In his new book, popular author Patrick Shannon examines reading as agency—why reading critically is essential to civic engagement and a healthy democracy. We follow the author on a journey of self discovery as he practices ''wide-awake reading'' with a variety of everyday texts, from radio programs to legal documents to more traditional books and magazines. Shannon demonstrates how we can and must engage in close reading of the world around us and how teachers, in turn, can help their students make meaning from the information in their lives that often appears to move at warp speed. Reading Wide Awake integrates personal stories, political commentary, and guidance for educators into an engaging, fun-to-read book that will resonate with a diverse audience of teachers.

Wake Up to the world around you. Wide Awake: Thinking, Reading, and Writing Critically with MyWritingLab asks students to develop awareness of the world around them and to determine how they will participate in that world. Readings invite students to challenge accepted notions about key topics, pose complex questions about the world around them, reflect on their own experiences, and apply ideas they are learning to their everyday lives. Deliberateness and choice are emphasized in the writing processes. Teaching and Learning Experience This program will provide a better teaching and learning experience for you and your students. Robust resources improve student writing and help instructors track results. MyWritingLab helps students measure how well they understand key concepts and faculty incorporate rubrics into assignments and analyze class performance. Instructional support helps students develop their own writing process. Eight short chapters on the writing process provide students with just enough advice without burdening them with long narratives of detail. Readings provide models for writing, material for response, and topics for research. 0321937597 / 9780321937599 Wide Awake, Books a la Carte Plus NEW MyWritingLab -- Access Card Package Package consists of 0321963806 / 9780321963802 Wide, Books a la Carte 0205869203 / 9780205869206 NEW MyWritingLab Generic -- Valuepack Access Card

Ten-year-old Joshua Beal struggles to find answers about life and God after his beloved grandfather dies. One day, he wakes up to find that while he has been impatiently awaiting a miracle, he has been quietly creating one. Major motion picture release from Miramax, starring Dana Delaney, Dennis Leary, Rosie O'Donnell, and Robert Loggia. 8-page color photo insert.

Now with exclusive bonus content from author David Levithan, the New York Times bestselling mind behind Every Day and Another Day. An emotional and politically charged novel that’s a must-read for turbulent times when the very democratic process itself is called into question and basic rights are at risk. In the not-too-impossible-to-imagine future, a gay Jewish man has been elected president of the United States. Until the governor of one state decides that some election results in his state are invalid, awarding crucial votes to the other candidate, and his fellow party member. Thus is the inspiration for couple Jimmy and Duncan to lend their support to their candidate by deciding to take part in the rallies and protests. Along the way comes an exploration of their relationship, their politics, and their country, and sometimes, as they learn, it's more about the journey than it is about reaching the destination. Only David Levithan could so masterfully and creatively weave together a plot that's both parts political action and reaction, as well as a touching and insightfully-drawn teen love story. A MARGARET A. EDWARDS AWARD WINNER

The alarm sounds. Your feet hit the floor and carry you into another day. But what does that day hold for you? Will you be punching your card at work, catching up on TV at home, and crashing into bed before you rinse and repeat the next day? Or will you dare to dig deep and discover the incredible potential lying dormant within us all? In Wide Awake, renowned speaker and church visionary Erwin Raphael McManus challenges us to put an end to all the sleepwalking and settling, for each of us was created by God for a reason. He has called you to live as Jesus did—a heroic life, void of monotony, teeming with danger, adventure, and the unknown. Living wide awake is about realizing that the world desperately needs you to live up to your potential. There is a future that needs to be created, and it is waiting for us all to wake up and get out of bed. The alarm has sounded, and it is time to shake off the slumber. It’s time to live, to create, to imagine, to dream . . . Wide Awake.

Julie Flygare was on an ambitious path to success, entering law school at age 22, when narcolepsy destroyed the neurological boundaries between dreaming and reality in her brain. She faced terrifying hallucinations, paralysis and excruciating sleepiness - aspects of dream sleep taking place while wide awake. Yet, narcolepsy was a wake-up call for Julie. Her illness propelled her onto a journey she never imagined - from lying paralyzed on her apartment floor to dancing euphorically at a nightclub; from the classrooms of Harvard Medical School to the start line of the Boston Marathon. Wide Awake and Dreaming is a revealing first-hand account of dreams gone wrong with narcolepsy. It's the brave story of one woman trampling over barriers and finding light in the darkest of circumstances.

Annie has helped her sister Gwendolyn (otherwise known as Sleeping Beauty) wake up from the 100-year curse by reuniting her with Prince Beldegard, so you'd think that things would be back to normal. Think again! The beloved prince is stuck in the body of a bear and the only way that Annie can be free of the two irritating lovebirds is to come to his rescue - she must find the evil dwarf who cast the spell, and quickly . . . Luckily, Annie has her own handsome prince to hand - and many tricks up her non-magical sleeve.