This study examines author/audience relations in the works of the seventeenth-century French poet Jean de La Fontaine. Focusing on the Fables, Les Amours de Psyche et de Cupidon, and the Contes, Anne L. Birberick explores how La Fontaine remains a largely subversive artist, even while he seeks to establish himself within a conventional system of literary patronage. Birberick offers an "anatomy" of readers as she shows how La Fontaine simultaneously appeals to multiple readers whose tastes range from the literal to the ironic, from the orthodox to the heterodox. To negotiate successfully between and among such diverse audiences, the poet employs techniques of concealment and disclosure to foster an anticanonical public.

Meet Scarlett, a smart, sarcastic fifteen-year-old, ready to take on crime in her hometown. When Scarlett agrees to investigate a local boy's suicide, she figures she's in for an easy case and a quick buck. But it doesn't take long for suicide to start looking a lot like murder. As Scarlett finds herself deep in a world of cults, curses, and the seemingly supernatural, she discovers that her own family secrets may have more to do with the situation than she thinks...and that cracking the case could lead to solving her father's murder. Jennifer Latham delivers a compelling story and a character to remember in this one-of-a-kind debut novel.

To win the love of Sheridan Wolfe, Duke of Armitage, Miss Vanessa Pryde tries to make him jealous--a ploy that propels her into a scheme of an altogether different kind involving a pretend engagement and a mystery.

From the esteemed New York Times bestselling and multi-award-winning author Mac Barnett comes a thrilling, hilarious fully-illustrated new spy adventure series! Before Mac Barnett was an author, he was a kid. And while he was a kid, he was a spy. Not just any spy. But a spy...for the Queen of England. James Bond meets Diary of a Wimpy Kid with this groundbreaking fully-illustrated chapter book series Mac B., Kid Spy. The precious Crown Jewels have been stolen, and there's only one person who can help the Queen of England: her newest secret agent, Mac B. Mac travels around the globe in search of the stolen treasure...but will he find it in time? From secret identities to Karate hijinks, this fast-paced, witty and historically inspired chapter book will keep readers guessing until the very last page. With full-color illustrations and fascinating historical facts masterfully sprinkled throughout, this series offers adventure, intrigue, absurdity, history and humor. Discover this totally smart and side-splittingly funny new series, and experience what it's really like to be a kid spy.

'Undercover lays bare the deceit, betrayal and cold-blooded violation practised again and again by undercover police officers - troubling, timely and brilliantly executed.' Henry Porter The gripping stories of a group of police spies - written by the award-winning investigative journalists who exposed the Mark Kennedy scandal - and the uncovering of forty years of state espionage. This was an undercover operation so secret that some of our most senior police officers had no idea it existed. The job of the clandestine unit was to monitor British 'subversives' - environmental activists, anti-racist groups, animal rights campaigners. Police stole the identities of dead people to create fake passports, driving licences and bank accounts. They then went deep undercover for years, inventing whole new lives so that they could live incognito among the people they were spying on. They used sex, intimate relationships and drugs to build their credibility. They betrayed friends, deceived lovers, even fathered children. And their operations continue today. Undercover reveals the truth about secret police operations - the emotional turmoil, the psychological challenges and the human cost of a lifetime of deception - and asks whether such tactics can ever be justified.

Humor and heart come unleashed in this adventure about a boy living with anxiety who must join with his therapy dog to save dogkind from a dog-hating secret agent. Tonio is not allowed to let anyone know that he can communicate fluently with his therapy dog, Buster. But when dogkind requires that Tonio make friends with a bully, are Tonio and Buster going to go through a ruff patch... or learn some new tricks to keep the dogs in their town safe?

Dawn Buckle spends most of her days trying to get people to notice her. But whether at home or at school, it's as if she's completely invisible. And that's exactly what makes her the ideal recruit for S.H,.H. (Strictly Hush Hush)-a secret intelligence agency. How the world's most forgettable girl transforms herself into a world-class spy and tracks down a surprising secret agent will delight readers.

Like a modern-day Cyrano de Bergerac, Elisa ghostwrites love notes for the boys in her school. But when Elisa falls for Theo Moses, things change fast. Theo asks for verses to court the lovely Lila—a girl known for her beauty, her popularity, and a cutting ability to remind Elisa that she has none of these. At home, Elisa's father, the one person she feels understands her, has left on an extended business trip. As the days grow shorter, Elisa worries that the increasingly urgent letters she sends her father won't bring him home. Like the undercover agent she feels she has become, Elisa retreats to a pond in the woods, where her talent for ice-skating gives her the confidence to come out from under cover and take center stage. But when Lila becomes jealous of Theo's friendship with Elisa, her revenge nearly destroys Elisa's ice-skating dreams and her plan to reunite her family. National Book Award nominee Beth Kephart's first young adult novel is a stunning debut.

Harford ranges from Africa, Asia, Europe, and of course the United States to reveal how supermarkets, airlines, health care providers, and coffee chains--to name just a few--are vacuuming money from our wallets.