Make use of hands-on recipes for many tasks that are typically encountered in both the on-premises as well as the cloud world. Key Features * A recipe-based guide to help you build effective administrative solutions * Gain hands-on experience with the newly added features of PowerShell Core * Manage critical business environments with professional scripting practices Book Description This book will follow a recipe-based approach and start off with an introduction to the fundamentals of PowerShell, and explaining how to install and run it through simple examples. Next, you will learn how to use PowerShell to access and manipulate data and how to work with different streams as well. You will also explore the object model which will help with regard to PowerShell function deployment. Going forward, you will get familiar with the pipeline in its different use cases. The next set of chapters will deal with the different ways of accessing data in PowerShell. You will also learn to automate various tasks in Windows and Linux using PowerShell Core, as well as explore Windows Server. Later, you will be introduced to Remoting in PowerShell Core and Just Enough Administration concept. The last set of chapters will help you understand the management of a private and public cloud with PowerShell Core. You will also learn how to access web services and explore the high-performance scripting methods. By the end of this book, you will gain the skills to manage complex tasks effectively along with increasing the performance of your environment. What you will learn * Leverage cross-platform interaction with systems * Make use of the PowerShell recipes for frequent tasks * Get a better understanding of the inner workings of PowerShell * Understand the compatibility of built-in Windows modules with PowerShell Core * Learn best practices associated with PowerShell scripting * Avoid common pitfalls and mistakes Who this book is for This book will be for windows administrators who want to enhance their PowerShell scripting skills to the next level. System administrators wanting to automate common to complex tasks with PowerShell scripts would benefit from this book. Prior understanding on PowerShell would be necessary.

A problem-solution guide to encounter various NLP tasks utilizing Java open source libraries and cloud-based solutions Key Features * Perform simple-to-complex NLP text processing tasks using modern Java libraries Extract relationships between different text complexities using a problem-solution approach * Utilize cloud-based APIs to perform machine translation operations Book Description Natural Language Processing (NLP) has become one of the prime technologies for processing very large amounts of unstructured data from disparate information sources. This book includes a wide set of recipes and quick methods that solve challenges in text syntax, semantics, and speech tasks. At the beginning of the book, you'll learn important NLP techniques, such as identifying parts of speech, tagging words, and analyzing word semantics. You will learn how to perform lexical analysis and use machine learning techniques to speed up NLP operations. With independent recipes, you will explore techniques for customizing your existing NLP engines/models using Java libraries such as OpenNLP and the Stanford NLP library. You will also learn how to use NLP processing features from cloud-based sources, including Google and Amazon’s AWS. You will master core tasks, such as stemming, lemmatization, part-of-speech tagging, and named entity recognition. You will also learn about sentiment analysis, semantic text similarity, language identification, machine translation, and text summarization. By the end of this book, you will be ready to become a professional NLP expert using a problem-solution approach to analyze any sort of text, sentences, or semantic words. What you will learn * Explore how to use tokenizers in NLP processing * Implement NLP techniques in machine learning and deep learning applications * Identify sentences within the text and learn how to train specialized NER models * Learn how to classify documents and perform sentiment analysis * Find semantic similarities between text elements and extract text from a variety of sources * Preprocess text from a variety of data sources * Learn how to identify and translate languages Who this book is for This book is for data scientists, NLP engineers, and machine learning developers who want to perform their work on linguistic applications faster with the use of popular libraries on JVM machines. This book will help you build real-world NLP applications using a recipe-based approach. Prior knowledge of Natural Language Processing basics and Java programming is expected.

