Prepare to think as you explore these wildly disparate literary short stories by author, composer, and producer Stephen Geez. Avoiding any single genre, this collection showcases Geez’s storytelling from southern gothic to contemporary drama to coming-of-age, humor, sci-fi, and fantasy—all finessed to say something about who we are and what we seek. Some of these have been passed around enough to need a shot of penicillin, others so virgin they have never known the seductive gaze of a reader’s eyes. So when life’s currents get to pulling too hard, don’t fight it, just open the book and discover nineteen new ways of going with the flow, because NOW more than ever Comes this Time to Float.

"New York's Chelsea Hotel may no longer be home to its most famous denizens--Andy Warhol, Leonard Cohen, Patti Smith, to name a few--but the eccentric spirit of the Chelsea is alive and well. Meet the family Rips: father Michael, a lawyer turned writer with a penchant for fine tailoring; mother Sheila, a former model and renowned artist who matches her welding outfits with couture; and daughter Nicolaia, a precocious high school junior at work on a record of her peculiar seventeen years. Nicolaia is a perpetual outsider who has struggled to find her place in public schools populated by cliquish girls and loudmouthed boys. But at the Chelsea, Nicolaia need not look far to find her tribe"--

From the critically acclaimed author of the Edge of Extinction series comes this fast-paced, action-packed, and heartfelt adventure about a group of kids with uncontrollable abilities, perfect for fans of Gordon Korman, Lisa McMann, and Dan Gutman! Emerson can float…he just can’t do it very well. His uncontrollable floating is his RISK factor, which means that he deals with Reoccurring Incidents of the Strange Kind. The last place Emerson wants to be is at a government-mandated summer camp for RISK kids like him, so he’s shocked when he actually starts having fun at camp—and he even makes some new friends. But it’s not all canoeing and capture the flag at Camp Outlier. The summer of fun takes a serious turn when Emerson and his friends discover that one of their own is hiding a deadly secret that puts all of their lives in danger. It’s up to the Red Maple boys to save themselves—and everyone like them.

A heartfelt summer read for fans of Sarah Dessen and Jenny Han about holding on and letting go. Waverly Lyons has been caught in the middle of her parents’ divorce for as long as she can remember. This summer, the battle rages over who she’ll spend her vacation with, and when Waverly’s options are shot down, it’s bye-bye Fairbanks, Alaska and hello Holden, Florida to stay with her aunt. Coming from the tundra of the north, the beach culture isn’t exactly Waverly’s forte. The sun may just be her mortal enemy, and her vibe is decidedly not chill. To top it off? Her ability to swim is nonexistent. Enter Blake, the (superhot) boy next door. Charming and sweet, he welcomes Waverly into his circle. For the first time in her life, Waverly has friends, a social life, and soon enough, feelings . . . for Blake. As the two grow closer, Waverly’s fortunes begin to look up. But every summer must come to an end, and letting go is hardest when you’ve finally found where you belong.

Alive to history in the making (and the weight of the past) this volume examines Obama's presidency and Lyndon Johnson's, the killing of Trayvon Martin and the death of Andrew Breitbart, Occupy Wall Street and "America Beyond Capitalism." It presents essays, poems, and plays that speak to our times and challenge the liberal imagination. The title, That Floating Bridge, evokes Representative John Lewis' line "Obama is what comes at the end of that bridge in Selma" as it quotes a track on Gregg Allman's Low Country Blues, which Scott Spencer lauds here in a review for the Ages.That Floating Bridge's peerless range of contributors includes Amiri Baraka, Gar Alperovitz, Bernard Avishai, Uri Avnery, Bill Ayers, Paul Berman, John Chernoff, Mark Dudzic, Carmelita Estrellita, Henry Farrell, Fr. Rick Frechette, Donna Gaines, David Golding, Eugene Goodheart, Lawrence Goodwyn, Lisa Guenther, Alec Harrington, Malcolm Harris, Casey Hayden, Christopher Hayes, Patterson Hood, Roxane Johnson, Ben Kessler, Bob Levin, Philip Levine, Bongani Madondo, Greil Marcus, Scott McLemee, Judy Oppenheimer, Jedediah Purdy, Nick Salvatore, Aram Saroyan, Tom Smucker, Fredric Smoler, Violet Socks, A. B. Spellman, Scott Spencer, Richard Torres, Jesmyn Ward, and Pablo Yglesias.An account of how Franz Boas "did more to combat race prejudice than any other person" anchorsone section, but the volume also addresses devolutions of "diversity" linked with careerism in the art world and academe. An un-scholastic section titled "Criticism of Life"celebrates older and younger critics/poets. Songs are key to this volume's good times. Music writing ranging from Eddie Hinton's Very Extremely Dangerous to Berlioz's Romeo and Juliet enhances the pleasures of this text.

