"[A] moving tale of resilience, hope, and the meaning of family." -- School Library Journal (starred review) Without you, there'd be no hope for the world. Because you are the whole world. That's what Teacher says, and twelve-year-old Eider knows she's right. The world ended long ago, and the desert ranch is the only thing left. Still, Eider's thoughts keep wandering Beyond the fence. Beyond the pleated earth and scraggly brush and tedious daily lessons. Eider can't help wishing for something more-like the stories in the fairytale book she hides in the storage room. Like the secret papers she collects from the world Before. Like her little sister who never really existed. When Teacher announces a new kind of lesson, Eider and the other kids are confused. Teacher says she needs to test their specialness-the reason they were saved from the end of the world. But seeing in the dark? Reading minds? As the kids struggle to complete Teacher's challenges, they also start to ask questions. Questions about their life on the desert ranch, about Before and Beyond, about everything Teacher has told them. But the thing about questions-they can be dangerous. This moving novel-equal parts hope and heartbreak-traces one girl's journey for truth and meaning, from the smallest slip of paper to the deepest understanding of family. The world may have ended for the kids of the desert ranch . . . but that's only the beginning.

The signs are everywhere. Jory's stepfather, Caleb, says. Red leaves in the springtime. Pages torn from a library book. All the fish in an aquarium facing the same way. A cracked egg with twin yolks. Everywhere and anywhere. And because of them, Jory's life is far from ordinary. He must follow a very specific set of rules: don't trust anyone outside the family, have you rwork boots at the ready just in case, and always, always watch out for the signs. The end is coming, and they must be prepared. School is Jory's only escape from Caleb's tight grasp, and with the help of new friends, he begins to explore aworld beyond his family's desert ranch. As Jory's friendships grow, Caleb notifies Jory's mother and siblings that the time has come for final preparations. They begin an exhausting schedule, digging a shelter where they will live until the disaster is over. But as the hole gets deeper, so does the family's doubt about whether Caleb's prophecy is true. When the stark reality of what it will mean to live underground becomes clear, Jory must choose between living his own life or following behind Caleb, shutting his eyes to the bright world he's just begun to see.

For a brief time following the end of the U.S. Civil War, American political leaders had an opportunity—slim, to be sure, but not beyond the realm of possibility—to remake society so that black Americans and other persons of color could enjoy equal opportunity in civil and political life. It was not to be. With each passing year after the war—and especially after Reconstruction ended during the 1870s—American society witnessed the evolution of a new white republic as national leaders abandoned the promise of Reconstruction and justified their racial biases based on political, economic, social, and religious values that supplanted the old North-South/slavery-abolitionist schism of the antebellum era. A Long Dark Night provides a sweeping history of this too often overlooked period of African American history that followed the collapse of Reconstruction—from the beginnings of legal segregation through the end of World War II. Michael J. Martinez argues that the 1880s ushered in the dark night of the American Negro—a night so dark and so long that the better part of a century would elapse before sunlight broke through. Combining both a “top down” perspective on crucial political issues and public policy decisions as well as a “bottom up” discussion of the lives of black and white Americans between the 1880s and the 1940s, A Long Dark Night will be of interest to all readers seeking to better understand this crucial era that continues to resonate throughout American life today.

Start your engines! Young readers will zoom around the track at over 200 MPH enjoying all types of racing vehicles including Formula racing, stock-car racing, drag racing, sprint cars, off-road racing, monster trucks, kart racing, historical racing, dirt-track racing, sports-car racing, midget-car racing, flags, tires, pit crews, engines, race-car drivers, Daytona 500, Indy 500, and more.

Jordan escaped slavery once. Must he escape again? Ashadowy figure lurks on the dark riverfront near the Christina. Libby is sure that it must be the cruel slave trader Riggs, who has vowed that no slave of his will ever escape alive. Does Riggs suspect that the runaway Jordan is hiding on her pa’s steamboat? Track Libby, Caleb, and Jordan in the second book of the Freedom Seeker’s series as they race to keep Jordon free from the clutches of slavery. Libby and Caleb scan the crowds of passengers bound for the Minnesota Territory. Has Riggs slipped by and boarded the Christina unnoticed? From the golden age of steamboats, the rush of immigrants to new lands, and the dangers of the Underground Railroad come true-to-life stories of courage, integrity, and suspense in the Freedom Seekers series.