All the key deep learning methods built step-by-step in PyTorch Key Features * Understand the internals and principles of PyTorch * Implement key deep learning methods in PyTorch: CNNs, GANs, RNNs, reinforcement learning, and more * Build deep learning workflows and take deep learning models from prototyping to production Book Description PyTorch is a new, lightweight, and Python-first tool for deep learning. Built by Facebook to offer flexibility and speed, it has quickly become the preferred tool for deep learning experts. PyTorch helps you release deep learning models faster than ever before. PyTorch Deep Learning Hands-On shows how to implement every major deep learning architecture in PyTorch. Starting with simple neural networks, it covers PyTorch for computer vision (CNN), natural language processing (RNN), GANs, and reinforcement learning. You will also build deep learning workflows with the PyTorch framework, migrate models built in Python to highly efficient TorchScript, and deploy to production using the most sophisticated available tools. Each chapter focuses on a different area of deep learning. Chapters start with a refresher on the core principles, before sharing the code you need to implement them in PyTorch. If you want to become a deep learning expert this book is for you. What you will learn Use PyTorch to build: * Simple Neural Networks – build neural networks the PyTorch way, with high-level functions, optimizers, and more * Convolutional Neural Networks – create advanced computer vision systems * Recurrent Neural Networks – work with sequential data such as natural language and audio * Generative Adversarial Networks – create new content with models including SimpleGAN and CycleGAN * Reinforcement Learning – develop systems that can solve complex problems such as driving or game playing * Deep Learning workflows – move effectively from ideation to production with proper deep learning workflow using PyTorch and its utility packages * Production-ready models – package your models for high-performance production environments Who this book is for Machine learning professionals and enthusiasts who know Python and want to build efficient and powerful deep learning systems in PyTorch.

A comprehensive guide to get started with Java and gain insights into major concepts such as object-oriented, functional, and reactive programming Key Features * Strengthen your knowledge of important programming concepts and the latest features in Java * Explore core programming topics including GUI programming, concurrency, and error handling * Learn the idioms and best practices for writing high-quality Java code Book Description Java is one of the preferred languages among developers, used in everything right from smartphones, and game consoles to even supercomputers, and its new features simply add to the richness of the language. This book on Java programming begins by helping you learn how to install the Java Development Kit. You will then focus on understanding object-oriented programming (OOP), with exclusive insights into concepts like abstraction, encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism, which will help you when programming for real-world apps. Next, you’ll cover fundamental programming structures of Java such as data structures and algorithms that will serve as the building blocks for your apps. You will also delve into core programming topics that will assist you with error handling, debugging, and testing your apps. As you progress, you’ll move on to advanced topics such as Java libraries, database management, and network programming, which will hone your skills in building professional-grade apps. Further on, you’ll understand how to create a graphic user interface using JavaFX and learn to build scalable apps by taking advantage of reactive and functional programming. By the end of this book, you’ll not only be well versed with Java 10, 11, and 12, but also gain a perspective into the future of this language and software development in general. What you will learn * Learn and apply object-oriented principles * Gain insights into data structures and understand how they are used in Java * Explore multithreaded, asynchronous, functional, and reactive programming * Add a user-friendly graphic interface to your application * Find out what streams are and how they can help in data processing * Discover the importance of microservices and use them to make your apps robust and scalable * Explore Java design patterns and best practices to solve everyday problems * Learn techniques and idioms for writing high-quality Java code Who this book is for Students, software developers, or anyone looking to learn new skills or even a language will find this book useful. Although this book is for beginners, professional programmers can benefit from it too. Previous knowledge of Java or any programming language is not required.

Supervised and unsupervised machine learning made easy in Scala with this quick-start guide. Key Features * Construct and deploy machine learning systems that learn from your data and give accurate predictions * Unleash the power of Spark ML along with popular machine learning algorithms to solve complex tasks in Scala. * Solve hands-on problems by combining popular neural network architectures such as LSTM and CNN using Scala with DeepLearning4j library Book Description Scala is a highly scalable integration of object-oriented nature and functional programming concepts that make it easy to build scalable and complex big data applications. This book is a handy guide for machine learning developers and data scientists who want to develop and train effective machine learning models in Scala. The book starts with an introduction to machine learning, while covering deep learning and machine learning basics. It then explains how to use Scala-based ML libraries to solve classification and regression problems using linear regression, generalized linear regression, logistic regression, support vector machine, and Na?ve Bayes algorithms. It also covers tree-based ensemble techniques for solving both classification and regression problems. Moving ahead, it covers unsupervised learning techniques, such as dimensionality reduction, clustering, and recommender systems. Finally, it provides a brief overview of deep learning using a real-life example in Scala. What you will learn * Get acquainted with JVM-based machine learning libraries for Scala such as Spark ML and Deeplearning4j * Learn RDDs, DataFrame, and Spark SQL for analyzing structured and unstructured data * Understand supervised and unsupervised learning techniques with best practices and pitfalls * Learn classification and regression analysis with linear regression, logistic regression, Na?ve Bayes, support vector machine, and tree-based ensemble techniques * Learn effective ways of clustering analysis with dimensionality reduction techniques * Learn recommender systems with collaborative filtering approach * Delve into deep learning and neural network architectures Who this book is for This book is for machine learning developers looking to train machine learning models in Scala without spending too much time and effort. Some fundamental knowledge of Scala programming and some basics of statistics and linear algebra is all you need to get started with this book.

