2020 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers—YALSA/ALA “An empathetic tale that treats homelessness with respect and makes it visible.”—Kirkus Reviews Seventeen-year-old Abby Lunde and her family are living on the streets. They had a normal life back in Omaha but, thanks to her mother’s awful mistake, they had to leave behind what little they had for a new start in Rochester. Abby tries to be an average teenager—fitting in at school, dreaming of a boyfriend, college and a career in music. But Minnesota winters are unforgiving, and so are many teenagers. Her stepdad promises to put a roof over their heads, but times are tough for everyone and Abby is doing everything she can to keep her shameful secret from her new friends. The divide between rich and poor in high school is painfully obvious, and the stress of never knowing where they're sleeping or where they’ll find their next meal is taking its toll on the whole family. As secrets are exposed and the hope for a home fades, Abby knows she must trust those around her to help. But will her new friends let her down like the ones back home, or will they rise to the challenge to help them find a normal life? "We, her readers, are drawn in from the first page. This lovely book has tremendous heart.”—Brandon Hobson, author of Where the Dead Sit Talking

The acclaimed bestseller about visual problem solving-now bigger and better "There is no more powerful way to prove that we know something well than to draw a simple picture of it. And there is no more powerful way to see hidden solutions than to pick up a pen and draw out the pieces of our problem." So writes Dan Roam in The Back of the Napkin, the international bestseller that proves that a simple drawing on a humble napkin can be more powerful than the slickest PowerPoint presentation. Drawing on twenty years of experience and the latest discoveries in vision science, Roam teaches readers how to clarify any problem or sell any idea using a simple set of tools. He reveals that everyone is born with a talent for visual thinking, even those who swear they can't draw. And he shows how thinking with pictures can help you discover and develop new ideas, solve problems in unexpected ways, and dramatically improve your ability to share your insights. Take Herb Kelleher and Rollin King, who figured out how to beat the traditional hub-and-spoke airlines with a bar napkin and a pen. Three dots to represent Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Three arrows to show direct flights. Problem solved, and the picture made it easy to sell Southwest Airlines to investors and customers. Now with more color, bigger pictures, and additional content, this new edition does an even better job of helping you literally see the world in a new way. Join the teachers, project managers, doctors, engineers, assembly-line workers, pilots, football coaches, marine drill instructors, financial analysts, students, parents, and lawyers who have discovered the power of solving problems with pictures.

"A visual guide to making extraordinary presentations by the acclaimed author of The Back of the Napkin. We are all natural born presenters. We have ideas to share, voices to share them, and people to share them with. So why do most of us find public speaking so hard? In this pithy but powerful guide, communication expert Dan Roam provides a simple five-step path to take us from jitters and complexity to confidence and clarity. He explains his tried-and-true visual techniques and the wisdom he has gained from giving award-winning presentations. Roam shows us how to: - Clearly present any idea with simple visuals - Know our audience before we step in front of them - Channel fear into fun"--

Meet the interactive book that's reinventing family bonding. Inside you'll find 50+ scratch-off adventures, on-the-go challenges, in-home expeditions, tear-out goodies, and so much more. Developed and created by expert adventurers, this book is brimming with things to do, places to go, everyday excitement, and family fun. The next time your family is itching for an adventure, all you have to do is scratch it off. Adventure categories include: Explore, Create, Spread Joy, Cook, Move, Get Silly, and more. Each adventure can be tailored to fit every family's budget and comfort level. 'Adventures from Scratch: Family Edition' contains hidden challenges, tear-out postcards, a bucket list, and more interactive surprises. It was designed to bring families together, to help them make memories, to spark their sense of adventure, and to lead them into the incredible.This book is designed for all families, with the challenges being the most fun for kids between the age of 3 and 16. Where do you want to go? This book will take you there.

