From the award-winning, bestselling author of Snow Falling on Cedars comes a modern re-imagining of one of the world’s greatest tragedies, Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex—a story of destiny, desire, and destruction. • “Brilliant.... Transcendently dark and dazzling.” — The Seattle Times In Seattle of 1962, Walter Cousins, a mild-mannered actuary takes a risk of his own and makes the biggest error of his life: He sleeps with Diane Burroughs, the sexy, not-quite-legal British au pair who’s taking care of his children for the summer. When Diane becomes pregnant and leaves their baby on a doorstep, it sets in motion a tragedy of epic proportions. The orphaned child, adopted by an adoring family and named Edward Aaron King, grows up to become a billionaire Internet tycoon and an international celebrity—the “King of Search”—who unknowingly, but inexorably, hurtles through life toward a fate he may have no way of reversing.

Most people believe that they were either benefited or at least not harmed by being brought into existence. Thus, if they ever do reflect on whether they should bring others into existence---rather than having children without even thinking about whether they should---they presume that they do them no harm. Better Never to Have Been challenges these assumptions. David Benatar argues that coming into existence is always a serious harm. Although the good things in one's life make one's life go better than it otherwise would have gone, one could not have been deprived by their absence if one had not existed. Those who never exist cannot be deprived. However, by coming into existence one does suffer quite serious harms that could not have befallen one had one not come into existence. Drawing on the relevant psychological literature, the author shows that there are a number of well-documented features of human psychology that explain why people systematically overestimate the quality of their lives and why they are thus resistant to the suggestion that they were seriously harmed by being brought into existence. The author then argues for the 'anti-natal' view---that it is always wrong to have children---and he shows that combining the anti-natal view with common pro-choice views about foetal moral status yield a 'pro-death' view about abortion (at the earlier stages of gestation). Anti-natalism also implies that it would be better if humanity became extinct. Although counter-intuitive for many, that implication is defended, not least by showing that it solves many conundrums of moral theory about population.

In this book, the preeminent child psychologist of our time gives us the results of his lifelong effort to determine what is most crucial in successful child-rearing. His purpose is not to give parents preset rules for raising their children, but rather to show them how to develop their own insights so that they will understand their own and their children's behavior in different situations and how to cope with it. Above all, he warns, parents must not indulge their impulse to try to create the child they would like to have, but should instead help each child fully develop into the person he or she would like to be.

"In 2008, a cheerful ambulance-chasing lawyer named Jay Shenk persuades the grieving Keener family to sue a private LA hospital. Their son Wesley has been transformed by a routine surgery into a kind of golem, absent all normal functioning or personality, walking in endless empty circles around his hospital room. In 2019, Shenk - still in practice but a shell of his former self - is hired to defend Wesley Keener's father when he is charged with murder . . . the murder, as it turns out, of the expert witness from the 2008 hospital case. Shenk's adopted son, a fragile teenager in 2008, is a wayward adult, though he may find his purpose when he investigates what really happened to the murdered witness. Two thrilling trials braid together, medical malpractice and murder, jostling us back and forth in time. The Quiet Boy is a book full of mysteries, not only about the death of a brilliant scientist, not only about the outcome of the medical malpractice suit, but about the relationship between children and their parents, between the past and the present, between truth and lies. At the center of it all is Wesley Keener, endlessly walking, staring empty-eyed, in whose quiet, hollow body may lie the fate of humankind."--Publisher.

"This book looks at the role illegality or undocumentedness plays in our society and economy. It shows how the status was created, and how and why people, especially Mexicans and Central Americans, have been assigned this status. The first three chapters look at the histories of social exclusion. One looks specifically at the Mexican and Guatemalan contexts to understand why such large numbers of people from these countries enter the United States without documents, and how those who do so understand their own motivations. Two chapters focus on the role of illegality in the economy. Undocumented people tend to work in three different kinds of jobs: jobs that have been historically marginalized, like those in agriculture; jobs that have been downgraded from well-paid, unionized work to low-wage labor, like meatpacking; and newly booming job categories that underlie post-war consumerist prosperity like landscaping and childcare work. One chapter looks at children and families, focusing especially on the experiences of undocumented youth and youth with undocumented parents, and at the leadership role that undocumented youth have taken in the undocumented rights movement. One looks at the dizzying complexity of status to point out that virtually nobody really understand what "illegal" means. It looks at the detention system and the interests behind it. Finally, the last chapter explores the different "solutions" to the problem of undocumentedness that have been proposed and implemented over time, and shows why they have failed. Undocumentedness is deeply imbedded in global and national political and economic systems, and the concept itself must be understood and challenged in order to create a more just system. "--

