"In the wealthy Gold Coast enclave of Westport, a feud between mystery writers turns deadly-and retired spy Dasha Petrov must find the real killer to clear her name. Once one of the most lethal secret agents in the world, Dasha Petrov has hunted Nazis, Communists, and one common murderer (in The Sea Glass Murders, the first Dasha Petrov thriller). But now it's 1991, two years after that unpleasantness, and Dasha is living a sedate life appropriate to an elderly widow in wealthy Westport, Connecticut, spoiling her grandchildren and innocently flirting with two of her neighbors, the rival mystery novelists Barnaby Jayne and Michael Aubrey. The two writers, both wildly successful and many times married, cordially despise each other. Dasha thinks they're just two silly men with big egos, but the writers' feud boils over into a bizarre series of attacks that starts with a blowgun dart and escalates to booby traps and car bombs. And when Jayne and Aubrey both turn up dead, the evidence points to one suspect-Dasha herself. Now Dasha has to once again call upon her cunning mind and capacity for extreme violence, honed by her younger years as a Nazi-killing partisan and a top-rank CIA agent. Teaming up with her old allies, Westport police chief Tony DeFranco and local TV reporter Tracy Taggart, Dasha sets out to clear her name, find the real killer, and figure out why she was targeted-while dodging jealous wives, a sleazy tabloid reporter, child spies, and a fearsome Mafia hit man, leading to a tense and dramatic confrontation. Fast-paced and filled with intriguing characterization, Murder This Close is a stunning murder mystery with a twisty cerebral plot and plenty of hard-hitting action"--
"A guide to living fully and humanely by learning the wisdom of authentic manual work. Many of us live in a world of constant abstraction, immersed in our heads and our screens. But there is a deeper wisdom to be found in working with our hands in the real world. In The Wisdom of Our Hands, craftsman and educator Doug Stowe shows how working with our hands, either professionally or as a hobby, is essential for a full education and a full life. Based on his 45 years as a woodworker and 25 years as a teacher of handcrafts, Stowe argues that human beings have a natural need to express themselves creatively through tangible work. The use of one's hands and whole body to make physical things and reshape our surroundings promotes both physical and mental health and fosters a sense of mastery in both young and adult students. A life of craftsmanship offers the opportunity and obligation to define one's own values. Drawing on his experiences living and working in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, a town dedicated to handcrafts and arts, Stowe demonstrates how craft work can create community, forge deeper social bounds, and foster a saner attitude about the value of human labor and material goods. Written for everyone who wants to reconnect with the deep experience of the human body at work, The Wisdom of Our Hands is a quietly radical call to spiritual (and physical) action"--
Designed for California fourth grade teachers, Remembering the California Missions: A Curriculum Guide is a secondary supplement to the fourth grade social studies text that supports the Common Core Standards. This curriculum guide includes vocabulary and comprehension lessons, pre-post activities, review guides, and a number of additional activities which have been added to help diversify the learning process. This curriculum guide, which partners with the illustrated historical literature book Remembering the California Missions, by Pat Hunter and Janice Stevens, helps deepen students understanding and appreciation of the California missions and their history, while building skills in Common Core Standards including reading standards, writing standards, language standards, and social studies standards. Each chapter in Remembering the California Missions: A Curriculum Guide covers one of Californias 22 missions, presenting essential facts for students to know, vocabulary to master, and reading comprehension questions to gauge student progress. Additional resources offer instructional strategies for using mission-related material to boost students vocabulary and understanding of the meanings of new words, plus a wide variety of class activities using mission-related material for reading and writing assignments. All the material in the curriculum guide can be easily adjusted to meet students different skill levels.