In one of his most ambitious physical efforts to date, Dean Karnazes attempted to run 50 marathons, in 50 states, in 50 days to raise awareness of youth obesity and urge Americans of all fitness levels to "take that next step." "UltraMarathon Man: 50 Marathons - 50 States - 50 Days", a Journeyfilm documentary, follows Dean’s incredible step-by-step journey across the country. Ultrarunning legend Dean Karnazes has run 262 miles-the equivalent of ten marathons-without rest. He has run over mountains, across Death Valley, and to the South Pole-and is probably the first person to eat an entire pizza while running. With an insight, candor, and humor rarely seen in sports memoirs (and written without the aid of a ghostwriter or cowriter), Ultramarathon Man has inspired tens of thousands of people-nonrunners and runners alike-to push themselves beyond their comfort zones and be reminded of "what it feels like to be truly alive," says Sam Fussell, author of Muscle. Ultramarathon Man answers the questions Karnazes is continually asked: - Why do you do it? - How do you do it? - Are you insane? And in the new paperback edition, Karnazes answers the two questions he was most asked on his book tour: - What, exactly, do you eat? - How do you train to stay in such good shape?

Aaaaaand they’re off . . . to bed! Aliens from every planet rocket through their out-of-this-world bedtime routines—they sink into steamy crater bubble baths and shimmy into deep-sleep suits, just like you (almost)! Brian Won’s glowing graphic art pops off the page, and Rob Sanders’s goofy rhymes will have kids racing to snuggle under the covers and blast off to dreamland.

"Twenty-two year-old Chris Strider vows to his dying grandmother that he will run a prestigious 6,000 mile race. He knows he's not fully prepared for such a grand undertaking, but he has no idea just how unprepared he is. He also doesn't realize that he'll be pitting himself against Stan Moden, a wealthy magnate who's used to getting his own way. In fact, about the only thing Chris has on his side is his coach, Josh Damour, if he can learn to trust him."--Author website.

Who would you run one hundred miles for? Caleb Oberest is an ultramarathon runner, who severed all ties to his family to race brutal 100-mile marathons across mountains. Shane Oberest is a sales rep for a cutting-edge biotechnology firm, creating new cures for the diseases of our time. Shane has spent his life longing to connect with his older brother, but the distance between them was always too vast. Caleb’s running group live by strict rules, but Caleb is breaking one of them. He has fallen in love with a new member and her infant daughter. When Caleb discovers that the baby has a fatal genetic disease, he reaches out to Shane. On the verge of becoming a father himself, Shane devises a plan that could save this baby and bring his lost brother home. But to succeed, both brothers will need to risk everything they have. And so each begins a dangerous race that will push them past their boundaries, and take all of Caleb’s legendry endurance to survive. Derek Sherman’s authentic, compelling story of ultramarathons, biotechnology, and family takes us deep into new worlds and examines how far we will go for the people we love.

Can an honest man become president? In The Race, this timely and provocative novel from bestselling author Richard North Patterson, a maverick candidate takes on his political enemies and the ruthless machinery of American politics. Corey Grace—a handsome and charismatic Republican senator from Ohio—is plunged by an act of terrorism into a fierce presidential primary battle with the favorite of the party establishment and a magnetic leader of the Christian right. A decorated Gulf War Air Force pilot known for speaking his mind, Grace's reputation for voting his own conscience rather than the party line—together with his growing romance with Lexie Hart, an African-American movie star—has earned him a reputation as a maverick and an iconoclast. But Grace is still haunted by a tragic mistake buried deep in his past, and now his integrity will be put to the test in this most brutal of political contests, in which nothing in his past or present life is off-limits. Depicting contemporary power politics at its most ruthless, The Race takes on the most incendiary issues in American culture: racism, terrorism, religious fundamentalism, gay rights, and the rise of media monopolies with their own agenda and lust for power. As the pressure of the campaign intensifies, Grace encounters betrayal, excruciating moral choices, and secrets that can destroy lives. Ultimately, the race leads to a deadlocked party convention where Grace must resolve the conflict between his romance with Lexie and his presidential ambitions—and decide just who and what he is willing to sacrifice.