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Super troop / by Hale, Bruce.;
"Cooper just wants to spend the summer before 7th grade drawing and having adventures with his best friend, Nacho. Anything to keep his mind off the fact that his dad's new girlfriend and his mom's announcement that she's going to start dating. But when one of his adventures with Nacho goes too far, Cooper's parents freak out. Either he joins the Boy Rangers, a dorky club that's all about discipline and rules, or that dream cartooning camp at the end of his summer? Will get erased. At first it's not so bad--the troop is a disorganized mess. But then a new scoutmaster starts. Mr. Pierce is a gruff ex-Marine who's never worked with kids before, especially not a ragtag team of misfits like Troop 19. As he tries turning them into a lean, mean, badge-earning machine, Cooper longs for freedom. He doesn't want to break the rules, but the rules are going to break him!"--Publisher.LSC
Subjects: Humorous fiction.; Clubs; Discipline; Camping;

You don't own me [sound recording] / by Clark, Mary Higgins,author.; LaVoy, January,narrator.; Burke, Alafair,author.; Simon & Schuster Audio (Firm),publisher.;
Read by January LaVoy.You Don't Own Me finds television producer Laurie Moran stopping at nothing to solve the murder of a celebrity doctor--even as she finds herself in grave danger as a mysterious stalker plots his next move. When we last saw Laurie Moran, she had recently become engaged to her show's former host, Alex Buckley. Since then, the two have been happily planning a summer wedding and honeymoon, preparing for Alex's confirmation to a federal judicial appointment, and searching for the perfect New York City home for their new life together. But then Laurie is approached by Robert and Cynthia Bell, parents of Dr. Martin Bell, a famously charming and talented physician who was shot dead as he pulled into the driveway of his Greenwich Village carriage house five years ago. The Bells are sure that Martin's disgraced and erratic wife, Kendra, carried out the murder. Determined to prove Kendra's guilt and win custody over their grandchildren, they plead with Laurie to feature their son's case on "Under Suspicion," ensuring her that Kendra is willing to cooperate. Kendra has lived under a blanket of suspicion since Martin's death, with the tabloid media depicting her as a secretive, mentally unstable gold-digger. Laurie's show is a chance for her to clear her name. But unbeknownst to the Bells, Kendra has already refused once before to go forward with a re-investigation of her husband's murder, and her statements to the contrary only add to the appearance of guilt. But once Laurie dives into the case, she learns that Martin wasn't the picture-perfect husband, father, and doctor he appeared to be and was carrying secrets of his own. And what does the web of lies ensnaring the Bell family have to do with a dangerous stranger, who gazes at Laurie from afar and thinks, What a pretty girl, I'm sure she's going to be missed.
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Audiobooks.; Cold cases (Criminal investigation); Murder; Television producers and directors; Television programs;

The bird way : a new look at how birds talk, work, play, parent, and think / by Ackerman, Jennifer,1959-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.""There is the mammal way and there is the bird way." This is one scientist's pithy distinction between mammal brains and bird brains: two ways to make a highly intelligent mind. But the bird way is much more than a unique pattern of brain wiring, and lately, scientists have taken a new look at bird behaviors they have, for years, dismissed as anomalies or mysteries. What they are finding is upending the traditional view of how birds conduct their lives, how they communicate, forage, court, breed, survive. They're also revealing the remarkable intelligence underlying these activities, abilities we once considered uniquely our own--deception, manipulation, cheating, kidnapping, infanticide, but also, ingenious communication between species, cooperation, collaboration, altruism, culture, and play. Some of these extraordinary behaviors are biological conundrums that seem to push the edges of--well--birdness: A mother bird that kills her own infant sons, and another that selflessly tends to the young of other birds as if they were her own. Young birds that devote themselves to feeding their siblings and others so competitive they'll stab their nestmates to death. Birds that give gifts and birds that steal, birds that dance or drum, that paint their creations or paint themselves, birds that build walls of sound to keep out intruders and birds that summon playmates with a special call--and may hold the secret to our own penchant for playfulness and the evolution of laughter. Drawing on personal observations, the latest science, and her bird-related travel around the world, from the tropical rainforests of eastern Australia and the remote woodlands of northern Japan, to the rolling hills of lower Austria and the islands of Alaska's Kachemak Bay, Ackerman shows there is clearly no single bird way of being. In every respect, in plumage, form, song, flight, lifestyle, niche, and behavior, birds vary. It's what we love about them. As E.O Wilson once said, when you have seen one bird, you have not seen them all"--
Subjects: Birds;

