Blip Korterly kicks off a game of graffiti tag on a local overpass by painting a simple phrase: "Uh-oh." An anonymous interlocutor writes back: "When?" Blip slyly answers: "Just a couple of days." But what happens in just a couple of days? Blip is arrested; his friend, Dr. Flake Fountain—a molecular biologist—is drafted into a shadow-government research project conducting experiments on humans. The virus being tested—cleverly called "the Pied Piper"—renders its victims incapable of symboli...

What It Takes is the distillation of lessons learned during nearly half a century of working backstage with the leaders of major professional firms as a trusted adviser on strategy and management, observing a few firms rise deliberately to leadership while many others with comparable hopes could not. Over and over again, in dozens of private meetings with firm leaders, the core questions were: Why do some firms rise to leadershipand why do most not make it? What does it take to excel? Perh...

For graduates, for their parents, for anyone facing change, here is a gorgeously illustrated and stunningly heartfelt ode to the challenges of growing up and letting go. A story of the seasons and stepping stones as poignant for parents as for their kids, from the creator of Otis the tractor and illustrator of Love by Matt de la Pena."Long’s gentle but powerful story about a young tree who holds tight to his leaves, even as everyone else lets theirs drop, ...

The #1 bestselling illustrator of Matt de la Pena's Love and the creator of Otis presents an homage to firefighters everywhere—and to the many boys and girls who dream big of being heroes!On the farm where Otis the tractor lives, it hasn't rained in a long time and farmers all over the valley have grown anxious with water in such short supply. One hot afternoon, when Otis and his friends are resting beneath the shade of the apple tree, Otis spots ...

The outbreak tore the U.S. in two. The east remains a safe haven. The west has become a ravaged wilderness. They call it the Evacuated States. It is here that Henry Marco makes his living. Hired by grieving relatives, he tracks down the dead and delivers peace.Now Homeland Security wants Marco for a mission unlike any other. He must return to California, where the apocalypse began. Where a secret is hidden. And where his own tragic past waits to punish him again.But in the ...

**Watch Get Rolling with Otis on Apple TV!Featuring the New York Times bestselling character Otis!**Join Otis as he explores the many fun things there are to see on the farm! In this new leveled reader, Otis sees a puppy, a little calf, and even a bull. Kids will love learning to read with one of their favorite characters, Otis the tractor!

A riveting portrait of the Gold Rush, by the award-winning author of Down the Great Unknown and The Forger's Spell.In the spring of 1848, rumors began to spread that gold had been discovered in a remote spot in the Sacramento Valley. A year later, newspaper headlines declared "Gold Fever!" as hundreds of thousands of men and women borrowed money, quit their jobs, and allowed themselves- for the first time ever-to imagine a future of ease and splen...

They are the most feared mecenary company the kingdom has ever known.Led by Yulan, their charismatic captain, the Free have spent years selling their martial and magical skills to the highest bidder -- winning countless victories that have shaken the foundations of the world. Now they finally plan to lay down their swords.Yet when Yulan is offered a final contract, he cannot refuse -- for the mission offers him the chance to erase the memories of the Free's ...

Three young adults grapple with the usual thirty-something problems -- boredom, authenticity, an omnipotent online oligarchy -- in David Shafer's darkly comic debut novel.The Committee, an international cabal of industrialists and media barons, is on the verge of privatizing all information. Dear Diary, an idealistic online Underground, stands in the way of that takeover, using radical politics, classic spycraft, and technology that makes Big Data look like dial-up...

What if William Shakespeare had written The Big Lebowski? The Dude has met the Bard, and he doth abide. Join "The Knave" and Sir Walter on a wild tale of mistaken identity, kidnapping, bowling, and a rug that, in faith, really tied the room together, in a sidesplitting Shakespearean comedy of errors and ninepins, told in five glorious acts of iambic pentameter and impeccable period prose. Already a theatrical hit and a worldwide viral phenomenon.

Getting Started in Mutual Funds, Second Edition is an overhaul of the original edition that includes everything from Morningstar's new matrix of evaluating a fund's investment style to implementing mutual funds into long-term investment strategies in retirement plans. Hall, of course, keeps the basics like how to read a prospectus, how to evaluate ongoing fees and expenses, and how to evaluate a fund's performance. New chapters include information on exchange-traded funds (how they compare...

A wealthy lawyer and his family struggle to overcome the dark secrets of the past in this historical generational saga set in 1950s Cape Cod.Almost overnight, Arthur Wise has become one of the wealthiest and most powerful attorneys in America. His first big purchase is a simple beach house in a place called Bluepoint, a town on the far edge of the flexed arm of Cape Cod.It's in Bluepoint, during the summer of 1952, that Arthur's teenage son, Hilly, makes fr...