Inspector Spencer, cat detective, is at it again! In this book he solves the mystery of the disappearance of Ellis the Elephants prized piano. Working with his sidekick Allie, a dog, he investigates possible suspects and devises a clever plan to capture the culprit. The characters are adorable a hippo, a rhino, and a hyena. They stimulate the imagination of the readers and listeners. This story is creative, humorous, and imaginative for elementary- aged children.

This is a story about a cat detective, Inspector Spencer, and his animal friends who enable him to catch the thief, Danger Mouse. It is creative, humorous, and exciting as the three clever friends plot to catch the villain in the story. This story is fun to read aloud to young children, and then for the older children to read by themselves.

Summary of Inspector Spencer Finds the Purr-fect Solution Inspector Spencer, a cat detective, is faced with a serious problem a rift between the dogs and cats in his community. However, Spencer and his clever sidekick, Allie, are able to analyze the problem and reach a satisfactory solution. The story points out that the animals, like people, have more similarities than differences, and should be able to live together in peace and harmony. The animal characters are adorable, and stimulate the imagination of the readers and listeners. The story is creative and humorous for elementary-aged children.

During a blistering summer, drought has depleted Thornfield Reservoir, uncovering the remains of a small village called Hobb's End - hidden from view for over 40 years. For a curious young boy this resurfaced hamlet has become a magical playground ... until he unearths a human skeleton. Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks is given the impossible task of identifying the victim - a woman who lived in a place that no longer exists, whose former residents are scattered to the winds. Anyone else might throw in the towel but Banks sets out to uncover the murky past buried beneath a flood of time...

Offers students an overview of the world schools style of debating, with expert advice for every stage of the process, including preparation, rebuttal, style, reply speeches, and points of information.

" West Virginia boasts an unusually rich heritage of ghost tales. Originally West Virginians told these hundred stories not for idle amusement but to report supernatural experiences that defied ordinary human explanation. From jealous rivals and ghostly children to murdered kinsmen and omens of death, these tales reflect the inner lives—the hopes, beliefs, and fears—of a people. Like all folklore, these tales reveal much of the history of the region: its isolation and violence, the passions and bloodshed of the Civil War era, the hardships of miners and railroad laborers, and the lingering vitality of Old World traditions.

Freedom in the World, the Freedom House flagship survey whose findings have been published annually since 1972, is the standard-setting comparative assessment of global political rights and civil liberties. The survey ratings and narrative reports on 192 countries and a group of select territories are used by policy makers, the media, international corporations, and civic activists and human rights defenders to monitor trends in democracy and track improvements and setbacks in freedom worldwide. Press accounts of the survey findings appear in hundreds of influential newspapers in the United States and abroad and form the basis of numerous radio and television reports. The Freedom in the World political rights and civil liberties ratings are determined through a multi-layered process of research and evaluation by a team of regional analysts and eminent scholars. The analysts used a broad range of sources of information, including foreign and domestic news reports, academic studies, nongovernmental organizations, think tanks, individual professional contacts, and visits to the region, in conducting their research. The methodology of the survey is derived in large measure from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and these standards are applied to all countries and territories, irrespective of geographical location, ethnic or religious composition, or level of economic development.

A supplemental textbook for middle and high school students, Hoosiers and the American Story provides intimate views of individuals and places in Indiana set within themes from American history. During the frontier days when Americans battled with and exiled native peoples from the East, Indiana was on the leading edge of America’s westward expansion. As waves of immigrants swept across the Appalachians and eastern waterways, Indiana became established as both a crossroads and as a vital part of Middle America. Indiana’s stories illuminate the history of American agriculture, wars, industrialization, ethnic conflicts, technological improvements, political battles, transportation networks, economic shifts, social welfare initiatives, and more. In so doing, they elucidate large national issues so that students can relate personally to the ideas and events that comprise American history. At the same time, the stories shed light on what it means to be a Hoosier, today and in the past.