"Your child's eyes will light up when they see what they can make with the beautiful and fun projects in Let's Carve!, a safe and easy introduction to the art of woodcarving for kids age 4 and up. Requiring only a few tools, inspiration and adult supervision, the projects in Let's Carve! are kid-safe and designed for beginners, but your children will be able to complete these age-appropriate designs all by themselves. Learning the simple and beautiful art of coaxing shapes and figures from wood will fill your child with the joy of accomplishment, while teaching life-long skills your child will cherish forever. From simple clothespin chompers to string puppets to a waddling push penguin, each of the 16 core projects in Let's Carve! includes a basic version and an advanced version for kids who want more of a challenge. Many of the projects also provide alternate ideas that can be applied to new projects. With its quick results and cumulative skill-building, Let's Carve! will awaken the creative spirit in your child, foster hand-eye coordination, and build confidence as your young carvers turn out unique handicrafts. Let's Carve! will give your child an experience they'll treasure and foster a life-long love of creativity"--
"An easy and fun introduction to the essential outdoor skill of bushcraft whittling. Bushcraft whittling-the art of shaping improvised campsite and hiking implements-requires no special tools or complex techniques, and you can practice on just about any wood that comes to hand. Plus, being able to make your firewood tinder, tent pegs, walking sticks, roasting sticks, digging tools, and more can be a lifesaver on the trail. In Bushcraft Whittling, master whittler Rick Wiebe shows step-by-step how anyone with a common pocketknife, a hatchet, and an itch to do something with their hands can make projects that are fun, eye-catching, and useful. Bushcraft Whittling will show you the tools you need (all available at any hardware store), the right cutting techniques, carving safety, how to select the right wood, and how to make dozens of useful items at your campsite. Everyone who spends time in the outdoors-campers, hikers, ramblers, hunters, fishermen, skiers, and any kind of sportsman-needs to master the art of bushcraft whittling. Additionally, bushcraft whittling is the perfect low-effort introduction to the fun and relaxing hobby of whittling, as well as an excuse to use that fun knife you just bought. If you're an outdoorsy person-or even if you just want to be an outdoorsy person someday-Bushcraft Whittling is a must-have book"--
"A fun, nostalgic look at the great American stores of yesteryear and their rise and fall. The wealthy and leisured lady of the 1920s shopped in a palatial downtown department store with a restaurant, beauty parlor, movie theater, and live orchestra-the harried suburban mom of today rushes her purchases through the self-checkout at the big box store. The Great American Shopping Experience explains how this transformation happened in a fascinating and entertaining history of the growth and decline of America's massive retail empires. From the humble 19th century dry goods store to the majestic department stores of the early 20th century to the shopping malls and outlet stores of today, The Great American Shopping Experience tells the romantic story of Americans' relentless pursuit of the better bargain, surveying the changing fashions, social ideals, and marketing innovations that created shopping as we know it. The Great American Shopping Experience also takes a nostalgic look back at the stores we loved, from the small regional stores that were gobbled up to the big chains that still survive today. If you've ever wondered what happened to your favorite store, The Great American Shopping Experience has the answers. A popular history that is both fun and compelling, The Great American Shopping Experience tells an epic story of capitalism's powers of creative destruction, the repeated transformation of American society, fortunes made and unmade-and takes a fond look back at the great times and amazing deals we had along the way"--
"A sweeping novel of history, war, and courage in the face of injustice, Tears of Honor tells the story of the heroic Japanese-American soldiers who fought against Nazi tyranny in Europe, while their families were imprisoned in America. Sammy and Freddy are two all-American boys in the summer of 1941, dreaming of becoming professional baseball players and maybe asking a girl to the senior prom. But when war comes, Sammy Miyaki, Freddy Shiraga, and their families are seen as enemy aliens, not Americans. Taken from their homes in rural central California and placed in internment camps, the boys decide that the only way to prove their loyalty to America is to join the Army. Assigned to an all-Japanese-American combat unit fighting against the Germans, Sammy and Freddy are placed under the command of the combat-hardened Lieutenant Young Oak Kim (a real-life person and one of the most highly decorated American soldiers in history), who leads them through some of the fiercest fighting of the war. Sammy, Freddy and their comrades confront the prejudice of white soldiers and the horrors of combat, as they come to realize they are fighting not just for the United States, but for the honor or all Japanese-Americans"--