"Profoundly moving . . . Will take your breath away." —Kathleen Glasgow, author of Girl in Pieces "Give this to all your friends immediately . . . It tackles mental health, depression, sexual identity, and anxiety with beauty and empathy." —Cosmopolitan.com A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best of the Year Biz knows how to float, right there on the surface—normal okay regular fine. She has her friends, her mom, the twins. She has Grace. And she has her dad, who shouldn't be here but is. So Biz doesn't tell anyone anything—not about her dark, runaway thoughts, not about kissing Grace or noticing Jasper, the new boy. And not about seeing her dad. Because her dad died when she was seven. But after what happens on the beach, the tethers that hold Biz steady come undone. Her dad disappears and, with him, all comfort. It might be easier, better, sweeter to float all the way away? Or maybe stay a little longer, find her father, bring him back to her. Or maybe—maybe maybe maybe—there's a third way Biz just can't see yet. Debut author Helena Fox tells a story about love, grief, and inter-generational mental illness, exploring the hard and beautiful places loss can take us, and honoring those who hold us tightly when the current wants to tug us out to sea. "I haven't been so dazzled by a YA in ages." —Jandy Nelson, author of I'll Give You the Sun (via SLJ) "Mesmerizing and timely." —Bustle "Nothing short of exquisite." —PopSugar "Immensely satisfying" —Girls' Life * "Lyrical and profoundly affecting." —Kirkus (starred review) * "Masterful...Just beautiful." —Booklist (starred review) * "Intimate...Unexpected." —PW (starred review) * "Fox writes with superb understanding and tenderness." —BCCB (starred review) * "Frank [and] beautifully crafted." —BookPage (starred review) "Deeply moving...A story of hope." —Common Sense Media "This book will explode you into atoms." —Margo Lanagan, author of Tender Morsels "Helena Fox's novel delivers. Read it." —Cath Crowley, author of Words in Deep Blue "This is not a book; it is a work of art." —Kerry Kletter, author of The First Time She Drowned "Perfect...Readers will be deeply moved." —Books+Publishing

It is, in a way, difficult to write about a book that is, in essence, a compilation of various short stories that were written across the span of two decades. An accident in a swimming pool, a Town that holds a celebration of human speech, a date with the heroes and villains of human history far up in the heaven, a nerve-wracking examination hall, a life that could have been, the land of Sun-worshippers and Moon-landers, a hopeful job-interview, the pursuit of happiness ,an encounter with God’s own accountant. Life-changing words flowing away from lost wet pages in the rain. It makes it more challenging that each and every story differs so vastly from the other - in terms of whether it be the scale, the settings or the tone. So when people ponder what ‘Floating Towel’ is really about, I find it imperative to say that it is about life itself. To be more precise, a middle-class person’s intensely personal view of life. Life as it is and life as it should be. One such common thread across some of the stories can be found in the character of Budhu. According to the author, the character is nothing more but an archetype. An epitome of normalcy - a person so deeply rooted in the attitudes, customs and feelings of a native Bengali middle-class man that it could essentially be an alter-ego of any Indian Joe. And it is through these stories, through these characters that the author has woven his thoughts into the fabric of these stories. Thoughts about the meaning of life, the value of family and relationships, disenchantment, violence and greed, the changing times and abject senselessness of fanaticism. These dozen short-stories are a kaleidoscope to life as we know it, one that crosses across generations and through the turn of the century that the reader across all ages would enjoy it.

"The last great work of the age of reason, the final instance when all human knowledge could be presented with a single point of view ... Unabashed optimism, and unabashed racism, pervades many entries in the 11th, and provide its defining characteristics ... Despite its occasional ugliness, the reputation of the 11th persists today because of the staggering depth of knowledge contained with its volumes. It is especially strong in its biographical entries. These delve deeply into the history of men and women prominent in their eras who have since been largely forgotten - except by the historians, scholars"-- The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2012/apr/10/encyclopedia-britannica-11th-edition.