Identify tools and techniques to secure and perform a penetration test on an AWS infrastructure using Kali Linux Key Features * Efficiently perform penetration testing techniques on your public cloud instances * Learn not only to cover loopholes but also to automate security monitoring and alerting within your cloud-based deployment pipelines * A step-by-step guide that will help you leverage the most widely used security platform to secure your AWS Cloud environment Book Description The cloud is taking over the IT industry. Any organization housing a large amount of data or a large infrastructure has started moving cloud-ward — and AWS rules the roost when it comes to cloud service providers, with its closest competitor having less than half of its market share. This highlights the importance of security on the cloud, especially on AWS. While a lot has been said (and written) about how cloud environments can be secured, performing external security assessments in the form of pentests on AWS is still seen as a dark art. This book aims to help pentesters as well as seasoned system administrators with a hands-on approach to pentesting the various cloud services provided by Amazon through AWS using Kali Linux. To make things easier for novice pentesters, the book focuses on building a practice lab and refining penetration testing with Kali Linux on the cloud. This is helpful not only for beginners but also for pentesters who want to set up a pentesting environment in their private cloud, using Kali Linux to perform a white-box assessment of their own cloud resources. Besides this, there is a lot of in-depth coverage of the large variety of AWS services that are often overlooked during a pentest — from serverless infrastructure to automated deployment pipelines. By the end of this book, you will be able to identify possible vulnerable areas efficiently and secure your AWS cloud environment. What you will learn * Familiarize yourself with and pentest the most common external-facing AWS services * Audit your own infrastructure and identify flaws, weaknesses, and loopholes * Demonstrate the process of lateral and vertical movement through a partially compromised AWS account * Maintain stealth and persistence within a compromised AWS account * Master a hands-on approach to pentesting * Discover a number of automated tools to ease the process of continuously assessing and improving the security stance of an AWS infrastructure Who this book is for If you are a security analyst or a penetration tester and are interested in exploiting Cloud environments to reveal vulnerable areas and secure them, then this book is for you. A basic understanding of penetration testing, cloud computing, and its security concepts is mandatory.

Take your financial skills to the next level by mastering cutting-edge mathematical and statistical financial applications Key Features * Explore advanced financial models used by the industry and ways of solving them using Python * Build state-of-the-art infrastructure for modeling, visualization, trading, and more * Empower your financial applications by applying machine learning and deep learning Book Description The second edition of Mastering Python for Finance will guide you through carrying out complex financial calculations practiced in the industry of finance by using next-generation methodologies. You will master the Python ecosystem by leveraging publicly available tools to successfully perform research studies and modeling, and learn to manage risks with the help of advanced examples. You will start by setting up your Jupyter notebook to implement the tasks throughout the book. You will learn to make efficient and powerful data-driven financial decisions using popular libraries such as TensorFlow, Keras, Numpy, SciPy, and sklearn. You will also learn how to build financial applications by mastering concepts such as stocks, options, interest rates and their derivatives, and risk analytics using computational methods. With these foundations, you will learn to apply statistical analysis to time series data, and understand how time series data is useful for implementing an event-driven backtesting system and for working with high-frequency data in building an algorithmic trading platform. Finally, you will explore machine learning and deep learning techniques that are applied in finance. By the end of this book, you will be able to apply Python to different paradigms in the financial industry and perform efficient data analysis. What you will learn * Solve linear and nonlinear models representing various financial problems * Perform principal component analysis on the DOW index and its components * Analyze, predict, and forecast stationary and non-stationary time series processes * Create an event-driven backtesting tool and measure your strategies * Build a high-frequency algorithmic trading platform with Python * Replicate the CBOT VIX index with SPX options for studying VIX-based strategies * Perform regression-based and classification-based machine learning tasks for prediction * Use TensorFlow and Keras in deep learning neural network architecture Who this book is for If you are a financial or data analyst or a software developer in the financial industry who is interested in using advanced Python techniques for quantitative methods in finance, this is the book you need! You will also find this book useful if you want to extend the functionalities of your existing financial applications by using smart machine learning techniques. Prior experience in Python is required.