"The first book on 3D printing just for woodworkers, with practical advice on how to fabricate your own tools and parts ... and save money! The blossoming technology of 3D printing isn't just for techies-a 3D printer is also the ideal tool for the traditional woodworker. Why waste money buying tools and parts when you can fabricate them yourself with your own 3D printer? You can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars by making your own tools-what's more, you can 3D print your own custom tools and parts that meet your unique needs. 3D Printers for Woodworkers is the perfect introduction to 3D printing for the woodworking hobbyist, covering the history and development of 3D printing and offering detailed comparisons of 3D printer models so you can confidently choose the right 3D printer for your needs. 3D Printers for Woodworkers also includes numerous screenshots for tools useful to woodworkers, plus information on 3D printing molds and hardware such as drawer pulls, hinges, slides, and shims. Comprehensive and user-friendly, 3D Printers for Woodworkers is the ideal book for all woodworkers who want to save time and money while producing exceptional results"--
"A bookish police detective and his roller derby star partner investigate a quirky mystery involving superintelligent animals, military conspiracy ... and murder. When a body is found in the River Arts District of Asheville, North Carolina, the man on the case is police lieutenant Ira Segal, recently returned to semi-active status after being shot in the line of duty. Segal, who carries Elmore Leonard paperbacks as security blankets, isn't sure he's up to investigating a murder, and neither is his partner, military veteran and local roller derby star Sgt. Dinah "Dinosaur" Rudisill. Segal discovers that the victim worked for the mysterious start-up company Creatures 2.0, which trains animals to acquire uncanny capabilities. Creature 2.0's eccentric founder, Francis Elah, has gone missing, and no one can find him, not even Elah's top client, the Office of Naval Intelligence. As Segal and Rudisill investigate the murder and Elah's disappearance, they meet the bizarre animals Elah trained, including a raccoon who rolls cigarettes, pigeons who follow a priest to church, and a superintelligent crow who keeps bringing evidence to the detectives' attention. When the trail leads to a shadowy military contractor, more murders, and a threat to national security, Segal and Rudisill don't know who to trust and face a dangerous confrontation. Witty, engaging and fast-paced, As the Crow Dies is a mystery that veers from the norm in unexpectedly delightful ways"--
Key Selling PointsGreat regional children's book for California and wider west coastBrings home the delicate relationship between humans and nature by vividly depicting how endangered sea otters are threatened by human development.Inspires environmental stewardship with an uplifting tale, putting a warm and colorful face on those vulnerable creatures who today are victims of changing ocean ecosystems.Complements US Ocean Sciences Curriculum Sequence for Grades 3-5 Science content correlates to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Audience:Young readers, educators, libraries in California and the west coast. Those interested in inspiring children with an uplifting tale of nature and introducing them to stewardship with a positive environmental message.Young readers with interest in the world around them and the drama of nature.
The 21st-century guidebook of life safety skills for teens, their parents, and other caregivers, covering physical safety, sexual consent, social media, your rights with the police, situational awareness, dating violence, smartphones, and more."Easy to read and comprehensive on topics of safety, Cristall's volume is an informative read for teens and their parents, but may also prove to be a helpful text for a high-school level health class." (Library Journal)Young people coming of age today face new risks, expectations, and laws that didn't exist when their parents were young. What They Don't Teach Teens provides teens, tweens, and young adults with up-to-date, realistic strategies to protect themselves against the pitfalls of modern adolescence.Author Jonathan Cristall, once a troubled teen himself and now a veteran prosecutor for the City of Los Angeles and a sexual violence prevention instructor, works extensively with teenagers and their families to teach physical, digital, emotional, and legal safety skills. Drawing on Cristall's hands-on experience, What They Don't Teach Teens gives parents and other caregivers techniques for talking to their children about these urgent issues.What They Don't Teach Teens gives sound advice on police interactions and personal safety (your constitutional rights, what to do/not do when stopped by the police while driving, situational awareness, street robberies, gun violence); sexual violence and misconduct (sexual consent, sexual harassment prevention, dating violence, sextortion); and staying safer online (digital footprint and citizenship, cyberbullying, underage sexting, online porn).A must-read for all families, What They Don't Teach Teens is filled with practical guidance, thoughtful insight, and simple-to-use tips and tactics that will empower young people to make good choices now and into the future.
Description for Sales People:Key selling points:Written for a huge audience, the 75 million aging baby boomers in the United States.Practical plan for living life to the fullest-not vague uplift, but a specific program of mental and spiritual exercises that get results.Positive message: invites reader to rethink aging as an adventure and opportunity for growth.Audience:People age 50 and up.
