"If you could only choose one kind of life, what would you choose?" Pearson asked. "One with quills living like every other porcupine or one that's trailblazing a new path in the vast wilderness?" Mattie, the first porcupine born without any spines, is banished from her clan for being different. She's quickly picked up by the circus due to her commercial potential. At first, she loves the attention, but soon an emptiness grows deep within. That's when Pearson convinces her they belong in the wilderness instead of being enslaved under a ringmaster's control. Will her heartache finally end by escaping from the golden prison of performing, producing, and perfecting? Follow Mattie and Pearson's fantastical journey as they face their painful pasts only to discover their differences are their superpowers. It's an unforgettably rare story that speaks to every age because it's about what we all desire: to feel comfortable in our own skin.

Kenya settlers, of European extraction, performed enthusiastically in a variety of roles in the Emergency Forces: Serving in Kenya Regiment companies; serving as patrol commanders attached to the Kings African Rifles with African troops, and with British regiments as guides, tracker handlers and advisers; as District Officers with the Kikuyu Guard as leaders and instructors in military skills; as pseudo Mau-Mau terrorists; as policemen; as pilots with the Kenya Police Air Wing; as criminal investigation and intelligence officers. They participated with good humor and enthusiasm at all levels and gave their expertise freely. Many were extraordinarily effective and many served in isolation from their superior officers, who relied on their initiative. Generally, the Kenya Regiment personnel received the cooperation of the local African populace, who accepted them as disciplined, reliable troops, keen to rid the country of the scourge of terrorism. There was a mutual respect between the Africans and the settler soldiers and their cooperation in anti-terrorist operations strengthened the bonds of comradeship and widened understanding between the races. After eighteen months military service as a patrol commander in the field I had gained special skills. The Mau-Mau terrorists had suffered heavy losses from desertions as well as casualties. The dwindling numbers of hard-core terrorists remaining in the forests had to be hunted down and this necessitated increased hunting skills. I had learned tracking skill from Ngalu, but there were areas where my knowledge was weak. I was pleased when I was sent to the Tracker School at Nanuki. The instructors had been picked from Kenya Regiment personnel whose civilian jobs were with the Game Department and the National Parks. I felt sure, under their instruction my skills would be augmented.

The definitive full-color field guide to Arctic wildlife The Arctic Guide presents the traveler and naturalist with a portable, authoritative guide to the flora and fauna of earth's northernmost region. Featuring superb color illustrations, this one-of-a-kind book covers the complete spectrum of wildlife—more than 800 species of plants, fishes, butterflies, birds, and mammals—that inhabit the Arctic’s polar deserts, tundra, taiga, sea ice, and oceans. It can be used anywhere in the entire Holarctic region, including Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, Siberia, the Russian Far East, islands of the Bering Sea, Alaska, the Canadian Arctic, and Greenland. Detailed species accounts describe key identification features, size, habitat, range, scientific name, and the unique characteristics that enable these organisms to survive in the extreme conditions of the Far North. A color distribution map accompanies each species account, and alternative names in German, French, Norwegian, Russian, Inuit, and Inupiaq are also provided. Features superb color plates that allow for quick identification of more than 800 species of plants, fishes, butterflies, birds, and mammals Includes detailed species accounts and color distribution maps Covers the flora and fauna of the entire Arctic region

Encyclopedic in its coverage, this one-of-a-kind reference is ideal for students, scholars, and others who need reliable, up-to-date information on folk and fairy tales, past and present. Folktales and fairy tales have long played an important role in cultures around the world. They pass customs and lore from generation to generation, provide insights into the peoples who created them, and offer inspiration to creative artists working in media that now include television, film, manga, photography, and computer games. This second, expanded edition of an award-winning reference will help students and teachers as well as storytellers, writers, and creative artists delve into this enchanting world and keep pace with its past and its many new facets. Alphabetically organized and global in scope, the work is the only multivolume reference in English to offer encyclopedic coverage of this subject matter. The four-volume collection covers national, cultural, regional, and linguistic traditions from around the world as well as motifs, themes, characters, and tale types. Writers and illustrators are included as are filmmakers and composers—and, of course, the tales themselves. The expert entries within volumes 1 through 3 are based on the latest research and developments while the contents of volume 4 comprises tales and texts. While most books either present readers with tales from certain countries or cultures or with thematic entries, this encyclopedia stands alone in that it does both, making it a truly unique, one-stop resource.

Set in India and South Africa, The Wedding joins Ismet Nassin, a clerk of modest prospects from Bombay, and Khateja, a village beauty he marries on the very day he spies her from the window of his train. Matrimony happens fast, love lags behind. Khateja is willful, difficult, and misanthropic—in short, highly desirable. Ismet is in for the battle of his life. Based upon the story of his grandparents and his own upbringing in Durban, South Africa, Imraan Coovadia has written a brilliantly funny and tender first novel—an alternately poignant and hilarious story about the choices we make and the homes that we build. The Wedding is a witty and wonderful subcontinental The Taming of the Shrew.

Empire, the fourth novel in Gore Vidal's monumental six-volume chronicle of the American past, is his prodigiously detailed portrait of the United States at the dawn of the twentieth century as it begins to emerge as a world power. ------While America struggles to define its destiny, beautiful and ambitious Caroline Sanford fights to control her own fate. One of Vidal's most in-spired creations, she is an embodiment of the complex, vigorous young nation. From the back offices of her Washington newspaper, Caroline confronts the two men who threaten to thwart her ambition: William Randolph Hearst and his protégé, Blaise Sanford, Caroline's half brother. In their struggles for power the lives of brother and sister become intertwined with those of Presidents McKinley and Roosevelt, as well as Astors, Vanderbilts, and Whitneys--all incarnations of America's Gilded Age. ------"Mr. Vidal demonstrates a political imagination and insider's sagacity equaled by no other practicing fiction writer," said The New York Times Book Review. "Like the earlier novels in his historical cycle, Empire is a wonderfully vivid documentary drama." ------With a new Introduction by the author.