Bit by bit, stone by stone, Jathen is building a foundation on which will stand his mastery of his rare Ability. If he can survive a few lumps from his teacher, that is. As Jathen gains more confidence and skill, things seem to be going his way, except for a still-looming prophecy of doom. Seeing the future may be something a Talent like Jathen was born to do, but even Jathen’s most powerful teacher can only help so much in understanding what to do with those visions. Suddenly, the all-too-familiar rumbling beneath his feet begins, and disaster strikes. Has Jathen gained enough control to weather this storm of conflicting prophecies, evil schemes, and sundering earth? Can he piece together the real motivations behind this new attack, or will the truth, like him, get buried beneath a literal avalanche of ice and snow?

Twelve Ways create a thousand tangled paths. Hatched from an egg but unable to shift into dragon form, Jathen is a Moot among the Tazu. His rightful throne is forbidden him because of his transformative handicap, and neither his culture nor his religion offer acceptance of his perceived flaws. Driven by wounded anger, Jathen strikes out across the vast world beyond Tazu borders, desperate to find a place where he feels accepted and whole. Though he travels with the most trusted of companions, sabotage and conspiracy soon strike his quest. Jathen and his allies must struggle against man and magic alike, at the mercy of forces beyond their ken. As Jathen presses on, his questions of belonging are surrounded by more of identity, loyalty, and betrayal. Where will the path of his destiny lead, and will he follow or fall?

After a spell that went awry and the unexpected rescue of the notorious A'ron De'contes, Jathen finally has the answer to the question that has plagued him since his friends’ deaths: he is a Negater, one of the rarest, most precious of nontraditional Talents. But each new revelation regarding his new powers that breaks upon the shore only leaves him with more questions and newer frustrations. For whoever gets the Negater, gets the prize. Thrust into the limelight of Tar'citadel politics and Way Walker ambitions, for the first time, Jathen has a choice over his own destiny. Then, a new vision of doom warns that his choice has more dire consequences than he could have ever imagined. Will Jathen turn to the Ways to discover how to use his newfound Ability, or will he throw off their yoke? Can he discover the why and who behind the attempt on De'contes life? Every choice he makes could lead to success… or death.

A Caldecott Honor winner! Micha Archer's gorgeous, detailed collages give readers a fresh outlook on the splendors of nature. When two curious kids embark on a "wonder walk," they let their imaginations soar as they look at the world in a whole new light. They have thought-provoking questions for everything they see: Is the sun the world's light bulb? Is dirt the world's skin? Are rivers the earth's veins? Is the wind the world breathing? I wonder . . . Young readers will wonder too, as they ponder these gorgeous pages and make all kinds of new connections. What a wonderful world indeed!

Isabelle Storey's memoir of her 10-year marriage to Walker Evans. The story of an elegant young woman's infatuation with a great American artist - with the man himself, with what he stood for aesthetically and with his artistic and social circle and how her initial passion gradually cooled into disenchantment. In candid, poignant narrative, which draws on the couple's correspondence, Isabelle describes how their marriage grew more formal, cooler and eventually failed altogether as Isabelle felt compelled to move on.

Joseph Walker is born into slavery on a Tennessee cotton plantation in 1846, but his circumstances are mitigated by the fact that he lives in the bosom of a loving family, surrounded by a supportive slave community. That all changes when he is sold to Jackson Budreau, a Louisiana sugarcane farmer, at the age of nine. Joe's life becomes a living hell, marked by daily aggressions that scar his body and his soul. The advent of the Civil War provides Joe the opportunity to escape from his masters. Hungry for justice but lacking allies or resources, he joins the Union army and literally fights his way to freedom. After the war, Joe goes in search of his family and, after some trials, he reunites with his older brother, Amos. Together, they migrate west in search of the spoils of freedom, but Walker's violent past follows him like a dragging chain. Walker's Way follows Joe Walker's journey from slavery to freedom and self-determination. Along the way, he becomes a soldier, a settler, a cowboy, and a bounty hunter. Although a fictional account, Walker's Way reflects the real-life stories of thousands of enslaved people who were "set free" after the Civil War to pursue lives of uncertainty and deprivation. Their courage, stamina, and ingenuity have gone largely unchronicled in mainstream history books. It is important that we reclaim their stories and tell them again and again, lest we forget who they were and their vital role in shaping the American identity.

"These are the stories that came to me to be told after the close of a magical marriage to an extraordinary man that ended in a less-than-magical divorce. I found myself unmoored, unmated, ungrounded in a way that challenged everything I'd ever thought about human relationships. Situated squarely in that terrifying paradise called freedom, precipitously out on so many emotional limbs, it was as if I had been born; and in fact I was being reborn as the woman I was to become." So says Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker about her beautiful new book, in which "one of the best American writers today" (The Washington Post) gives us superb stories based on rich truths from her own experience. Imbued with Walker's wise philosophy and understanding of people, the spirit, sex and love, The Way Forward Is with a Broken Heart begins with a lyrical, autobiographical story of a marriage set in the violent and volatile Deep South during the early years of the civil rights movement. Walker goes on to imagine stories that grew out of the life following that marriage—a life, she writes, that was "marked by deep sea-changes and transitions." These provocative stories showcase Walker's hard-won knowledge of love of many kinds and of the relationships that shape our lives, as well as her infectious sense of humor and joy. Filled with wonder at the power of the life force and of the capacity of human beings to move through love and loss and healing to love again, The Way Forward Is with a Broken Heart is an enriching, passionate book by "a lavishly gifted writer" (The New York Times Book Review).