In this riveting sequel to the Newbery-Award winning Crispin: The Cross of Lead--the second book in a planned trilogy--Avi explores themes of war, religion, and family as he continues the adventures of Crispin and Bear. The more I came to know of the world, the more I knew I knew it not. He was a nameless orphan, marked for death by his masters for an unknown crime. Discovering his name- Crispin-only intensified the mystery. Then Crispin met Bear, who helped him learn the secret of his full identity. And in Bear-the enormous, red-bearded juggler, sometime spy, and everyday philosopher-Crispin also found a new father and a new world. Now Crispin and Bear have set off to live their lives as free men. But they don't get far before their past catches up with them: Bear is being pursued by members of the secret brotherhood who believe he is an informer. When Bear is badly wounded, it is up to Crispin to make decisions about their future-where to go, whom to trust. Along the way they become entangled with an extraordinary range of people, each of whom affects Crispin and Bear's journey in unexpected ways. To find freedom and safety, they may have to travel to the edge of the world-even if it means confronting death itself.

As long as I could keep myself out of bondage, I would be true to Bear's teaching. And so it was that beyond all else, I was determined to keep my freedom. After the death of their beloved mentor, Bear, Crispin and Troth are more desperate than ever, wandering the desolate French countryside, where they don't speak the language and know no one. The only hope they cling to is that somehow they can reach Iceland, where Bear had said there were no kings or lords, and where they can live in freedom. Crispin is determined to fulfill this dream, both for himself and to honor Bear's memory. But the road to liberty is filled with danger, betrayal, and loss. Crispin must decide for himself what freedom really means—and how high a price he is willing to pay for it.

Asta's son has no name. And, after the death of his mother, no family to protect him when he is accused of a crime he didn't commit. Declared a 'wolf's head' - meaning that anyone who catches him can kill him - he has no choice but to leave his village. All he can take with him on the journey is his newly revealed name - Crispin - and his mother's cross of lead. Travelling without purpose, through a countryside still ravaged by the effects of the plague, Crispin stumbles upon a juggler, giant of a man known as Bear. Crispin becomes Bear's servant but the juggler is a stange master offering both protection and encouraging Crispin to think for himself. But Crispin is not safe and it becomes clear he is being relentlessly pursued. Why are his enemies so determined to kill him? Will the lessons Bear has taught him be enough to safeguard all that he now holds so dear... Avi brings the full force of his storytelling powers to the world of medieval England.

Scott O’Dell Award for Best Historical Fiction * ALA Notable Book * ALA Best Books for YA Newbery Medal-winning author Avi tells the “compelling story of a young boy’s first encounter with war and how it changes him.”—Publishers Weekly Jonathan may be only thirteen years old, but with the Revolutionary War unfolding around him, he’s more certain than ever that he wants to be a part of it—to fight for independence alongside his brother and cousin to defeat the British. But Jonathan’s father, himself wounded from battle, refuses to let his son join the front lines. When Jonathan hears the tavern bell toll, calling all soldiers to arms, he rushes to enlist without telling his dad. Gun in hand, Jonathan falls in with a militia and marches onward to the fighting ground. It feels like he’s been waiting his whole life for this moment. But no amount of daydreaming could prepare Jonathan for what he encounters. In just twenty-four hours, his life will be forever changed—by his fellow soldiers, unsuspecting enemies, and the frightening and complicated realities of war. More than thirty years after its publication, award-winner The Fighting Ground continues to be an important work of historical fiction for young readers.

Every industry around the globe is being completely disrupted. Stalwart brands are losing market share to upstarts that capture our collective consciousness. Trillions of dollars are at stake. Brands know a new approach is needed. But most don’t realize the strategic underpinnings need to change. Great brands are no longer built through interruptive advertisements. Friction argues that brands don't simply need clever messages or new, shiny technologies. They need a fundamental change in strategy. Friction provides a system for embracing transparency, engaging audiences, creating evangelists, and unleashing unprecedented growth. The authors of Friction have worked on some of the industry's most innovative assignments for the world’s most successful brands. This groundbreaking book reveals how corporations can divorce themselves from legacy business models to create a passion brand. A brand that breaks its addiction to traditional advertising. A brand that empowers its customers. A brand that dominates the competition.

Outspoken critic Jessa Crispin delivers a searing rejection of contemporary feminism . . . and a bracing manifesto for revolution. Are you a feminist? Do you believe women are human beings and that they deserve to be treated as such? That women deserve all the same rights and liberties bestowed upon men? If so, then you are a feminist . . . or so the feminists keep insisting. But somewhere along the way, the movement for female liberation sacrificed meaning for acceptance, and left us with a banal, polite, ineffectual pose that barely challenges the status quo. In this bracing, fiercely intelligent manifesto, Jessa Crispin demands more. Why I Am Not A Feminist is a radical, fearless call for revolution. It accuses the feminist movement of obliviousness, irrelevance, and cowardice—and demands nothing less than the total dismantling of a system of oppression. Praise for Jessa Crispin, and The Dead Ladies Project "I'd follow Jessa Crispin to the ends of the earth." --Kathryn Davis, author of Duplex "Read with caution . . . Crispin is funny, sexy, self-lacerating, and politically attuned, with unique slants on literary criticism, travel writing, and female journeys. No one crosses genres, borders, and proprieties with more panache." --Laura Kipnis, author of Men: Notes from an Ongoing Investigation "Very, very funny. . . . The whole book is packed with delightfully offbeat prose . . . as raw as it is sophisticated, as quirky as it is intense." --The Chicago Tribune

When his father is killed fighting for the Union in the War Between the States, thirteen-year-old Tom Carroll must take a job to help support his family. He manages to find work at a bustling ironworks in his hometown of Brooklyn, New York, where dozens of men are frantically pounding together the strangest ship Tom has ever seen. A ship made of iron. Tom becomes assistant to the ship's inventor, a gruff, boastful man named Captain John Ericsson. He soon learns that the Union army has very important plans for this iron ship called the Monitor. It is supposed to fight the Confederate "sea monster"--another ironclad--the Merrimac. But Ericsson is practically the only person who believes the Monitor will float. Everyone else calls it "Ericsson's Folly" or "the iron coffin." Meanwhile, Tom's position as Ericsson's assistant has made him a target of Confederate spies, who offer him money for information about the ship. Tom finds himself caught between two certain dangers: an encounter with murderous spies and a battle at sea in an iron coffin