The first installment in Melissa McPhail's award-winning epic fantasy series, A Pattern of Shadow & Light

In this sequel to his first novel, Mission Into Light, Arizona writer Steve Hammons takes readers on a thought-provoking metaphysical adventure with the top secret "Joint Reconnaissance Study Group." This small Defense Department research group of ten women and men continue their intelligence investigation of unusual phenomena: UFOs, near-death experiences, ESP, dolphin intelligence, modern physics, Earth changes theories, deep DNA memory concepts, and Native American culture and legends. Other strange phenomena emerge and challenge the researchers, who travel from their San Diego base to the Four Corners area. Durango, Colorado and Flagstaff, Arizona, as well as the Arizona Sonoran Desert. The main characters, Mike Green and Air Force Captain Amy Mella, are deployed to the Navajo Nation in northeast Arizona after the National Security Agency reports a strange signal coming from deep space. The message is in Morse code, and in World War II Navajo CodeTalker. The dedicated researchers put together pieces of a cosmic puzzle just in the nick of time. Because strange and mysterious developments are underway. A sudden increase in crop circles, requests for safehouses on higher ground, and an ancient Cherokee legend are parts of this puzzle. A breakthrough occurs when a strange event and process kicks the researchers into high gear, and they act as a rapid response team to the site of a possible miracle. Or maybe these events and processes are just natural. Maybe Nature, Earth, and the Great Spirit are revealing phenomena the human race is finally ready to understand.

First American edition published in 1938 under the title: Culture.

This heartwarming picture book reassures children that a parent’s love never lets go—based on the poignant lyrics of JJ Heller’s beloved lullaby “Hand to Hold.” “May the living light inside you be the compass as you go / May you always know you have my hand to hold.” With delightful illustrations and an engaging rhyme scheme, this book offers the promise of security and love every child’s heart longs to know. From skipping stones and counting stars to climbing trees and telling stories, every moment is wrapped snugly in the certain warmth of a parent’s presence and God’s blessing. With poignancy and joy, this bedtime read captures the unconditional love parents want their children to know but so often fail to express amid the chaos of daily life.

Explains the concept of light and the light bulb, and how shadows are made.

"Cass arrives in London where she meets and is reunited with her long-lost lover, Quinn O'Boyle, who is wanted by both Interpol and the Russian mob. When Quinn then fails to show at their rendezvous point, Cass is fearful she'll be the next to disappear, and she goes on the run."--

An examination of the lingering effects of a hydroelectric power station on Pimicikamak sovereign territory in Manitoba, Canada. The child of South Asian migrants, Kazim Ali was born in London, lived as a child in the cities and small towns of Manitoba, and made a life in the United States. As a man passing through disparate homes, he has never felt he belonged to a place. And yet, one day, the celebrated poet and essayist finds himself thinking of the boreal forests and lush waterways of Jenpeg, a community thrown up around the building of a hydroelectric dam on the Nelson River, where he once lived for several years as a child. Does the town still exist, he wonders? Is the dam still operational? When Ali goes searching, however, he finds not news of Jenpeg, but of the local Pimicikamak community. Facing environmental destruction and broken promises from the Canadian government, they have evicted Manitoba’s electric utility from the dam on Cross Lake. In a place where water is an integral part of social and cultural life, the community demands accountability for the harm that the utility has caused. Troubled, Ali returns north, looking to understand his place in this story and eager to listen. Over the course of a week, he participates in community life, speaks with Elders and community members, and learns about the politics of the dam from Chief Cathy Merrick. He drinks tea with activists, eats corned beef hash with the Chief, and learns about the history of the dam, built on land that was never ceded, and Jenpeg, a town that now exists mostly in his memory. In building relationships with his former neighbors, Ali explores questions of land and power?and in remembering a lost connection to this place, finally finds a home he might belong to. Praise for Northern Light An Outside Magazine Favorite Book of 2021 A Book Riot Best Book of 2021 A Shelf Awareness Best Book of 2021 “Ali’s gift as a writer is the way he is able to present his story in a way that brings attention to the myriad issues facing Indigenous communities, from oil pipelines in the Dakotas to border walls running through Kumeyaay land.” —San Diego Union-Tribune “A world traveler, not always by choice, ponders the meaning and location of home. . . . A graceful, elegant account even when reporting on the hard truths of a little-known corner of the world.” —Kirkus Reviews “[Ali’s] experiences are relayed in sensitive, crystalline prose, documenting how Cross Lake residents are working to reinvent their town and rebuild their traditional beliefs, language, and relationships with the natural world. . . . Though these topics are complex, they are untangled in an elegant manner.” —Foreword Reviews (starred review)