"A young man comes of age amid family secrets and revelations, and transformative magic."--Provided by publisher.

"Hits a grand slam for its intended audience. It might even convince skeptics that superhero stories can make good literature." —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "An extraordinary novel." —Emily St. John Mandel, bestselling author of Station Eleven 30 years ago a superhero tried to save Chicago. Now the city is again under siege, in this gritty, suspenseful, and beautifully written novel from award-winning debut author T.J. Martinson Somewhere in Chicago, a roomful of people have been taken hostage. The hostages will be killed one by one, the masked gunman says on-screen, unless the police will admit that they faked the death of the legendary superhero called the Kingfisher and helped him to give up his defense of the city thirty years ago. Retired reporter Marcus Waters made his name as a journalist covering the enigmatic superhero’s five years of cleaning up Chicago’s streets. Then the Kingfisher died, Chicago resumed its violent turmoil, and Marcus slid back into obscurity. But did the Kingfisher really die? And who would take hostages connected to the Kingfisher's past attempts to clean up the streets? With the help of disgraced police officer Lucinda Tillman and a young hacktivist named Wren, Marcus will explore the city's violence, corruption, and chaos to figure out if the vigilante hero died tragically, or gave up hope and abandoned the city—and for the hostages, the clock is ticking.

Tragedies and triumphs are memorable themes in this collection of thirty-five myths and legends from the ancient world. Including the lesser-known tales of Polynesia and the Americas alongside the greatest stories in Greek mythology, young readers will explore the folklore of past civilizations.

History leaps from the page in this completely revised and updated edition of the critically acclaimed Kingfisher History Encyclopedia. From man's earliest history right through to the technological and social revolutions of the current day, this trusted reference provides a one-stop source for research, and is the perfect companion to any study of world history. The encyclopedia is organized chronologically and then thematically within each time period. A timeline runs across the top of each page for context. Each section includes biographies of important people and key features on the art, architecture, and technology of the period. A brand new chapter details modern-day events, such as the fight for equality, the threat of climate change, the COVID-19 crisis, and space exploration and discoveries.With more than 2,000 full-colour illustrations, photographs, and source materials, as well as research-friendly back matter and index, this encyclopedia provides a beautiful, authoritative reference that is essential for any home, school, or library.

The Kingfisher Young People's Book of Planet Earth is an exciting and colorful guide to our planet. No stone is left unturned in this fascinating survey of the elements that comprise the Earth, from its origins in space as a swirling cloud of gas and dust, to the dynamic, living planet we know today. Adults and children alike will be thrilled by the dramatic visuals, and the quality of information presented in each fact-packed, full-color spread. Children will discover detailed answers to their questions, whether it's how the world was formed, why dinosaurs became extinct, or why weather changes from one day to the next. Sections on conservation and the environment provide a complete picture of the interaction of life-forms on Earth, and detail the ways human beings can attempt to preserve a habitat for all creatures. Also includes a factfile, and glossary.

Discusses the discovery and classification of dinosaurs and examines individual species.

Richly illustrated with maps and reconstruction of everyday life, this resource book explores the geography, culture and history of the ancient world. Full-color illustrations.

Call of the Kingfisher is the enchanting debut from composer and wildlife recordist, Nick Penny. This love letter to a short stretch of Northamptonshire’s River Nene celebrates all the wild things that live there, especially the kingfishers. Uniquely, it comes with bonus audio content to complement the text, accessed via QR codes. Nick has walked beside the river at Oundle for four decades. But for a whole year he gave the waterway all the time it asked for. The more attention he gave it, the more he saw the kingfishers and heard their high whistling calls. Set in a lovely but little-known part of England, Call of the Kingfisher relates a year by the river, the author’s experiences there and the different people he meets. Other strands are woven around the elusive feathered protagonist: explorations of local history and landscape, from Roman and Bronze Age sites to watermills and centuries-old stone churches; visits at different times and to different places in the valley; homages to naturalists who lived nearby; forest dawns and dusks listening to the precious song of nightingales. But the background tapestry is the sights and sounds, and greens and browns, of the riverbank, shot through with the blue and orange threads of a kingfisher’s glowing feathers. As a composer and wildlife recordist, Nick has a deep interest in sounds in the natural environment. He both uses the local landscape and wildlife sounds as inspiration, and brings fresh insights into the sounds of the countryside. The book includes access to a number of high-quality birdsong recordings made alongside the River Nene - audio soundbites of nature’s riches, from kingfishers and nightingales to owls and cuckoos. This is a book about the things that can be seen and heard when we approach nature with patience and curiosity. It celebrates people who have used that focus to help preserve wildlife and pass on their knowledge to future generations. Above all, Call of the Kingfisher serves as a call to appreciate what we’ve got, wherever we are, and to use our ears as much as our eyes when we experience the natural world.