Damon looks like an ordinary kid . . . but he's not. He has one thing ordinary kids do not: a power. Ordinary kids have something powered kids do not: freedom.Damon lives in the district, where kids can use their powers freely only if they join special clubs. But getting into such a club isn't easy. First, his power must be good enough to get in. Then he has to obey their rules. Then he learns that the district allows club members to do anything they want . . . except be heroes.Damon wants to be a hero anyway.

Damon couldn’t wait to start the eighth grade: being in the top grade of the district school, getting to be a crossing guard, and seeing old friends. But at the new school, eighth grade is the lowest grade, there are no crossing guards, and old friends move on. Worse, Damon’s power to control darkness keeps turning itself on and off. Even worse, two former members of The Power Club start a new club—without him. But things at the new school aren’t what they seem. A menacing shapechanger and a friendly werewolf complicate matters as Damon learns of a plot to send his friends away for good and start a war with “ords.” Will his new club—The Secret Club—be enough to prevent a war?

This book explores the military strategies of the five system-determining great powers during the twenty-first century. The book’s point of departure is that analyses of countries’ defence strategies should acknowledge that states come in various shapes and sizes and that their strategic choices are affected by their perceptions of their position in the international system and by power asymmetries between more and less resourceful states. This creates a diversity in strategies that is often overlooked in theoretically oriented analyses. The book examines how five major powers – the United States, China, the United Kingdom, France and Russia – have adjusted their strategies to improve or maintain their relative position and to manage power asymmetries during the twenty-first century. It also develops and applies an analytical framework for exploring and categorising the strategies pursued by the five major powers which combines elements of structural realism with research on power transition theory and status competition. The concluding chapter addresses questions related to stability and change in the present international system. This book will be of interest to students of strategic studies, foreign policy, and International Relations.

Planning and Design of Information Systems provides a theoretical base and a practical method of executing the planning of computerized information systems, and the planning and design of individual applications. The book is organized into five parts, covering the non-technical and nonimplementational part of information systems planning, design, and development. Part I gives the theoretical base for the subsequent parts of the book. It discusses modeling, techniques, notations, boundaries, quality issues and aspects, and decomposition techniques and problems. Part II discusses the needs, problems, and possible solutions for user participation. It describes user organizations, in respect of culture; maturity in the use of automation and computers; and gives a synthesis of participation, cultures, maturity, and information systems development techniques. Part III describes how to develop an Information Systems Architecture, an Information Systems Plan, and a Data Architecture. Part IV presents a structured, programmed approach to planning an application in a short period while maintaining high quality, and discusses project management of application development. Part V covers information analysis, data specification and conceptual data base design, and process and dialog design.