Ernest is annoying. Ernest is awkward. Ernest is…Ernest. And Dean wants nothing to do with him, until Ernest wins the most spectacular trip in the history of America – and is allowed to bring one friend. A short story from the acclaimed collection Guys Read: Funny Business, edited by Jon Scieszka.

The whole school is getting in on the action when a contest is announced: The student who creates the best project on New Cairo’s history will win a trip to the cool new water park in town. Charlie has a plan that can’t lose—as long as he doesn’t lose his life in the process. A short story from the acclaimed collection Guys Read: Funny Business, edited by Jon Scieszka.

The fourth book in the action-packed and highly imaginative The Secret Zoo series, about a group of middle school friends who discover a hidden zoo in their very own neighborhood! The zoo's archenemy, the evil DeGraff, is closing in for the first time since he was driven out of the Secret Zoo.On Halloween night, Noah and his friends must battle terrifying sasquatches that have attacked their own elementary school. Little do they know the sasquatches are a trap! When DeGraff captures three of Noah's friends, can the kids ally with their rivals in order to save every person and animal in the zoo—all while dodging the town's policeAn entertaining and fast-moving series that's perfect for reluctant readers and will appeal to fans of Dan Gutman, Michael Buckley, and Andrew Clements. School Library Journal said, "Fans of fantasy, animal fiction, and adventure will enjoy this fast-moving story."

Fans of the 5th Wave series will devour the pulse-pounding conclusion to The Game trilogy by bestselling author Eve Silver, about teens pulled in and out of an alternate reality where battling aliens is more than a game—it's life and death.As her dad and best friend lie dying in the hospital, Miki is almost certain the Committee is trying to sabotage her life. The Game is glitching. The missions are more frequent, the alien Drau more deadly, and whatever has been tracking her thoughts more intrusive. The only thing holding Miki together is her boyfriend, Jackson, but somehow telling him how much she needs—and loves—him feels like the most terrifying challenge of all.Can Miki and Jackson make it through the final mission alive and win the Game before the walls between their alien-fighting nightmares and the real world come crashing downOr will the world and everyone Miki loves disappear forever?Crash is the fiercely satisfying conclusion to a trilogy Pittacus Lore, New York Times bestselling author of the I Am Number Four series, raves is packed with "thrilling action and addictive romance—a mind-bending rush of a read!"

Abdullah Syed Hari is fourteen years old. He loves his family and his friends. And he is a Somali pirate. A short story from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

There’s nothing better than taking your timid little cousin Thad to one of those sweet haunted houses the 4-H Club decorates for Halloween. Except, of course, if the house turns out to actually be haunted. A short story from Guys Read: Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka.

Reckless Hearts is the second book in the sexy and suspenseful Wicked Games series, where lies, passion, and betrayal collide in the steamy beach town of Dream Point.What do you do if you find yourself fantasizing about kissing your best friendSensitive guitarist Jake has been asking himself that same question for a long time, and there's no easy answer. Telling his dream girl—talented anime artist Elena—about his feelings might lead to the ultimate rejection, but not telling her just might kill him.Before Jake can make his move, though, a new mysterious guy enters the picture in an unexpected way. In Elena's mind, Harlow is excitement personified: a rebellious yet kindred spirit who she instantly connected with online. Jake's gut is telling him that something about Harlow is off, and that Elena is in way over her head, but the more Jake pushes the issue, the more he pushes Elena right into Harlow's arms—and into a tragic situation that neither of them would ever see coming.

Since Gudrun came from the frozen mists beyond the edge of the world, the Jarl's people have obeyed her in hatred andterror. But the enchantress has one weakness: a son, Kari, banished to a forbidding fortress in the north, never seen by the Jarl's people. In secret they wonder: Are the rumors trueWas he born a monster?Now Jessa and her cousin Thorkil have been exiled to the north, and if they survive the journey, they will find the truth: Is Kari a beastOr the means to stop the sorceress?

Myrina has prepared for thirteen years to join the Moon Riders—learning the sacred dances, the art of using a weapon, and listening to her mother and grandmother's tales of their time spent with the Moon-maidens. Finally, the day arrives when she will leave her family and devote herself to the Old Woman, Atisha, and her tribe of fearless young warriors.No sooner do Myrina and the Riders leave camp when a stowaway is discovered: Cassandra, the troubled young princess of Troy. Myrina is skeptical of Cassandra's "visions" of death and destruction in Troy; and yet when her predictions begin to come true, she and the other Moon Riders have no choice but to get involved. The events that unfold as the Trojan War wages on will affect Myrina, Cassandra, and the Moon Riders in unimaginable, unforgettable ways.Acclaimed British author Theresa Tomlinson expertly brings to life the legend of the Amazons and sets it against a backdrop of one of the most mythic, imagination-inspiring battles in all of history.

