Matthew, a sophomore at Humboldt State University, wants to study abroad. He currently excels in his studies, and he feels it's time to leave the country. He one day runs to the study-abroad office on campus and asks if his school has a program for Japan. Unfortunately, the school has no program to go to the country, but they recommend him to a language program in China. Seeking freedom from boredom, Matthew, a young American college student, decides to embark on the trip of a lifetime to Xi'an. There, he has the task of learning one of the world's most difficult languages, Mandarin Chinese. Xi'an, home to some of China's most notable dynasties, is enriched with culture and beauty. Matthew's goal is to endure this language-intensive program and then flee to Japan. Before he can do this, he has to endure six months of living in Communist China. Matthew has no knowledge of China, and more importantly, he still is in the crossroad of finding his destiny. Born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, Matthew enters China innocent and unprepared. Having a history of poor academics, his goal is to discover the art of studying and learning. Matthew leaves home, unaware of the characters he will meet and the inspiration he will gain. Matthew is in for an eye-opening experience from one of the world's greatest civilizations.

SOME CALL HIM HERO. OTHERS, A MENACE. But everyone agrees that Ahren is the best thief in the world. Whether he’s breaking into an impregnable fortress, fighting pirates, or striking the final blow in political war, Ahren is the man for the job. After being framed for murder, his reward posters named him the Black Raven. To survive, Ahren finds himself drafted into the Tyenee, a secret criminal organization whose influence stretches across the world. Their missions are the most daring, the most dangerous, and the penalty for failure is death. When no one else can do it, they send the Black Raven. Mountain of Daggers is the first book in this collection of tales by Seth Skorkowsky, the author of Damoren, book one of the best-selling Valducan urban fantasy series.

Selene Ravenwood, once the heir to House Ravenwood, is now an exile. On the run and free of her family's destiny, Selene hopes to find the real reason her family was given the gift of dreamwalking. But first she must adapt to her new life as wife to Lord Damien Maris, the man she was originally assigned to kill. While adjusting to her marriage and her home in the north, her power over dreams begins to grow. As the strongest dreamwalker to exist in ages, her expanding power attracts not only nightmares but the attention of the Dark Lady herself. With a war looming on the horizon and a wicked being after her gift, Selene is faced with a choice: embrace the Dark Lady's offer, or search out the one who gave her the gift of dreamwalking. One path offers power, the other offers freedom. But time is running out, and soon her choice will be made for her.

Noted scientist and kayak adventurer undertakes a journey of spiritual healing Jon Turk has kayaked around Cape Horn and paddled across the Pacific Ocean to retrace the voyages of ancient people. But, the strangest trip he ever took was the journey he made as a man of science into the realm of the spiritual. In a remote Siberian village, Turk met an elderly Koryak shaman named Moolynaut who invoked the help of a Spirit Raven to mend his fractured pelvis. When the healing was complete, he was able to walk without pain. Turk, finding no rational explanation, sought understanding by traversing the frozen tundra where Moolynaut was born, camping with bands of reindeer herders, and recording stories of their lives and spirituality. Framed by high adventure across the vast and forbidding Siberian landscape, The Raven's Gift creates a vision of natural and spiritual realms interwoven by one man's awakening.

Black Tortoise, Red Raven, the compelling sequel to the novel White Tiger, Green Dragon, continues to weave a captivating tale as it follows the courageous pilgrimage of a young woman scholar as she travels the length of the Yangtze River. Scholar Li, the daughter of Tu Ming and Shen Tao, flees a revolution in eastern China and travels west with a caravan of rug merchants. A Taoist intellectual and master of the tantric arts, the teenager encounters spiritual masters from unfamiliar traditions during her 1,500-mile expedition toward the foothills of the Himalayas. As she journeys to the Red Raven Temple, her spiritual understanding grows and she learns important life lessons from yogis, "crazy Zen" practitioners, Muslims, Buddhists, and Jews. Just as she is about to reach her final destination, Li's life is forever changed when she encounters an extraordinary stranger who bears an uncanny resemblance to a historical figure. Black Tortoise, Red Raven not only opens the doors to personal growth and spiritual understanding for Li; it will also lead anyone who has a receptive spirit, open mind, and loving heart on the same journey to finding their true purpose in life.

The Raven: six men and an elf, sword for hire in the wars that have torn apart Balaia. For years their loyalty has been only to themselves and their code. But, that time is over. The Wytch Lords have escaped and The Raven find themselves fighting for the Dark College of magic, searching for the location of Dawnthief. It is a spell created to end the world, and it must be cast if any of them are to survive. Dawnthief is a fast paced epic about a band of all-too-human heroes. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Emilia and Teo's lives changed in a fiery, terrifying instant when a bird strike brought down the plane their stunt pilot mothers were flying. Teo's mother died immediately, but Em's survived, determined to raise Teo according to his late mother's wishes-in a place where he won't be discriminated against because of the color of his skin. But in 1930s America, a white woman raising a black adoptive son alongside a white daughter is too often seen as a threat. Seeking a home where her children won't be held back by ethnicity or gender, Rhoda brings Em and Teo to Ethiopia, and all three fall in love with the beautiful, peaceful country. But that peace is shattered by the threat of war with Italy, and teenage Em and Teo are drawn into the conflict. Will their devotion to their country, its culture and people, and each other be their downfall or their salvation? In the tradition of her award-winning and bestselling Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein brings us another thrilling and deeply affecting novel that explores the bonds of friendship, the resilience of young pilots, and the strength of the human spirit.

In this gloriously illustrated companion to her crime novels featuring Inspector Jimmy Perez, Ann Cleeves takes readers through a year on Shetland. Discover its past, meet its people, celebrate its festivals and see how the flora and fauna of the islands change with the seasons. An archipelago of more than a hundred islands, Shetland is the one of the most remote places in the United Kingdom. Its fifteen hundred miles of shore mean that wherever one stands, there is a view of the sea. It has sheltered voes and beaches and dramatically exposed cliffs, lush meadows full of wild flowers in the summer and bleak hilltops where only the hardiest of plants will grow. It is a place where traditions are valued and celebrated, but new technologies and ways of working are also embraced. Whether it is the drama of the Viking fire festival of Up Helly Aa in winter, or the piercing blue and hot pink of spring flowers on the clifftops, the long, white nights of midsummer or the fierce gales and high tides of autumn, Shetland is vividly captured in all its bleak and special beauty. A book to treasure, full of photos and insightful notes about the stunning location of the Shetland series, now a major BBC One drama starring Douglas Henshall.