Key Selling Points:An inspirational story of how one can come back from anything: Author Brandon Hultink was wounded, paralyzed, addicted, depressed, and suicidal, but he managed to survive and thrive.Urgently needed examination of mental health issues among police officers, a national crisis that is never addressed.Unusually honest account of personal suffering: Readers looking for personal guidance can relate to Hultink's frank account of his darkest moments.Important messages about suicide prevention and mental health treatment.Audience:Inspirational readersSelf-help readersReaders interested in social issues related to police work.Readers interested in personal and social problems related to depression and addiction.
A fun-filled look at the history and attractions of California's legendary Highway 101.Now the road has the utilitarian designation of U.S. Route 101, but originally it had a name of romance and mystery-El Camino Real, or the King's Highway, built on the trail pioneered by the Spanish friars and marked by mission bells on the roadside. Illustrated throughout with historic photographs, Highway 101: The History of El Camino Real tells the picturesque story of this great highway and the restaurants, motels, gas stations, and roadside attractions that made it memorable to generations of travelers.From Disneyland to the historic Madonna Inn to the Avenue of the Giants, Highway 101 catalogs the great landmarks along the road, plus the fascinating personalities, from Dorothea Lange to Jelly Roll Morton to Cecil B. DeMille, whose lives intersected with the history of the route.A colorful history of Americana, commerce, travel, and fun, Highway 101 captures the magic of the open road.
Key selling points:A personal success book for an underserved demographic - young men.Timely and relevant, as more people are growing concerned about drift, purposelessness, and failure among young men.Practical, real-world advice for young men on learning self-control and goal-setting and finding success, maturity, and personal growth.Straight talk in a direct, masculine style that young men will listen to.Ideal book for young men and their parents, teachers, coaches, counselors, ministers, and mentors.Perfect gift for graduation.Audience:Young men ages 16-25.Parents, teachers, coaches, counselors, ministers, and other mentors of young men.
Key Selling Points:Outrageously entertaining: A fascinating, funny, and occasionally disturbing look at the all-too-human side of medical research, from the personal foibles of Nobel laureates to the sometimes dangerous pseudoscience embraced by medical practitioners.Informative but not boring: A great introduction to the history and practice of medical research for the lay reader, written in an easy, entertaining style.Humanizes medicine: Challenging stereotypes of ivory tower academics pursuing pure truth, Boneheads and Brainiacs uncovers the human biases, politics, and sometimes tawdry personal motivations that drive researchers to advance medical science and practice.Audience:Readers interested in the history of medicine and science.Medical professionals.
Key selling points:Beautiful, modern, durable, quality projects for the kitchen and dining room.Easy-to-understand step-by-step instructions, illustrated with diagrams and photographs for each step, make projects simple to complete.Genuinely useful kitchen and dining items that will give good service for years to come.AudienceBeginning to intermediate hobbyist woodworkers.
The Mafia comes to Comic-Con and outrageousness ensues, in the new fast-paced suspense caper The Don Con. A hilarious comic crime thriller in the tradition of Carl Hiaasen and Janet Evanovich, The Don Con mixes suspense, razor-sharp pop culture satire and author Richard Armstrongs dry comic style into a delightful cocktail of pure entertainment. Joey Volpe hit the high watermark of his acting career when he played a small role as a mobster on The Sopranos. If you blinked, you missed it. But now hes unemployed, broke and forced to make a living by signing autographs at pop-culture fan conventions, or Fan-Cons, for $35 a pop. His lack of income, along with his chronic womanising, has put his marriage at risk, too. Joeys life gets even worse when real mobster Tony Rosetti shows up in the autograph line with a plan to rob the next Fan-Con an offer Joey cant refuse. When the heist goes awry, Joey is left with a beef with Rosetti and two long years to plan. Partnered with a smooth-talking con man, Joey is using all his acting skills on new projects: Revenge. Money. And saving his marriage. Combining the intrigue of Oceans 11 and The Bank Job with pointed comic takes on The Sopranos, The Godfather, Comic-Con, Star Trek, The Sting and nerd culture. A crime thriller / screwball comedy that will leave readers breathless with excitement and laughter.