In this latest adventure by New York Times bestselling author William Dietrich, Ethan Gage is out to foil Napoleon's coronation as emperor, play double agent between France and England, and turn the tide of war—while attempting to save his own life and his marriage.Gage fought beside Napoleon Bonaparte in Egypt and was his agent in Italy, America, and Greece. But this relationship, which at the best of times was uneasy, has gone sour, and now Ethan wants to make Napoleon pay for kidnapping his son, Harry, and nearly killing his wife, Astiza.Smuggled into France with a beautiful royalist agent, Gage is determined to thwart Bonaparte's ambitions to take Europe. Surprises abound as a conspiracy collapses, Astiza reappears at Gage's side, and agents on all fronts try to recruit Ethan to their cause. Desperate, he devises a mad plan to sabotage Napoleon's coronation by replacing the power-hungry emperor's crown of golden laurel with a religious relic—the Crown of Thorns purportedly worn by Christ at his crucifixion. It is a scheme that requires a daring theft, perfect timing, and trust among the plotters; when it goes awry, Gage is soon on the run to England.There Ethan joins a circle of brilliant renegades, including Robert Fulton, designer of the first submarine; rocket artillery pioneer Sir William Congreve; and smuggler Tom Johnstone. As two empires face off at sea, Gage is plunged into the decisive and lethal Battle of Trafalgar, trapped on board a French ship as Nelson's Victory bears down on him.Moving from the glittering boulevards and squalid back alleys of Napoleonic France to the high seas of Regency England, filled with romance, danger, intrigue, and glory, The Barbed Crown is a thrilling romp that sees Ethan Gage once again embroiled in European history . . . and the fate of the modern world.

Venice: Ethan Gage has escaped after surviving the naval battle of Trafalgar. His plan: to circumvent the French Empire and rescue his wife, Astiza, and son, Harry, from imprisonment by a ruthless mystic who seeks revenge for disfigurement, and from an evil dwarf alchemist who experiments with the occult on Prague's Golden Lane.Using death as his ruse, Gage seeks an unlikely ally in the Jewish Napoleonic soldier Gideon Mandel, who saves Ethan's life at Austerlitz, and Gideon's father, Aaron, a rabbi whose knowledge of the legends of the Golem adds another layer to the hunt for the Brazen Head. The three must decipher clues from Durendal, the sword of Roland. Meanwhile, Astiza uses her own research to concoct an explosive escape and find a lost tomb, with their tormentors in relentless pursuit.William Dietrich skillfully weaves intrigue, magic, romance, and danger in a historical thriller that sprints from the fury of the Napoleonic wars to the mystical puzzles of Central Europe—where a medieval machine promises power over the future.

Matt Beaulieu was two years old the first time he held Elle McClure in his arms, seventeen when he first kissed her under a sky filled with shooting stars, and thirty-three when they wed. Now in their late thirties, the deeply devoted couple has everything—except the baby they've always wanted.When a tragic accident leaves Elle brain-dead, Matt is devastated. Though he cannot bear losing her, he knows his wife, a thoughtful and adventurous scientist, feared only one thing—a slow death. Just before Matt agrees to remove Elle from life support, the doctors discover that she is pregnant. Now what was once a clear-cut decision becomes an impossible choice. Matt knows how much this child would have meant to Elle. While there is no certainty her body can sustain the pregnancy, he is sure Elle would want the baby to have a chance. Linney, Matt's mother, believes her son is blind with denial. She loves Elle, too, and insists that Elle would never want to be kept alive by artificial means, no matter what the situation.Divided by the love they share, driven by principle, Matt and Linney fight for what each believes is right, and the result is a disagreement that escalates into a controversial legal battle, ultimately going beyond one family and one single life.Told with sensitivity and compassion, The Promise of Stardust is an emotionally resonant and thought-provoking tale that raises profound questions about life and death, faith and medicine—and illuminates, with beauty and grace, the power of love to wound . . . and to heal.

Drew Manning, a natural fitness junkie and devoted personal trainer, had never been overweight in his life. He never craved junk food or missed an opportunity to work out. Yet despite his obsession with fitness, he failed to help his clients reach their goals. Something had to give. Manning needed to understand what it was like to be on the other side—spend a few months in his clients' shoes or, rather, size. For six months, Manning radically let himself go. He stopped exercising and ate nothing but the typical American diet of fast and processed foods. Not surprisingly, he started to gain weight. Manning made national news when he posted a blog revealing that he had gained more than 60 pounds (he ended up gaining 75). In only half a year, the out-of-shape trainer-turned-blogger had gained more than he ever expected—and not just in pounds. Manning devoted the next six months to losing the weight as quickly as he had gained it. The lessons he learned were priceless, as he had now experienced both sides of the weight-loss battle. What started as a physical challenge became an emotional and mental wake-up call. In Fit2Fat2Fit, Manning reveals the practical takeaways and profound in- sights of his yearlong journey. With startlingly honest stories, concrete easy-to-implement strategies, recipes, exercises, workout routines, meal plans, and much more, the reader is fully equipped to achieve any weight-loss goal.

