Dormia

Introducing Alfonso Perplexon, hero of the epic fantasy tale Dormia! Alfonso Perplexon is an unusual sleeper. He climbs trees, raises falcons, even shoots deadly accurate arrows, all in his sleep. No one can figure out why. Then one evening a man arrives at Alfonso’s door, claiming to be Alfonso’s long-lost uncle Hill. This uncle tells a fantastical tale: Alfonso’s ancestors hail from Dormia—an ancient kingdom of gifted sleepers—which is hidden in the snowy peaks of the Ural Mountains. According to Hill, Dormia exists thanks to a tree known as the Founding Tree, with roots that pump life into the frozen valley. But the Founding Tree is now dying, and in a matter of days, Dormia faces an icy apocalypse. Dormia’s salvation lies with the Great Sleeper, who possesses the special powers to enter a sleep trance and grow a new Founding Tree. Hill suspects that Alfonso is just such a person. In fact, Alfonso’s sleeping-self has already hatched this tree. Now the question is: Can Alfonso and his uncle deliver it in time? They must hurry, but they also must be careful not to be followed by Dormia’s age-old enemy, the Dragoonya, who are always hunting for one of the secret entryways into Dormia. Alfonso agrees to take the tree to Dormia, and thus begins one of the greatest adventures a twelve-year-old boy could ever wish for. As he woke up from a late afternoon nap, Alfonso blinked open his eyes and discovered that he was perched at the top of a gigantic pine tree – some two-hundred feet above the ground. The view was spectacular. Alfonso could see for miles in every direction and he could even make out his house in the distant hamlet of World’s End, Minnesota. Unfortunately, there was no time to enjoy the view. The small branch that Alfonso stood upon was covered with gleaming snow and creaked dangerously under the pressure of his weight. Icy gusts of wind shook the entire treetop. Alfonso looked down grimly at the ground far below. If he fell, he would most certainly die. “Oh brother,” muttered Alfonso to himself. “Not again.”

Ever since returning from Dormia, Alfonso has enjoyed sleeping in a bed like a normal person. No more waking up at the top of a tree or the edge of a cliff. In fact, no sleepwalking at all. But then, while visiting France on a class trip, Alfonso feels that strange and familiar pull of sleep. Upon waking, he finds himself in the belly of a ship headed to Egypt. In his backpack are a few old books and a vial of medicine he stole while asleep. Something is calling Alfonso back to Dormia. Perhaps it’s the Founding Tree? Or perhaps it's the man he sees in his dreams—the one who looks just like his deceased father? Whatever it is, Alfonso is powerless to resist. Storytellers Jake Halpern and Peter Kujawinski take Alfonso on another fantastical quest to Dormia—and beyond—to a vast underground world that holds the answer to a terrifying message: Let me tell you of a dark shadow tree and the world's end.

Covers equipment names, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, operations, new techniques and maneuvers, incisions, methods and approaches, syndromes and diseases, and anatomy terms that are based upon people's names.

An upper-middle grade thriller by the New York Times bestselling Nightfall authors–perfect for fans of James Dashner’s Maze Runner books. Thousands of miles south of the island of Bliss, day and night last for 72 hours. Here is one of the natural wonders of this world: a whirlpool thirty miles wide and a hundred miles around. This is the Drain. Anything sucked into its frothing, turbulent waters is never seen again. Wren has spent most of her life on Edgeland, a nearby island where people bring their dead to be blessed and prepared for the afterlife. There the dead are loaded into boats with treasure and sent over the cliff, and into the Drain. Orphaned and alone, Wren dreams of escaping Edgeland, and her chance finally comes when furriers from the Polar north arrive with their dead, and treasure for their dead. With the help of her friend Alec, Wren plans to loot one of the boats before it enters the Drain. But the boat--with Alec and Wren onboard--is sucked into the whirlpool. What they discover beyond the abyss is beyond what anyone could have imagined.

The dark will bring your worst nightmares to light in this gripping and eerie survival story, perfect for fans of James Dashner and Neil Gaiman. On Marin’s island, sunrise doesn’t come every twenty-four hours—it comes every twenty-eight years. Now the sun is just a sliver of light on the horizon. The weather is turning cold and the shadows are growing long. Because sunset triggers the tide to roll out hundreds of miles, the islanders are frantically preparing to sail south, where they will wait out the long Night. Marin and her twin brother, Kana, help their anxious parents ready the house for departure. Locks must be taken off doors. Furniture must be arranged. Tables must be set. The rituals are puzzling—bizarre, even—but none of the adults in town will discuss why it has to be done this way. Just as the ships are about to sail, a teenage boy goes missing—the twins’ friend Line. Marin and Kana are the only ones who know the truth about where Line’s gone, and the only way to rescue him is by doing it themselves. But Night is falling. Their island is changing. And it may already be too late.

After crash-landing on a deserted tropical island, a group of private-school teens must rely on their wits and one another to survive. Their survival is in their own hands . . . Samantha Mishra opens her eyes and discovers she’s alone and injured in the thick of a jungle. She has no idea where she is, or what happened to the plane taking her and the rest of the Drake Rosemont fencing team across the Pacific for a tournament. Once Sam connects with her best friend, Mel, and they find the others, they set up shelter and hope for rescue. But as the days pass, the teens realize they're on their own, stranded on an island with a mysterious presence that taunts and threatens them. Soon Sam and her companions discover they need to survive more than the jungle . . . they need to survive each other. This taut novel, with a setting evocative of Lord of the Flies, is by turns cinematic and intimate, and always thought-provoking. Praise for Damselfly “Prasad’s [YA] debut is a compelling modern-day adventure . . . An entertaining choice.” —School Library Journal “Ethics balance on a knife’s edge as the characters make difficult choices and adapt to their new reality . . . A compulsive read.” —Booklist “Who are we when we are only accountable to ourselves? This bold, deft novel exposes how fragile the world we inhabit really is and what it might take for us to survive.” —Neela Vaswani, co-author of Same Sun Here “Prasad breathes fresh life into this fusion of Lost, Prep, Gossip Girl, and William Golding’s classic.” —Jake Halpern, author of Fame Junkies and Dormia

This beautifully illustrated monograph provides an up-to-date and comprehensive overview about all fields of liver and biliary tract surgery and liver transplantation. It consists of four sections with 48 chapters: Section I: Anatomy, physiology, imaging and general principles, Section II: Biliary tract surgery, Section III: Liver surgery and Section IV: Liver transplantation. The book includes more than 500 figures and illustrations mostly in color. Some of the topics such as computer assisted surgery planning are treated comprehensively for the first time. The book is written in a concise and well conceived way.