A high school drum major must save her school band and navigate romantic disasters when their cruise ship gets stranded at sea.

At a time when print and film have shown the classic Western and noir genres to be racist, heteronormative, and neocolonial, Sara Humphreys's Manifest Destiny 2.0 asks why these genres endure so prolifically in the video game market. While video games provide a radically new and exciting medium for storytelling, most game narratives do not offer fresh ways of understanding the world. Video games with complex storylines are based on enduring American literary genres that disseminate problematic ideologies, quelling cultural anxieties over economic, racial, and gender inequality through the institutional acceptance and performance of Anglo cultural, racial, and economic superiority. Although game critics and scholars recognize how genres structure games and gameplay, the concept of genre continues to be viewed as a largely invisible power, subordinate to the computational processes of programming, graphics, and the making of a multimillion-dollar best seller. Investigating the social and cultural implications of the Western and noir genres in video games through two case studies--the best-selling games Red Dead Redemption (2010) and L.A. Noire (2011)--Humphreys demonstrates how the frontier myth continues to circulate exceptionalist versions of the United States. Video games spread the neoliberal and neocolonial ideologies of the genres even as they create a new form of performative literacy that intensifies the genres well beyond their originating historical contexts. Manifest Destiny 2.0 joins the growing body of scholarship dedicated to the historical, theoretical, critical, and cultural analysis of video games.

SHE'S HALF FAE AND ALL TROUBLE WHAT SHE DOESN'T KNOW MIGHT KILL HER Hedi looks normal. Yet that's taken effort. Her fellow Starbucks baristas don't see her pointed ears, fae amulet or her dark past, and normal is hard for a half-fae, half-werewolf on the run. Hedi's life changed ten years ago, when her parents were murdered by unknown assassins. She's been in hiding with her loopy aunt Lou since, as whatever they wanted she's determined they won't get it. Things change when wolves capture Lou, forcing Hedi to steal to free her - for if she can offer up a fae amulet like her own they may trade. But it belongs to a rogue werewolf named Robson Trowbridge, who betrayed Hedi on the night of her greatest need. Over forty-eight hours, Hedi will face the weres of Creemore, discover the extent of her fae powers and possibly break her own heart in the process.

Oceans 11 goes to the arcade in this wildly entertainng heist adventure that is perfect for fans of Gordon Korman, Varian Johnson, and Celia P rez. We do this my way. No one gets hurt. And if I call it off, it’s off. Got it? My name’s Darius James—but everyone calls me DJ. At my old school, I was the go-to guy for all kinds of tricky problems that needed creative solutions. But at my new school, Ella Fitzgerald Middle, I’m just trying to blend in. Well, I was, anyway, until my best friend, Conor, got himself transferred to the Fitz too. Now Conor owes 100,000 arcade tickets to the biggest bully around—and he only has two weeks to make it happen. Impossible? Not with my head in the game.

Amartya Sen argues that most of the conflicts in the contemporary world arise from individuals' notions of who they are, and which groups they belong to - local, national, religious - which define themselves in opposition to others.

It's been almost a year since the Trials of Unyielding Steel.When Lydia gets a lead on the whereabouts of Jonathan Sterling, she concludes her training with a legendary immortal sorcerer and puts a plan in motion for his capture.Near Selyr, Taelien reunites with an old friend - Wrynn Jaden, the legendary Witch of a Thousand Shadows - and meets with Jonan to make a deal.Jonan, of course, has other concerns. His master, the legendary Lady of Thieves herself, has given him a new assignment - one that hints at world-shaping events, if he can survive the mission. He'll partner with Velas, but she has her own problems to deal with, including a revelation that will test where her loyalties truly lie.

In the epic conclusion of The Blending Enthroned trilogy, Lorand, Rion, Tamrissa, Vallant, Jovvi, and Naran must draw on their combined elemental powers--Earth, Fire, Air, Water, Spirit, and Sight--to battle the dark armies of a malevolent entity that threatens their borders, as well as the schemes of the fallen nobles who hope to seize control of the throne. Original.

Destiny has only one thing on her mind: to find out who wanted her dead and why. But before she can do anything about that, she has to accompany Enrique to a vampire gathering in another city. Their hosts are anything but pleasant, and when bodies start dropping, no one seems to care, since the local hunters chalk it all up to accidental drug overdose. Certain that a major cover-up is going on, Destiny decides to investigate. But if she wants to uncover the truth, she'll have to risk getting in trouble with the local vampires and her maker while secretly working with Nataniel. The second book in the Deadly Destiny series. Reading order: LOVE ME DEADLY (Book 1) KILL ME LOVINGLY (Book 2)

Every relationship goes through ups and downs and no matter how much ever you try to be happy together, there will be times when two individuals will stand opposite each other because of different views on the same point. At this point, how you handle the situation and understand each other shows maturity and strength in the relationship. This numerology book based on relationship compatibility will not tell you who will win or lose the discussions and fights. It will not tell you whether the relationship between two numbers is a thumbs-up or thumbs-down because no number is good or bad, right or wrong and so judging someone on the basis of just numbers is incorrect. What this book can rightfully do is to help you find the hurdles or differences that can probably occur in the relationship. Knowing the potential differences and personality traits in advance can guide you in taking the correct steps before getting into a relationship. This book allows you to see the potential troubles in a relationship along with its possible outcomes. This book also helps give you key advice and suggestions for each relationship that you can apply and refer to in daily life.

Destiny’s Wavering Road By: Linda MorningStar Some people are content with the journey they travel along the road of life. They think they’re in control of where they’re heading. Mara Jacobs believes that, and so does her grandmother, Matilda Mathewsen. And although they live very different lives, they are both about to experience an unexpected U-turn as destiny intervenes. Long-haul truck driver Mara’s fate will be sealed when she wakes up on the floor in a motel room far from home. She is surrounded by police and has no idea how she arrived there. Her driving partner and husband Joe is also missing, along with their tractor-trailer. Mara learns Joe is responsible for her dilemma, and anger sends her packing. She returns to her childhood home in Stone Hill Valley, where she was raised by her grandmother, Matilda. Destiny redirects Matilda’s path the moment she steps out her back door with the intent to head to the grocery store. It’s there that she sees the woman in black who has haunted the ancestral home for decades and is considered an omen of death to anyone she appears to. As the mysteries evolve, the two women travel a new road of life together in a most unexpected direction. Destiny’s Wavering Road is a book of fiction, part mystery, part romance, part family saga.