"Set in a land where magic can be terrifying, Chasing the Valley combines the friendship and camaraderie of Ranger s Apprentice with the hardship and survival of The Hunger Games with spectacular results. Danika is used to struggling for survival. But when the tyrannous king launches an attack to punish her city echoing the alchemy bombs that killed Danika s family she risks her life in a daring escape over the city s walls. Danika joins a crew of desperate refugees who seek the Magnetic Valley, a legendary safe haven. But when she accidentally destroys a palace biplane, Danika Glynn becomes the most wanted fugitive in Taladia. Pursued by the king s vicious hunters and betrayed by false allies, Danika also grapples with her burgeoning magical abilities. And when she meets the mysterious Lukas, she must balance her feelings against her crew s safety. Chasing the Valley is the first book in an epic trilogy of magic, treachery and survival."

The action-packed adventure continues in the second book of the Chasing the Valley trilogy! Danika and her crew of escaped refugees are seeking the safety of the Magnetic Valley – and trying to evade Sharr Morrigan, the king’s most lethal hunter. But the borderlands they must cross to reach the Valley are smugglers’ territory: lawless, wild and steeped in ancient magic. When one of the crew is badly wounded, Danika turns to the smugglers for help – and accepts a bargain that might prove deadly. It is Lukas, however, who hides the most dangerous secret. What has he seen through the eagle’s eyes? The answer can be found in an alchemy charm and a smuggler’s tale, and will lead Danika and her friends to an electrifying, unputdownable showdown. THE CHASING THE VALLEY SERIES: BOOK 1: CHASING THE VALLEY BOOK 2: BORDERLANDS BOOK 3: SKYFIRE PRAISE FOR BORDERLANDS: 'The ultimate blend of an oppressive rule, a post-apocalyptic landscape, adventure, survival and a touch of romance, beautifully woven into a heart-stopping storyline.' divabooknerd.com 'An epic sequel to the first novel, Chasing the Valley. Borderlands carries on with the story seamlessly and makes the reader feel like they never put the last book down. With themes of action, mystery and mild romance, this novel suits older readers who enjoy reading a good fight and tales of survival. This series is definitely, without a doubt, one of my favourites.' readplus.com.au

Examines the unique qualities of the foods of the desert areas of Mexico and the southwestern United States, discussing how the ecology and cultural history of the area shape its food.

In a world where music is power, one boy’s discovery that he can hear the song will change everything . . . Chester is on the road, searching every town for clues about his father’s disappearance. But when he’s caught accidentally – and illegally – connecting with the Song as he plays his beloved fiddle, Chester is sentenced to death. Only a licensed Songshaper can bend music to their will. The axe is about to fall . . . But there is someone else watching Chester. Someone who needs his special talents. Who can use him for their own ends. And who is hiding in the Hush, where Music can be deadly and Echoes can kill you with a touch. Susannah is that someone. The young captain of the infamous Nightfall Gang has plans for Chester. Finally, she will have her revenge. DON'T MISS THE NEW NOVEL FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE CHASING THE VALLEY TRILOGY. SHORTLISTED, Aurealis Award for Best Young Adult Novel 2015

Blood Oranges traces the origins and legacy of racial differences between Anglo Americans and ethnic Mexicans (Mexican nationals and Mexican Americans) in the South Texas borderlands in the twentieth century. Author Tim Bowman uncovers a complex web of historical circumstances that caused ethnic Mexicans in the region to rank among the poorest, least educated, and unhealthiest demographic in the country. The key to this development, Bowman finds, was a “modern colonization movement,” a process that had its roots in the Mexican-American war of the nineteenth century but reached its culmination in the twentieth century. South Texas, in Bowman’s words, became an “internal economy just inside of the US-Mexico border.” Beginning in the twentieth century, Anglo Americans consciously transformed the region from that of a culturally “Mexican” space, with an economy based on cattle, into one dominated by commercial agriculture focused on citrus and winter vegetables. As Anglos gained political and economic control in the region, they also consolidated their power along racial lines with laws and customs not unlike the “Jim Crow” system of southern segregation. Bowman argues that the Mexican labor class was thus transformed into a marginalized racial caste, the legacy of which remained in place even as large-scale agribusiness cemented its hold on the regional economy later in the century. Blood Oranges stands to be a major contribution to the history of South Texas and borderland studies alike.

