America's first Children's Poet Laureate has written all-new verses to accompany the composer Camille Saint-Sa ns's The Carnival of the Animals, and the illustrator of the Harry Potter books has turned these rollicking rhymes into a picture-book fun fest. Included is a CD of the music and of Jack Prelutsky reading the verses. A note to parents and teachers by Judith Bachleitner, head of the music department at the prestigious Rudolf Steiner School in New York City, suggests ways preschoolers can act out the music--tromp like an elephant, hop like a kangaroo, glide like a swan--or, for older children, be creatively inspired by this joyful work.

In Lucho, Sabina's family--already foreigners in a town of blancos--is shunned by the community when a relative commits an unspeakable act of violence, but she is in turn befriended by the town bad boy who has a secret of his own; in Desaliento, Sabina surrounds herself with other young drifters who spend their time looking for love and then fleeing from it--until reality catches up with one of them; and in Vida, the urgency of Sabina's self-imposed exile in Miami fades when she meets an enigmatic Colombian woman with a tragic past.

Patricia Engel maps landscapes both actual and interior in this stunning debut, and the constant throughout is Sabina--serious, witty, alternately cautious and reckless, open to transformation yet skeptical of its lasting power. Infused by a hard-won, edgy wisdom, Vida introduces a sensational new literary voice.

Will Henry has been through more that seems possible for a boy of fourteen. He's been on the brink of death on more than one occasion, he has gazed into hell--and hell has stared back at him, and known his face. But through it all, Dr. Warthrop has been at his side.

When Dr. Warthrop fears that Will's loyalties may be shifting, he turns on Will with a fury, determined to reclaim his young apprentice's devotion. And so Will must face one of the most horrific creatures of his monstrumology career--and he must face it alone.

Over the course of one day, Will's life--and Pellinor Warthrop's destiny--will lie in balance. In the terrifying depths of the Monstrumarium, they will face a monster more terrible than any they could have imagined--and their fates will be decided.

2007 - Florida Book Award Bronze Medal Winner

As an archeological tour alone the book would be worth reading, but it's the fascinating and complex characters that give the story life and vibrancy. --Rhys Bowen, New York Times bestselling author

Faye Longchamp and Joe Wolf Mantooth have traveled to Neshoba County, Mississippi, to help excavate a site near Nanih Waiya, the sacred mound where tradition says the Choctaw nation was born. When farmer Carroll Calhoun refuses the archaeologists' request to investigate an ancient Native American mound, Faye and her colleagues are disappointed. But his next action breaks their hearts: he tries to bulldoze the huge relic to the ground.

Later Calhoun is found dead, his throat sliced with a handmade stone blade. Was he killed by an archaeologist angered by his wanton destruction of history? Did a Choctaw take up arms to defend an embattled heritage? Did someone decide to even the score with an old rival?

Stephen Kampa's poems are witty and restless in their pursuit of an intelligent modern faith. They range from a four-line satire of office inspirational posters to a lengthy meditation on the silence of God. The poems also revel in the prosodic possibilities of English'shigh and low registers: a twenty-one line homageto Lord Byron that turns on three rhymes (one of which is eisegesis); a sestina whose end words include sentimental, Marseilles, and Martian; sapphics on the death of Ray Charles; and intricately modulated stanzas on the 1931 Spanish-language movie version of Dracula.

Despite the metaphysical seriousness, there is alwaysan undercurrent of stylistic levity -- a panoply of puns, comic rhymes, and loving misquotations of canonical literature -- that suggests comedy and tragedy are inextricably bound in human experience.

Tells the story of how a myth became so pervasive in Florida culture--to the point that Fountains of Youth sprang up all over.--Lu Vickers, author of Weeki Wachee Mermaids

Juan Ponce de Le n reached the shores of Florida on April 2, 1513. Although historians have long debunked the myth of the conquistador's search for the Fountain of Youth, his fabled quest remains inextricably tied to the image of the Sunshine State. Even today, Florida's mythical, magical waters--some reputed to have healing powers--remain a potent part of the state's appeal for tourists and residents alike.

Featuring reproductions of eye-catching postcards, vintage advertisements, vibrant photos, and other Ponceabilia, Finding the Fountain of Youth reveals how Florida itself has been transformed into a veritable Fountain of Youth, a paradisiacal playground, a utopia of rejuvenating springs and beautiful mermaids.

