Abuse is insidious. Like a silent serpent, it slithers into your soul, spreading its venom. Be it substance, sexual, physical or emotional, abuse wraps you in a constricting embrace, crushing the hope, the joy - and sometimes the life - from all it touches. It traps you in a prison from which few escape. For most who live through it, the poison left in their soul most often spreads out, affecting all who touch them; turning the abused into the abuser. 1968 - A year of violence, war, unrest and fear. King and Kennedy are assassinated. There are riots in all across America. Thousands of young American men are killed, maimed and wounded in Viet Nam. Thousands more live in fear of the Draft. Amid this turbulent time, in Simi Valley, on the outskirts of Los Angeles, a group young people are bonded together by mutual backgrounds of abuse, tragedy and violence. Together, they must learn to break the coils that surround them and forge new futures - or be condemned to a cycle of destruction.

The Earth Screamed in Agony To end the decade-long war with his son Zeus and the Olympians, Cronus of Atlantis has unleashed nuclear fire upon the world. But in the nightmarish aftermath of charred flesh, bloated bodies and radiation sickness, he has instead brought the battle to his own city gates. Now he must use a mysterious weapon that could leave him the victor or destroy all he loves in one fell swoop. To fight against the hellish madness of their father, Zeus and Poseidon are given alien gifts by the grotesque, deformed First Children of such awesome power they could save mankind or crack the earth in half. Is their will strong enough to control the near-sentient weapons or will the outcome be decided by not by man, but by an otherworldly technology? The fate of all humanity and the entire planet itself rests in their hands. The final battle of the Gods has begun.

The Nephilim Were Betrayed Created by Cronus, the Lord Father, Anak and Eriktis are but two of the Nephilim that were supposed to be the saviors of the People. Through brutal, forced cross-breeding between Atlantean women and Izon men, Cronus hoped to revitalize the nearly sterile Atlanteans. The experiment worked even better than expected, creating three new races of humanity, the Mags, the Nephilim and the Elite Nephilim, giants among their own people. All are needed to save the Atlanteans from extinction. But the gargantuan Nephilim are feared, hated and hunted. Now it is they who must fight to live, though their numbers are few. Their only hope to survive the power of Atlantis is to join with Zeus, Lord of the Olympians and the son of Cronus. Soon they find themselves embroiled in a long, bitter war that will change the face of the world and all the races of humanity forever. It's hard to hide when you're a giant.

The Gods Of Atlantis Had Been Awakened They were to usher in a time of peace and plenty for the Izon - those who had raised the Gods from eons of slumber. Instead, the Clan found themselves enslaved and tormented, treated as filthy, stupid animals. Now they must fight their own Gods to survive. But what good were knives and spears against beings who could melt mountains? They had to find a way or face complete annihilation. Cronus, Lord Father of the Atlanteans, knew the soul-numbing truth of the Izon and hated them for their ancestry and for their prophecy of doom for all of Atlantis. Yet Cronus must not only fight the Izon and those within the Titans who would usurp him, but his own growing madness. Colony - Bloodkin, The Continuing Saga of Earth's First Civilization!

Takomiad of Surazeus - Goddess of Takoma presents 125,667 lines of verse in 2,590 poems, lyrics, ballads, sonnets, dramatic monologues, eulogies, hymns, and epigrams written by Surazeus 1984 to 1992.

