Set in a future where cosmetic surgery is a requirement at age 16 and attractiveness is mandated, Scott Westerfeld’s popular Uglies series has received critical acclaim from the press and public alike. Chock-full of action, adventure and teenage rebellion, there’s no question why Uglies has attracted thousands of fans. In Mind-Rain, popular authors examine the series and delve into the underlying themes. What sort of critiques are Uglies, Pretties, Specials and Extras making about the real world? Is there more behind Tally, David and Shay? Mind-Rain is a collection of smart, analytical and completely unauthorized eessays on Scott Westerfeld’s wildly popular Uglies series. Westerfeld’s written introduction gives readers insight from the person who knows the series best!

Experience the riveting, dystopian Uglies series seen as never before—through the eyes of Shay, Tally Youngblood’s closest and bravest friend, who refuses to take anything about society at face value. “From the moment we are born, we are considered threats in need of ‘special’ management. We are watched and shaped and exploited by a force most of us never see. . . . All to keep us safe. . . . Do you feel safe?! Or do you feel like you’re in a cage?”—Shay In Pretties, Tally Youngblood and her daring best friend, Shay, both underwent the operation that turned them from ordinary Uglies into stunning beauties. Now this thrilling new graphic novel reveals Shay’s perspective on living in New Pretty Town . . . and the way she sees it, there’s more to this so-called paradise than meets the eye. With the endless parties and custom-made clothes, life as a Pretty should be perfect. Yet Shay doesn’t feel quite right. She has little to no memory of her past; it’s as if something in her brain has inexplicably changed. When she reunites with Tally and the Crims—her rebellious group of friends from Uglyville—she begins to recall their last departure to the wild, and the headstrong leader she used to be. And as she remembers the truth about what doomed their escape, Shay decides to fight back—against the status quo, against the mysterious Special Circumstances, even against her own best friend.

The action of the play takes place in the hotel store of trader Joe Horn, on the island of Tutuila, Port of Pago Pago, the south seas, where a missionary's determination to reform a prostitute leads to tragedy.

"Walking is medicine for the mind. It helps us slow down and think things through. It also helps us perk up and generate new ideas. There are few activities as readily available and revitalising as a brisk walk, or as soothing and stimulating as a long walk. Discover the wonderful things that can happen when you set out on two feet. Studies show a strong link between the mental state while walking and innovative ideas or strokes of insight. From Aristotle's strolls with his students to Steve Jobs's famous walking meetings, walking not only inspires creativity but also attention, presence and perspective. Taking your mind for a walk nourishes connection with yourself, it allows exploration of the self and the world around us and invigorates all of our senses."--Publisher.

A dozen problems in the philosophy of mind - The turn to materialism - Arguments against materialism - Consciousness and the mind-body problem - The structure of consciousness and neurobiology - Intentionality - Mental causation - Free will - The unconscious and the explanation of behavior - Perception - The self.

A baton twirler fights the rain to save her neighborhood parade

Do you long to drive a Ferrari at top speed on the open road, but find yourself always stuck on the freeway during rush hour? Do you wonder how you can feel like "not enough" and "too much" at the same time? Like the rain forest, are you sometimes intense, multilayered, colorful, creative, overwhelming, highly sensitive, complex, and/or idealistic? And, like the rain forest, have you met too many chainsaws?Enter Paula Prober, M.S., M.Ed., who understands the diversity and complexity of minds like yours. In "Your Rainforest Mind: A Guide to the Well-Being of Gifted Youths and Adults," Paula explores the challenges faced by gifted adults of all ages. Through case studies and extensive research, Paula will help you tap into your inner creativity, find peace, and discover the limitless potential that comes with your Rainforest Mind.

A mindbodyspirit guide to achieving wholeness covers diet, lifestyle, natural medicine, dream interpretation, and much more. Reissue.

A Good Morning America Book Club Pick and New York Times Bestseller! From debut author Asha Lemmie, “a lovely, heartrending story about love and loss, prejudice and pain, and the sometimes dangerous, always durable ties that link a family together.” —Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Nightingale Kyoto, Japan, 1948. “Do not question. Do not fight. Do not resist.” Such is eight-year-old Noriko “Nori” Kamiza’s first lesson. She will not question why her mother abandoned her with only these final words. She will not fight her confinement to the attic of her grandparents’ imperial estate. And she will not resist the scalding chemical baths she receives daily to lighten her skin. The child of a married Japanese aristocrat and her African American GI lover, Nori is an outsider from birth. Her grandparents take her in, only to conceal her, fearful of a stain on the royal pedigree that they are desperate to uphold in a changing Japan. Obedient to a fault, Nori accepts her solitary life, despite her natural intellect and curiosity. But when chance brings her older half-brother, Akira, to the estate that is his inheritance and destiny, Nori finds in him an unlikely ally with whom she forms a powerful bond—a bond their formidable grandparents cannot allow and that will irrevocably change the lives they were always meant to lead. Because now that Nori has glimpsed a world in which perhaps there is a place for her after all, she is ready to fight to be a part of it—a battle that just might cost her everything. Spanning decades and continents, Fifty Words for Rain is a dazzling epic about the ties that bind, the ties that give you strength, and what it means to be free.