‘We knew we had to solve the mystery somehow!’ The world of Kalu, Malu, Bulu and Tulu is always buzzing with mysteries, big and small. And that works just fine, because the four young ‘detectives’ are raring to solve them. Wherever the four clever friends happen to be—at their school hostel, next door at the Zamindar Mansion, or away on holiday in Mandu or Cherrapunji—they have a way of smelling out a mystery and keeping their nerve in the face of daunting dangers and terrifying threats to find what lies at the bottom of it. Join the Lu Quartet on their adventures in caves and ravines, secret chambers and dark mango groves, and see if you can unravel the twists and turns of the whodunits just as they do. These thirteen classic stories by Nalini Das originally appeared in the reputed Bengali magazine Sandesh and have been translated for the first time into English by leading children’s writer Swapna Dutta. PLUS! Book Mine Gems: 32 extra-special pages: Know more about the author, her work and her times. Plus things to think about and to do.

This study of brass chamber music in lyceum and chautauqua fills a lacuna in brass history. It explores the forgotten phenomenon of the many chamber brass ensembles that entertained millions of Americans from coast to coast from 1877 to 1939 and presents histories of sixty-one ensembles that performed music for brass trio, brass quartet, brass quintet, and brass sextet for lyceum and chautauqua audiences. The author also writes about the large repertoire of music for small brass ensembles that he discovered was published in America from 1875 through the 1920s. This First American Chamber Brass School is discussed in one of five overviews of the principal eras in brass chamber music history that form the most comprehensive history of brass chamber music written in fifty years. Paperback.

The Fifteenth Rare Earth Research Conference was held June 15-18, 1981 on the Rolla campus of th.e University of Missouri. The conference was hosted by the Graduate Center for Materials Research, the College of Arts and Science, and the School of Mines and Metallurgy. It was expected that the conference would provide a forum for critical examination and review of the current and important trends in rare earth science and technology. To this end, over 170 papers were presented in both oral and poster sessions by researchers representing some nineteen countries. The program committee was particularly gratified to see the diversity of effort being devoted to rare earth research by different disciplines allover the world. The collection of refereed papers in this volume attests to the fact that the objectives of the program committee were indeed realized. A high point of the meeting was the presentation of the Frank n. Spedding Award to a most distinguished colleague, Professor Georg Busch, Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule, Zurich. Prof essor W. Edward hi"allace, University of Pittsburgh, recipient of the first Frank H. Spedding Award made the presentation to Professor Busch who then gave the Plenary Address.

This volume is a critical reader, focusing on the continuities and discontinuities, confirmations and confrontations, crossovers and collisions, appropriations, adaptations and assimilations in the cultural transitions between British and Bangla vernacular modernist fiction within the context of the imperial modernity of the first half of the 20th century. The volume, consisting of critical essays aspires to illuminate, from multiple but intersecting perspectives, those thematic and structural areas where these two kinds of literary modernism, each aesthetically diverse, historically segmented by onslaughts of wars and other outbreaks of suffering and violence, and ideologically convoluted, but conditioned in many ways by common socio-historical catastrophes and promises, interact with each other to constitute an 'aesthetics of motion and dissonance'. Essays cut across literary criticism to employ interdisciplinary approaches, as they blur the boundaries between histories, biographies and fictional narratives, between individual ethics in and outside the fictional world, between imagined and living communities, between real and generic politics, between the home and the world, and between the corporeal and the cultural. These essays interrogate the mastery in literary techniques, narrative motives and dualities, 'major' and 'minor' genres, (de)formations of canons in respect of the 'worldliness' formed by the textual incorporation of the intricate imperial relationships between the United Kingdom and Bangla.

The third book in the New York Times bestselling series from the fantasy author who is a legend herself: TAMORA PIERCE. The path to knighthood is full of surprises. . . . Keladry of Mindelan dreams of becoming squire to the famous female knight Alanna the Lioness, but she worries that she will not be selected by her hero—perhaps not by any knight master. When Kel is picked instead by the legendary Lord Raoul, the unexpected honor shocks her enemies across the realm. Kel must quickly prove herself up to the task, mastering her fighting and leadership skills while discovering what it takes to be part of the royal guard. A new romance is blossoming as well, bringing with it the rush of first love and the unexpected challenges of balancing knight work and a relationship. All the while, Kel prepares for her biggest fear: the infamous “Ordeal,” the last challenge that stands between her and knighthood. More timely than ever, the Protector of the Small series is Anti-Bullying 101 while also touching on issues of bravery, friendship, and dealing humanely with refugees against a backdrop of an action-packed fantasy adventure. "Tamora Pierce's books shaped me not only as a young writer but also as a young woman. She is a pillar, an icon, and an inspiration. Cracking open one of her marvelous novels always feels like coming home." —SARAH J. MAAS, #1 New York Times bestselling author "Tamora Pierce didn't just blaze a trail. Her heroines cut a swath through the fantasy world with wit, strength, and savvy. Her stories still lead the vanguard today. Pierce is the real lioness, and we're all just running to keep pace." —LEIGH BARDUGO, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“Pure gold.” —School Library Journal (starred review) “The perfect anchor leg for a well-run literary relay.” —Kirkus Reviews Lu must learn to leave his ego on the sidelines if he wants to finally connect with others in the climax to the New York Times bestselling and award-winning Track series from Jason Reynolds. Lu was born to be cocaptain of the Defenders. Well, actually, he was born albino, but that’s got nothing to do with being a track star. Lu has swagger, plus the talent to back it up, and with all that—not to mention the gold chains and diamond earrings—no one’s gonna outshine him. Lu knows he can lead Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and the team to victory at the championships, but it might not be as easy as it seems. Suddenly, there are hurdles in Lu’s way—literally and not-so-literally—and Lu needs to figure out, fast, what winning the gold really means. Expect the unexpected in this final event in Jason Reynold’s award-winning and bestselling Track series.

