Move over Diary of a Wimpy Kid—there's a new journal in town and it belongs to Ratchet. "A book that is full of surprises...Triumphant enough to make readers cheer; touching enough to make them cry." —Kirkus, STARRED Review If only getting a new life were as easy as getting a new notebook. But it's not. It's the first day of school for all the kids in the neighborhood. But not for me. I'm homeschooled. That means nothing new. No new book bag, no new clothes, and no new friends. The best I've got is this notebook. I'm supposed to use it for my writing assignments, but my dad never checks. Here's what I'm really going to use it for: Ratchet's Top Secret Plan Turn my old, recycled, freakish, friendless life into something shiny and new. This Florida State Book Award gold medal winner is a heartfelt story about an unconventional girl's quest to make a friend, save a park, and find her own definition of normal.

Cavanaugh is not Kavanaugh, and Kavanaugh is not Cavanaugh. Yet when Cavanaugh, a pencil-pushing, number-crunching, "middling, middle-aged middleman," reluctantly buys a bobblehead of the controversial Supreme Court justice for his innocent young daughter at a minor league baseball game, past traumas are retriggered, households unravel, and a mysterious inner voice reawakens, knocking Cavanaugh off the wagon and steering him headlong into the hillocky and tortuous terrain of the surreal and absurd. With a narrative that charms and intoxicates sentence-by-sentence, Cavanaugh is not only a bleak comedy of the reverberating repercussions set off by a single fraught decision, but also a darkly poignant reminder that no matter how rigorously we endeavor to seek refuge from what haunts us, memory will always find a way to creep into the din of our surroundings, forcing itself upon us against our will and, inevitably, of those we love most.

Modern Fresco Paintings is the first collection of Ali Cavanaugh's paintings, andit follows her entire career using watercolor on kaolin clay to create hermodern fresco technique and the lovely work that flows from it. Beginning withher hyper-realistic portraits and ending with her latest, more free-flowingpictures, her use of light, color, and the human form captures the essence ofher models and their forms and feelings in a particular moment. Cavanaugh's artistic sensibilitywas developed by two important events in her childhood. Her dependence on the visualworld began when she lost much of her hearing through spinal meningitis whenshe was two, and her creative spirit developed out of her being raised in a ruralenvironment where she had to create her own ways of expressing herself and makingher own fun. She developed her stunningmodern fresco medium almost by accident as she was learning to apply the outerlayer of plaster to her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Since that time thisvolume illustrates her growth as an artist and her mastery of the technique. These are lovely works, paintedmasterfully. Both long-time followers of Cavanaugh's work---from the earliest "SockArms" paintings to those who found her through more recent work like the Chroma series---and those who are discoveringher and her art for the first time, will be delighted by this collection.

Just Like Me is the perfect book for middle school girls and doubles as an adoption book for kids, as three adopted sisters navigate their relationship with one another while at summer camp. From the award-winning author of This Journal Belongs to Ratchet, comes a funny, uplifting summer camp story about unlikely friendships and finding your place in the world, making this the perfect growing up book for girls. Told through a mix of traditional narrative and journal entries, don't miss this funny, surprisingly sweet summer read! Who eats Cheetos with chopsticks?! Avery and Becca, my "Chinese Sisters," that's who. We're not really sisters—we were just adopted from the same orphanage. And we're nothing alike. They like egg rolls, and I like pizza. They wave around Chinese fans, and I pretend like I don't know them. Which is not easy since we're all going to summer camp to "bond." (Thanks, Mom.) To make everything worse, we have to journal about our time at camp so the adoption agency can do some kind of "where are they now" newsletter. I'll tell you where I am: At Camp Little Big Lake in a cabin with five other girls who aren't getting along, competing for a camp trophy and losing (badly), wondering how I got here...and where I belong. Told through a mix of traditional narrative and journal entries, don't miss this funny, surprisingly sweet summer read! "A tender and honest story about a girl trying to find her place in the world, and the thread that connects us all."—Liesl Shurtliff, author of Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin "A heartwarming story about the universal struggle of yearning to be an individual while longing to fit in."—Karen Harrington, author of Sure Kinds of Crazy

In a post-9/11 world, rookie TV reporter Sydney St. James is teamed with veteran anchor Hunz Vonner when people randomly begin receiving notices informing them that they have 48 hours to live. As time runs out, Sydney and Hunz encounter a bizarre scenario, and suddenly find themselves facing the ultimate terrorist.

When Jesse Graham unlocks the door to the deserted house she inherited from her Aunt Helen, she doesn't realize she's unlocking secrets that had lain dormant for years. In June 1968, as she settles into the Cavanaugh House, she wonders if this house is a blessing or a curse. The convenience to her new job is unbeatable, but people's reaction to her living there is unnerving. And what about the strange noises she hears in the attic room at night? Still reeling from a broken engagement, Jesse finds it difficult to trust anyone, even her self-absorbed mother. She's determined to make a new life for herself, independent of anyone. Her dearest friend Maggie, aka Sister Angelina, is her lifeline to sanity and the only person she knows in small-town Seneca Corners. Questions about her aunt's death almost three decades earlier lead Jesse to investigate the mystery surrounding it and the people involved. What part did the wealthy Wyndham family play? Joe Riley is attractive, but her independent spirit and lack of trust resist his charm. As she probes further, she uncovers a web of deceit that reaches far beyond the occurrences of twenty-eight years ago. Someone doesn't want those secrets unearthed and will stop at nothing, even murder, to keep them hidden.

Whether one thinks that religion continues to fade or has made a comeback in the contemporary world, there is a common notion that religion went away somewhere, at least in the West. But William Cavanaugh argues that religious fervor never left it has only migrated toward a new object of worship. In Migrations of the Holy he examines the disconcerting modern transfer of sacred devotion from the church to the nation-state. In these chapters Cavanaugh cautions readers to be wary of a rigid separation of religion and politics that boxes in the church and sends citizens instead to the state for hope, comfort, and salvation as they navigate the risks and pains of mortal life. When nationality becomes the primary source of identity and belonging, he warns, the state becomes the god and idol of its own religion, the language of nationalism becomes a liturgy, and devotees willingly sacrifice their lives to serve and defend their country. Cavanaugh urges Christians to resist this form of idolatry, to unthink the inevitability of the nation-state and its dreary party politics, to embrace radical forms of political pluralism that privilege local communities and to cling to an incarnational theology that weaves itself seamlessly and tangibly into all aspects of daily life and culture. William Cavanaugh continues to provide leadership and vision in the field of political theology. He addresses essential questions about the religious status of the nation-state, the political character of the church, and how the tradition of Christian political thought might be brought to bear upon contemporary politics. . . . Unfolds a theological response to present political conditions and a political response to our theological condition. Luke Bretherton King s College London Another vigorous but distinct voice in the burgeoning conversation about the role of religion generally and the church specifically in political life. . . . Worth a careful read. Robert Benne