In the vast emptiness of space lies in limbo a semismall planet. The planet is peaceful and quiet. Evil forces, though, has a different plan for this planet. The planet is enchanted by a six-shard crystal. This ordinary-looking crystal could form two more shards if needed. The crystal is protected by mystical beings known as the Intercessor Watchers. The Watchers are powerful, but there are only five of them to protect this rare crystal. The Watchers could feel that one day something or someone would try to steal the crystal. They also know that whoever steals it will use it for their own purpose. For generations, they have protected the crystal by sending it through portals and time. They would then follow it and replace it safely somewhere else. Never has the crystal had to protect itself by scattering all the shards to different places to hide itself from evil. Now in the far-off reaches of space, a very powerful villain lurks to capture the crystal. The villain known as Master Sensea seeks a galaxy to conquer. To do this, he needs the crystal for its powers. On the planet, the five are not worried about anything happening. One of the Watchers fears that something is wrong and knew they should have been worried.

Dashing detective Mr. Penguin and his Adventuring gang are in for a wild ride after they crash-land on a snow-drenched mountain. From Alex T. Smith's delightfully illustrated, mystery-detective series. After escaping a plane wreckage unscathed, Mr. Penguin and his kung fu spider sidekick, discover strange noises coming from an old, ruined fortress nearby. New friends, twins Dieter and Liesel, are convinced it's related to the pets in their village going missing. When one of Mr. Penguin's pals disappears in the middle of the night, the gang leaps into action and unveils an evil hypnotist's plan to take over the world. Can Mr. Penguin foil this perilous plot and get home in time for a fish finger sandwich? Alex T. Smith's Mr. Penguin is a page-turning, illustrated middle grade series that is sure to thrill young readers looking for a good adventure and major laughs. Two color illustrations throughout.

Scientist Charles Darwin discretely opened the possibility of a purely animalistic origin for the human species. He repeatedly insisted that the differences between humans and others were a question of degree only. Sciences were, however, taken in the opposite direction, where these differences cannot have been generated by the natural processes of biological evolution. In The Animal in the Secret World of Darwin, author Michel Bergeron discuses the effects on the sciences caused by the presence of questions on humanity only answerable with religious beliefs. His investigation suggests that significant elements of perceived humanity have remained sufficiently narrowly defined to continue to agree with religious beliefs over the entire period starting with the scientific revolution centuries ago and reaching the present. Instead, he questions, could we be the simple animal who can only live on the belief not to be a simple animal? To alleviate these biases on the sciences of life, Bergeron advocates a different synthesis between Darwinism and Lamarckism. He further asks: How can sciences pretend to a cosmology neutral in term of religious influence since all of its complex mathematical developments were made under the constraint that we can link the present directly to the Big Bang?

The mysterious dog showed up at Jax's door just when she needed an adventure. But adventure sometimes brings trouble -- and dangers that even a great dog can't help you escape. In the Catskill Mountains, mystery is waiting . . . .Just when she needs it most, a little excitement comes to Jax's mountain. First, a beautiful, giant dog stops at her door. Even though he has no collar, the Tibetan mastiff doesn't act like a stray -- and he seems to want to stay with Jax. Then lights appear in the old, abandoned monastery up the mountain. The mastiff, who likes being called Mo-Mo, leads Jax to the mountaintop. There she meets a boy her age, Yeshi, who has come all the way from Tibet with his teacher to open the abandoned building -- and to search for a long-lost statue, possibly hidden away in the monastery. But someone else is searching for the statue, too, and when Jax's adventure turns dangerous, she'll have to count on her new friend, and the mysterious dog that's found her, to get her back down the mountain safely.

French Huguenots made enormous contributions to the life and culture of colonial New York during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Huguenot craftsmen were the city's most successful artisans, turning out unrivaled works of furniture which were distinguished by unique designs and arcane details. More than just decorative flourishes, however, the visual language employed by Huguenot artisans reflected a distinct belief system shaped during the religious wars of sixteenth-century France. In Fortress of the Soul, historian Neil Kamil traces the Huguenots' journey to New York from the Aunis-Saintonge region of southwestern France. There, in the sixteenth century, artisans had created a subterranean culture of clandestine workshops and meeting places inspired by the teachings of Bernard Palissy, a potter, alchemist, and philosopher who rejected the communal, militaristic ideology of the Huguenot majority which was centered in the walled city of La Rochelle. Palissy and his followers instead embraced a more fluid, portable, and discrete religious identity that encouraged members to practice their beliefs in secret while living safely—even prospering—as artisans in hostile communities. And when these artisans first fled France for England and Holland, then left Europe for America, they carried with them both their skills and their doctrine of artisanal security. Drawing on significant archival research and fresh interpretations of Huguenot material culture, Kamil offers an exhaustive and sophisticated study of the complex worldview of the Huguenot community. From the function of sacred violence and alchemy in the visual language of Huguenot artisans, to the impact among Protestants everywhere of the destruction of La Rochelle in 1628, to the ways in which New York's Huguenots interacted with each other and with other communities of religious dissenters and refugees, Fortress of the Soul brilliantly places American colonial history and material life firmly within the larger context of the early modern Atlantic world.

Traces a dog through various incarnations, including a tough stray, a working dog, and a family pet, as he learns what he must in each life.