Science and math for curious kids : a world of knowledge--from atoms to zoology! / by Baker, Laura.; Huggins-Cooper, Lynn.; Foster, Alex(Illustrator);
Young readers can discover the wonders of science and mathematics with this inspirational and accessible hardback guide, beautifully illustrated in full-color by award-winning illustrator Alex Foster. From ecology to number theory, kids will find a new way of looking at the world and the laws of science and mathematics that govern it. This title is packed with clear, colorful, and engaging explanations on a range of subjects.
Subjects: Science; Mathematics;

Humankind : a hopeful history / by Bregman, Rutger,1988-author.; Manton, Elizabeth,translator.; Moore, Erica,translator.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."If one basic principle has served as the bedrock of bestselling author Rutger Bregman's thinking, it is that every progressive idea -- whether it was the abolition of slavery, the advent of democracy, women's suffrage, or the ratification of marriage equality -- was once considered radical and dangerous by the mainstream opinion of its time. With Humankind, he brings that mentality to bear against one of our most entrenched ideas: namely, that human beings are by nature selfish and self-interested. By providing a new historical perspective of the last 200,000 years of human history, Bregman sets out to prove that we are in fact evolutionarily wired for cooperation rather than competition, and that our instinct to trust each other has a firm evolutionary basis going back to the beginning of Homo sapiens. Bregman systematically debunks our understanding of the Milgram electrical-shock experiment, the Zimbardo prison experiment, and the Kitty Genovese "bystander effect." In place of these, he offers little-known true stories: the tale of twin brothers on opposing sides of apartheid in South Africa who came together with Nelson Mandela to create peace; a group of six shipwrecked children who survived for a year and a half on a deserted island by working together; a study done after World War II that found that as few as 15% of American soldiers were actually capable of firing at the enemy. The ultimate goal of Humankind is to demonstrate that while neither capitalism nor communism has on its own been proven to be a workable social system, there is a third option: giving "citizens and professionals the means (left) to make their own choices (right)." Reorienting our thinking toward positive and high expectations of our fellow man, Bregman argues, will reap lasting success. Bregman presents this idea with his signature wit and frankness, once again making history, social science and economic theory accessible and enjoyable for lay readers"--
Subjects: Human beings.; Philosophical anthropology.; Human behavior.; Civilization; World history.;

The good allies : how Canada and the United States fought together to defeat fascism during the Second World War / by Cook, Tim,1971-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."From our country's most important war historian, a gripping account of the turbulent relationship between Canada and the US during the Second World War. The two nations entered the war amidst rivalry and mutual suspicion, but learned to fight together before emerging triumphant and bound by an alliance that has lasted to this day. When the Second World War broke out in 1939, it set in motion a deadly struggle between the Axis powers and the Allies, but also fraught negotiations between and among the allies. On questions of diplomacy, economic policy, industrial might, military capabilities, and even national sovereignty, thousands of lives and the fate of the free world depended on back-room deals and desperate trade-offs between soldiers, diplomats, and leaders. In North America, Canada and the US strained to forge a new military alliance to guard their coasts and fend off German U-boats and the menace of a Japanese invasion. Wartime economies were entwined to produce a staggering contribution of weapons to keep Britain and other allies in the war. The defence of North America against enemy threats was essential before the US and Canada could send armies, navies, and air forces overseas. In his trademark style, Tim Cook employs eyewitness accounts to vividly lay bare the brutality of combat and the courage of North Americans under fire. Behind the fighting fronts, the charged and often secret communications between national leaders, Churchill, Roosevelt, and King, reveals how their personalities shaped the outcome of history's most destructive war, the fate of the British Empire, and the North American alliance that lives on to this day. The Good Allies is a masterful account of how Canadians and Americans made the transition from wary rivals to steadfast allies, and how Canada thrived in the shadow of the military and global superpower. In exploring this complex and crucial dimension of the Second World War and its legacy, Cook recounts two nations' story of cooperation, sacrifice, and of bleeding together to save the world from the fascist threat"--
Subjects: World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945;

