In a world were every person forms a bond with an animal species upon coming of age, one boy has not found his Animas, but learns of a heroic destiny.

Soul initiation is an essential spiritual adventure that most of the world has forgotten — or not yet discovered. Here, visionary ecopsychologist Bill Plotkin maps this journey, one that has not been previously illuminated in the contemporary Western world and yet is vital for the future of our species and our planet. Based on the experiences of thousands of people, this book provides phase-by-phase guidance for the descent to soul — the dissolution of current identity; the encounter with the mythopoetic mysteries of soul; and the metamorphosis of the ego into a cocreator of life-enhancing culture. Plotkin illustrates each phase of this riveting and sometimes hazardous odyssey with fascinating stories from many people, including those he has guided. Throughout he weaves an in-depth exploration of Carl Jung's Red Book — and an innovative framework for understanding it.

"A vivid historical account…Thompson shines in giving a sense of what it means to love a place that's been designated a 'sacrifice zone.'" ​ —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY Award–winning investigative environmental journalist Jonathan P. Thompson digs into the science, politics, and greed behind the 2015 Gold King Mine disaster, and unearths a litany of impacts wrought by a century and a half of mining, energy development, and fracking in southwestern Colorado. Amid these harsh realities, Thompson explores how a new generation is setting out to make amends. JONATHAN THOMPSON is a native Westerner with deep roots in southwestern Colorado. He has been an environmental journalist focusing on the American West since he signed on as reporter and photographer at the Silverton Standard & the Miner newspaper in 1996. He has worked and written for High Country News for over a decade, serving as editor–in–chief from 2007 to 2010. He was a Ted Scripps fellow in environmental journalism at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and in 2016 he was awarded the Society of Environmental Journalists' Outstanding Beat Reporting, Small Market. He currently lives in Bulgaria with his wife Wendy and daughters Lydia and Elena.

After her defeat at the Progress Fair, Viviana is determined to return, and this time, she's building an army. With the Dominae strengthening, Tremelo, Bailey and the rest of their friends work feverishly to develop a device that could overpower Dominance once and for all. But when Tremelo is kidnapped, Bailey must take the lead in the fight to protect the bond. As they prepare for battle, Bailey uncovers a legend: a sword with the power to defeat Viviana is hidden somewhere in the kingdom. On an epic journey across Aldermere in search of the sword, the friends unravel startling secrets about the bond, Bailey's past, and each other. In this thrilling conclusion to the Animas trilogy, Bailey and his friends must risk everything to save the bond they treasure and restore the rightful king to the throne of Aldermere.

Winter vacation has never seemed so long. Normally, Bailey would enjoy the break from schoolwork, but this year he can't wait to get back to Fairmount Academy in order to spend more time with his Animas, the white tiger Taleth. After years without his kin, Bailey's anxious to strengthen the bond that connects him to the magnificent animal at last. But Viviana Melore, the head of the Dominae, has plans to visit the school on a goodwill tour that is anything but-and Bailey and Taleth are forced apart for their safety. He and his friends know Viviana will be on the lookout for the Animas White Tiger prophesized to stand in the way of her rule. While the kids must tip toe around Viviana and her army, Bailey and Hal flee to the Dust Plains after tragedy occurs, and run straight into the path of another sinister enemy. On the other side of Aldermere, Gwen is tasked with hiding the Seers' glass, a tool that could reveal dangerous details of the prophecy if it fell into the wrong hands. And when it becomes clear that someone has followed her all the way from Fairmount, Gwen must do everything she can to protect it. In the second book in the Animas series, Bailey, his friends, and their kin embark on a desperate flight across the kingdom to stop Viviana and the Dominae as new bonds are created-and others are twisted beyond recognition. Praise for Legacy of the Claw, Animas Book One Winter 2014?2015 Kids' Indie Next List Pick "[A] fun page-turner with interesting characters and unexpected plot twists. Readers will be propelled toward the next volumes in this entertaining new series." -School Library Journal "Drawing on the traditions of Harry Potter and His Dark Materials, Grey has created a fantastical boarding-school adventure with steampunk sensibilities and political intrigue...This series will grab fans of the Warriors and Guardians of Ga'Hoole series, as well as anyone up for a suspenseful adventure." -Booklist Online

Since 1980, depth psychologist Bill Plotkin has been guiding women and men into the wilderness — the redrock canyons and snow-crested mountains of the American West — but also into the wilds of the soul. He calls this work soulcraft. There’s a great longing in all people to uncover the secrets and mysteries of our individual lives, to find the unique gift we were born to bring to our communities, and to experience our full membership in the more-than-human world. This journey to soul is a descent into layers of the self much deeper than personality, a journey meant for each one of us, not just for the heroes and heroines of mythology. A modern handbook for the journey, Soulcraft is not an imitation of indigenous ways, but a contemporary nature-based approach born from wilderness experience, the traditions of Western culture, and the cross-cultural heritage of all humanity. Filled with stories, poems, and guidelines, Soulcraft introduces over 40 practices that facilitate the descent to soul, including dreamwork, wilderness vision fasts, talking across the species boundaries, council, self-designed ceremony, nature-based shadow work, and the arts of romance, being lost, and storytelling.