In the Alskad Empire, nearly all are born with a twin, two halves to form one whole... yet some face the world alone. The singleborn.

“Two fierce young people battle a fiery landscape and vicious foes in a race for freedom. I was glued to my seat!” —#1 New York Times bestselling author Tamora Pierce In the Alskad Empire, nearly all are born with a twin, two halves to form one whole…yet some face the world alone. The singleborn A rare few are singleborn in each generation, and therefore given the right to rule by the gods and goddesses. Bo Trousillion is one of these few, born into the royal line and destined to rule. Though he has been chosen to succeed his great-aunt, Queen Runa, as the leader of the Alskad Empire, Bo has never felt equal to the grand future before him. The diminished When one twin dies, the other usually follows, unable to face the world without their other half. Those who survive are considered diminished, doomed to succumb to the violent grief that inevitably destroys everyone whose twin has died. Such is the fate of Vi Abernathy, whose twin sister died in infancy. Raised by the anchorites of the temple after her family cast her off, Vi has spent her whole life scheming for a way to escape and live out what’s left of her life in peace. As their sixteenth birthdays approach, Bo and Vi face very different futures—one a life of luxury as the heir to the throne, the other years of backbreaking work as a temple servant. But a long-held secret and the fate of the empire are destined to bring them together in a way they never could have imagined. “With a splash of swoony romance and a thrilling conclusion, readers will be clamoring for the sequel.” —Zoraida Córdova, award-winning author of Labyrinth Lost and The Vicious Deep trilogy “Bo and Vi are fierce, complex characters, and I couldn’t devour their story fast enough!” —Amy Tintera, New York Times bestselling author of Ruined “This daring novel challenges the status quo beautifully.” —Natalie C. Parker, author of Beware the Wild

Who is behind the disappearance of an auditor's daughter during Christmas week. Why are reprehensible shady characters operating charities in desolate places. Murder lies at the end of a CPA's investigation of people helping poor African Americans resulting in his losing all that is important to him.

Pundits and social observers have voiced alarm each year as fewer Americans involve themselves in voluntary groups that meet regularly. Thousands of nonprofit groups have been launched in recent times, but most are run by professionals who lobby Congress or deliver social services to clients. What will happen to U.S. democracy if participatory groups and social movements wither, while civic involvement becomes one more occupation rather than every citizens right and duty? In Diminished Democracy, Theda Skocpol shows that this decline in public involvement has not always been the case in this countryand how, by understanding the causes of this change, we might reverse it.

Meaning Diminished examines the complex relationship between semantic analysis and metaphysical inquiry. Kenneth A. Taylor argues that we should expect linguistic and conceptual analysis of natural language to yield far less metaphysical insight into what there is - and the nature of what there is - than many philosophers have imagined. Taking a strong stand against the so-called linguistic turn in philosophy, Taylor contends that philosophers as diverse as Kant, with his Transcendental Idealism, Frege, with his aspirational Platonism, Carnap with his distinction between internal and external questions, and Strawson, with his descriptive metaphysics, have placed too much confidence in the ability of linguistic and conceptual analysis to achieve deep insight into matters of ultimate metaphysics. He urges philosophers who seek such insight to turn away from the interrogation of language and concepts and back to the more direct interrogation of reality itself. In doing so, he maps out the way forward toward a metaphysically modest semantics, in which semantics carries less weighty metaphysical burdens, and toward a revisionary and naturalistic metaphysics, untethered to the a priori analysis of ordinary language.

This long awaited 104 page book is the defining treatise on the diminished scale. It explains everything you need to know about this versatile scale and how / where to use it in your solos. Includes 12 exercises, 6 common patterns, and 4 classic diminished licks over ii/V7/I tracks aligned to Jamey's popular Volume 3 play-along (sold separately). Also included are 12 etudes, many based on standards, that demonstrate how and where to place diminished scale ideas in the changes.