Trapped in an isolated old house on Martha's Vineyard in winter, Diana Barlow is either seeing ghosts or losing her mind ...After an estrangement from her parents, Diana came to Martha's Vineyard to start a new life with her husband Ford and young daughter Samantha. The beautiful Victorian house that Ford inherited seemed the perfect home for a fresh beginning. But in the winter, when the tourists go home and the island is deserted, Diana is afraid she's going crazy. Specters of people long dead flicker in and out of her vision. The antique dolls in her house never stay where they're put. Samantha suddenly has a whole group of imaginary friends who live in the house and tell her terrible things. And Ford is becoming increasingly moody, unpredictable, and violent.While Diana investigates the horrifying history of the house, the past, the present, the living and the dead fatally intertwine, and Diana realizes she and her daughter must escape -- if Ford and the house will let her.
Key selling points:Exciting follow up to a bona fide hit by a proven author: Adam Plantinga's first book, 400 Things Cops Know, won rave reviews from star crime writers such as Lee Child, Edward Conlon, and Joseph Wambaugh and was hailed as "the new bible for crime writers" in the Wall Street Journal. Police Craft builds and extends on the name Plantinga established in 400 Things Cops Know.Enlightening, factual, inside look at police work that reports a point of view not often represented in the media.. This is essential reading for anyone interested in issues of policing and police-community relations.Fascinating and entertaining look at the inside details of police work that civilians don't know about.Audience:Readers interested in police work and public issues related to policing.True crime and mystery readersCurrent, retired, and aspiring police officersMystery writers
A professional screenwriter's master class in writing the most critical and challenging script element-the individual scene.No one comes out of a movie talking about structure. What audiences love and remember about a movie are great scenes. Marlon Brando in the back seat in On the Waterfront giving his "I could'a been a contender" speech. Meg Ryan's fake orgasm in Katz's Deli in When Harry Met Sally with the climactic punch line: "I'll have what she's having." In Superbad, Jonah Hill professing "I love you" to his friend Michael Cera by touching his nose with a "boop." Great scenes will elevate your script from ho-hum to extraordinary-and from the slush pile to sellable.In The Craft of Scene Writing, accomplished screenwriter and master writing teacher Jim Mercurio analyzes and systematizes the beats, conflicts, character moments, action, dialogue, and structure that create powerful scenes. Citing examples from scripts old and new, The Craft of Scene Writing breaks down how great scenes reveal character, advance the story, and emotionally connect with audiences, plus demonstrates how to use these techniques in your own scripts. This incredibly detailed exploration of screenwriting technique will help beginning writers to write great scripts and experienced writers to gain a more complete mastery of their craft.
A friend's suspicious death brings a Native American investigator back home to the reservation, where she faces a puzzling mystery and family conflict. Fraud investigator Sunny Davis returns to her childhood home, an Indian reservation in Nevada, for her best friend Gina's funeral, and she finds that nothing is what it seems. Sunny can't believe that Gina would shoot herself in front of her young children. Gina's family is disengaged and evasive. And when Sunny receives a psychic vision of Gina's brutal death and senses that Gina's spirit is contacting her, she becomes determined to find the truth. Sunny's investigation leads her deep into a complex mystery, her tribal culture's spiritual beliefs, and the secrets that tore apart Gina's family and threaten her own.Whispers in the Wind introduces a new kind of detective hero in Sunny Davis, a smart and tough investigator who solves cases with equal parts deductive logic, psychic perception and spiritual intuition, in a story that portrays grief, courage, and compelling insights into Native American families.
"Give your child a unique gift of a lifetime--without breaking your checkbook--and you and your kid will have fun making it! Building Unique and Useful Kids' Furniture: 24 Great Do-It-Yourself Projects gives complete step-by-step instructions for building 24 professionally designed one-of-a-kind children's furniture projects that are easy to build and your kids will love. You don't need advanced skills. You don't need specialized tools. You don't need expensive materials. All of these projects can be built using basic tools and materials from any home improvement store. Step-by-step instructions and color photos show you exactly what to do--and many projects are labeled "Kid Friendly," so your child can safely help you build it, developing their skills and confidence"--
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