Ollie's Odyssey

Ollie's Odyssey
Author: William Joyce
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2016-04-12
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 144247355X

In the secret realm of toys, there are many mysteries.

Seven Games: A Human History

Seven Games: A Human History
Author: Oliver Roeder
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2022-01-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 1324003782

A group biography of seven enduring and beloved games, and the story of why—and how—we play them. Checkers, backgammon, chess, and Go. Poker, Scrabble, and bridge. These seven games, ancient and modern, fascinate millions of people worldwide. In Seven Games, Oliver Roeder charts their origins and historical importance, the delightful arcana of their rules, and the ways their design makes them pleasurable. Roeder introduces thrilling competitors, such as evangelical minister Marion Tinsley, who across forty years lost only three games of checkers; Shusai, the Master, the last Go champion of imperial Japan, defending tradition against “modern rationalism”; and an IBM engineer who created a backgammon program so capable at self-learning that NASA used it on the space shuttle. He delves into the history and lore of each game: backgammon boards in ancient Egypt, the Indian origins of chess, how certain shells from a particular beach in Japan make the finest white Go stones. Beyond the cultural and personal stories, Roeder explores why games, seemingly trivial pastimes, speak so deeply to the human soul. He introduces an early philosopher of games, the aptly named Bernard Suits, and visits an Oxford cosmologist who has perfected a computer that can effectively play bridge, a game as complicated as human language itself. Throughout, Roeder tells the compelling story of how humans, pursuing scientific glory and competitive advantage, have invented AI programs better than any human player, and what that means for the games—and for us. Funny, fascinating, and profound, Seven Games is a story of obsession, psychology, history, and how play makes us human.

Sigh, Gone

Sigh, Gone
Author: Phuc Tran
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2020-04-21
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1250194725

For anyone who has ever felt like they don't belong, Sigh, Gone shares an irreverent, funny, and moving tale of displacement and assimilation woven together with poignant themes from beloved works of classic literature. In 1975, during the fall of Saigon, Phuc Tran immigrates to America along with his family. By sheer chance they land in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, a small town where the Trans struggle to assimilate into their new life. In this coming-of-age memoir told through the themes of great books such as The Metamorphosis, The Scarlet Letter, The Iliad, and more, Tran navigates the push and pull of finding and accepting himself despite the challenges of immigration, feelings of isolation, and teenage rebellion, all while attempting to meet the rigid expectations set by his immigrant parents. Appealing to fans of coming-of-age memoirs such as Fresh Off the Boat, Running with Scissors, or tales of assimilation like Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Displaced and The Refugees, Sigh, Gone explores one man’s bewildering experiences of abuse, racism, and tragedy and reveals redemption and connection in books and punk rock. Against the hairspray-and-synthesizer backdrop of the ‘80s, he finds solace and kinship in the wisdom of classic literature, and in the subculture of punk rock, he finds affirmation and echoes of his disaffection. In his journey for self-discovery Tran ultimately finds refuge and inspiration in the art that shapes—and ultimately saves—him.

E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core!

E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core!
Author: William Joyce
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 146
Release: 2012-02-21
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1442449918

Forget the bunny trail.…In this addition to the groundbreaking series from the legendary William Joyce, Guardian E. Astor Bunnymund is on the warpath. Pitch, the Nightmare King, and his Fearlings had been soundly driven back by Nicholas St. North and company in the first Guardians’ adventure. But now Pitch has disappeared completely—and out of sight does NOT make for out of mind. It seems certain that he’s plotting a particularly nefarious revenge, and the Guardians suspect he might have gone underground. But how can they find him there? Enter E. Aster Bunnymund, the only emissary of the fabled brotherhood of the Pookas—the league of philosophical warrior rabbits of imposing intellect and size. Highly skilled in martial arts (many of which he invented himself), Bunnymund is brilliant, logical, and a tunnel-digger extraordinaire. If the Guardians need paths near the Earth’s core, he’s their Pooka. He’s also armed with magnificent weapons of an oval-sort, and might just be able to help in the quest for the second piece of the Moonclipper. This second book in The Guardians series is about much more than fixing a few rotten eggs—it brings the Guardians one step closer to defeating Pitch!

Tools Students Need to Be Skillful Writers

Tools Students Need to Be Skillful Writers
Author: Phyllis Hostmeyer
Publisher: Corwin Press
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2012-10-23
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1452283486

Diagram no more—inspire all your student writers! Imagine leaving behind the drudgery of diagramming sentences. Imagine, instead, joyful writers who are capable of revising their work and writing effectively. By taking writing down to its basic building block—a solid sentence—and advancing from there, students will develop confidence, enjoy creating sentences, and ultimately empower each other as writers. Lessons for Grades 3-12 include: A variety of sentence patterns presented in a logical sequence An explanation of each pattern′s structure and conventions Reinforcement activities and sample sentences for each pattern Activities to develop the necessary instructional vocabulary As students become engaged in the process, they will work toward: Meeting the Common Core State Standards for Language Arts Understanding and using basic sentence structures Recognizing what makes a sentence effective Learning to put sentences together to write effective paragraphs This indispensable handbook serves as a blueprint for instruction and unit development by emphasizing the end goal: preparing students to be effective writers. Along the way, all students, including English language learners, will gain the fluency and automaticity needed for effective daily writing and for success on high-stakes tests. "Hostmeyer provides the tools teachers need to make grammar instruction meaningful and engaging so students build the knowledge they need to craft not only sentences, but strong pieces of writing that meet the demands of the Common Core." —Carol Gallegos, Literacy Coach Hanford Elementary School District, Hanford, CA "The author′s knowledge of how students learn, passion for finding ways to teach sentence patterns, and willingness to share those strategies with the world all combine to make this a book that every writing teacher can use." —Norma Barber, Language Arts Teacher Ukiah School District 80R, Ukiah, OR

