Set in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Depression, To Kill a Mockingbird follows three years in the life of 8-year-old Scout Finch, her brother, Jem, and their father, Atticus--three years punctuated by the arrest and eventual trial of a young black man accused of raping a white woman. Though her story explores big themes, Harper Lee chooses to tell it through the eyes of a child. The result is a tough and tender novel of race,...

In the stories and novellas he wrote for Black Mask and other pulp magazines in the 1920s and 1930s, Dashiell Hammett took the detective story and turned it into a medium for capturing the jarring textures and revved-up cadences of modern American life. In this volume, The Library of America collects the finest of these stories: 24 in all, along with some revealing essays and an earlier version of his novel The Thin Man. Mixing melodramatic panache...

Norval the Fish is hosting a seaside talkshow for the Fish Channel-and the Cat in the Hat and Thing One and Thing Two are Cameracat and Crew! Among Norval's special guests are his old friend Clam-I-Am (a shy gal who lives in the sand and likes to spit), along with horseshoe and hermit crabs, jellyfish, sand fleas, starfish, seagulls, and miscellaneous mollusks. Seaweed, seaglass, tides, tidal pools, dunes, driftwood, and waves make cameo appearances,...

"Scientists who study dinosaurs often have to be good detectives. And like detectives, they sometimes come to the wrong conclusions. That's what happened when George Olson discovered the first Oviraptor fossil. Learn why Olson named the new dinosaur 'egg stealer' and how later scientists finally uncovered the truth about Oviraptor. Additional features to enhance comprehension include informative sidebars, a glossary of key words and phrases, sources...

This book is an exploration of human digestion. Few of us realize what strange wet miracles of science operate inside us after every meal. In her trademark style, the author investigates the beginning, and end, of our food, addressing such questions as: why crunchy food is so appealing, why it is hard to find words for flavors and smells, why the stomach doesn't digest itself, how much we can eat before our stomachs burst, and whether constipation...

"I'm Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. When the Australian Mystery Writers' Society invited me to their crime-writing festival aboard the Ghan, the famous train between Darwin and Adelaide, I was hoping for some inspiration for my second book. Fiction, this time: I needed a break from real people killing each other. But, the Ghan is not the respite I'd been hoping for. It turns out I've trapped myself on an 1,800-mile journey with a powder...

The second prequel traces the rise of the Antichrist and the journey of the main characters--including Rayford, Chloe, and Buck--toward the Rapture where the seven-year Tribulation awaits them.

Par un matin pas tout à fait comme les autres, une visite du vieux magicien Gandalf va changer la vie de Bilbo Baggins... Voici le récit de leur quête à travers la Terre du Milieu. Leur but ? Arracher au dragon Smaug les trésors du Royaume perdu d'Erebor. Mais le chemin est long et semé d'embûches. Bilbo doit affronter trolls, gobelins et araignées géantes. Sans parler de Gollum, dont le précieux anneau détient de terribles pouvoirs. Et...

"Provides comprehensive information on the geography, history, wildlife, governmental structure, economy, cultural diversity, peoples, religion, and landmarks of Kansas"--Provided by publisher.

A photo essay on the world of birds examining such topics as body construction, feathers and flight, the adaptation of beaks and feet, feeding habits, courtship, nests and eggs, and bird watching.