The second installment in acclaimed author Barry Lyga's Archvillain series! Things haven't been going well for Kyle since Mighty Mike became the new town hero. He's pretty sure he could fix this disaster if he could expose Mike's secret (he's an alien), but to do that Kyle would have to admit he is the Azure Avenger-the unintentional town archvillain. One night a new masked hero, aptly named the Mad Mask, arrives, boasting to the Azure Avenger of an off-the-charts IQ and superior superpowers. Yet the Mad Mask has come seeking intellectual assistance in building Ultitron (the robot of all robots). In exchange he offers to allow the Azure Avenger use of the awesome Ultitron to rid the world, or at least Bouring, of Mighty Mike. Forging alliances isn't usually Kyle's style, but it seems he has no choice. While Kyle agrees to help, he also has another plan: finding out who the Mad Mask is and how he got his powers. Because the last thing the Azure Avenger needs is another mindless archvillain hanging around town!

Deena Harrison was one of Leighford High School's 'characters'. She set fire to the toilet block when she was eleven, and threw Ollie Wendell down the science lab stairs soon after her twelfth birthday. But she had the voice of an angel and could act the skin off a rice pudding, so Mr Diamond, the headteacher, invoked all sorts of inclusion clauses and EU Equal Opportunities initiatives to keep her on. The autumn she came down from Oxford, there was something of a crisis in the drama department at Leighford High. Mrs Carmichael was in danger of losing her baby and the Little Shop of Horrors was in danger of closing down. So Deena came back - just to help out. And people started dying. Oh, just tragic accidents of course - loose cables, carelessly placed ladders. Just minor health and safety issues, really. Somebody was killing the company, and it wasn't Audrey II, the man-eating plant. DCI Henry Hall got to know the Arquebus Theatre quite well that summer. With his favourite DS, Jacquie Carpenter, expecting her own baby, and with murder treading the boards, Hall had his hands full. Especially when Deena's old Head of Sixth Form stumbled into the spotlight. You see, Deena's old Head of Sixth Form had a habit of solving murders...Mad Max is once again on his bike.

Stay safe and stay calm. A New York University microbiologist gives you the knowledge you need to protect yourself from COVID-19 and other common infectious diseases. With the spread of COVID-19, the world has never felt less safe. And with so much advice out there, it's hard to know whether you're taking the right precautions to stay safe. Don't panic: there are simple steps you can take to best protect yourself from infection. Professor of microbiology and pathology at NYU School of Medicine Dr. Philip M. Tierno Jr. cuts through the noise with to-the-point explanations, checklists, and best practices in this brief yet authoritative guide to protecting yourself from infectious diseases. First walking you through what germs are and how every infection happens, First, Wear a Face Mask offers calming, straightforward advice to address the ongoing spread of COVID-19 as well as the germs that imperil us every year. This practical approach will give you peace of mind as it helps you learn how to protect yourself in a variety of scenarios, from cooking at home to eating out, from your everyday commute to air travel. With tips and tidbits of history, he guides you through taking care of your home, kids, and pets. Dr. Tierno has more than 40 years of experience in the clinical and medical microbiology fields and recently appeared as an expert during the pandemic on CNN in conversation with Chris Cuomo and on Doctor Radio. And in this book, he distills his wide-ranging knowledge into actionable, digestible steps. Although there is no impenetrable shield to infection, there's a lot you can do to increase your odds of staying safe. Arm yourself with knowledge, keep calm and carry hand sanitizer.

The creator of the Forgotten Realms leads readers through a rollicking fantasy adventure and murder mystery set in the city of Waterdeep Revealed in death to have been Masked Lords, three more citizens had been murdered over the preceding day and night: the Sembian wine-seller and collector Oszbur Malankar; the half-elf sorceress and artisan Dathanscza Meiril; and the moneylender, landlord, and investor Ammasker Gwelt. All of Waterdeep now knew someone was killing the Lords of Waterdeep, one by one. Yet that was about where truth ended and speculation—however plausible—began. The broadsheets were full of wild conjecture. Who's behind this? The ousted Lord Neverember? The Zhentarim, the Cult of the Dragon or some other Outland Power? The Xanathar? Some cabal of guilds or nobles planning a coup? The rumors would rage on, whether the Open Lord Laeral Silverhand did something or not. That was the trouble with rumors; once loosed, they roamed free like snarling, untamed beasts, with no simple way of stopping them. And all rumors aside, Waterdeep has become . . . a City of Murderers. Death Masks is loosely connected to the Elminster series and Sage of Shadowdale series.

This book motivates you to look inside your mask and know that it is okay to cry, be sad, be mad, and love who you are thorough it all. We wear many masks to cover the flaws or imperfections we have, but there is always a mask that we still hide behind. There is always another face that we hide behind so others don’t see it. Just know that it is okay to love all of you—including the imperfections we try to hide from. This is to inspire you to embrace the real you and to be strong through all things with poetry.

Critically acclaimed author Barry Lyga's middle-grade debut ARCHVILLAIN now in paperback!Kyle Camden knows exactly where he was the night Mighty Mike arrived: sneaking around the fallow field behind Bouring Middle School, preparing one of his most ingenious pranks yet.Which is why he couldn't tell anyone where he was. Or what he saw.Those lights everyone saw in the sky weren't tiny meteors burning up in the atmosphere. They were some kind of strange, supercooled plasma that bathed the entire field -- including Kyle -- in alien energies.Unfortunately, the energies also brought Mighty Mike to Earth. Kyle is the only one who knows that Mighty Mike is an alien. Everyone else thinks that Mike is just some kid who stumbled into the field, got beefed up on meteor juice, lost his memory, and decided to start rescuing kittens from trees. But Kyle knows the truth. And he'll do anything in his power to stop Mighty Mike, even if it means being an Archvillain!