Gammy & the Snow Queen, we earnestly hope, will be the first in a series written by Esther R. Reaves for her grandchildren--as well as for children and grandchildren everywhere! In many cities and towns around the world, taking little ones to see Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker is an annual event. Excitement whirls around each performance, whether city or town, with local children always featured prominently in the ballet. There is a special longing to see the magic of the holidays reflected in the eyes of the youngest members of the family and a special joy getting dressed up for attendance at the holiday performance--jaunty velveteen suits for boys, and twirling, beribboned taffeta or velvet dresses for girls. For grandmothers, many dreams for their little ones are reflected in the magic of these moments. In Gammy & the Snow Queen, Ms. Reaves tells a story that embodies the love of an archetypical grandmother, one who not only hopes to project her own confidence into the future, but to express the depth and reach of her dreams for her granddaughter. Truly, the grandmother's dream is the story that lies behind the frenetic attendance at so many performances of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker every year. "You dance with all the beauty and grace of any ballerina. You can be everything that you want to be," the grandmother's dream affirms. "I know, because I know you, and I believe in you with all my heart." In her daily work, Ms. Reaves coordinates many staff and volunteers. So, too, this children's book represents collaboration between Ms. Reaves and her granddaughter Kristen Yeung who provided the engaging illustrations (and direct inspiration), and with Linda Turbyville, a writer and friend, who has contributed her editing skill to the project. Enjoy! Happy Holidays!

Ophelia, a timid eleven-year-old girl grieving her mother, suspends her disbelief in things non-scientific when a boy locked in the museum where her father is working asks her to help him complete an age-old mission.

In a book with foldout pages, Monica's father fulfills her request for the moon by taking it down after it is small enough to carry, but it continues to change in size.

Anna, Queen of Arendelle, has been tirelessly preparing for the Polar Night's Celebration that is held every year to welcome the time when the sun doesn't rise in the Polar Circle. She has been working so hard, her fiancé Kristoff suggests she take a night off to visit her sister Elsa, the Snow Queen. Anna loves the idea. Accompanied by Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf, Anna reunites with Elsa in the Enchanted Forest. After telling spooky stories around the campfire, Olaf swears that one of the creatures of their tales has come to life! Who else is responsible for the sudden onset of storms and the earlier than normal darkening of the skies? Why else is everyone starting to become so forgetful? Anna and Elsa join forces to determine what is going on. Together they recall Kristoff's terrifying tale about a princess who turned into a draugr—an undead creature that steals memories in an effort to make others forget the misdeeds it committed when it was alive. Is it possible that Kristoff inadvertently unearthed memories of a draugr, and thus unleashed the monster upon Arendelle? Anna and Elsa must uncover the real story behind the tale before everyone in Arendelle forgets who they are and is cast into darkness forever....

Features ten classic hits from the Alicia Keys, arranged for piano, voice and guitar. This title includes such classics as A Woman's Worth, Fallin', and Every Little Bit Hurts.

Current Events Hall takes aim at the global events of 2018 with a unique and refreshing perspective. Topics in this volume include the following: • President Trump displaying brazen hypocrisies—“Complaining about Trump’s hypocrisy is like complaining about a prostitute’s promiscuity.” • The Catholic Church covering up sins of pedophile priests—“These putative men of God cannot believe God exists. They must reason that, if he did, he would have stopped priests from systematically abusing children long ago. After all, what God would allow a criminal sex cult to flourish as a holy church in his name?” • Tiger Woods failing to win another major—“Tiger is becoming to PGA players what Hugh Hefner became to LA players: the most popular guy in the game who everyone knows can’t do it anymore.” • Caribbean leaders condemning “shithole” Trump—“Haitian migrants pose a heavy, unsustainable burden for the relatively small and poor countries of the Caribbean. This explains why, even though none have called Haiti a shithole, some Caribbean leaders have treated Haitians like shit.” • Meryl Streep hailing Harvey Weinstein as “God”—“That she said this is as much an indication of how far Weinstein has fallen from grace as it is an indictment of how much even Streep was beholding to his power and influence.” • Europeans doing more than Africans to solve Africa’s migrant crisis—“Only a symbiosis of European colonial guilt and African umbilical dependence explains why.” • Research showing the health benefits of bread—“No less an authority than the Bible decreed that bread and water are the staff of life. Which is why I hereby curse Atkins and his spawn of ketogenic false prophets in the name of God.” • Trump continuing bromance with Putin despite bipartisan criticism—“Trump is behaving like a teenage girl who was reprimanded by her parents for sneaking out for a booty call with a notorious bad boy. And she responds by sneaking that bad boy into her bedroom . . . and ends up pregnant.”

A devout Catholic, a visionary—and some say prophetic—writer, Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964) has gained a growing presence in contemporary popular culture. While O’Connor professed that she did not have an ear for music, allusions to her writing appear in the lyrics and narrative form of some of the most celebrated musicians on the contemporary music scene. Flannery at the Grammys sounds the extensive influence of this southern author on the art and vision of a suite of American and British singer-songwriters and pop groups. Author Irwin H. Streight invites critical awareness of O’Connor’s resonance in the products of popular music culture—in folk, blues, rock, gospel, punk, heavy metal, and indie pop songs by some of the most notable figures in the popular music business. Streight examines O'Connor's influence on the art and vision of multiple Grammy Award winners Bruce Springsteen, Lucinda Williams, R.E.M., and U2, along with celebrated songwriters Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, Sufjan Stevens, Mary Gauthier, Tom Waits, and others. Despite her orthodox religious, and at times controversial, views and limited literary output, O’Connor has left a curiously indelible mark on the careers of the successful musicians discussed in this volume. Still, her acknowledged influence and remarkable presence in contemporary pop and rock songs has not been well noted by pop music critics and/or literary scholars. Many years in the making, Flannery at the Grammys achieves groundbreaking work in cultural studies and combines in-depth literary and pop music scholarship to engage the informed devotee and the casual reader alike.