A complete guide to understanding, developing, and testing popular security-token smart contracts Key Features * Understand key Blockchain and Ethereum platforms concepts * Step-by-step guide to developing STO smart contracts on Ethereum * Monetize digital tokens under various U.S. securities laws Book Description The failure of initial coin offerings (ICOs) is no accident, as most ICOs do not link to a real asset and are not regulated. Realizing the shortcomings of ICOs, the blockchain community and potential investors embraced security token offerings (STOs) and stablecoins enthusiastically. In this book, we start with an overview of the blockchain technology along with its basic concepts. We introduce the concept behind STO, and cover the basic requirements for launching a STO and the relevant regulations governing its issuance. We discuss U.S. securities laws development in launching security digital tokens using blockchain technology and show some real use cases. We also explore the process of STO launches and legal considerations. We introduce popular security tokens in the current blockchain space and talk about how to develop a security token DApp, including smart contract development for ERC1404 tokens. Later, you'll learn to build frontend side functionalities to interact with smart contracts. Finally, we discuss stablecoin technical design functionalities for issuing and operating STO tokens by interacting with Ethereum smart contracts. By the end of this book, you will have learned more about STOs and gained a detailed knowledge of building relevant applications—all with the help of practical examples. What you will learn * Understand the basic requirements for launching a security token offering * Explore various US securities laws governing the offering of security digital tokens * Get to grips with the stablecoin concept with the help of use cases * Learn how to develop security token decentralized applications * Understand the difference between ERC-20 and ERC-721 tokens * Learn how to set up a development environment and build security tokens * Explore the technical design of stablecoins Who this book is for This book is ideal for blockchain beginners and business user developers who want to quickly master popular Security Token Offerings and stablecoins. Readers will learn how to develop blockchain/digital cryptos, guided by U.S. securities laws and utilizing some real use cases. Prior exposure to an Object-Oriented Programming language such as JavaScript would be an advantage, but is not mandatory.

One of the most lauded historians of our time returns to the Second World War in this magnificent retelling of the awe-inspiring raid on German dams conducted by the Royal Army Force’s 617 Squadron.The attack on Nazi Germany’s dams on May 17, 1943, was one of the most remarkable feats in military history. The absurdly young men of the Royal Air Force’s 617 Squadron set forth in cold blood and darkness, without benefit of electronic aids, to fly lumbering heavy bombers straight and level towards a target at a height above the water less than the length of a bowling alley. Yet this story—and the later wartime experience of the 617 Squadron—has never been told in full. Max Hastings takes us back to the May 1943 raid to reveal how the truth of that night is considerably different from the popularized account most people know. The RAF had identified the Ruhr dams as strategic objectives as far back as 1938; in those five years Wing Commander Guy Gibson formed and trained the 617 Squadron. Hastings observes that while the dropping of Wallis’s mines provided the dramatic climax, only two of the eight aircraft lost came down over the dams—the rest were shot down on the flight to, or back from, the mission. And while the 617 Squadron’s valor is indisputable, the ultimate industrial damage caused by the dam raid was actually rather modest. In 1943, these brave men caught the imagination of the world and uplifted the weary spirits of the British people. Their achievement unnerved the Nazi high command, and caused them to expend large resources on dam defenses—making the mission a success. An example of Churchill’s “military theatre” at its best, what 617 Squadron did was an extraordinary and heroic achievement, and a triumph of British ingenuity and technology—a story to be told for generations to come.Operation Chastise includes three 8-page black-and-white photo inserts and 6 maps.

