A hot rod school bus, a pickup on tank treads, a tire-smoking drifting competition - check out all of these outrageous vehicles in this colorful and fact-filled look at the fantastic world of radical rides.

A hot rod school bus, a pickup on tank treads, a tire-smoking drifting competition - check out all of these outrageous vehicles in this colorful and fact-filled look at the fantastic world of radical rides.

Get to know the Junior Monster Scouts in this first book in a brand-new chapter book series that’s perfect for fans of Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol and Hotel Transylvania! Wolfy, Franky, and Vampyra—the children of the classic monsters—are Junior Monster Scouts. And even though ‘monster’ is their middle name, these funny fiends just want to help anybody in need, earn their Junior Monster Scout merit badges, and make friends. But, their good deeds are always foiled by Baron Von Grump, a cranky schemer who doesn’t like noise, doesn’t like kids, and most of all doesn’t like the Junior Monster Scouts. Peter Piper’s kitten Shadow is lost deep in The Gloomy Forest, and the Scouts want to help their new friend. But today is also the Village Cheese Festival and all of the celebrating has Baron Von Grump at wits’ end. How can he play his violin in peace if the villagers are making such a racket? He hatches a cheesy plan that involves huge and hungry rats! Uh-oh! Can the Scouts save the cats, the rats, and the day?

The year is 1912. The world is reeling from the worldwide Great Depression, which has left every nation on earth reeling financially. During this time, two camps of nations have risen to prominence. The nations of America, France, England, and Russia, despite the economic collapses, have managed to start to pull themselves out of the Great Depression. On the other side is the UMN, the United Monster Nations, comprised of Transylvania (home of the vampires), Luciansburg (home of the werewolves, or Lycans), Covenia (home of the Witches or Wiccans), and Decemus (home of the zombies, or the walking dead). Both groups of nations are weary of one another. The UMN is ruled over with an iron hand by Grand Chancellor Alucard, who has brought to an end the centuries-long war between the monster races and has had the monster clans united in their hatred of mankind. At the outset of our story, the UMN has been on a military buildup for more than ten years now and is planning a massed military assault against the human nations listed above for control of the Earth. Though they preach for peace with America, this is just a clever ruse by Lord Alucard to buy his nations more time to prepare for war. One can only imagine the horrors of a conventional war. Gone are the days of lining up soldiers and having them simply walk into oncoming fire. This is a new century with new ways of warfare. A conventional war could mean the deaths of countless millions of lives, both monster and human.

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR GENERAL NON-FICTON ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEWS' 10 BEST BOOKS LONG-LISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST, CURRENT INTEREST CATEGORY, LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZES "Locking Up Our Own is an engaging, insightful, and provocative reexamination of over-incarceration in the black community. James Forman Jr. carefully exposes the complexities of crime, criminal justice, and race. What he illuminates should not be ignored." —Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative "A beautiful book, written so well, that gives us the origins and consequences of where we are . . . I can see why [the Pulitzer prize] was awarded." —Trevor Noah, The Daily Show Former public defender James Forman, Jr. is a leading critic of mass incarceration and its disproportionate impact on people of color. In Locking Up Our Own, he seeks to understand the war on crime that began in the 1970s and why it was supported by many African American leaders in the nation’s urban centers. Forman shows us that the first substantial cohort of black mayors, judges, and police chiefs took office amid a surge in crime and drug addiction. Many prominent black officials, including Washington, D.C. mayor Marion Barry and federal prosecutor Eric Holder, feared that the gains of the civil rights movement were being undermined by lawlessness—and thus embraced tough-on-crime measures, including longer sentences and aggressive police tactics. In the face of skyrocketing murder rates and the proliferation of open-air drug markets, they believed they had no choice. But the policies they adopted would have devastating consequences for residents of poor black neighborhoods. A former D.C. public defender, Forman tells riveting stories of politicians, community activists, police officers, defendants, and crime victims. He writes with compassion about individuals trapped in terrible dilemmas—from the men and women he represented in court to officials struggling to respond to a public safety emergency. Locking Up Our Own enriches our understanding of why our society became so punitive and offers important lessons to anyone concerned about the future of race and the criminal justice system in this country.

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