It should have been a cushy job: Vern, the dragon detective, and his partner, the mage Sister Grace, are given an all-expense paid trip to Florida to chaperone a group of Magicals at a Mensa convention. Then the pixies start pranking, the Valkyrie starts vamping and a dwarf goes to Billy Beaver's Fantasyland hoping to be "discovered." Environmentalists protest Vern's "disrupting the ecosystem," while clueless tourists think he's animatronic. When the elves get high on artificial flavorings and declare war on Florida, it turns into the toughest case they aren't getting paid for. Based loosely on the award-winning serial mystery, Magic, Mensa and Mayhem will keep you laughing wherever you rank on the IQ scale. ...."Wisdom of the Ages, Knowledge of Eternity, and I end up a babysitter at the Smart Humans' Convention."-Vern

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Houston, we have a problem. The largest city in Texas has a wild west past filled with dodgy criminals and murderous madmen. When the Allen brothers sold Houston’s first lots, the city became a magnet for enterprising tycoons and opportunistic crooks alike. As the young city grew, a scourge of crime and vice accompanied the success of oil and real estate. The Bayou City’s seedy side—flashing Bowie knives, privileged bad boys, hardened prostitutes and unchecked serial killers—established its hold. From a young Clyde Barrow to the Man Who Killed Halloween, Houston’s past is filled with bloody tales, heartbreaking loss and despicable deeds. Authors Mike Vance and John Nova Lomax shine a light on these dark days. Includes photos!

When the four Stanley children meet Amanda, their new stepsister, they’re amazed to learn that she studies witchcraft. They’re stunned to see her dressed in a strange costume, carrying a pet crow and surrounded by a pile of books about the supernatural. It’s not long before Amanda promises to give witchcraft lessons to David, Jamie, and the twins. But that’s when strange things start happening in their old house. David suspects Amanda of causing mischief, until they learn that the house really was haunted long ago. Legend has it that a ghost cut the head off of a wooden cupid on the stairway. Has the ghost returned to strike again?

Magic Trixie doesn't understand why no one will take her seriously! First, she's not allowed to do anything fun, while her baby sister gets away with everything, and then she needs to come up with a trick that's really special to impress her friends. Luckily Trixie has the best plan ever. . . .

Mr. Popper and his family have penguins in the fridge and an ice rink in the basement in this hilarious Newbery Honor book that inspired the hit movie! How many penguins in the house is too many? Mr. Popper is a humble house painter living in Stillwater who dreams of faraway places like the South Pole. When an explorer responds to his letter by sending him a penguin named Captain Cook, Mr. Popper and his family’s lives change forever. Soon one penguin becomes twelve, and the Poppers must set out on their own adventure to preserve their home. First published in 1938, Mr. Popper’s Penguins is a classic tale that has enchanted young readers for generations. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Richard and Florence Atwater including rare photos from the authors’ estate.

Run the gamut of stories about the mythological beasts ... Humorous tales of extreme sports with genetically engineered animals and pesky door-to-door salesmen with scales exist beside conventional stories of treasure and deceit, hunter and hunted, hatred and sacrifice. See how dragons exist today without most humans noticing or abandon all preconceived notions and imagine a dragon as a 1940s-style detective. Let your experience with dragons end with a trio of stories depicting possible ends to dragonkind ; one uplifting, one poignant, and one heart-wrenching in its melancholy--P. [4] of cover.

First Jesuit. First Latin American. And a new pope who chose as his first act a simple request: please pray for me. The recent resignation of Pope Benedict XVI took the world by surprise and for good reason. More than 600 years had passed since a pope last left his post. Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, is a man of prayer, a man of action, and a humble man who has always promoted others over himself. In fact, it was Bergoglio who bowed out of the running in the papal election of 2005 to facilitate the rise of Benedict XVI. However, the new pope faces a Catholic Church in crisis—a church that has lost the media pull of John Paul II and is still hounded by pedophile scandals and the filtration of documents from former papal administrations. His first year may not be an easy one, but neither this man nor the church itself has ever shied away from the challenges thrust upon them. Pope Francis is austere and simple but has vast theological training. He is a man of his time but one who also travels by subway and bus just like any other citizen. Tirelessly fighting poverty and marginalization, he is a beacon of hope for the poor, persecuted sectors of the church. Has a Catholic spring finally arrived after a very long winter? Francis is the complete biography of a humble man who has suddenly become one of the most powerful and influential men on the planet.