"If you enjoy these too-good-to-be-true tales, Brunvand's new book will give you hours of pleasure."—Chicago Tribune A fabulously entertaining book from the ultimate authority on those almost believable tales that always happen to a "friend of a friend." Alligators in the sewers? A pet in the microwave? A tragic misunderstanding of the function of cruise control? No, it didn't really happen to your friend's sister's neighbor: it's an urban legend. And no matter how savvy you think you are, you are sure to find in this collection of over 200 tales at least one story you would have sworn was true. Jan Harold Brunvand has been collecting and studying this modern folklore for over twenty years. In Too Good to Be True he captures the best stories in their best retellings, along with their latest variations and examples of how the stories have changed as they move from person to person and place to place. To help you find your favorite, Brunvand has arranged the tales thematically. "Bringing Up Baby" is full of episodes of child-rearing gone wrong, including the grisly tale of the drugged out baby-sitter who mistakes the kid for a turkey. "Funny Business" showcases stories of infamous lapses in customer service, such as the story of the shockingly expensive chocolate chip cookie recipe. And "The Criminal Mind" features both brilliant --if they were real --scams, as well as the purported antics of the less mentally gifted. Whether you want to become an expert debunker or just have plenty of laughs, this book will surprise and entertain you. Illustrated throughout. "Informative and entertaining.... Brunvand has collected more than 200 of the most-repeated and best-known examples of modern folk-myth."—Tampa Tribune "[N]ot only an entertaining anthology, but an excellent introduction to the study of folklore itself."—Publishers Weekly "A fun read... . All the classics are here from the killer upstairs to the Kentucky Fried Rat."—New City "Resonant stories that express our hidden anxieties ... make us laugh, [or] arouse our fascinated horror."—San Francisco Chronicle Book Review "Informative and entertaining... . Brunvand has collected more than 200 of the most-repeated and best-known examples of modern folk-myth."—Tampa Tribune "[N]ot only an entertaining anthology, but an excellent introduction to the study of folklore itself."—Publishers Weekly

No amateur or math authority can be without this ultimate compendium of classic puzzles, paradoxes, and puzzles from America's best-loved mathematical expert. 320 line drawings.

From the silent movies of the 1920s to the scream queens of the 1990s, the topics in this book range from vampires and werewolves to haunted houses and mad scientists to creature features and giant apes. The Amazing, Colossal Book of Horror Trivia also includes highlights from the lives and works of the greats and near-greats of horror cinema: Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Ingrid Pitt, Peter Cushing, Fay Wray, Barbara Steele, Roger Corman, and others. You'll never sleep without a nightlight again. Book jacket.

Exam board: Cambridge Assessment International Education Level: A-level Subject: Thinking Skills First teaching: September 2018 First exams: Summer 2020 Endorsed by Cambridge Assessment International Education to provide full support of the syllabus for examination from 2020. Improve problem solving and critical thinking skills for studies and life beyond the classroom, while ensuring full coverage of the Cambridge International AS & A Level Thinking Skills syllabus (9694). - Focus on creative problem-solving with a clear model demonstrating how to assess the problem, choose and implement the appropriate strategy and give the answer. - Improve your critical thinking skills through a meticulous and rigorous approach to analysing, evaluating and constructing arguments and forming well-reasoned judgments - Prepare for further study and life beyond the classroom with advice and guidance from experienced authors. - Consolidate learning with a range of problems, exercises and examination-style questions.

The school library has changed dramatically. Today, it is a portal to a world of learning that includes traditional books, digital resources, and online environments. As the importance of information and communication technologies grows, teachers and teacher-librarians hold the key to creating powerful learning opportunities that help students function more effectively. This comprehensive guide discusses the changing responsibilities of classroom teachers and teacher-librarians in helping students become better readers, writers, and researchers. It offers suggestions for re-inventing the school library by offering a better and more current selection of resources, instilling students with the reading habit, and supporting them in these key areas:promoting reading for learning and pleasure;improving critical literacy skills when using information from many sources;encouraging research methods that respect copyright and lead to original work;designing information tasks to help students work effectively with data;developing better informational text structures that increase comprehension;encouraging the integration of emerging technologies and traditional resources. Literacy, Libraries, and Learning argues that using diverse learning resources can improve literacy achievement. It shows teachers and teacher-librarians how to turn their schools into first-rate learning environments and their students into lifelong learners.

Part two of the literary sci-fi thriller follows a boy and a girl who are caught in a warring town where thoughts can be heard – and secrets are never safe. Reaching the end of their flight in The Knife of Never Letting Go, Todd and Viola did not find healing and hope in Haven. They found instead their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss, waiting to welcome them to New Prentisstown. There they are forced into separate lives: Todd to prison, and Viola to a house of healing where her wounds are treated. Soon Viola is swept into the ruthless activities of the Answer, while Todd faces impossible choices when forced to join the mayor’s oppressive new regime. In alternating narratives the two struggle to reconcile their own dubious actions with their deepest beliefs. Torn by confusion and compromise, suspicion and betrayal, can their trust in each other possibly survive?

A follow-up to the highly successful Discworld Unseen University Quizbook, The Wyrdest Link will present itself as qualifying tests for various levels of mastery in Ankh-Morpork City's Guilds and other organisations - from the dignified Thieves' Guild to illicit outfits like the feared Breccia (the trolls' Mafia) or the wholly reprehensive Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night (see Guards! Guards!). As before, the straight Discworld general knowledge inquisition - presented with offbeat twists and linking themes - will be varied with trick questions, outrageous bogglers, and the occasional near-impossible poser to suit all levels of Discworld fans.

Algorithmic puzzles are puzzles involving well-defined procedures for solving problems. This book will provide an enjoyable and accessible introduction to algorithmic puzzles that will develop the reader's algorithmic thinking. The first part of this book is a tutorial on algorithm design strategies and analysis techniques. Algorithm design strategies — exhaustive search, backtracking, divide-and-conquer and a few others — are general approaches to designing step-by-step instructions for solving problems. Analysis techniques are methods for investigating such procedures to answer questions about the ultimate result of the procedure or how many steps are executed before the procedure stops. The discussion is an elementary level, with puzzle examples, and requires neither programming nor mathematics beyond a secondary school level. Thus, the tutorial provides a gentle and entertaining introduction to main ideas in high-level algorithmic problem solving. The second and main part of the book contains 150 puzzles, from centuries-old classics to newcomers often asked during job interviews at computing, engineering, and financial companies. The puzzles are divided into three groups by their difficulty levels. The first fifty puzzles in the Easier Puzzles section require only middle school mathematics. The sixty puzzle of average difficulty and forty harder puzzles require just high school mathematics plus a few topics such as binary numbers and simple recurrences, which are reviewed in the tutorial. All the puzzles are provided with hints, detailed solutions, and brief comments. The comments deal with the puzzle origins and design or analysis techniques used in the solution. The book should be of interest to puzzle lovers, students and teachers of algorithm courses, and persons expecting to be given puzzles during job interviews.