An illustrated history of California writers, with extensive sections on Harte, Clemens, Miller, Bierce and the local periodicals and publishers. A considerable amount of the text is dedicated to women writers of California and the Women's Press Association

In The Mike File, Stephen Trimble grapples with his long-gone brother's life and death and looks behind doors he's barricaded in himself. His tender narrative grows from his quest to choose empathy and his refusal to let their mother's lifelong disinclination to talk about her grief and guilt render Mike's life invisible. Mike was a sweet kid but challenged in school. And then, in 1957, when "Stevie" was six and Mike 14, rage and psychosis overwhelmed Mike. His new diagnosis: paranoid schizophrenia, capable of violence. Their parents had no choice but to commit Mike to the Colorado State Hospital. He never lived at home again. Mike's heartrending life mirrored the history of our treatment of mental illness in America. He spent nine years in overcrowded Colorado mental institutions. When mainstreamed back to Denver, he rejected his family. Ten years later, he died alone in a boarding home, undiscovered for three days. The Denver media used his lonely death to expose these "ratholes" warehousing people with mental illness. Trimble closes by imagining a more hopeful vision of community care that could have eased Mike's life and granted the author a lifelong relationship with his big brother. Equal parts detective story, social history, journey of self-discovery, and compassionate and unsparing memorial to a family and a forgotten life, The Mike File will move every reader with a relative or friend touched by psychiatric illness or disability-a bond that embraces nearly everyone.

Now available in a deluxe keepsake edition! A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021) Run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with E. L. Konigsburg’s beloved classic and Newbery Medal­–winning novel From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. When Claudia decided to run away, she planned very carefully. She would be gone just long enough to teach her parents a lesson in Claudia appreciation. And she would go in comfort-she would live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She saved her money, and she invited her brother Jamie to go, mostly because be was a miser and would have money. Claudia was a good organizer and Jamie bad some ideas, too; so the two took up residence at the museum right on schedule. But once the fun of settling in was over, Claudia had two unexpected problems: She felt just the same, and she wanted to feel different; and she found a statue at the Museum so beautiful she could not go home until she bad discovered its maker, a question that baffled the experts, too. The former owner of the statue was Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Without her—well, without her, Claudia might never have found a way to go home.

Find out what really happens behind the scenes at Santa’s workshop in a Christmas countdown book that reveals the secrets of the North Pole! An unauthorized tell-all penned by an ousted South Pole elf with an X-mas ax to grind exposes what really goes on at the North Pole in the 24 days leading up to Christmas. This hilarious, day-by-day accounting pulls back the red velvet curtain to reveal the truth behind Santa’s Christmas “magic” and delivers laugh-out-loud fun for the whole family with activities for 24 days plus added surprises hidden throughout. COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS: Packed with activities and ideas for family fun for every day from December 1st to 24th HOLIDAY HUMOR: Filled with funny lines and silly scenes that will keep kids laughing throughout the lead-up to Christmas BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED: Vibrant illustrations bring the ideas—and Santa’s secrets—to life START A NEW TRADITION: The X-mas Files is sure to become a treasured family tradition year after year PERFECT PRESENT: A great gift for kids and families

'What does all this stuff about flying saucers amount to? What can it mean? What is the truth?' Winston Churchill, prime minister's personal minute, 28th July 1952 The UFO Files tells the story of over 100 years of UFO sightings, drawing on formerly secret government documents at the National Archives in London. Alongside extraordinary reports by ordinary people, it reveals details of official interest and investigations stretching back more than 80 years. In this remarkable book, fully updated for this second edition, David Clarke reveals an array of startling stories from possible UFO reports hidden among Met Office investigations of aerial phenomena in the 1920s to the conclusions of Project Condign, the secret British Intelligence UFO study completed in 2000. As well as covering Roswell and Britain's own Rendlesham Forest mystery, Clarke raids the records for dramatic stories of abductions and close encounters, ghost aircraft and crop circles, and UFO reports by both civilian aircrew and military personnel. Dramatic witness statements and interviews combine with rarely seen photographs, drawings and newly available documents to offer a unique guide to one of our most intriguing mysteries.

A plane crashes on a desert island and the only survivors, a group of schoolboys, assemble on the beach and wait to be rescued. By day they inhabit a land of bright fantastic birds and dark blue seas, but at night their dreams are haunted by the image of a terrifying beast. As the boys' delicate sense of order fades, so their childish dreams are transformed into something more primitive, and their behaviour starts to take on a murderous, savage significance. First published in 1954, Lord of the Flies is one of the most celebrated and widely read of modern classics. Now fully revised and updated, this educational edition includes chapter summaries, comprehension questions, discussion points, classroom activities, a biographical profile of Golding, historical context relevant to the novel and an essay on Lord of the Flies by William Golding entitled 'Fable'. Aimed at Key Stage 3 and 4 students, it also includes a section on literary theory for advanced or A-level students. The educational edition encourages original and independent thinking while guiding the student through the text - ideal for use in the classroom and at home.