Bitch : on the female of the species / by Cooke, Lucy,1970-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."It's a tale as old as time: the philandering man wants to chase sex with whomever, wherever, and at all costs-and to avoid supporting his offspring at all costs, too-while leaving a long-suffering wife to clean up his mess. You can find the idea in comedians' routines, inane self-help books, and any number of movies, novels, and television shows. It almost all comes from evolutionary biology and psychology, and the tale boils down to this: Females are naturally submissive, passive, and maternal, while males are necessarily dominant, competitive, and promiscuous. And as Lucy Cooke shows in Bitch, it's almost completely wrong. In its place, Cooke offers a new vision of the female sex: depending on which one you choose, you can find females that are inherently as promiscuous, competitive, strategically cooperative, ardent, aggressive, dominant, dynamic, complex and variable as evolutionary psychology's stereotypical male. So how did the idea of the passive female get so entrenched? Tracing biology from Darwin to today, Cooke shows how the men behind breakthrough theories in evolution have infused their ideas with a massive dose of societal sexism. Cooke surfs the work of two generations of feminist evolutionary biologists, showing how they've pushed back against the blinkered views of evolution's founding fathers to reveal the true diversity of nature. She meets with pioneering scientists--Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Jeanne Altmann, Mary-Jane West-Eberhard, Patricia Gowaty and more--following their work around the globe. From the dominant female lemurs of Madagascar to same-sex female albatross couples in Hawaii to female killer whale elders in the Salish sea, Cooke takes us on a journey through a side of nature that's much less binary, less heterosexual, and less sexist than we have been led to expect. Fierce, funny, and revolutionary, Bitch is a scientific manifesto that shows us an entirely new perspective on what it means to be a female animal, with serious implications for all of us today"--
Subjects: Females; Psychology, Comparative.; Sexual behavior in animals.; Sexual dimorphism (Animals); Social behavior in animals.; Women.; Women;

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.;

Proof of conspiracy : how Trump's international collusion is threatening American democracy / by Abramson, Seth,1976-author.;
"Seth Abramson shows how Trump has conspired and colluded with leaders from Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, from even before he won the presidency. In late 2015, convicted pedophile, international dealmaker, and cooperating witness in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation George Nader convened a secret meeting aboard a massive luxury yacht in the Red Sea. Nader pitched Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Emirati Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and other Middle Eastern leaders a plan for a new pro-U.S., pro-Israel alliance of Arab nations that would fundamentally alter the geopolitics of the Middle East while marginalizing Iran, Qatar, and Turkey. To succeed, the plan would need a highly placed American politician willing to drop sanctions on Russia so that Vladimir Putin would in turn agree to end his support for Iran. They agreed the perfect American partner was Donald Trump, who had benefited immensely from his Saudi, Emirati, and Russian dealings for many years, and who, in 2015, became the only U.S. presidential candidate to argue for a unilateral end to Russian sanctions and a far more hostile approach to Iran. So begins New York Times bestselling author Seth Abramson's explosive new book Proof of Conspiracy: How Trump's International Collusion Threatens American Democracy, a story of international intrigue whose massive cast of characters includes Israeli intelligence operatives, Russian oligarchs, Saudi death squads, American mercenary companies, Trump's innermost circle, and several members of the Trump family as well as Trump himself-all part of a clandestine multinational narrative that takes us from Washington, D.C. and Moscow to the Middle Eastern capitals of Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Jerusalem, Cairo, Tehran, and Doha. Proof of Conspiracy is a chilling and unforgettable depiction of the dangers America and the world now face"--
Subjects: Trump, Donald, 1946-; Conspiracies; Political corruption;

The off-limits rule : a novel / by Adams, Sarah,1991-author.;
"From the New York Times bestselling author of Practice Makes Perfect comes an expanded edition of The Off-Limits Rule - a heartwarming romance about new love and fresh beginnings, with a never-before-seen chapter. Rules are made to be broken - especially for love, right? Lucy Marshall has found rock bottom. After failing to succeed as a single mom in Atlanta, she's back home and moving in with her older brother Drew. Reconnecting with her support system is the right thing to do, but Lucy can't help but feel like a failure. Her four-year-old son deserves the world, and all she can give him is a spare bedroom. But Drew is the sweetest uncle, and some quality time might be exactly what they need to start fresh. That is until she meets Cooper, her brother's incredibly hot best friend. When Drew senses something between the two of them, he puts his foot down on any shenanigans. According to him, Cooper is everything Lucy should stay away from: flirtatious, adventurous, and especially non-committal. But Lucy has been getting the opposite impression so far; Cooper is a genuinely great guy, and she's starting to catch real feelings. Her whole life, Lucy has tried to do everything right, and look where that's gotten her - so what if she were to try something wrong?"--
Subjects: Romance fiction.; Humorous fiction.; Novels.; Best friends; Man-woman relationships; Siblings; Single mothers;