The next installment in the New York Times bestselling series! From YouTube gamer StacyPlays comes the exhilarating sequel to her Minecraft-inspired adventure novel about a girl raised by wolves. Stacy would do anything to protect the Taiga where she lives with the pack of intelligent wolves who raised her. But when humans start to encroach on their forest, their only choice is escape to a place no Arctic wolf has gone before: the desert. The Mesa, with its canyons, snakes, and coyotes, will be like nothing the pack has ever seen. Even in this unfamiliar territory, Stacy is determined to rescue animals in need. But as she and her wolves face new dangers and old secrets, Stacy can’t help but wonder—where does she truly belong? Fans of DanTDM: Trayasaurus and the Enchanted Crystal and PopularMMOs Presents: A Hole New World will love this illustrated, action-packed series!

The action-packed conclusion to the Lost Rainforest series by award-winning and bestselling author Eliot Schrefer delivers one last thrilling adventure as the shadowwalkers are pushed to the limit to protect Caldera. Perfect for fans of Warriors and Spirit Animals. When the shadowwalkers were victorious in their battle against the Ant Queen, they hoped their work to save Caldera was done. But the rainforest has begun to rumble.Rumi, a scholarly tree frog who can control the wind, must bring his band of animal friends to face the greatest danger they’ve yet encountered—the giant volcano beneath the jungle itself. While the volcano roars, rumors of a mysterious evil blanket Caldera—the Elemental of Darkness has emerged and is building a legion of followers.When the shadowwalkers are forced to divide and conquer, Rumi finds himself an unlikely leader and must grapple with his own secrets before he can unlock the full scope of his magical powers. Can Rumi rally the shadowwalkers to save their rainforest home?

“There is magic, there is good and evil, and there is love all woven into a suspenseful and entertaining mystery.”—School Library Journal (starred review)New York Times bestselling author Gregory Funaro brings us the second installment of the thrilling Watch Hollow series, where magic exists, monsters roam, and wooden animals come to life. Having defeated the Garr, a vicious tree monster who lived within the enchanted woods of Watch Hollow, Lucy and Oliver Tinker now have the home they’ve always dreamed of: Blackford House. Powered by a magical clock and full of curious rooms and improbable knickknacks, Blackford House brims with the promise of new adventures.Yet when a strange governess arrives from England—bringing with her the Kojima twins, Agatha and Algernon—the Tinker children’s once bright future quickly begins to dim. The Kojimas claim to be the rightful heirs to Blackford House, and soon after their arrival, a great evil enters the Tinkers’ new home, cursing it and turning it into an ever-changing labyrinth.As a result, Lucy and Oliver, along with their clock animal friends, must now join forces with the twins to escape this labyrinth and save Blackford House, all while a new monster lurks around the corner.

外科医生讲述器官移植这一精密手术创造奇迹的过程。 "With When Death Becomes Life, Mezrich has performed the perfect core biopsy of transplantation—a clear and compelling account of the grueling daily work, the spell-binding history and the unsettling ethical issues that haunt this miraculous lifesaving treatment. Mezrich's compassionate and honest voice, punctuated by a sharp and intelligent wit, render the enormous subject not just palatable but downright engrossing."—Pauline Chen, author of Final Exam: A Surgeon’s Reflections on Mortality A gifted surgeon illuminates one of the most profound, awe-inspiring, and deeply affecting achievements of modern day medicine—the movement of organs between bodies—in this exceptional work of death and life that takes its place besides Atul Gawande’s Complications, Siddhartha Mukherjee’s The Emperor of All Maladies, and Jerome Groopman’s How Doctors Think. At the University of Wisconsin, Dr. Mezrich creates life from loss, transplanting organs from one body to another. In this intimate, profoundly moving work, he illuminates the extraordinary field of transplantation that enables this kind of miracle to happen every day.When Death Becomes Life is a thrilling look at how science advances on a grand scale to improve human lives. Mezrich examines more than one hundred years of remarkable medical breakthroughs, connecting this fascinating history with the inspiring and heartbreaking stories of his transplant patients. Combining gentle sensitivity with scientific clarity, Mezrich reflects on his calling as a doctor and introduces the modern pioneers who made transplantation a reality—maverick surgeons whose feats of imagination, bold vision, and daring risk taking generated techniques and practices that save millions of lives around the world.Mezrich takes us inside the operating room and unlocks the wondrous process of transplant surgery, a delicate, intense ballet requiring precise timing, breathtaking skill, and at times, creative improvisation. In illuminating this work, Mezrich touches the essence of existence and what it means to be alive. Most physicians fight death, but in transplantation, doctors take from death. Mezrich shares his gratitude and awe for the privilege of being part of this transformative exchange as the dead give their last breath of life to the living. After all, the donors are his patients, too.When Death Becomes Life also engages in fascinating ethical and philosophical debates: How much risk should a healthy person be allowed to take to save someone she loves? Should a patient suffering from alcoholism receive a healthy liver? What defines death, and what role did organ transplantation play in that definition? The human story behind the most exceptional medicine of our time, Mezrich’s riveting book is a beautiful, poignant reminder that a life lost can also offer the hope of a new beginning.