More pirates, more magic, and more adventure in the second book of the Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates series! Caroline Carlson brings the unceasing wit, humor, and fun of the first book in the series, Magic Marks the Spot, to this epic sequel. Fans of Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events and Trenton Lee Stewart’s Mysterious Benedict Society will love this quirky tween series and hope to join the VNHLP just like Hilary!Hilary Westfield is now a bona fide pirate, but when her daring, her magical know-how, and even her gargoyle don’t convince the VNHLP that she’s worthy of her title, the Terror of the Southlands, she sets off with her crew on a High Seas adventure. But then Miss Pimm disappears and Hilary decides to find the missing Enchantress and protect the magic of Augusta.

Bestselling author Tony Abbott's epic new middle grade series, the Copernicus Legacy, begins with The Forbidden Stone, a thrilling adventure packed with puzzles, intrigue, and action. Fans of Rick Riordan and Ridley Pearson will love this first book in an exciting series that takes the reader all over the globe in a race to find pieces of a mysterious hidden past—before it's too late.Wade, Lily, Darrell, and Becca fly from Texas to Germany for the funeral of an old family friend. But instead of just paying their respects, they wind up on a dangerous, mind-blowing quest to unlock an ancient, guarded secret that could destroy the fate of the world.Supports the Common Core State Standards

Bestselling author Tony Abbott returns with the next full-length book in the Copernicus Legacy series, a globe-trotting adventure packed with more riddles, puzzles, and secret histories. The hunt for Copernicus's first relic sent Wade, Darrell, Lily, and Becca to the far reaches of the world and put them in serious danger. But they never imagined Sara Kaplan—Darrell and Wade's mother—would be kidnapped by the conniving Galina Krause. Now they must race the evil Teutonic Order to find the Serpens relic and rescue Sara before it's too late.Fans of Rick Riordan and Ridley Pearson will love this epic series, which is filled with suspense and action.Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts

Build your own cloud based Database as a Service using OpenStack Trove About This Book Familiarize yourself with the concept of Database as a Service and make your existing system scalable and efficient with OpenStack Trove Minimize the administrative tasks and complexities of managing your cloud infrastructure This is a fast-paced guide to datastore management on the OpenStack platform using OpenStack Trove Who This Book Is For If you are a DBA / system administrator / architect, or a student who wants to build a Database as a Service based on OpenStack, this book is for you. You should have a basic knowledge of OpenStack components, RDBMS/NoSQL, IaaS, and cloud computing. What You Will Learn Get to grips with the basics of OpenStack and the prerequisites to install Trove Understand the expectations of DBaaS and how Trove can help you achieve them Set up a basic installation of DevStack (Development Stack) in a virtual box Install Trove and utilize its configuration groups to manage and tune databases Use Image builder to create guest images for Trove Utilize Trove to provision your first database instance Back up and restore your databases with the help of Trove In Detail OpenStack has become an extremely popular solution to build public and private clouds with. Database as a Service (DBaaS) enables the delivery of more agile database services at lower costs. Some other benefits of DBaaS are secure database deployments and compliance to standards and best practices. Trove is a DBaaS built on OpenStack and is becoming more popular by the day. Since Trove is one of the most recent projects of OpenStack, DBAs and system administrators can find it difficult to set up and run a DBaaS using OpenStack Trove. This book helps DBAs make that step. We start by introducing you to the concepts of DBaaS and how is it implemented using OpenStack Trove. Following this, we look at implementing OpenStack and deploying Trove. Moving on, you will learn to create guest images to be used with Trove. We then look at how to provision databases in self-service mode, and how to perform administration tasks such as backup and recovery, and fine-tuning databases. At the end of the book, we will examine some advanced features of Trove such as replication. Style and approach This fast-paced, step-by-step guide introduces you to DBaaS, OpenStack Trove, and its components, leading you through building your own Cloud-based DBaaS. Using the DevStack deployment method, you will spend less time on installing OpenStack so you can devote more time to learning how to provision and manage databases in a DBaaS environment.

