Using a metaphor based on the story of Columbus and his three ships, this extended parable outlines the three possible directions every person's life may take: the sinking ship, the cruise ship, or the battleship-respectively symbolizing personal survival, unbridled enjoyment, and meaningful influence. Acknowledging that many people choose all three approaches at some point, this meditation focuses on avoiding smaller ambitions and striving for the quality and significance possible within the "battleship." Providing specific and practical guidelines for discovering one's combined ability and passion, this inspirational handbook is beneficial for both young and older adults.

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"A Tale of Three Ships" is a vivid, compelling, and provocative description of what it means to dare to live life at full throttle through one's unique giftedness and design.

A story set in the West country in the late 19th century. It is orphaned Polly Flowerdew's first Christmas with her staid but loving maiden aunts, who can't help being touched by Polly's excitement and joy at this special time of year.

Set in a dark future America devastated by the forces of climate change, this thrilling bestseller and National Book Finalist is a gritty, high-stakes adventure of a teenage boy faced with conflicting loyalties. In America's flooded Gulf Coast region, oil is scarce, but loyalty is scarcer. Grounded oil tankers are being broken down for parts by crews of young people. Nailer, a teenage boy, works the light crew, scavenging for copper wiring just to make quota--and hopefully live to see another day. But when, by luck or by chance, he discovers an exquisite clipper ship beached during a recent hurricane, Nailer faces the most important decision of his life: Strip the ship for all it's worth or rescue its lone survivor, a beautiful and wealthy girl who could lead him to a better life.... In this powerful novel, Hugo and Nebula Award winning author Paolo Bacigalupi delivers a fast-paced adventure set in the vivid and raw, uncertain future of his companion novels The Drowned Cities and Tool of War. "Suzanne Collins may have put dystopian literature on the YA map with The Hunger Games...but Bacigalupi is one of the genre's masters, employing inventively terrifying details in equally imaginative story lines." —Los Angeles Times A New York Times Bestseller A Michael L. Printz Award Winner A National Book Award Finalist A VOYA 2010 Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers Book A Rolling Stone 40 Best YA Novels Book Don’t miss the other books in the series: The Drowned Cities Tool of War