new school, John answers the librarian's questions about what his former school was like, concocting a wild story of attending classes in a castle, where the lunch menu includes worms and storybook characters come to life.
Subjects: First day of school; Imagination; Moving, Household; Schools;
© 2010., Abrams Books for Young Readers,
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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How to pronounce knife : stories / by Thammavongsa, Souvankham,1978-author.;
A young man painting nails at the local salon. A woman plucking feathers at a chicken processing plant. A father who packs furniture to move into homes he'll never afford. A housewife learning English from daytime soap operas. In her stunning debut book of fiction, O. Henry Award winner Souvankham Thammavongsa focuses on characters struggling to make a living, illuminating their hopes, disappointments, love affairs, acts of defiance, and above all their pursuit of a place to belong. In spare, intimate prose charged with emotional power and a sly wit, she paints an indelible portrait of watchful children, wounded men, and restless women caught between cultures, languages, and values. As one of Thammavongsa's characters says, "All we wanted was to live." And in these stories, they do--brightly, ferociously, unforgettably. A daughter becomes an unwilling accomplice in her mother's growing infatuation with country singer Randy Travis. A boxer finds an unexpected chance at redemption while working at his sister's nail salon. An older woman finds her assumptions about the limits of love unravelling when she begins a relationship with her much younger neighbour. A school bus driver must grapple with how much he's willing to give up in order to belong. And in the Commonwealth Short Story Prize-shortlisted title story, a young girl's unconditional love for her father transcends language. Unsentimental yet tender, and fiercely alive, How to Pronounce Knife announces Souvankham Thammavongsa as one of the most striking voices of her generation.
Subjects: Short stories.;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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Dead Wednesday / by Spinelli, Jerry.;
When the school assigns each eighth-grader the name of a teenager who died in the past year as a lesson in mortality, Worm Tarnauer, who thrives on being invisible, doesn't count on Becca Finch, the seventeen-year-old car crash victim who changes everything.LSC
Subjects: Ghost stories.; Teenagers; Death; Mortality; Schools; Self-actualization (Psychology);
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Short stories for little monsters / by Gay, Marie-Louise.;
A collection of humorous stories illustrating the things children wonder about every day: What do cats really see? What do trees talk about? Should you make funny faces on a windy day? Do worms rule the world? Do mothers always tell the truth? Do snails have nightmares?LSC
Subjects: Children's questions and answers; Children's stories, Canadian (English); Humorous stories, Canadian (English);
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Saving the sun dragon / by West, Tracey,1965-; Howells, Graham.;
The dark magic the dragons encountered in their first adventure has made Ana's sun dragon, Kepri, sick and Drake's earth dragon, Worm, teleports the himself, Kepri, and the four young dragon masters far away from the castle in search of a cure--but the threat of the dark magic still remains.
Subjects: Fantasy fiction.; Dragons; Wizards; Magic;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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The decline and fall of the human empire : why our species is on the edge of extinction / by Gee, Henry,1962-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."By the award-winning author of A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth: a history of humanity on the brink of decline. We are living through a period that is unique in human history. For the first time in more than ten thousand years, the rate of human population growth is slowing down. In the middle of this century population growth will stop, and the number of people on Earth will start to decline-fast. In this provocative book, award-winning science writer Henry Gee offers a concise, brilliantly-told history of our species--and argues that we are on a rapid, one-way trip to extinction. The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire narrates the dramatic rise of humanity, how a scattered range of small groups across several continents eventually inbred, interacted, fought, established stable communities and food supplies, and began the process of dominating the planet. The human story is relatively brief-the oldest fossils of H. Sapiens date to approximately 300,000 years ago-yet the spread of our species has been unstoppable ... until recently. As Gee demonstrates, our population has peaked, and is declining; our environment is becoming inimical to human life in many locations; our core resources of water, arable land, and air are diminishing; and new diseases, simmering conflicts, and ambiguous technologies threaten our collective health. Can we still change our course? Or is our own extinction inevitable? There could be a way out, but the launch window is narrow. Unless Homo sapiens establishes successful colonies in space within the next two centuries, our species is likely to stay earthbound and will have vanished entirely within another ten thousand years, bringing the seven-million-year story of the human lineage to an end. With assured narration, dramatic stories, and his signature sprightly humor, Henry Gee envisions new opportunities for the future of humanity--a future that will reward facing challenges with ingenuity, foresight, and cooperation"--
