For many in Canada, the April 18, 2002 tragedy with Alpha Company signaled the true beginning of Canada's lengthy combat mission in Afghanistan. This story recounts what happened that evening through archival material and the recollections of troops.

Based on a Navy SEAL's inspiring graduation speech, this #1 New York Times bestseller of powerful life lessons "should be read by every leader in America" (Wall Street Journal). If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. On May 17, 2014, Admiral William H. McRaven addressed the graduating class of the University of Texas at Austin on their Commencement day. Taking inspiration from the university's slogan, "What starts here changes the world," he shared the ten principles he learned during Navy Seal training that helped him overcome challenges not only in his training and long Naval career, but also throughout his life; and he explained how anyone can use these basic lessons to change themselves-and the world-for the better. Admiral McRaven's original speech went viral with over 10 million views. Building on the core tenets laid out in his speech, McRaven now recounts tales from his own life and from those of people he encountered during his military service who dealt with hardship and made tough decisions with determination, compassion, honor, and courage. Told with great humility and optimism, this timeless book provides simple wisdom, practical advice, and words of encouragement that will inspire readers to achieve more, even in life's darkest moments. "Powerful." --USA Today "Full of captivating personal anecdotes from inside the national security vault." --Washington Post "Superb, smart, and succinct." --Forbes

A beautifully illustrated version of the classic fairy tale about a tin soldier’s adventure and his love for a ballerina, retold with a twist. With her signature warmth and lyricism, Newbery winner Cynthia Rylant has crafted a new version of the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale about a tin soldier who falls in love with a ballerina. As in the original story, the tin soldier’s love for the beautiful ballerina is thwarted by a goblin. The tin soldier is separated from the other toys and washed down a sewer, where he encounters a rat and gets swallowed by a fish, but somehow, against all odds, he manages to end up back home only to be cast into the nursery fire. Rylant adds her own twist to the end of the tale, however, for in this version, the tin soldier and the ballerina are melded to each other, rather than melted, in the heat of the fire, so they’ll never be parted again. Rylant’s expert storytelling paired with Corace’s stunning illustrations create a beautiful, unforgettable tale of everlasting love. Praise for The Steadfast Tin Soldier “Gracefully written. . . . The book’s large format gives plenty of scope for Corace’s distinctive illustrations, precise ink drawings brightened with watercolor, gouache, and acrylic paints. Sometimes brilliantly colorful and sometimes more subdued, the scenes can be crowded with dozens of toys or other visual elements, but they show up well from a distance. The subtle depictions of the goblin and his shadow are particularly fine. A softened vision of the literary fairy tale.” —Booklist “Text and illustrations weave seamlessly to create an involving, fast-paced update of a much-loved tale. Rylant's retelling is abridged, yet sprightly, and Corace’s watercolor, gouache, acrylic, and pen-and-ink illustrations add nuance and whimsy to Andersen's original.” —School Library Journal

"James is a terrific reporter, and this account of the effort to shape our military to reflect left-wing social values rather than the priorities of readiness and capability is vital." —BEN SHAPIRO, bestselling author of The Right Side of History and host of The Ben Shapiro Show "Stand Down is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how progressives have forced radical changes on our military—no matter how much harm it does to combat readiness." — MOLLIE HEMINGWAY, bestselling coauthor of Justice on Trial "Stand Down exposes one of the greatest but least-discussed scandals of our era. Time and time again, the Obama administration undermined the military to advance left-wing political goals — and Hasson brings the goods to prove it. Every patriotic American who cares about the military needs to read this book." — BUCK SEXTON, Former CIA Counterterrorism Officer, Host of The Buck Sexton Show "James Hasson makes a powerful and convincing case in this exceptionally well-written book. Stand Down is a scathing indictment of the Obama administration’s misuse of the military as a vehicle for progressive social change at the expense of men and women in uniform." —SEAN PARNELL, Army combat veteran and New York Times bestselling author of Outlaw Platoon “Safe space” stickers on office doors at the Naval Academy. Officers apologizing for “microaggressions” against Air Force cadets. An Army “gender integration study” urging an end to “hyper-masculinity” in combat-arms units. Power Point presentations teaching commanders about “male pregnancy.” A cover-up, as senior officials placed their thumbs on the scales to ensure the success of the first female candidates at the Army’s legendary Ranger School. These are just a few of the examples documented in this explosive book, Stand Down: How Social Justice Warriors are Sabotaging the U.S. Military by former Army Captain, Afghanistan veteran, and attorney James Hasson. Hasson exposes the relentless campaign by powerful Obama administration ideologues to remake the culture and policies of the U.S. military, even over the explicit objections of military leaders. He presents evidence—drawn from government documents and exclusive interviews with more than forty sources, including high-ranking officers and Pentagon insiders—that progressive activists in the Obama Administration used the U.S. Military as their preferred vehicle to advance the progressive agenda. The stories paint a troubling picture of what happens when leftwing political operatives impose a political agenda on our nation’s military: they render our forces less effective, place our military men and women in greater danger, and compromise the military’s sole objective: to protect America by winning the nation’s wars. “Military readiness” is a term politicians and pundits often use in the abstract to describe our military’s ability to defeat its adversaries. But it ultimately describes how well we have prepared and equipped a young soldier or sailor to prevail over an enemy determined to do them harm. Hasson makes a compelling case that our nation has a moral obligation to ensure that the sons and daughters it sends to war have the best possible chance of victory—which means we must embrace only the policies that help us win wars and reject those that don’t. Political agendas of any kind invite corruption, jeopardize lives, and undermine the mission. They have no place in military policy—a principle that the Obama administration either disdained or failed to understand.

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This National Book Award nominee from two-time finalist Patricia McCormick is the unforgettable story of Arn Chorn-Pond, who defied the odds to survive the Cambodian genocide of 1975-1979 and the labor camps of the Khmer Rouge. Based on the true story of Cambodian advocate Arn Chorn-Pond, and authentically told from his point of view as a young boy, this is an achingly raw and powerful historical novel about a child of war who becomes a man of peace. It includes an author's note and acknowledgments from Arn Chorn-Pond himself. When soldiers arrive in his hometown, Arn is just a normal little boy. But after the soldiers march the entire population into the countryside, his life is changed forever. Arn is separated from his family and assigned to a labor camp: working in the rice paddies under a blazing sun, he sees the other children dying before his eyes. One day, the soldiers ask if any of the kids can play an instrument. Arn's never played a note in his life, but he volunteers. This decision will save his life, but it will pull him into the very center of what we know today as the Killing Fields. And just as the country is about to be liberated, Arn is handed a gun and forced to become a soldier. Supports the Common Core State Standards.