As Eve Ensler says in her inspired foreword to this book, "Jody Williams is many things—a simple girl from Vermont, a sister of a disabled brother, a loving wife, an intense character full of fury and mischief, a great strategist, an excellent organizer, a brave and relentless advocate, and a Nobel Peace Prize winner. But to me Jody Williams is, first and foremost, an activist." From her modest beginnings to becoming the tenth woman—and third American woman—to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Jody Williams takes the reader through the ups and downs of her tumultuous and remarkable life. In a voice that is at once candid, straightforward, and intimate, Williams describes her Catholic roots, her first step on a long road to standing up to bullies with the defense of her deaf brother Stephen, her transformation from good girl to college hippie at the University of Vermont, and her protest of the war in Vietnam. She relates how, in 1981, she began her lifelong dedication to global activism as she battled to stop the U.S.-backed war in El Salvador. Throughout the memoir, Williams underlines her belief that an "average woman"—through perseverance, courage and imagination—can make something extraordinary happen. She tells how, when asked if she’d start a campaign to ban and clear anti-personnel mines, she took up the challenge, and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) was born. Her engrossing account of the genesis and evolution of the campaign, culminating in 1997 with the Nobel Peace Prize, vividly demonstrates how one woman’s commitment to freedom, self-determination, and human rights can have a profound impact on people all over the globe.

BOOKER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A novel that follows a middle-aged man as he contends with a past he never much thought about—until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance: one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present. A novel so compelling that it begs to be read in a single setting, The Sense of an Ending has the psychological and emotional depth and sophistication of Henry James at his best, and is a stunning achievement in Julian Barnes's oeuvre. Tony Webster thought he left his past behind as he built a life for himself, and his career has provided him with a secure retirement and an amicable relationship with his ex-wife and daughter, who now has a family of her own. But when he is presented with a mysterious legacy, he is forced to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world.

Los Angeles magazine is a regional magazine of national stature. Our combination of award-winning feature writing, investigative reporting, service journalism, and design covers the people, lifestyle, culture, entertainment, fashion, art and architecture, and news that define Southern California. Started in the spring of 1961, Los Angeles magazine has been addressing the needs and interests of our region for 48 years. The magazine continues to be the definitive resource for an affluent population that is intensely interested in a lifestyle that is uniquely Southern Californian.

Do you long to drive a Ferrari at top speed on the open road, but find yourself always stuck on the freeway during rush hour? Do you wonder how you can feel like "not enough" and "too much" at the same time? Like the rain forest, are you sometimes intense, multilayered, colorful, creative, overwhelming, highly sensitive, complex, and/or idealistic? And, like the rain forest, have you met too many chainsaws?Enter Paula Prober, M.S., M.Ed., who understands the diversity and complexity of minds like yours. In "Your Rainforest Mind: A Guide to the Well-Being of Gifted Youths and Adults," Paula explores the challenges faced by gifted adults of all ages. Through case studies and extensive research, Paula will help you tap into your inner creativity, find peace, and discover the limitless potential that comes with your Rainforest Mind.

Winner of the 2014 National Outdoor Book Awards for History/Biography Emma Gatewood told her family she was going on a walk and left her small Ohio hometown with a change of clothes and less than two hundred dollars. The next anybody heard from her, this genteel, farm-reared, 67-year-old great-grandmother had walked 800 miles along the 2,050-mile Appalachian Trail. And in September 1955, having survived a rattlesnake strike, two hurricanes, and a run-in with gangsters from Harlem, she stood atop Maine's Mount Katahdin. There she sang the first verse of "America, the Beautiful" and proclaimed, "I said I'll do it, and I've done it." Grandma Gatewood, as the reporters called her, became the first woman to hike the entire Appalachian Trail alone, as well as the first person—man or woman—to walk it twice and three times. Gatewood became a hiking celebrity and appeared on TV and in the pages of Sports Illustrated. The public attention she brought to the little-known footpath was unprecedented. Her vocal criticism of the lousy, difficult stretches led to bolstered maintenance, and very likely saved the trail from extinction. Author Ben Montgomery was given unprecedented access to Gatewood's own diaries, trail journals, and correspondence, and interviewed surviving family members and those she met along her hike, all to answer the question so many asked: Why did she do it? The story of Grandma Gatewood will inspire readers of all ages by illustrating the full power of human spirit and determination. Even those who know of Gatewood don't know the full story—a story of triumph from pain, rebellion from brutality, hope from suffering.