The book is the volume of “The Religious History in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period” among a series of books of “Deep into China Histories”. The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC) and the Bamboo Annals (296 BC) describe a Xia dynasty (c. 2070–1600 BC) before the Shang, but no writing is known from the period The Shang ruled in the Yellow River valley, which is commonly held to be the cradle of Chinese civilization. However, Neolithic civilizations originated at various cultural centers along both the Yellow River and Yangtze River. These Yellow River and Yangtze civilizations arose millennia before the Shang. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest civilizations, and is regarded as one of the cradles of civilization.The Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC) supplanted the Shang and introduced the concept of the Mandate of Heaven to justify their rule. The central Zhou government began to weaken due to external and internal pressures in the 8th century BC, and the country eventually splintered into smaller states during the Spring and Autumn period. These states became independent and warred with one another in the following Warring States period. Much of traditional Chinese culture, literature and philosophy first developed during those troubled times.In 221 BC Qin Shi Huang conquered the various warring states and created for himself the title of Huangdi or "emperor" of the Qin, marking the beginning of imperial China. However, the oppressive government fell soon after his death, and was supplanted by the longer-lived Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD). Successive dynasties developed bureaucratic systems that enabled the emperor to control vast territories directly. In the 21 centuries from 206 BC until AD 1912, routine administrative tasks were handled by a special elite of scholar-officials. Young men, well-versed in calligraphy, history, literature, and philosophy, were carefully selected through difficult government examinations. China's last dynasty was the Qing (1644–1912), which was replaced by the Republic of China in 1912, and in the mainland by the People's Republic of China in 1949.Chinese history has alternated between periods of political unity and peace, and periods of war and failed statehood – the most recent being the Chinese Civil War (1927–1949). China was occasionally dominated by steppe peoples, most of whom were eventually assimilated into the Han Chinese culture and population. Between eras of multiple kingdoms and warlordism, Chinese dynasties have ruled parts or all of China; in some eras control stretched as far as Xinjiang and Tibet, as at present. Traditional culture, and influences from other parts of Asia and the Western world (carried by waves of immigration, cultural assimilation, expansion, and foreign contact), form the basis of the modern culture of China.

For the flutist wishing to perform music composed by women, this annotated catalog will come as a most welcome addition to the numerous flute bibliographies now available. Boenke has spent four years gleaning all possible sources to come up with several hundred listings of composers from three centuries and 40 different countries. When the information is available, she lists publisher and the OCLC system record number after the routinely listed title and instrumentation. In addition to the alphabetical listing are indexes for instrumentation, title, publisher, and composer. A short list of sources is heavy on LC and NUC catalogs as well as the several standard sources on women in music. This volume could serve as an example for instrument-specific music bibliographies. For flutists it is priceless. Choice This book, an alphabetical listing of flute music by women composers, provides ready access to flute music that is published or available in manuscript form. Unlike any previous handbook of the flute repertoire, it is devoted entirely to the works of women, the vast majority of whom are not mentioned in the standard catalogs of flute literature. A carefully compiled study, the volume examines the quantity, variety, and scope of women's work in this genre and includes composers from more than forty countries, spanning three centuries. It contains works for solo flute, duets, flute and piano, concertos, woodwind quintets, other chamber ensembles, or any work that employs soloistic use of the flute. It also provides biographical information on the composers, publishers, availability of works, and annotations on the works themselves. All compositions are indexed by title and by instrumentation, and publishers and contemporary composers are listed with current addresses, to facilitate the ordering of music. The first published volume of its kind, this unusual work will draw attention to valuable and unknown repertoire in this genre and provide the opportunity for women's works to be heard more often. It will be useful in all university music libraries and conservatories, and it will be a valuable resource for professional flutists, teachers of flute, and researcher in women's studies.