The hapless Crim family sets sail on their final adventure in the zaniest installment of the Crims series, perfect for fans of Lemony Snicket and Caroline Carlson!Imogen Crim has been terribly bored since she returned to Blandington. So when her nemesis-turned-best friend Ava Kruk offers to swing by the Crims’ dreadful beach vacation in Dullport and rescue her in her stolen submarine, Imogen quickly agrees. A real heist with a real villain—this is the excitement Imogen has been looking for.But before Imogen and Ava can accomplish their mission, the entire Crim family catches up to them, dressed in their pirate-y finest. And what starts as an innocent (well, for a boat full of criminals) quest for buried treasure is about to become a stand-off with an up-and-coming super villain called The Gull.If Imogen has any hope of saving her family from his claws—and returning to her vacation—she’ll have to trust a Kruk with her life.

The second book in New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award finalist Eliot Schrefer’s Lost Rainforest series will thrill fans of Warriors and Spirit Animals with action and humor as the shadowwalkers battle to save their magical rainforest home.Caldera always existed in harmony between the creatures who walk by day and those who walk by night—until an ancient evil awakened. In the year since the shadowwalkers’ narrow escape from the Ant Queen, the ants’ destruction has only spread.Gogi, a shadowwalker monkey still learning to wield his fire powers, embarks on a quest with his friends—including a healing bat, an invisible panther, and a tree frog who controls the winds—for a powerful object that can harness the magic of the eclipse to defeat the Ant Queen.But with just weeks before the next eclipse, Gogi must race to prove that he can control the mighty depths of his talent if he is to protect his friends, save the rainforest, and return home unsinged.

这是一部完全用短信、颜文字、表情符、笔记、邮件写出的小说，幽默易读，走进真实的美国中学生活。 Three BFFs try to make new friends but keep the old in the fifth book in Lisa Greenwald’s hilarious series told entirely in text messages, emojis, and notes. Perfect for fans of Invisible Emmie and the Dork Diaries books.Making new friends is a good thing, right? Not when you barely see your besties! Between swim team, the school play, and poetry club, BFFs Cece, Gabby, and Prianka are meeting different people and trying different things. But besties clash when Gabby’s new friends rank the other girls in their grade in categories like looks, smarts, and popularity.The question is: How can you be your best self if your BFFs don’t have your back?

The bestselling classic set in South Africa during the apartheid era, in which two siblings must face the dangers of their divided country. Mma lives and works in Johannesburg, far from the village thirteen-year-old Naledi and her younger brother, Tiro, call home. When their baby sister suddenly becomes very sick, Naledi and Tiro know that they need to bring their mother back in order to save their sister’s life. Bravely, secretly, they set off on the long journey to the big city to find Mma. It isn’t until they finally reach Jo’burg that they see up close what life is like for black citizens across South Africa—and begin to really question the unfair and dangerous laws of apartheid.

Ace and Ridge are back to save their friend—and the world—in this sequel to The Wishmakers, which Chris Grabenstein, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library, praised as a “fantastically fast-paced and funny read.”Being a Wishmaker may be more trouble than it’s worth. Sure, you get a genie who can grant an unlimited number of wishes, but for each one you make you have to accept an awful consequence in return. Not to mention that you’re also given an impossible quest and only seven days to fulfill it!Despite all that, Ace and his genie, Ridge, managed to complete their last mission—but they couldn’t save their friend Tina from being abducted by a rogue genie who’s bent on using his limitless power to rule the world. To rescue her, Ace must reunite with Ridge to become a Wishmaker once more, and they’ll need to team up with the unlikeliest of new allies. It’s not every day you get a second chance to save the world, so Ace is determined to learn from his past mistakes and wish for the best, literally.Perfect for fans of Max Brailler, Adam Gidwitz, and Dan Gutman, this middle grade series is a wonderful mix of unpredictable magic, zany humor, and daring adventure. “An ingenious premise” raved Kirkus in a starred review!

