A word totally transforms if you take away just one letter - without the A, the beast is best. Without the W, the witch has an itch! This is an alphabet book like no other. An irreverant exploration not only of letters in their alphabetic order, but also of how they form words and communicate ideas. Packed with humour and wordplay, the author and illustrator effortlessly play off each other to enhance humour and meaning. Children will not be able to resist inventing imaginative examples of their own.

Orlando has speed that no other member of the Troy Central High Trojans can match. He also has a serious temper. After clashing with the man in charge of the Trojans, Coach Zachary, Orlando decides to bail. Then he does the unthinkable and joins the Trojans' rivals, the Athens High Raiders. And Orlando's not just taking his talents away from Troy—he's taking his knowledge of their playbook. Devon was Orlando's best friend at Troy Central High. He's shocked at Orlando's decision to leave. But after the news makes Devon an outsider on his own team, he starts to wonder if Orlando made the right choice . . .

With the cloud of the Holocaust still looming over them, twin sisters Bronka and Johanna Lubinski and their parents arrive in the US from a Displaced Persons Camp. In the years after World War II, they experience the difficulties of adjusting to American culture as well as the burgeoning fear of the Cold War. Years later, the discovery of a former Nazi hiding in their community brings the Holocaust out of the shadows. As the girls get older, they start to wonder about their parents’ pasts, and they begin to demand answers. But it soon becomes clear that those memories will be more difficult and painful to uncover than they could have anticipated. Poignant and haunting, The Takeaway Men explores the impact of immigration, identity, prejudice, secrets, and lies on parents and children in mid-twentieth-century America.

"A charming, inspired story about being true to who you are." - Phil Stamper, bestselling author of The Gravity of Us An empowering and emotional debut about a genderqueer teen who finds the courage to stand up and speak out for equality when they are discriminated against by their high school administration. Carey Parker dreams of being a diva, and bringing the house down with song. They can hit every note of all the top pop and Broadway hits. But despite their talent, emotional scars from an incident with a homophobic classmate and their grandmother's spiraling dementia make it harder and harder for Carey to find their voice. Then Carey meets Cris, a singer/guitarist who makes Carey feel seen for the first time in their life. With the rush of a promising new romantic relationship, Carey finds the confidence to audition for the role of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, in the school musical, setting off a chain reaction of prejudice by Carey's tormentor and others in the school. It's up to Carey, Cris, and their friends to defend their rights--and they refuse to be silenced. Told in alternating chapters with identifying pronouns, debut author Steven Salvatore's Can't Take That Away conducts a powerful, uplifting anthem, a swoony romance, and an affirmation of self-identity that will ignite the activist in all of us.

When the sea otters disappear, why does their kelp forest habitat disappear, too? On the Pacific Coast of North America, sea otters play, dive, and hunt for sea urchins, crabs, abalone, and fish in the lush kelp forests beneath the waves. But there was a time when people hunted the otters almost to extinction. Without sea otters to eat them, an army of hungry sea urchins grew and destroyed entire kelp forests. Fish and other animals that depended on the kelp were lost, too. But when people protected the sea otters with new laws, their numbers began to recover, and so did the kelp forests. Susannah Buhrman-Deever offers a beautifully written account of a trophic cascade, which happens when the removal of a single element affects an entire habitat. Asides that dig deeper are woven throughout Matthew Trueman’s dynamic illustrations, starring a raft of charismatic sea otters. Back matter includes more information about sea otters and kelp forests, including their importance and current status, the effects of the international fur trade on indigenous peoples, and a list of books and websites for readers who wish to continue to explore.

An eye-opening memoir revealing the stories behind living in and running a Chinese takeaway. Growing up in a Chinese takeaway in rural Wales, Angela Hui was made aware at a very young age of just how different she and her family were seen by her local community. From attacks on the shopfront (in other words, their home), to verbal abuse from customers, and confrontations that ended with her dad wielding the meat cleaver; life growing up in a takeaway was far from peaceful. But alongside the strife, there was also beauty and joy in the rhythm of life in the takeaway and in being surrounded by the food of her home culture. Family dinners before service, research trips to Hong Kong, preparing for the weekend rush with her brothers - the takeaway is a hive of activity before a customer even places their order of 'egg-fried rice and chop suey'. Bringing readers along on the journey from Angela's earliest memories in the takeaway to her family closing the shop after 30 years in business, this is a brilliantly warm and immersive memoir from someone on the other side of the counter.

A powerful and inventive guide to creating irrationally loyal customers There are a mountain of books about customer service, but very few as provocative and innovative as Take Their Breath Away. This practical book shows how to create and implement cutting-edge, inspiring concepts that raise the bar for the customer experience and help make the customer the central focus of the organization. This ingenious, real-world guide explores a variety of exciting, creative customer experience ideas using examples from remarkable customer-centric organizations. The key to a successful enterprise is value-added service, but the secret to great customer service is surprising customers with a value-unique experience. Take Their Breath Away provides ideas and insights for all who want to create a stunning, mind-blowing customer experience. This is not about "wow;" it's about "whoa!" Chip R. Bell (Dallas, TX) is founder and Senior Partner of The Chip Bell Group, a consulting firm that assists organizations in creating sustainable long-term customer devotion. He has served as a consultant or trainer to such major brands as Ritz-Carlton, Microsoft, and GE. John R. Patterson (Atlanta, GA) is founder and President of Progressive Insights, a Chip Bell Group alliance partner. With over 20 years of leadership experience, his consulting practice focuses on helping organizations create and sustain incredible customer experiences.

Breath . . . it inspires so many silly sayings.Let me catch my breath.You take my breath away.I need a breath of fresh air.And how did little white flowers come to be known as Baby's Breath?Breath is a mystery in more ways than one. And this story is all about breath: losing it, trying to find it, even trying to buy it. In the imagination of Paul Briggs, a boy's breath becomes personified, and it zooms away through farm, forest, and sea, returning only when the boy least expects it.

A late 20th-century kabala, a labyrinth of literary secrets that will lure the uninitiated into rethinking everything they know about books and writing. The definitive encyclopedia of contemporary word-magic.

Shaun is joined by new friends and adversaries, plus a host of other characters that make Shaun's world an exciting place to visit.