Unleash the full potential of the Flask web framework by creating simple yet powerful web applications About This Book The most up-to-date book on Flask on the market Create your own world-class applications and master the art of Flask by unravelling its enigma through this journey This step-by-step tutorial is packed with examples on blending different technologies with Flask to get you up and running Who This Book Is For Have you looked at PHP and hated the clunky bloated syntaxOr looked at .Net and wished it was more open and flexibleMaybe you’ve tried your hand at GUI libraries in Python and found them hard to useIf your answer to any one of these questions is a yes, then this is just the book for you. It is also intended for people who know the basics of Python and want to learn how to use it to build powerful solutions with a web front-end. What You Will Learn Build three web applications from the ground up using the powerful Python micro framework, Flask. Dynamically display data to your viewers, based on their requests Store user and static data in SQL and NoSQL databases and use this data to power your web applications Create a good user experience by combining HTML, CSS, and JavaScript Harness the convenience of freely available APIs, including OpenWeatherMap, Open Exchange Rates, and bitly Extend your applications to build advanced functionality, such as a user account control system using Flask-Login Learn about web application security and defend against common attacks, such as SQL injection and XSS In Detail This book will take you on a journey from learning about web development using Flask to building fully functional web applications. In the first major project, we develop a dynamic Headlines application that displays the latest news headlines along with up-to-date currency and weather information. In project two, we build a Crime Map application that is backed by a MySQL database, allowing users to submit information on and the location of crimes in order to plot danger zones and other crime trends within an area. In the final project, we combine Flask with more modern technologies, such as Twitter's Bootstrap and the NoSQL database MongoDB, to create a Waiter Caller application that allows restaurant patrons to easily call a waiter to their table. This pragmatic tutorial will keep you engaged as you learn the crux of Flask by working on challenging real-world applications. Style and approach This book will provide you with rich, practical experience of Flask. Every technology, that is employed along with Flask is comprehensively introduced, while the book focusses on developing web applications. Pointers to educational material are always given if you want to gain in-depth knowledge of the various technologies used.

Nothing is sexier than a sharp mind atop a lean, healthy body. Few foods are able to deliver this promise like kale. She is the ideal plant in many ways: beautiful, versatile, nourishing, and downright delicious.And these days, she's become a pretty popular dish. Unfortunately, many of kale's admirers have fallen into the same boring routine: she's chopped and served raw, gently sautéed, lightly steamed, or juiced. Kale has been subjected to a lack of imagination—until now.In Fifty Shades of Kale, you'll discover fifty enticing new ways to enjoy one of Mother Nature's hottest properties. Linger in bed with a luscious Cheddar Kale Omelet; get your hands a little dirty with afternoon quickies like Zucchini and Kale Bites; turn up the heat with Chipotle Flank Steak with Lime, Black Beans, and Kale, or Spicy Mussels with Kale; and surrender to your most forbidden cravings with Chocolate Chip Kale Cookies or Kale and Black Cherry Sorbet.With fifty mouth-watering recipes for kale-centric breakfasts, starters, mains, cocktails, and desserts, Fifty Shades of Kale is certain to spice up your routine and show you how to experiment in the kitchen, cook yourself sexy, and indulge without guilt. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Yoga, Meet Life.Sometimes an hour-long yoga class is the only chance we get to connect meaningfully with our bodies and our minds during a week otherwise full of work, family, and the daily grind. Have you ever wondered how would it feel to bring that experience of awareness and calm out of the yoga studio and into your everyday lifeAfter all, we know that practicing yoga can give us a leaner body and more sculpted limbs, but isn't its most important benefit the way it makes us feelIn Do Your Om Thing, master yoga teacher and creator of the popular blog OmGal.com Rebecca Pacheco shows us that the true practice of yoga is about much more than achieving the perfect headstand or withstanding an hour-long class in a room heated to 100 degrees. "Yoga is not about performance," she tells us, "it's about practice, on your mat and in your life. If you want to get better at anything what should you doPractice. Confidence, compassion, awareness, joy—if you want more of these—and who doesn't?—yoga offers the skills to practice them."In her warm, personal, and often hilarious prose, Rebecca translates yogic philosophy for its twenty-first-century devotees, making ancient principles and philosophy feel accessible, relatable, and genuinely rooted in the world in which we live today. And by illuminating how the guiding principles of yoga apply to our modern lives, Rebecca shows us that the true power of a yoga practice is not physical transformation, but mental and spiritual liberation.

This book teaches children about all of their favorite barnyard friends. Based in Stow, Ohio, Twin Sisters Productions has been dedicated to producing quality educational and inspirational music resources for over 25 years. Fraternal twins Karen Mitzo Hilderbrand and Kim Mitzo Thompson founded the company when they realized Kim’s success teaching third grade math through her catchy multiplication song could help children beyond her classroom. From there, Twin Sisters expanded its product line to include e-books, digital music, CDs, read-along and sing-along books, floor puzzles and educational workbooks, all with the purpose of learning through music. These internationally sold products have received nearly 170 awards, including nine Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified Gold albums and one Platinum albu, over the years for excellence, creativity and amusement. With thousands of songs and 35 million albums sold, Twin Sisters positions itself as the leader in children’s educational music.