Danika and her crew of escaped refugees are seeking the safety of the Magnetic Valley - and trying to evade Sharr Morrigan, the king's most lethal hunter. But the borderlands they must cross to reach the Valley are smugglers' territory: lawless, wild and steeped in ancient magic. When one of the crew is badly wounded, Danika turns to the smugglers for help - and accepts a bargain that might prove deadly.

Natalie Palladino was a normal fifteen-year-old, at a normal school, about to face a normal maths test. Now her codename is Nomad, and she’s training to become a secret agent for HELIX. No one can know that sorcery exists. No one can know that HELIX protects humanity from the Inductors. And no one can know that Nomad is a Witness, with a dangerous magical gift. The Inductors are hunting her. If they find her, they will kill her. But there’s a traitor inside HELIX, and only a Witness can identify them. The problem is, Nomad hasn’t mastered her powers. She can’t levitate, fight or wield magic like her fellow recruits. If she’s the only hope to stop a sorcerous bomb being detonated, the world is in trouble. The eleventh hour is coming . . .

In this engaging personal narrative, biologist Fred Gehlbach describes the stability and changes of the past century in the Borderlands' climate, landforms, and natural communities and in its distinctive plants and vertebrates.

Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. After their mission in London, Nomad, Riff, Phoenix and Orbit are back at HELIX, training to master their magic. But things have changed. Nomad’s secret is out. Her peers know she is a Witness; a sorcerer with the rare ability to read others’ magic. This causes ripples at HQ, especially when it means that Steel, the most popular cadet in her class, is no longer the centre of attention. But there are greater threats than new rivals. When the cadets are sent to New Zealand to investigate a top-secret case, they find themselves in more danger than they bargained for. With no one to trust and time running out, it’s a race to stop the Inductors before they have enough power to destroy HELIX for good. Red sky at morning, sailor’s warning . . .

&“Richard Opio has neither the look of a cold-blooded killer nor the heart of one. Yet as his mother and father lay on the ground with their hands tied, Richard used the blunt end of an ax to crush their skulls. He was ordered to do this by a unit commander of the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group that has terrorized northern Uganda for twenty years. The memory racks Richard's slender body as he wipes away tears.&” For more than twenty years, beginning in the mid-1980s, the Lord's Resistance Army has ravaged northern Uganda. Tens of thousands have been slaughtered, and thousands more mutilated and traumatized. At least 1.5 million people have been driven from a pastoral existence into the squalor of refugee camps. The leader of the rebel army is the rarely seen Joseph Kony, a former witchdoctor and self-professed spirit medium who continues to evade justice and wield power from somewhere near the Congo~Sudan border. Kony claims he not only can predict the future but also can control the minds of his fighters. And control them he does: the Lord's Resistance Army consists of children who are abducted from their homes under cover of night. As initiation, the boys are forced to commit atrocities—murdering their parents, friends, and relatives—and the kidnapped girls are forced into lives of sexual slavery and labor. In First Kill Your Family, veteran journalist Peter Eichstaedt goes into the war-torn villages and refugee camps, talking to former child soldiers, child &“brides,&” and other victims. He examines the cultlike convictions of the army; how a pervasive belief in witchcraft, the spirit world, and the supernatural gave rise to this and other deadly movements; and what the global community can do to bring peace and justice to the region. This insightful analysis delves into the war's foundations and argues that, much like Rwanda's genocide, international intervention is needed to stop Africa's virulent cycle of violence.