By encouraging massive accumulations of debt from its underclass, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society. Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they scrape by running a taxidermy shop. Unbeknownst to Inesa, their cruel and indolent mother has accrued an enormous debt, enough to qualify one of her children for Caerus's livestreamed assassination spectacle : the Lamb's Gauntlet. Melinoe is a Caerus assassin, trained to track and kill the sacrificial Lambs. The product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, she is a living weapon, known for her cold brutality and deadly beauty. She has never failed to assassinate one of her marks. When Inesa learns that her mother has offered her as a sacrifice, at first she despairs, the Gauntlet is always a bloodbath for the impoverished debtors. But she's had years of practice surviving in the apocalyptic wastes, and with the help of her hunter brother she might stand a chance of staying alive. For Melinoe, this is a game she can't afford to lose. Despite her reputation for mercilessness, she is haunted by painful flashbacks. After her last Gauntlet, where she broke down on livestream, she desperately needs redemption. As Mel pursues Inesa across the wasteland, both girls begin to question everything : Inesa wonders if there's more to life than survival, while Mel wonders if she's capable of more than killing. And both wonder if, against all odds, they might be falling in love.

It was clear from an early age that Dexter Procter was different. He started speaking at four seconds old. By the age of three, he had 87 A-levels, from Afrikaans to Zoology. And by ten, he was working as a paediatrician at Lilydale General Hospital. Despite a loving but annoying family and a couple of good friends (Rupi and Otto), Dexter's always struggled to fit in. Add to this a mortal enemy (Dr Drake) and a major problem at his old school (all the teachers struck down with awful diarrhoea) - will Dexter be able to save his job, save the school and find his place in the world? (Spoiler alert- yes!) A laugh-out-loud new fiction series about the world's youngest doctor from the record-breaking Adam Kay and Henry Paker. 'Original, very funny, ultra-informative - and children will love all the disgusting parts.' Jacqueline Wilson 'If laughter truly is the best medicine, book this hilarious appointment with Dr Procter immediately.' David Baddiel

Hilarious series of wacky stories from a US boarding school where naughty pranks and mischief rate much more highly than education. From bestselling US author, R.L. Stine. Welcome to Rotten School, founded 100 years ago by I. B. Rotten as a boarding school where students would grow and succeed intellectually, morally and physically as they prepared for a productive and happy future. However, today our standards are a little less rigorous - we are simply happy if the students are still alive at the end of each day! We think rivalry is healthy for our pupils, thus, Rotten School is divided into two warring groups: Bernie Bridges and his friends in Rotten House vs. Sherman Oaks and his friends in Nyce House. Joe Sweety is the worst kind of bully - big, mean and always ready to use his fists. Chipmunk is the shiest, clumsiest kid at Rotten School. When Chipmunk is paired with Joe on the class trip, Chipmunk spills his apple juice, barfs and pulls down Joe's trousers. Joe beats up poor Chipmunk and Bernie decides to haunt Joe to get his own back, with spooky messages on the computer, green protoplasm in his room and a body-wrap in an eerie cocoon. Will Bernie's payback work? Will it scare Joe into being nice for once?

Number One for Fiendish Fun! This book contains a giant snowman, a rainy day, a MONSTROUS makeover and an author visit! Four utterly hilarious and totally brilliant Horrid Henry stories by Francesca Simon, with illustrations by Tony Ross. An irresistible introduction to reading for pleasure.

