"This is an academic look at the contribution of popular culture to the loss if innocence in today's children."--Publisher.

"Think you know Rapunzel's story? Think again, because the tower was only the beginning..." -- Jennifer Nielsen, New York Times bestselling author of THE FALSE PRINCE In all of Tyme, from the Redlands to the Grey, no one is as lucky as Rapunzel. She lives in a magic tower that obeys her every wish; she reads wonderful books starring herself as the heroine; her hair is the longest, most glorious thing in the world. And she knows this because Witch tells her so -- her beloved Witch, who protects her from evil princes, the dangerous ground under the tower, even unhappy thoughts. Rapunzel can't imagine any other life.Then a thief named Jack climbs into her room to steal one of her enchanted roses. He's the first person Rapunzel's ever met who isn't completely charmed by her (well, the first person she's met at all, really), and he is infuriating -- especially when he hints that Witch isn't telling her the whole truth. Driven by anger at Jack and her own nameless fears, Rapunzel descends to the ground for the first time, and finds a world filled with more peril than Witch promised...and more beauty, wonder, and adventure than she could have dreamed.

For over forty years, John Hawkes has created fictions remarkable for their stylistic beauty and narrative experimentation. Rita Ferrari's Innocence, Power, and the Novels of John Hawkes is an unprecedented exploration of Hawkes's sixteen novels and novellas.

Risqué Halloween costumes for young girls. T-shirts that boast “Chick Magnet” for toddler boys. Sexy content on almost every television channel, as well as in movies and video games. Popular culture and technology inundate our boys and girls with an onslaught of graphic sexual messages at earlier ages than ever before. Without the emotional sophistication to understand what they are doing and seeing, kids are getting into increasing trouble emotionally and socially. Parents are left shaking their heads, wondering: How did this happen? What can we do? Diane E. Levin, Ph.D., and Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D., internationally recognized experts in, respectively, early childhood development and the impact of the media on children and teens, offer parents essential, age-appropriate strategies to counter the assault. Filled with savvy suggestions, helpful sample dialogues, and poignant stories from families dealing with these issues, So Sexy So Soon provides parents with the information, skills, and confidence they need to discuss sensitive topics openly and effectively–so their kids can just be kids.

A new angle on the globalisation debate, which celebrates successful resistance as well as exploring the dangers. As languages and local cultures are swept away by the market-driven monoculture, Jeremy Seabrook looks at the threat to cultural diversity and integrity all around the globe, including in western societies. Amongst the disappearing cultures, Seabrook finds that resistance is breaking out as people rediscover the imprtance of the local and the value of community.

How We Are Governed explores interdisciplinary relations between communication and politics. It brings together diverse perspectives from the field of Communication and Media Studies, focusing on formal arenas of politics and public policy as well as politics in the broad sense of an informal negotiation of social relations of power between people. The book deals with questions about governing across many different domains, paying particular attention to communicative practices and technologies. Each chapter focuses on some empirical instance or instances of media–politics and media–democracy relations, on how these have been or are being exercised in shaping the limits of possible action, and on how they are being interrogated and reinvented. A persistent theme is whether the arrangements detailed in each instance can best be described as democratic, or otherwise. Chapters focus on arguments about media regulation; the guardianship of public life; the Leveson Inquiry; Web 2.0 communication in German elections; new media and citizen participation in politics; reality TV and the formation of economic literacy; online participation in the “illiberal democracy” of Singapore; citizenship and market formation in online safety education programs; mining taxes and market populism; and public broadcasting and soft diplomacy.

"Providing the first fundamental reform of its kind for the adversarial legal system, The Plea of Innocence introduces a new method through which to free innocent people from prison, a search for truth through the discovery of exonerating facts"--

This book explores contemporary families as sites of consumption, examining the changing contexts of family life, where new forms of family are altering how family life is practised and produced, and addressing key social issues – childhood obesity, alchohol and drug addiction, social networking, viral marketing – that put pressure on families as the social, economic and regulatory environments of consumption change.

Much has been written about the Walt Disney Company's productions, but the focus has largely been on animation and feature film created by Disney. In this essay collection, the attention is turned to The Disney Channel and the programs it presents for a largely tween audience. Since its emergence as a market category in the 1980s, the tween demographic has commanded purchasing power and cultural influence, and the impressionability and social development of the age group makes it an important range of people to study. Presenting both a groundbreaking view of The Disney Channel's programming by the numbers and a deep focus on many of the best-known programs and characters of the 2000s--shows like The Wizards of Waverly Place, That's So Raven and Hannah Montana--this collection asks the simple questions, "What does The Disney Channel Universe look and sound like? Who are the stories about? Who matters on The Disney Channel?"

It's spring 1964, and Fleur-de-Lys Records is sending its Soul Cavalcade around the country: 20 cities in 24 days, a couple dozen singers and musicians all squashed on one bus. Then there's Esme Hunter— the newest member of the troupe, a singer with an astonishing secret that will soon spin the Cavalcade upside-down. A comedy with Shakespearean tones, a wild romp with blistering music, an always fascinating story with tinges of tragedy, this book gets to the heart of American soul music.