* "Funny and unique . . . An honest, noisy, and raucous look at friendship and how loud music can make almost everything better." --Publishers Weekly, starred review Sebastian Prendergast lives with his eccentric grandmother in a geodesic dome. His homeschooling has taught him much-but he's learned little about girls, junk food, or loud, angry music. Then fate casts Sebastian out of the dome, and he finds a different kind of tutor in Jared Whitcomb: a chain-smoking sixteen-year-old heart transplant recipient who teaches him the ways of rebellion. Together they form a punk band and plan to take the local church talent show by storm. But when his grandmother calls him back to the futurist life she has planned for him, he must decide whether to answer the call-or start a future of his own.

A young girl presents the true story of her experiences in an unwed mothers' home, tells about the reactions of the other girls in the same situation, and explains her feelings and emotions as she gradually matures and learns to do what is best for her child.

We Toot is a feminist fable about farting. When a stinky toot is loosed at a slumber party, six girls learn an important lesson in body positivity and self-acceptance. We Toot lets little girls know it's okay to let one rip.

Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow?, the long-awaited follow-up to Mom's Cancer, is a unique graphic novel that tells the story of a young boy and his relationship with his father. Spanning the period from the 1939 New York World's Fair to the last Apollo space mission in 1975, it is told through the eyes of a boy as he grows up in an era that was optimistic and ambitious, fueled by industry, engines, electricity, rockets, and the atom bomb. An insightful look at relationships and the promise of the future, award-winning author Brian Fies presents his story in a way that only comics and graphic novels can. Interspersed with the comic book adventures of Commander Cap Crater (created by Fies to mirror the styles of the comics and the time periods he is depicting), and mixing art and historical photographs, this groundbreaking graphic novel is a lively trip through a half century of technological evolution. It is also a perceptive look at the changing moods of our nation-and the enduring promise of the future. Praise for Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? “A graphic novel that looks like TV’s “Futurama” bred with The Golden Age of Comic Books, Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? is at times charming, at times sad and foreboding, and always thought provoking.” —Air & Space Smithsonian "A hopelessly optimistic moon-age daydream"—The Village Voice “An exceptional and highly engaging experience.” —The Miami Herald "Whatever Happened To The World Of Tomorrow is a very special book that will speak to you on so many levels. And at the end of it, when you sit there and think on what you’ve just read, it may even make you, like it did me, realise that Fies’ vision of our past and his hope for the future is something we can all share in. Quite brilliant."—Richard Bruton, forbiddenplanet.co.uk F&P level: Y

From the era-defining author of Generation X comes a novel of overworked coders who escape the serfdom of Bill Gates to forge their own path. They are Microserfs—six code-crunching computer whizzes who spend upward of sixteen hours a day “coding” and eating “flat” foods (food which, like Kraft singles, can be passed underneath closed doors) as they fearfully scan company e-mail to learn whether the great Bill is going to “flame” one of them. But now there’s a chance to become innovators instead of cogs in the gargantuan Microsoft machine. The intrepid Microserfs are striking out on their own—living together in a shared digital flophouse as they desperately try to cultivate well-rounded lives and find love amid the dislocated, subhuman whir and buzz of their computer-driven world.

The first comprehensive study of the development of solar house design in the United States and around the world. The Solar House explores the development of solar residential architecture over the course of the twentieth century and up to the latest designs today. The solar house is often understood as a product of the 1970s, and few people are aware of the influential experimental solar houses which were constructed during the previous four decades, beginning with the work of masters of twentieth-century architecture such as Richard Neutra, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Paolo Soleri, Louis Kahn, Pietro Belluschi, Edward Durell Stone, and Harwell Hamilton Harris, and continuing with more recent innovations like the German Passivhaus movement and the Heliotrope, the first house to produce more energy than it consumed, and the U.S.-based Solar Decathlon, conceived as a living demonstration laboratory and recently expanded to include contests in Europe and China. Not only are these innovative projects the models for architects exploring environmentally conscious design today, they hold the imagination of the wider public, beginning with the idealism of the 1960s, the pragmatism that accompanied the energy crisis of the 1970s, and continuing into the twenty-first century with the demand for environmentally sustainable living. The first complete study of solar house design through the decades, this volume is a must-have resource for designers today.

The retro-futuristic epoch is one of the most visually spectacular in architecture's history. The utopian buildings of the 1960s and 1970s never go out of style. This book compiles radical ideas and visionary structures. The notion of utopia proves as diverse as it does universal. From exuberant master plans to singular architectural expressions, the rise of the utopian architectural movement in the 1960s and 1970s represents a critical shift in ideology away from mid-century traditionalism. This period shakes off the conformity and conventions of the 1950s in favor of a more experimental post-war agenda. Marked by groundbreaking reinterpretations of both the single family house as well as more large scale developments, the embrace of utopian and generally progressive thinking mirrored the cultural revolution of the times. These daring, charming, futuristic, and hopeful designs were not isolated to a particular part of the world. Visionary voices longing for a fresh approach to architecture began appearing across France, Japan, the United States, and beyond. The Tale of Tomorrow documents this prolific era in architecture--a time when anything felt possible as architects began to think further and further outside the box. The Tale of Tomorrow focuses exclusively on built manifestations of utopian ideas. Rather than mixing together abstract theorists with practitioners, this book focuses on the tangible embodiments of such forward thinking. Highlighting well-known projects as well as the more obscure and offbeat, the collection of utopian approaches compiled here maintain their visual power and infectious optimism nearly half a century later. These experimental structures, both large and small, appear in everyday places in stark contrast to their far-from-utopian contexts. In addition to featuring a range of whimsical architectural gestures, The Tale of Tomorrow also explores more brutalist styles of utopian thinking. This bold and iconic class of projects not only inspires a sense of awe and reverence towards one's surroundings but also demonstrates the broad spectrum of deeply personal solutions at play as each architect began to craft their ideal world. Whether an organically shaped residence or a towering sculptural complex, the projects in this book stand as poignant suggestions of what might have been and, perhaps what could still be.

Mid-20th century America envisioned a wondrous future of comfort, convenience and technological advancement. Popular culture--including World's Fairs, science fiction and advertising--fed high hopes even when war and hardship threatened. American ingenuity and consumer culture promised to deliver flying cars, undersea cities, household robots and space travel. By the 1960s political assassinations, the civil rights and women's movements, the Vietnam War and the "generation gap" eroded that optimism, refocusing attention on the issues of the present. The nation's utopian dream was brief but revealing. Based on a wide range of sources, this book takes a fresh look at America's precipitous fall from futurism to disillusionment.