Snow is a 1998 New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year and a 1999 Caldecott Honor Book. "It's snowing, said boy with dog. "It's only a snowflake," said grandfather with beard. No one thinks one or two snowflakes will amount to anything. Not the man with the hat or the lady with the umbrella. Not even the television or the radio forecasters. But one boy and his dog have faith that the snow will amount to something spectacular, and when flakes start to swirl down on the city, they are also the only ones who know how to truly enjoy it. Uri Shulevitz' playful depiction of a snowy day and the transformation of a city is perfectly captured in simple, poetic text and lively watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations.

The experiences of two young Jewish girls and their mother, living on a farm in the Czechoslovak Republic after World War I, while waiting for their father to send them money to join him in America.

R.L. Stine delivers another frightening series with The Ghosts of Fear Street. When Joe breaks a funhouse mirror at a carnival, he releases an exact double of himself. Can he stop his evil twin before he takes over Joe's life? Discover the terror in The Funhouse of Dr. Freek.

Two friends venture out at night to see if a tree is really haunted in the fifth book in the Ghosts of Fear Street middle grade series from master of horror R.L. Stine—now with a brand-new look! No one ever goes into the Fear Street woods at night. Not if they want to come out again. But Dylan and Steve just found a cool tree house there—one that’s supposed to be haunted. Are the creepy stories true? Dylan and Steve are going to find out. They’re spending the night in the tree house in the woods. Just the two of them…and maybe a ghost.

A collection of scary short stories with contributions from Bruce Hale, Heather Graham, and Daniel Palmer.

A National Bestseller! In his first ever picture book, New York Times -bestselling author Randy Rainbow tells a fun, powerful story about embracing who you really are - even when it's easier to blend in. Randy Rainbow is uniquely himself. He loves painting his nails and listening to old Broadway albums. But when some kids at school tease Randy for being who he is, he goes to his beloved granny for a solution. And she has just the thing - a pair of sparkly pink glasses. The moment Randy puts the glasses on, the drab world around him turns Technicolor in a blink! The town swimming pool? It's full of mermaids, including a mer-Randy! Everything is more fun with the glasses - including Randy himself - and Randy's confidence grows and grows. But is the magic inside the glasses... or inside Randy. Perfect for readers who live bright colors, pink sparkles and unforgettable main characters, Randy Rainbow and the Marvelously Magical Pink Glasses is destined to become a favorite.

After a devastating fire in the hills of Oakland, California, during Sukkoth, a Jewish family and their neighbors find symbols of hope amidst the ashes. Justine and Duane and their neighbors are happily getting ready for Sukkoth, the Jewish harvest holiday. Suddenly, catastrophe strikes as a fire sweeps through their town. Luckily for everyone, there are still miracles in this world--sometimes in the shape of a little cat. This heartfelt story is a stirring celebration of life, friendship, and--most of all--hope!

Presents a collection of traditional rhymes, rewritten to feature Russian characters and scenes.

At a turning point in his life, writer Michael Pollan found himself dreaming of a small wood-frame hut in the woods near his house--a place to work, but also a "shelter for daydreams." Weaving the practical with the philosophical, this book presents a captivating personal inquiry into the art of architecture, the craft of building, and the meaning of modern work. Line drawings throughout. Size C. 320 pp. National ads & publicity. 35,000 print.

Driven to avenge the murder of her royal parents & reclaim her lost kingdom, a daring young heroine & would-be queen journeys to the besieged city on the plain to seek out its evil conqueror, the Usurper. Helprin's spellbinding tale reveals a city veiled in snow, at once divine & deadly. Evocatively told & beautifully rendered, it will enchant readers of all ages. Stunning color illustrations by Chris Van Allsburg capture the exhilaration of the story -- from the pulse of the masses in the palace square to the wrath of the bloodthirsty Usurper who scours the city streets after curfew, to the opulence of an intimate dinner party set for a thousand guests.

"There is a great deal we as parents can do at little or no cost to give our boys the advantages they need right now to jack up their odds of finishing high school, going to college, and leading a decent, free life in which they can not only support a family but also contribute to their communities. Because parenting can't wait. Our boys are growing up now, in conditions they did not create, and they deserve more than an adulthood defined by illiteracy, poverty, and reporting to a parole officer. Swagger will show you how." -from the Introduction