Josh Swensen (otherwise known as Larry) can't seem to get off the couch. His usual overactive imagination and save-the-world mindset have all but vanished, and his best friend Beth is seriously worried.When Beth coaxes Josh into taking a walk at Walden Pond, Josh meets Gus Muldarian, a spiritual guru who convinces him to join his study group as a way to find deeper meaning in life. Josh thinks Gus is a joke. Still, feeling desperate and seeing no way out of his rut, he agrees to try it. What begins as a harmless Thoreau-esque search for meaning soon turns into Josh's most chaotic and profound adventure yet. After the success of The Gospel According to Larry and Vote for Larry, Janet Tashjian returns with yet another tour de force—a book that explores important topics and will keep teens hooked right until the unexpected end.

Larry is a young penguin on a secret quest for the meaning of life that teams up with a lost polar bear named Marsha who has walked halfway around the world searching for her destiny. Captured by a scientist, the unusual pair is transported to a zoo in Alaska where the scientist's dying six-year-old son frees them from captivity and joins their search. Readers are taken on an often humorous, yet deeply philosophical, satirical, iconoclastic, emotional, and sure to be controversial adventure leading to the discovery of the Round Song and the secret of life. This unusual novel isn't for children.

Those were the magic words and Beth knew it. How many times had I uttered that phrase to Ms. Robinson in guidance, the standard answer for what I wanted to do with my life? CHANGE THE WORLD. Did I still have the strength and determination to get it together and try to make a difference? Was it my destiny, my vocation? Or was I just trying to impress a girl? As I looked at Beth, I wondered if the reason why even mattered. The indefatigable Larry is back, and this time he takes on the American political system After falling off the wagon and becoming what he so clearly and strongly resisted-a consumer-Josh Swensen (aka Larry) finds himself in a hyper-paranoid state of no return. That is, until he's kidnapped and coaxed into resurfacing as his old persona. Before long, Larry is back on the scene with much more on his mind than a gospel Web site-this time Larry wants to affect change in government. What starts out as a campaign to get the younger population to vote turns into a run for the presidency. Can Larry really take on George Bush? In this very smart, very witty novel, Janet Tashjian brings the political world to the forefront and explores it from many different points of view.

Motorcycle riders from all walks of life--from Main Street to Wall Street, Hollywood to Washington, D.C.--are invited to peel back their "badass" masks and answer one simple question: What is the meaning of life? Their answers expose the motorcycle community's lesser-known philosophical and charitable nature and help to smash the typical motorcycle-rider stereotype. Joining the "regular folks" interviewed are celebrities, including Peter Fonda, Gen. Tommy Franks, John Paul DeJoria, Jillian Michaels, Kyle Petty, Carey Hart, and Norman Reedus, along with a former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a congressman, a senator, a former NASA astronaut, governors, military generals, actors, rock n'roll and country artists, corporate executives, and NFL, NBA, MLB sports figures. Whether you drive on four wheels or straddle a "wild thang" on two, these voices are sure to enlighten and entertain.

The popular Six-Word Memoir(r) project examines a subject bursting with words: Jewish life. With contributions from machers like Larry David, Jonathan Safran Foer, Henry Winkler, Elizabeth Wurtzel, Gary Shteyngart, Maira Kalman, Walter Mosley, Art Spiegelman, A.J. Jacobs and Ed Koch, along with hundreds of first-time writers, Six-Word Memoirs on Jewish Life offers stories of faith and family, duty and identity, celebration and tsuris that will inform, delight and inspir

The year is 1971 and the place is Laurel Canyon, California. Quinn, a fourteen-year-old music "encyclopedia," writes a music column—called "For What It's Worth"—for his school paper. But Quinn's world is about to change when he is faced with helping a war dodger and must make some tough decisions. When he starts receiving cryptic Ouija board messages from Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix (all members of the 27 Club), he knows he is in over his head. Fortunately for Quinn, his new girlfriend Caroline helps him get a grip and channel his inner self.

A stunning collection of candid interviews with 64 actors, directors, musicians, economists, politicians and other leaders. Every one of the impressive figures profiled here offers insights that reveal the humanity behind the famous face and the dramatic portraits that accompany each interview.

With 2014 marking the 60th anniversary of the release of Elvis Presley’s first record, “That’s All Right,” this book makes the perfect companion for celebrating the life and music of one of the world’s most popular entertainers. Packed with history, trivia, lists, little-known facts, and must-do adventures, legions of Elvis fans around the globe who still adore him more than three decades after his death will delight in this ode to “The King.” Ranked from one to 100, the songs, albums, movies, places, personalities, and events that are the most important to know in Elvis lore unfold on the pages, offering hours of entertainment for both casual and serious fans.

The Autumn Spring saga continues with this second installment in the contemporary age-spanning romance series by author Sam Pettus. Fifty-two-year-old Larry Watts and twenty-six-year-old Brandy Ames have committed themselves to being a couple after a very unusual three-month courtship that started soon after Brandy became Larry’s next-door neighbor. The two quickly found out that they had a lot in common despite their age difference and that both fit almost perfectly in the void left in each other’s lives by previous bad relationships. They know where their growing love is taking them; however, they have decided to wait a year before seeing if their relationship is strong enough to last, with the prizes of engagement and marriage awaiting them at its end. This book, Through the Passing Seasons, lets you witness the major parts of that special journey Larry and Brandy take over the course of that year. Come experience Larry and Brandy’s year of trial with them. Share in their Beach Party style summer vacation, their hunt for a supposed monster in the city sewers, their dealing with a flooded apartment, and more. Witness the fierceness of their first major fight, Brandy’s learning to cook for the first time, the return of Brandy’s ex-boyfriend, their playing servants for a day for Brandy’s boss, and her being given the career chance of a lifetime, only to discover that she might have to give up Larry in order to claim it. See for yourself what also happens during this special year in the lives of those around them: their friends, coworkers, neighbors (old and new), Brandy’s mother and sister, and more. Welcome back, friends. Welcome back to the wonderful world of Autumn Spring.

Answers to 100 questions teens ask about God, science, morality, and other worldview issues.