Ever been to so many meetings that you couldn't get your work done? Ever fallen asleep during a bulletpoint presentation? Ever watched the news and ended up knowing less? Welcome to the land of Blah Blah Blah. The Problem: We talk so much that we don't think very well. Powerful as words are, we fool ourselves when we think our words alone can detect, describe, and defuse the multifaceted problems of today. They can't-and that's bad, because words have become our default thinking tool. The Solution: This book offers a way out of blah-blah-blah. It's called "Vivid Thinking." In Dan Roam's first acclaimed book, The Back of the Napkin, he taught readers how to solve problems and sell ideas by drawing simple pictures. Now he proves that Vivid Thinking is even more powerful. This technique combines our verbal and visual minds so that we can think and learn more quickly, teach and inspire our colleagues, and enjoy and share ideas in a whole new way. The Destination: No more blah-blah-blah. Through Vivid Thinking, we can make the most complicated subjects suddenly crystal clear. Whether trying to understand a Harvard Business School class, or what went down in the Conan versus Leno battle for late-night TV, or what Einstein thought about relativity, Vivid Thinking provides a way to clarify anything. Through dozens of guided examples, Roam proves that anyone can apply this systematic approach, from leftbrain types who hate to draw to right-brainers who hate to write. This isn't just a book about improving communications, presentations, and ideation; it's about removing the blah-blah- blah from your life for good.

It's time for adventure... Gustav is a garden gnome who longs to experience the world beyond the picket fence that surrounds his yard. Though he makes attempts to explore, it is only with the love of an imaginative little girl that his dream becomes a reality.

A fast and practical visual storytelling method that puts a powerful new toolkit into the hands of leaders, innovators, salespeople, teachers and anyone else who needs to quickly make an impact on increasingly distracted audiences. The Pop-Up Pitch is a radical new approach to help you create the perfect presentation, combining three key elements of persuasive storytelling-simple pictures, clear words, and powerful emotions-that together motivate audiences to pay attention, learn something new, and make effective decisions. The Pop-Up Pitch weaves together the latest insights on visual cognition, behavioral economics, and classic story structures in an easy-to-learn and inspiring storytelling algorithm. In this new era of remote, work and online presenting, it delivers powerful and persuasive outcomes for time-limited professionals dealing with complex ideas, attention-deficit audiences, and the evolving challenges of modern meetings.

Roam Camden is a bright girl in small town Ohio, eager to graduate high school and pursue her dreams of teaching history. Her well-planned path includes Logan, her life-long best friend, and now boyfriend. On the first day of her senior year she meets the new history teacher, West Perry, and senses that there is something deep within her soul that remembers him... and a life they once shared.Roam quickly learns that her fate is not as simple as she once believed. She has spent six lifetimes, as far back as the fifteenth century to as recently as the 1970s, struggling to survive a prophecy that has forsaken her... and the man that she has loved throughout time. Evil is near, and now, in their last life together, West must protect Roam for the last time, save their unborn child... and in turn, save our world.

Love is back in the air as Valentine’s Day grows closer, but one young cat-shifter named Roam is in danger of not receiving any Valentine’s Day cards this year! The Dragonling girls are on a mission, which of course leads to chaos, heart-warming adventures, and our favorite alien dads worrying again! "Wishing you all a happy Valentine’s Day!" ~Susan A NY Times and USA Today bestselling author, the internationally acclaimed S.E. Smith presents a new story with her signature humor and unpredictable twists! Exciting adventure, hot romance, and iconic characters have won her a legion of fans. Over TWO MILLION books sold!

Roam explores the loss of a parent to cancer and the resulting uprootedness that loss can create. In searching for a sense of home and belonging, this collection of free verse looks both inward and outward, to landscapes rural and urban, and speaks in haunting and musical lyrics. Unexpected voices emerge from history and myth—those of Joan of Arc, Ophelia, Circe, Daedalus and Icarus, and Achilles’ mother, Thetis—and mingle with the author’s own voice. From the naming of the first woman, Eve, to the naming of the first European child born in the Americas, Virginia Dare, these characters seek full houses and, instead, discover empty ones. In a voice that is southern, feminist, and unflinching in its assessments of the self, Susan B. A. Somers-Willett treats personal loss without ceremony or nostalgia. The poems of Roam look homeward while acknowledging that one can never return to such elusive comforts. Her lyrics reveal the dangers and delights of an ever-changing, ever-traveling sense of self.