Little Night Cat

Little Night Cat
Author: Sonja Danowski
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 48
Release: 2016-10
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0735842663

"When Tony, a little boy, bravely offers his stuffed animals--including his favorite toy cat--to the animal shelter to raise money for the needy dogs and cats, it touches his mom's heart. Later that night when Tony misses his toy, she gives him her old stuffed cat. He embraces it with such care and devotion that his mom rewards him in a way that he never imagines"--Page 4 of cover.

Save Room for Pie

Save Room for Pie
Author: Roy Blount, Jr., Jr.
Publisher: Sarah Crichton Books
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2016-03-15
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 0374712883

Our best-laid plans will yield to fate. And we will say, “We lived. We ate.” Roy Blount Jr. is one of America’s most cherished comic writers. He’s been compared to Mark Twain and James Thurber, and his books have been called everything from “a work of art” (Robert W. Creamer, The New York Times Book Review) to “a book to read till it falls apart” (Newsweek). Now, in Save Room for Pie, he applies his much-praised wit and charm to a rich and fundamental topic: food. As a lifelong eater, Blount always got along easy with food—he didn’t have to think, he just ate. But food doesn’t exist in a vacuum; there’s the global climate and the global economy to consider, not to mention Blount’s chronic sinusitis, which constricts his sense of smell, and consequently his taste buds. So while he’s always frowned on eating with an ulterior motive, times have changed. Save Room for Pie grapples with these and other food-related questions in Blount’s signature style. Here you’ll find lively meditations on everything from bacon froth to grapefruit, Kobe beef to biscuits. You’ll also find defenses of gizzards, mullet, okra, cane syrup, watermelon, and boiled peanuts; an imagined dialogue between Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden; input from Louis Armstrong, Frederick Douglass, and Blaze Starr; and of course some shampooed possums and carjacking turkeys. In poems and songs, limericks and fake (or sometimes true) news stories, Blount talks about food in surprising and innovative ways, with all the wit and verve that prompted Garrison Keillor, in The Paris Review, to say: “Blount is the best. He can be literate, uncouth, and soulful all in one sentence.”

The Oliver Stone Experience

The Oliver Stone Experience
Author: Matt Zoller Seitz
Publisher: Abrams
Total Pages: 480
Release: 2016-09-13
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1613128142

Stone himself serves as guide to this no-holds-barred retrospective—an extremely candid and comprehensive monograph of the renowned and controversial writer, director, and cinematic historian in interview form. Over the course of five years, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone (Midnight Express, Scarface, Platoon, JFK, Natural Born Killers, Snowden) and New York Times bestselling author Matt Zoller Seitz (The Wes Anderson Collection) discussed, debated, and deconstructed the arc of Stone's outspoken, controversial life and career with extraordinary candor. This book collects those conversations for the first time, including anecdotes about Stone's childhood, Vietnam, his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder, and his continual struggle to reinvent himself as an artist. Their dialogue is illustrated by hundreds of never-before-seen photographs and documents from Stone's personal archive, dating back to Stone's birth: personal snapshots, private correspondence, annotated script pages and storyboards, behind-the-scenes photography, and production files from all of his films to date—through 2016's Snowden, and including Stone's epic Showtime mini-series Untold HIstory of the United States. Critical commentary from Seitz on each of Stone's films is joined by original essays from filmmaker Ramin Bahrani; writer, editor, and educator Kiese Laymon; writer and actor Jim Beaver; and film critics Walter Chaw, Michael Guarnieri, Kim Morgan, and Alissa Wilkinson. At once a complex analysis of a master director’s vision and a painfully honest critical biography in widescreen technicolor, The Oliver Stone Experience is as daring, intense, and provocative as Stone’s films—it's an Oliver Stone movie about Oliver Stone, in the form of a book. Both this book and Stone’s highly anticipated film, Snowden, will be released in September 2016 to coincide with Stone’s seventieth birthday (September 15, 1946). Also available from Matt Zoller Seitz: Mad Men Carousel, The Wes Anderson Collection: Bad Dads, The Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel, and The Wes Anderson Collection.

The Mischievians

The Mischievians
Author: William Joyce
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 56
Release: 2013-10-22
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1442473487

Where’s my homework? Who took my other sock? What’s that in my belly button? The creators of the #1 New York Times bestselling and Academy Award–winning The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore have found the answers to these and other life mysteries…and no, it’s not your fault! Strange smells. Disappearing remotes. That itch you just can’t reach. It’s not your fault! It’s the Mischievians, an ancient race of global mischief-makers who do all the things that embarrass you. All the things that bug you. All the things that YOU get blamed for! There is no cause for alarm (sorta). Come meet the Homework Eater, the fiend who steals your homework! See the Endroller, the villain who uses up ALL the toilet paper! Discover the Yawn Mower, the creature who makes you yawn at the worst possible time! And many, many more. Read on, and be free.