The Thirsty Dragon is a fantasy poem, initially seen through the eyes of a young boy who imagines himself to be on a knight's quest but then finds himself faced with the reason for his adventure! The subsequent tale reveals another story altogether and then concludes by asking the reader about the moral, with a surprising recommendation! Would you agree? For better understanding of the poem, there is an appendix included, which gives definitions, explanations, and points for further discussion. It is hoped that Elementary or Middle school teachers, homeschooler parents, tutors, or students themselves can use these developmental notes as a springboard to further subjects or explorations.

An inside view of China's quest to become a global wine power and Bordeaux's attempt to master the thirsty dragon it helped create The wine merchants of Bordeaux and the rising entrepreneurs of China would seem to have little in common—Old Europe versus New China, tradition versus disruption, loyalty versus efficiency. And yet these two communities have found their destinies intertwined in the conquest of new markets, as Suzanne Mustacich shows in this provocative account of how China is reshaping the French wine business and how Bordeaux is making its mark on China. Thirsty Dragon lays bare the untold story of how an influx of Chinese money rescued France's most venerable wine region from economic collapse, and how the result was a series of misunderstandings and crises that threatened the delicate infrastructure of Bordeaux's insular wine trade. The Bordelais and the Chinese do business according to different and often incompatible sets of rules, and Mustacich uncovers the competing agendas and little-known actors who are transforming the economics and culture of Bordeaux, even as its wines are finding new markets—and ever higher prices—in Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong, with Hong Kong and London traders playing a pivotal role. At once a tale of business skullduggery and fierce cultural clashes, adventure, and ambition, Thirsty Dragon offers a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges facing the world's most famous and prestigious wines.

A century ago, the battle royale between the Heroes 3 and the First Dragon, Kriemhild the Terrible unleashed a tide of fiery monstrosities upon our unassuming world! Now, this infernal threat emerges once more, but not if the determined defenders of the Dragonfort have anything to do with it! Emerging amidst an ongoing war between man and beast, read on as rambunctious Rain, swotty Sean, and stalwart Stone take their first steps towards greatness under Wizard D'Vinci's bleary gaze! Gird yourselves, it's gonna be a bumpy ride as our hapless heroes venture WHERE DRAGONS DWELL!

When a hometown girl is brutally murdered, Detective Scott Aylward vows to bring a killer to justice. His focus on the case further damages his failing marriage and reinforces the knowledge that he always fails those who matter most--his parents, his boss, his wife, but most of all the victims who expect him to bring them justice. His search for the killer takes him back to his roots and crosses his path with the missing piece of the puzzle. When the shocking truth is finally revealed, he finds himself unarmed and face to face with the killer. This time, failing might cost him his life.

To become king, Auron must defeat his greatest enemy. As a descendant of the legendary King Eric Garland, savior of Hydor, Auron stands with his father on the precipice of the Garland Kingdom’s greatest and final victory over the Magi Rebellion. Once a great ally of humanity, the magi have fallen into darkness and madness. With the glory of their goddess guiding them to victory, they will finally achieve everlasting peace. At least, that's what his father says. But Auron knows the truth. There is no goddess. The magi do not fall so easily. He is capable of far more than his father or his advisors say. Most importantly, those who oppose him and the kingdom the most lie not on the battlefield. They reside within his own castle walls--maybe even within his own soul.

Join journalist Devi Lockwood on this “monumental achievement” (Richard Moor, bestselling author of On Trails) as she bikes around the world collecting personal stories about how flood, fire, drought, and rising seas are changing communities. It’s official: apocalyptic climate predictions finally came true. Catastrophic wildfires, relentless hurricanes, melting permafrost, and coastal flooding have given us a taste of what some communities have already been living with for far too long. Yet, we don’t often hear the voices of the people most affected. Journalist Devi Lockwood set out to change that. In 1,001 Voices on Climate Change, Lockwood travels the world, often by bicycle, collecting first-person accounts of climate change. She frequently carried with her a simple carboard sign reading, “Tell me a story about climate change.” Over five years, covering twenty countries across six continents, Lockwood hears from indigenous elders and youth in Fiji and Tuvalu about drought and disappearing coastlines, attends the UN climate conference in Morocco, and bikes the length of New Zealand and Australia, interviewing the people she meets about retreating glaciers, contaminated rivers, and wildfires. She rides through Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia to listen to marionette puppeteers and novice Buddhist monks. From Denmark and Sweden to China, Turkey, the Canadian Artic, and the Peruvian Amazon, she finds that ordinary people sharing their stories foes far more to advance understanding and empathy than even the most alarming statistics and studies. This “luminous book” (Deborah Blum, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Poison Squad and The Poisoner’s Handbook) is a hopeful global listening tour for climate change, channeling the urgency of those who have already glimpsed the future to help us avoid the worst.

Tibetans have experienced waves of genocide since the 1950s. Now they are facing ecocide. The Himalayan snowcaps are in meltdown mode, due to climate change—accelerated by a rain of black soot from massive burning of coal and other fuels in both China and India. The mighty rivers of Tibet are being dammed by Chinese engineering consortiums to feed the mainland's thirst for power, and the land is being relentlessly mined in search of minerals to feed China's industrial complex. On the drawing board are plans for a massive engineering project to divert water from Eastern Tibet to water-starved Northern China. Ruthless Chinese repression leaves Tibetans powerless to stop the reckless destruction of their sacred land, but they are not the only victims of this campaign: the nations downstream from Tibet rely heavily on rivers sourced in Tibet for water supply, and for rich silt used in agriculture. This destruction of the region's environment has been happening with little scrutiny until now. In Meltdown in Tibet, Michael Buckley turns the spotlight on the darkest side of China's emergence as a global super power.