Subjects: Human beings; Human evolution.; Philosophical anthropology.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Tom Clancy true faith and allegiance / by Greaney, Mark,author.; Clancy, Tom,1947-2013.;
"The #1 New York Times-bestselling series is back with the most shocking revelation of all. After years of facing international threats, President Jack Ryan learns that the greatest dangers always come from within ... It begins with a family dinner in Princeton, New Jersey. After months at sea, U.S. Navy Commander Scott Hagan, captain of the USS James Greer, is on leave when he is attacked by an armed man in a crowded restaurant. Hagan is shot, but he manages to fight off the attacker. Though severely wounded, the gunman reveals he is a Russian whose brother was killed when his submarine was destroyed by Commander Hagan's ship. Hagan demands to know how the would-be assassin knew his exact location, but the man dies before he says more. In the international arrivals section of Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport, a Canadian businessman puts his fingerprint on a reader while chatting pleasantly with the customs official. Seconds later he is shuffled off to interrogation. He is actually an American CIA operative who has made this trip into Iran more than a dozen times, but now the Iranians have his fingerprints and know who he is. He is now a prisoner of the Iranians. As more deadly events involving American military and intelligence personnel follow, all over the globe, it becomes clear that there has been some kind of massive information breach and that a wide array of America's most dangerous enemies have made a weapon of the stolen data. With U.S. intelligence agencies potentially compromised, it's up to John Clark and the rest of The Campus to track the leak to its source. Their investigation uncovers an unholy threat that has wormed its way into the heart of our nation. A danger that has set a clock ticking and can be stopped by only one man ... President Jack Ryan"--Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Ryan, Jack, Jr. (Fictitious character); Ryan, Jack, Sr. (Fictitious character); Intelligence officers;
Available copies: 2 / Total copies: 2
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Rise of the earth dragon / by West, Tracey,1965-author.; Howells, Graham,illustrator.;
Eight-year-old Drake is snatched up by the King's soldiers and taken to the castle where he is told by the wizard Griffith that he has been chosen to be a Dragon Master like Ana, Rori, and Bo-- and his first task will be to discover whether his dragon, Worm, has any special powers.Appeals to 1st-3rd graders.Reading level: grade 2.20140925 ba
Subjects: Fantasy fiction.; Dragons; Wizards; Magic;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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Kin : a memoir / by Rodenberg, Shawna Kay,author.;
"A heart stopping memoir of a wrenching Appalachian girlhood and a multilayered portrait of a misrepresented people, from Rona Jaffe Writer's Award winner Shawna Kay Rodenberg. When Shawna Kay Rodenberg was four, her father, fresh from a ruinous tour in Vietnam, spirited her family from their home in the hills of Eastern Kentucky to Minnesota, renouncing all of their earthly possessions to live in the Body, an off-the-grid End Times religious community. Her father was seeking a better, safer life for his family, but the austere communal living of prayer, bible study and strict regimentation was a bad fit for the precocious Shawna. Disciplined harshly for her many infractions, she was sexually abused by a predatory adult member of the community. Soon after the leader of the Body died and revelations of the sexual abuse came to light, her family returned to the same Kentucky mountains that their ancestors have called home for three hundred years. It is a community ravaged by the coal industry, but for all that, rich in humanity, beauty, and the complex knots of family love. Curious, resourceful, rebellious, Shawna will ultimately leave her mountain home but only as she masters a perilous balancing act between who she has been and who she will become. Kin is a mesmerizing memoir of survival that seeks to understand and make peace with the people and places that were survived. It is above all about family-about the forgiveness and love within its bounds-and generations of Appalachians who have endured, harmed, and held each other through countless lifetimes of personal and regional tragedy"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Rodenberg, Shawna Kay.; Move (Christian sect); Appalachians (People); Ex-cultists; Women authors, American; Women;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Here are the seeds / by Brown-Wood, JaNay.; Amoah, Olivia.;
This sweet picture book follows two young children as they grow their garden from seeds ... and encounter a few missteps along the way! Planting a garden is not as easy as it seems -- OH NO! -- there is the hot sun that cracks the earth! And the rain that floods the garden! And those worms that are eating all the plants! But could all of these elements help their garden grow? --
Subjects: Picture books.; Gardening;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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