Sam and Jemma stood facing the oncoming raiders with no weapons. As the raider drew near, the air shimmers by Sam and Jemma’s right hands; an axe appeared in Sam’s hand, while a sword appeared in Jemma’s. The raiders were dead in a few heartbeats and the weapons shimmered out of existence. The bears were back.

This enhanced eBook includes: • Eight never-before-seen video interviews with Jean M. Auel where she discusses The Clan of the Cave Bear and the Earth’s Children® series: “You Must Be Able to Change in Order to Survive,” “Jondalar and Ayla,” “On Language," “Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals: The Crossbreeding Question,” “On Research (and Glaciers),” “The Domestication of Horses and Wolves,” “The Painted Caves,” and “What Is It Like Finishing a Series?” • An excerpt from The Land of Painted Caves • An Earth’s Children® series sampler • A text Q&A with Jean M. Auel • The full text of the novel This novel of awesome beauty and power is a moving saga about people, relationships, and the boundaries of love. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read Through Jean M. Auel’s magnificent storytelling we are taken back to the dawn of modern humans, and with a girl named Ayla we are swept up in the harsh and beautiful Ice Age world they shared with the ones who called themselves The Clan of the Cave Bear. A natural disaster leaves the young girl wandering alone in an unfamiliar and dangerous land until she is found by a woman of the Clan, people very different from her own kind. To them, blond, blue-eyed Ayla looks peculiar and ugly—she is one of the Others, those who have moved into their ancient homeland; but Iza cannot leave the girl to die and takes her with them. Iza and Creb, the old Mog-ur, grow to love her, and as Ayla learns the ways of the Clan and Iza’s way of healing, most come to accept her. But the brutal and proud youth who is destined to become their next leader sees her differences as a threat to his authority. He develops a deep and abiding hatred for the strange girl of the Others who lives in their midst, and is determined to get his revenge.

Imagine being alone in the world, one of only a handful to survive a global pandemic. Not only do you struggle to find food, water, and shelter, you deal with the sadness and loss of everyone you know, and everything you have.Fourteen year old Greg Dixon is living that nightmare. Attending boarding school outside of Boston, he is separated from his family when a pandemic strikes. His classmates and teachers are dead, rotting in a dormitory turned morgue steps from his room. The nights are getting colder, and his food has run out. The last message from his father is get away from the city, and meet at his grandparent's town in remote New Hampshire. Knowing the impending New England winter could be the final nail in his coffin, he packs what little food he can find, and sets off on his one hundred mile walk north with the unwavering belief that his family is alive and will join him. As the fast moving and deadly disease strips away family and friends, Greg's father, John, is trapped in South Carolina. Roadblocks, a panic stricken population, and winter make it impossible for him to get to his son. John and his three brothers appear to be immune, but they are scattered across a locked down United States, forced to wait for the end of humanity before travelling to the mountains of New Hampshire. Spring arrives, and the Dixons make their way north to find young Greg. They meet others along the way, and slowly form the last tribe of humanity from the few people still alive in the northeast.

Winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal When a young boy embarks on a journey alone . . . he trails a colony of penguins, undulates in a smack of jellyfish, clasps hands with a constellation of stars, naps for a night in a bed of clams, and follows a trail of shells, home to his tribe of friends. If Lane Smith's Caldecott Honor Book Grandpa Green was an homage to aging and the end of life, There Is a Tribe of Kids is a meditation on childhood and life's beginning. Smith's vibrant sponge-paint illustrations and use of unusual collective nouns such as smack and unkindness bring the book to life. Whimsical, expressive, and perfectly paced, this story plays with language as much as it embodies imagination, and was awarded the 2017 Kate Greenaway Medal. This title has Common Core connections.

Death had only ever been a small misunderstanding for the high mage. After his seventh reincarnation, he'd begun thinking of it differently, viewing it as nothing more than a slight hiccup in his plans. But he'd forgotten one thing: when those plans get in the way of those higher up the ladder, punishment is soon to follow. And one more death brought faint consolation. Sent to another world, he found himself in a stranger's body, though the worst part was that he was left with only the memories he'd built since his previous reincarnation. All the mage had learned before that point was gone. Finding himself in that challenging situation, his dilemma was between carving out his place in the sun and throwing up his hands in despair. But giving in wasn't an option for Leg Ondo. The Brown Bear clan brooked no cowards. If fighting was the way to go, it was a fight to the death, to the last drop of blood. Most importantly, the new world needed to be explored and understood, the local iteration of magic in particular. Let nobody ever say that the youngest of the Bears was unworthy!

The Indian groups of the Plains continue to forge their distinct histories and traditions, melding older traditions with contemporary life. A Guide to Contemporary Plains Indians explores the many exciting cultural and recreational opportunities from Plains tribes. Readers will gain a historical understanding and learn about various activities available to the public. More than 65 color photographs illustrate the beautiful landscape these people call home.

The May or June issue of 1885-1900 (July issue of 1899) includes the report of the institute's president for 1885-1900.