The crime-loving Crims are back in the second installment of this hilarious trilogy, perfect for fans of Lemony Snicket and Pseudonymous Bosch!Imogen Crim has moved back home with her family and resumed her commitment to crime. But coming back to Blandington isn’t quite so easy.Between Big Nana’s crime theory assignments, regular schoolwork, and keeping up with her new archenemy Ava Gud, Imogen can’t find a spare moment to participate in the family’s new Crime Directive. And the Crims have even been bumped from the top spot on Blandington’s Most Wanted list! Oh, the injustice!Then various Crims start disappearing without a trace, and Big Nana is convinced that the Kruk family is behind the kidnappings. Imogen will need to use all her shadiest and shiftiest skills if she’s ever to see her family again…

Welcome to Zoone: crossroads of the multiverse. In this inventive fantasy, fans of Diana Wynne Jones and Lisa McMann will step through an enchanted doorway and into a world filled with infinite portals to new—and sometimes perilous—lands.  When a bright blue winged tiger appears on his aunt’s sofa, Ozzie can tell he’s in for an adventure. He’s thrilled to follow Tug—a skyger—through a secret door in the basement and into Zoone, the bustling Grand Central Station of the universe, where a thousand doors act as portals to strange and wonderful worlds.But some doors also hide dangers—and when the portal back to Earth explodes behind him, Ozzie gets more adventure than he bargained for. In a station full of wizards, creepy-crawlies, and the occasional cursed princess, Ozzie has to find a way to repair his door… and possibly save the multiverse in the process. Brimming with colorful characters, magical mayhem, and endless adventure, this new tween series has a doorway for every reader—just be sure to close the door behind you!

A fully illustrated and authorized episode guide celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the hit-television show Friends, including a look behind-the-scenes of cult-favorite episodes, exclusive photos from Warner Bros., brand new interviews with show creators Marta Kauffman, David Crane, and set designer John Shaffner, and more.The beloved show Friends introduced the world to six young New Yorkers living together, falling in love, breaking up (cue Ross's "We were on a break!"), and getting into hilarious shenanigans, which became an instant classic formula that inspired dozens of "hangout sitcoms" long after the show's reign. But no sitcom has ever come close to the series that started it all, spawning iconic looks like "the Rachel" and timeless catchphrases like "How you doin'?" while creating a cultural sensation that catapulted the cast members to instant mega-stardom.Throughout the show's ten- season run, viewers watched Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, Ross, Chandler, and Joey navigate their twenties and thirties with unwavering friendship, determination, and, of course, plenty of sarcasm. Friends Forever takes fans back to the set where it all began with exclusive photos of the sitcom that won four Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series, eleven People's Choice Awards, and a Golden Globe for Jennifer Aniston for Best Lead Actress in a Television Series. This fully illustrated episode guide will treat readers to nostalgic flashbacks of the top one hundred episodes and sneak peeks of how popularly referenced lines from the show came to be. Friends Forever also boasts new interviews with show creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman on how the show got its start and set designer John Shaffner who reveals his inspirations behind the iconic looks behind Monica’s and Rachel’s apartment and Central Perk. It's no wonder why the Friends cast was chosen by TV Guide readers as the Best Comedy cast of all time, while countless other publications such as Vanity Fair named the show one of the best sitcoms of all time.Fun, hilarious interactives include:Joey’s fake resume vs real one Countdown to the funniest Thanksgiving foods Trivia game Q&A from "The One with the Embryos" (Seriously, what is Chandler Bing’s job?) Follow Ross’s infidelity trail from "The One with the Morning After" Who’s that celebrity? A comprehensive guide to some of the most famous celebrity guest stars from all ten seasons