More than a collection of nostalgic kitsch, however, the book also addresses the very real problem of protecting Florida's fragile springs. These pristine waters--numbering more than 700--were once revered by the Timucua and Calusa and celebrated by a variety of writers, including William Bartram and Harriet Beecher Stowe. In time, some became known as Panacea Springs or Epiritu Santo Springs, new names meant to extol their sacred nature to visitors in polka-dotted bathing suits and Panama hats. Today, world-famous sites such as Silver Springs, known for crystal-clear underwater photographs and iconic glass-bottomed boats, are cloudy; others are on the verge of disappearing altogether as new housing developments and businesses draw down the underlying aquifer.

Through five hundred years of history, the search for water has defined Florida. That is no less true for today's residents as it was for mid-twentieth-century tourists or even Ponce de Le n himself. Finding the Fountain of Youth is a delightful reminder of journeys past--and a peek at those to come.

Kimbrell helps us see into the mysteries and losses that haunt our world--primal, incessant, hidden, and true as 'fog rising from our wordless mouths.'--David Baker

My Psychic is a book about the soul--what it might be, under what circumstances it might show itself to the rest of us curious, bewildered living. The center sequence of poems elegizing his mother's death movingly establishes an unbroken continuity between the living and the dead.

James Kimbrell is the author of The Gatehouse Heaven and co-translator of Three Poets of Modern Korea. He is currently the director of the creative writing program at Florida State University.

David Kirby's hilarious, poignant ninth collection of poetry opens with Elvis as Virgil guiding us through the afterlife, imagines where the dead go when they die, what they wear when they get there, and whether Heaven or Hell throws a better party.

Carmen knows that kissing Jeremy can't end well, but she just can't stay away. Nobody else understands her--and riles her up--like he does. Still, she can't trust him with her biggest secret: She is so desperate to win she takes anti-anxiety drugs to perform, and what started as an easy fix has become a hungry addiction. Carmen is sick of not feeling anything on stage and even more sick of always doing what she's told, doing what's expected.

Sometimes, being on top just means you have a long way to fall....

2012 - Florida Book Award Bronze Medal Winner for General Fiction

2012 - Florida Book Award Bronze Medal Winner for Popular Fiction

Details of archaeology, pirate lore, and voodoo complement the strong, sympathetic characters, especially Amande, and the appealing portrait of Faye's family life. --Booklist

Faye Longchamp and her Native American husband Joe Wolf Mantooth are working near the mouth of the Mississippi, researching archaeological sites soon to be flooded by oil. The Deepwater Horizon disaster has morphed her run-of-the-mill contract job into a task that might swamp her fledgling consulting business.

Then her injured babysitter leaves Faye to work with a toddler underfoot. Thankfully, Amande, a bright and curious teen lives nearby with her eccentric grandmother. But when the girl's grandmother and her no-account uncle are murdered, Amande's prospects worsen. The girl has but two known relatives, both battling over her small inheritance: a raggedy houseboat, a few shares of stock, and a hurricane-battered island that's not even inhabitable.

Pirate-era silver coins are found and disappear. A murderer is on the loose, and as the oil slick looms, Faye can see that Louisiana is still being plundered....

When Jessie realizes that a little girl named Clara is being neglected, Jessie knows that she has to help. And when Jessie discovers a herd of wild ponies captured in the woods, she knows that she and her friends must come to the rescue. But going head-to-head against the town's bully to save Clara and the ponies is no small feat, and Jessie will need more than just a little bit of luck.

The rugged shores of Newfoundland in 1965 set the scene for award-winning author Joan Hiatt Harlow's tale of a girl and her boundless affection for ponies.

A stunning tribute to one of America's most beloved icons--Audrey Hepburn. This nonfiction picture book is an excellent choice to share during homeschooling, in particular for children ages 6 to 8. It's a fun way to learn to read and as a supplement for activity books for children.

From Roman Holiday to Breakfast at Tiffany's, when Audrey Hepburn starred in a movie, she lit up the screen. Her unique sense of fashion, her grace, and, most important, her spirit made her beloved by generations. But her life offscreen was even more luminous. As a little girl growing up in Nazi-occupied Europe, she learned early on that true kindness is the greatest measure of a person--and it was a lesson she embodied as she became one of the first actresses to use her celebrity to shine a light on the impoverished children of the world through her work with UNICEF.