Social Games

Set amid the riot, intrigue, and pageantry of medieval Paris, Victor Hugo's masterful tale of heroism and adventure has been a perennial favorite since its first publication in 1831. It is the story of Quasimodo, the deformed bell-ringer of the Notre Dame Cathedral, who falls in love with the beautiful gypsy Esmeralda. When Esmeralda is condemned as a witch by Claude Frollo, the tormented archdeacon who lusts after her, Quasimodo attempts to save her; but his intentions are misunderstood.

I was 13 when my dad caught me with Tommy Webber in the back of Tommy’s Buick, parked next to the old Chart House down in Montara at 11 o’clock on a Tuesday night. Tommy was 17 and the supposed friend of my brother, Darren. I didn’t love him. I’m not sure I even liked him. In a moment, Deanna Lambert’s teenage life is changed forever. Struggling to overcome the lasting repercussions and the stifling role of “school slut”, Deanna longs to escape a life defined by her past.

Katie Flanagan, Lucy Andia, Isabella Clemente, Keith Evans, Artie Lieberman, and Tony Andia are best friends at Peabody Middle School. Join them as they learn about life and themselves through playing the sports they love!

J. D. Vance erzählt die Geschichte seiner Familie - eine Geschichte vom gescheiterten Aufstieg und von der Resignation einer ganzen Bevölkerungsschicht. Seine Großeltern, echte Hillbillys, das heißt Angehörige der weißen Arbeiterschaft, versuchten, mit Fleiß und Mobilität der Armut zu entkommen und sich in der Mitte der Gesellschaft zu etablieren. Doch letztlich war alles vergeblich. Misshandlung, Alkoholismus und Armut sind wesentliche Eigenschaften des Hillbilly-Lebensstils.

Black Faces in White Places is about "the game" - that is, the competitive world in which we all live and work. The audiobook offers 10 revolutionary strategies for playing, mastering, and changing the game for the current generation, while undertaking a wholesale redefinition of the rules for those who will follow. It is not only about shattering the old "glass ceiling" but also about examining the four dimensions of the contemporary black experience: identity, society, meritocracy, and opportunity.

Investors beware! That's the message in Howard Kurtz's The Fortune Tellers. It reveals what happens when 'Net technology meets stock market hype. Listen to an interview with the author on archive edition of Marketplace.

In the spring of 2000, Harper's magazine sent James McManus to Las Vegas to cover the World Series of Poker. But when McManus sets foot in town, the lure of the tables is too strong: he proceeds to risk his entire Harper's advance in a long-shot attempt to play in the tournament himself. Only with actual table experience (he tells his skeptical wife) can he capture the hair-raising subtleties of poker that determines the world champion.

These three exciting chapter books feature some of your favorite Disney heroines on fun adventures as young girls.

The sea shanties, YOLO's, and red bandanas aren't even half of the GameStop story. Did you know Robinhood didn't initiate their infamous trading halt? Did you know why Redditors refer to 2021 as the "sneeze" rather than the squeeze? Did you know that shares in your brokerage account might be counterfeits? If not, buckle up.

Kate, Mia, Lainey, and Gabby are special girls. They know how to travel between their hometown and Never Land - through a broken slat in a backyard fence. But what happens when the fence is repaired with one of the girls stuck on the Never Land side? Tinker Bell and the Disney Fairies star in a magical new early chapter book series for listeners ages six to 10 - The Never Girls!

Stories provide portals into other worlds, both real and imagined. The promise of escape draws people from all backgrounds to speculative fiction, but when people of color seek passageways into the fantastic, the doors are often barred. The Dark Fantastic is an engaging and provocative exploration of race in popular youth and young adult speculative fiction. Grounded in her experiences as YA novelist, fan-fiction writer, and scholar of education, Thomas considers four black girl protagonists from some of the most popular stories of the early 21st century.

Seeking ways to understand video games beyond their imperial logics, Patterson turns to erotics to re-invigorate the potential passions and pleasures of play. Video games vastly outpace all other mediums of entertainment in revenue and in global reach. On the surface, games do not appear ideological, nor are they categorized as national products. Instead, they seem to reflect the open and uncontaminated reputation of information technology. Like literature and film before it, video games have become the main artistic expression of empire today.

Why do Democrats fail to win voters to their side, and what can they do to develop new winning political strategies—especially as the very fate of democracy hangs in the balance in 2024? Too often the carefully constructed, rational arguments of the Left meet a grisly fate at the polls, where voters are instead swayed by Republican candidates hawking anger, fear, and resentment. Only when Democrats are handed an overwhelming motivational issue—like the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade—have they found a way to counter this effect.

In the world of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, inspired by the lasting impact that books like Harry Potter have had on readers, Kimmy writes a book to help boys grow up to be good men.

Will Noah and Violet find the griefers who escaped to the Overworld? Noah and Violet are busy rebuilding their town when the Ender Dragon flies above the village streets. The following day the Wither attacks them. As the town battles these harsh hostile mobs, Noah and Violet, with their good friends, Hannah and Ben, set out to search for Daniel, whom they suspect is behind these vicious attacks.

After suffering from intense anxiety as a child, Thomas Wakechild spent a lifetime dedicated to the study and management of fear. In Ending Fear: The “7 R” Formula for Fearless Awakening, he combines psychological, sociological, and scientific studies to support his unique “7 R” formula to overthrow your fear-based thought system for good. Once implemented, this proven seven-step system will unlock your mind’s ability to determine what principles will guide your life.

Corey plays a special role on his baseball team—he’s their first deaf player! He and the coach communicate on the field by using sign language. Will Corey help the Northfield Huskies win the game and go on to the championship?

In The Gutsy Girl, author Caroline Paul emboldens girls to seek out lives of exhilaration. Once a young scaredy-cat herself, Caroline decided that fear got in the way of the life she wanted - of excitement, confidence, self-reliance, friendship, and fun. She has since flown planes, rafted big rivers, climbed tall mountains, and fought fires as one of the first female firefighters in San Francisco.

Lainey dreams of talking to animals. Kate craves adventure and excitement. Mia loves dresses, roses, and anything beautiful. Gabby believes in fairies more than anyone. It's time for the Never Girls to go home. Lainey thinks it's goodbye forever, but is that a Never mouse in her mother's kitchen? And why can't Mia find Bingo? Could there be a splinter between the worlds?

The annual Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year) Awards are like the Oscars of the tabletop. Acclaimed British author and games expert James Wallis investigates the winners and losers of each year’s contest to track the incredible explosion in amazing new board games. From modern classics like CATAN, Ticket to Ride, and Dixit to once-lauded games that have now been forgotten (not to mention several popular hits that somehow missed a nomination), this is a comprehensive yet hugely enjoyable study of the best board games ever made, penned by one of the most knowledgeable commentators on the hobby.