How abstract design decisions in 2D platform games create rich worlds of meaning for players. Since the 1980s, 2D platform games have captivated their audiences. Whether the player scrambles up the ladders in Donkey Kong or leaps atop an impossibly tall pipe in Super Mario Bros., this deceptively simple visual language has persisted in our cultural imagination of video games. In Run and Jump, Peter McDonald surveys the legacy of 2D platform games and examines how abstract and formal design choices have kept players playing. McDonald argues that there is a rich layer of meaning underneath, say, the quality of an avatar’s movement, the pacing and rhythm of level design, the personalities expressed by different enemies, and the emotion elicited by collecting a coin. To understand these games, McDonald draws on technical discussions by game designers as well as theoretical work about the nature of signs from structuralist semiotics. Interspersed throughout are design exercises that show how critical interpretation can become a tool for game designers to communicate with their players. With examples drawn from over forty years of game history, and from games made by artists, hobbyists, iconic designers, and industry studios, Run and Jump presents a comprehensive—and engaging—vision of this slice of game history.

Legendary trainer Tim Grover’s internationally acclaimed training program used by the pros, including Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant—now completely revised, updated, and expanded, with 100 new photos. Since 1989 when Tim Grover began training Michael Jordan, hundreds of elite competitors have turned to Grover to become stronger, faster, and more powerful, both physically and mentally. From Jordan to Kobe Bryant to Dwyane Wade and countless other superstars, Grover’s revolutionary methods have made the best even better, year after year. In Jump Attack, Grover shares the revolutionary program he uses to train the pros. A fitness bible for athletes around the world, this three-phase, twelve-week program has been completely updated with new exercises and workouts as well as cutting-edge information on training, nutrition, longevity, injury prevention, and more. Devised for explosive power, quickness, endurance, and agility, this intensely challenging workout pushes athletes out of their comfort zones, tests their capacity to go harder, and turns “I can’t” into “Just try and stop me.” You don’t have to be an elite athlete to benefit from Grover’s program—but you can attain the mindset of a champion through the physical program outlined in this complete plan. Says Grover: “This is how my pros do it. If you want to become more explosive, stronger, and faster, if you want to jump higher and improve your overall athletic performance in any sport, this is exactly how we do it today: This program is the difference between jumping and taking flight.”

This book is designed to make learning fun for children in kindergarten through primary grades. It teaches recognition of high frequency words and introduces word families, all color-coordinated, written with rhythm and rhyme, linking sight and sound to memory. Tested in several USA first grade classes during the 2007- 2008 school year, the book has proven to be both a popular and productive teaching tool. Children love the rhythm of the words, the fun and imaginative stories, and teachers find that word recognition, spelling and reading among students who are given free rein with the book improve dramatically.

What was Michael Jordan like as a boy? You might be surprised that the greatest professional basketball player ever wasn't even the best player in his own family! Michael Jordan was once just an ordinary little boy growing up in a North Carolina suburb, trying to keep up with his older brother Larry. Michael was always good at sports, but it seemed like Larry was always going to be bigger, quicker, and luckier. But Michael never gave up, and his practicing began to pay off. Then one summer day during a backyard game of one-on-one, Larry Jordan's "little" brother took him--and the whole family--by surprise! Based on actual events, this story of a friendly sibling rivalry is enhanced by Floyd Cooper's stunning two-tone art. Jump! even features a gate-fold depicting Michael Jordan's trademark leap that will send young readers soaring.

From the Newbery Honor–winning author of Genesis Begins Again comes a shimmering picture book that shines the light on Zora Neale Hurston, the extraordinary writer and storycatcher extraordinaire who changed the face of American literature. Zora was a girl who hankered for tales like bees for honey. Now, her mama always told her that if she wanted something, “to jump at de sun”, because even though you might not land quite that high, at least you’d get off the ground. So Zora jumped from place to place, from the porch of the general store where she listened to folktales, to Howard University, to Harlem. And everywhere she jumped, she shined sunlight on the tales most people hadn’t been bothered to listen to until Zora. The tales no one had written down until Zora. Tales on a whole culture of literature overlooked…until Zora. Until Zora jumped.

Increase vocabulary, sight word recognition and comprehension for beginning readers. Our resource is an essential tool to aid students as they begin to read and understand more about the onset and rhyme connection found in word families. Add onsets like "p" and "st" to rimes like "an" and "op" to form words like "pan" and "stop". Find the best onset, like "c", to finish the rime, like "at", to match the word "cat" with its real-life picture. Match the best rime word, like "rid", to finish the sentence, like "Get rid of the trash". Aligned to your State Standards and written to Bloom's Taxonomy, reproducible writing tasks, rime & onset cards, crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included.

Since a major source of income for many countries comes from exporting commodities, price discovery and information transmission between commodity futures markets are key issues for continued economic development. Commodities: Fundamental Theory of Futures, Forwards, and Derivatives Pricing, Second Edition covers the fundamental theory of and derivatives pricing for major commodity markets, as well as the interaction between commodity prices, the real economy, and other financial markets. After a thoroughly updated and extensive theoretical and practical introduction, this new edition of the book is divided into five parts – the fifth of which is entirely new material covering cutting-edge developments. Oil Products considers the structural changes in the demand and supply for hedging services that are increasingly determining the price of oil Other Commodities examines markets related to agricultural commodities, including natural gas, wine, soybeans, corn, gold, silver, copper, and other metals Commodity Prices and Financial Markets investigates the contemporary aspects of the financialization of commodities, including stocks, bonds, futures, currency markets, index products, and exchange traded funds Electricity Markets supplies an overview of the current and future modelling of electricity markets Contemporary Topics discuss rough volatility, order book trading, cryptocurrencies, text mining for price dynamics and flash crashes