What happens when a snake swallows a skink to catch the tick that made her tummy hop and kick? Will she be sick?

This book reveals the natural history of the green anaconda, one of the most elusive of snakes.

"It has been said that, among the continents, South America will teach it to you: God and the Devil are the same; this last great reservoir of primordial wilderness is at once both Garden of Eden and green sweltering Hell." In the dead of a Chicago winter, a twenty-something middle-school biology teacher, Andie Easter, and six young colleagues, hatch a plan to spend their summer in Brazil, hoping to reverse their meager fortunes by joining a modern-day gold rush on a tributary of the mighty Amazon. Disoriented and increasingly isolated, the treasure hunters stray into the remote domain of three colossal snakes: daughter, mother, grandmother. One by one, under terrifying circumstances, the teachers fall victim to the devastating effects of gold fever and the relentless brutality of the primeval South American jungle. Andie Easter must discover her inner Amazon to avoid becoming prey for the Mother of All Snakes.

What do you do when your teacher assigns you ten pages of homework, a raptor swoops down and grabs you, and you suddenly find yourself all alone in the jungle about to be swallowed by a python? When you're Digby, the solution to every problem is in your backpack.

Green anacondas are the heaviest snakes in the world. Learn all about these amazing creatures, from their habits to their habitats. Includes a glossary and color photographs.

Award-winning combat journalist Sean Naylor reveals a firsthand account of the largest battle fought by American military forces in Afghanistan in an attempt to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban forces. At dawn on March 2, 2002, America's first major battle of the 21st century began. Over 200 soldiers of the 101st Airborne and 10th Mountain Division flew into Afghanistan's Shah-i-Kot Valley—and into the mouth of a buzz saw. They were about to pay a bloody price for strategic, high-level miscalculations that underestimated the enemy's strength and willingness to fight. Naylor, an eyewitness to the battle, details the failures of military intelligence and planning, while vividly portraying the astonishing heroism of these young, untested US soldiers. Denied the extra support with which they trained, these troops nevertheless proved their worth in brutal combat and prevented an American military disaster.