At the zoo, animals in action aren't always what they seem!When you're at the zoo, do you see scary crocodiles? Chimpanzees being silly? Look again! A young narrator makes the rounds of a zoo, pointing out that animals have special reasons for doing what they do. The crocodile is protecting her babies, and the chimpanzees are learning by trying new things. Animals protect, play, bathe, and communicate in different ways. Even the zookeeper isn't just a zookeeper. . ...

Scot lebt bei Sam und Ed, zwei Schwulen, die kaum damit gerechnet haben, sich eines Tages um ein Kind kümmern zu müssen, noch dazu um ein Kind wie Scot. Denn der zeigt Vorlieben, die eher zu einem Mädchen passen würden: Make-up, Parfüm und singende Haarbürsten. Auch wenn er sie mit seinem Verhalten oft in den Wahnsinn treibt, erkennen Sam und Ed an seinen Problemen, wie sehr sie selbst sich längst der Umgebung angepasst haben, und sie nehmen zusammen mit Scot den Kampf um die Selbstbehaupt...

Part cultural history, part biography, this is the fascinating story of Richard Wagner’s life, influences, gift for storytelling, and artistic revolution, culminating in the dramatic journey to write The Ring Cycle.The Ring Cycle is one of the most epic and compelling operas of the nineteenth century, created by a composer who was, alongside Dickens, Tolstoy, and Victor Hugo, also one of the century’s master storytellers. But the story of how Rich...

The youngest of nine children, Michael Downing was three when his father died — suddenly and inexplicably. No autopsy was performed. The family diagnosis was God's will.As a boy, Downing rigorously trained as a spiritual athlete, preparing to vault into heaven. But eventually he escaped the religious dogma, and the family arena — until one of his brothers died in 2003, suddenly and inexplicably. No autopsy was performed.Alarmed, Downing pursued a diagnosis: Drawn into a wor...

Fire sweeps along the wall of a circus tent while inside thousands of people enjoy a Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey matinee. Within minutes, flames consume the canvas and vast sections collapse, killing 168 people and injuring hundreds more.Inspired by the 1944 Hartford Circus Fire, the interconnected stories in Michael Downs's The Greatest Show explore the aftermath of a disaster in a world of clowns, elephants, and childhood fantasies.In the opening story, Ania Lis...

**“[A] love story for adults— wrapped in a sophisticated mystery about art, religion and the fragility of the human heart."— Elizabeth Benedict, bestselling author of AlmostA recently widowed woman of a certain age sets off on a tour of Italy in this moving and witty novel interwoven with art history and romance.**Recently widowed, unhappily stuck on a pricey whiplash tour of Italy, Elizabeth Berman comes face to face with the first documented painting of a teardro...

Welcome to Happy, Texas—a small Panhandle town with a name that doesn’t always ring true.Discontent is brewing in Happy as Brother Bob questions his beliefs as pastor of a church. Jen, his choir director, flounders in her unhappy marriage while caring for her mentally ill sister, Cheyenne, and cowboy James struggles between what is right and finally finding true love.When an elder Hispanic member of their community—Joaquin—learns his granddaughter,...

This hilarious, sometimes harrowing, and ultimately heartening novel is the companion to the critically acclaimed, national bestseller Perfect Agreement"Beautifully and economically written, and very funny." —Linda Wertheimer, NPRThis is your chance to enroll in English 10 at highly rated Hellman College—if you can find a place to sit in the fantastically overcrowded classroom.Mark Sternum, whom readers first met in Downing...

Sam and Ed live the high life, and see no reason to add to their happy twosome. Then 11–year–old Scot's mother dies, and a wine–soaked promise pushes the couple into parenthood. They dutifully make all the usual arrangements, but Scot is far from usual, sporting makeup and enduring bullying at school. Soon Sam and Ed begin to question their parenting, their commitment to each other, and the compromises they've made to live in a straight society. Breakfast with Scot is a humorous, ...

In 1844, Horace Wells, a Connecticut dentist, encountered nitrous oxide, or laughing gas—then an entertainment for performers in carnival-like theatrical acts—and began administering the gas as the first true anesthetic. His discovery would change the world, reshaping medicine and humanity’s relationship with pain.But that discovery would also thrust Wells into scandals that threatened his reputation, his family, and his sanity—hardships and triumphs that resonate in today’s struggl...

This hilarious, sometimes harrowing, and ultimately heartening novel is the companion to the critically acclaimed, national bestseller Perfect Agreement"Beautifully and economically written, and very funny." ―Linda Wertheimer, NPRThis is your chance to enroll in English 10 at highly rated Hellman College―if you can find a place to sit in the fantastically overcrowded classroom.Mark Sternum, whom readers first met in Downing...

Part cultural history, part biography, this is the fascinating story of Richard Wagner's life, influences, gift for storytelling, and artistic revolution, culminating in his dramatic journey to write The Ring Cycle.The Ring Cycle is one of the most epic and compelling operas of the nineteenth century, created by a composer who was, alongside Dickens, Tolstoy, and Victor Hugo, also one of the century's master storytellers. But the ...