Elysia

Courtney looked at her small, drab room and sighed. Her dolls sat in a corner along with her warrior princess outfit, sword, and shield. She spent countless hours playing with these toys, one moment giving tea to her dolls and the next fighting her friends as the warrior princess. While her real world life had become a much better place since she had visited Elysia every night, she still missed her earlier childhood when she and both her parents spent so much time together. She lived in a happy world then, one filled with family parties, trips to the movies and parks, and just time spent quietly together. Then, the anger and the darkness came. Her father and mother, suddenly lost their jobs, and the arguments started soon after. Her mom found work at another company, but her dad did not find a new job. Then one day after a long argument the police came and took her dad away. Courtney had seen him only once from afar since that terrible day. In her mind, she journeyed back to this time. Courtney, lay in her bed, waiting for sleep to come. Just a few months ago, Courtney had been able to fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. When sleep finally came this night, Courtney found herself in front of an elaborate wrought-iron gate with a large sign reading “Elysia” set amid the swirling pieces of iron. The sun shone very brightly, birds sang happily, and sweet flower smells escaped from the spaces between the iron bars of the fence. The place looked very much like illustrations in her books, but instead of being pictures on a page or the more fuzzy parts of the dreams she remembered, this place seemed very real to her, as real as the life she ordinarily led. Even in her eleven-year-old mind, Courtney knew this place could not exist, but nonetheless she stood here.

Courtney looked at her small, drab room and sighed. Her dolls sat in a corner along with her warrior princess outfit, sword, and shield. She spent countless hours playing with these toys, one moment giving tea to her dolls and the next fighting her friends as the warrior princess. While her real world life had become a much better place since she had visited Elysia every night, she still missed her earlier childhood when she and both her parents spent so much time together. She lived in a happy world then, one filled with family parties, trips to the movies and parks, and just time spent quietly together. Then, the anger and the darkness came. Her father and mother, suddenly lost their jobs, and the arguments started soon after. Her mom found work at another company, but her dad did not find a new job. Then one day after a long argument the police came and took her dad away. Courtney had seen him only once from afar since that terrible day. In her mind, she journeyed back to this time. Courtney, lay in her bed, waiting for sleep to come. Just a few months ago, Courtney had been able to fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. When sleep finally came this night, Courtney found herself in front of an elaborate wrought-iron gate with a large sign reading "Elysia" set amid the swirling pieces of iron. The sun shone very brightly, birds sang happily, and sweet flower smells escaped from the spaces between the iron bars of the fence. The place looked very much like illustrations in her books, but instead of being pictures on a page or the more fuzzy parts of the dreams she remembered, this place seemed very real to her, as real as the life she ordinarily led. Even in her eleven-year-old mind, Courtney knew this place could not exist, but nonetheless she stood here.

The Titus Crow novels are full of acts of nobility and heroism. Titus Crow and his faithful companion fight the forces of darkness - the infamous and deadly Elder Gods of H.P. Lovecraft - wherever they arise. The powerful Cthulhu and his dark minions are bent on ruling the earth - or destroying it, yet time after time, Titus Crow drives the monsters back into the dark from whence they came. Elysia is the sixth book in the Titus Crow series.

This volume provides a comprehensive look at the biology of plastids, the multifunctional biosynthetic factories that are unique to plants and algae. Fifty-six international experts have contributed 28 chapters that cover all aspects of this large and diverse family of plant and algal organelles. The book is divided into five sections: (I): Plastid Origin and Development; (II): The Plastid Genome and Its Interaction with the Nuclear Genome; (III): Photosynthetic Metabolism in Plastids; (IV): Non-Photosynthetic Metabolism in Plastids; (V): Plastid Differentiation and Response to Environmental Factors. Each chapter includes an integrated view of plant biology from the standpoint of the plastid. The book is intended for a wide audience, but is specifically designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate students and scientists in the fields of photosynthesis, biochemistry, molecular biology, physiology, and plant biology.

The incidents described in this book include the 1890 assassination of the New Orleans Chief of Police David Hennessey, the resulting Italian lynchings, and the 1906 murder of the seven-year-old child Walter Lamana. The first two incidents were the impetus for the 1999 HBO movie "Vendetta" and the book The Crescent City Lynchings by Tom Smith. The third incident had the most impact on many of the families documented in this book. The Walter Lamana child-killing story has not resurfaced for over a hundred years, until now.The high profile crimes of the late 1800s and early 1900s typically do not mention the places of origin of the families involved. The majority of those involved came from a small town in Sicily named Chiusa Sclafani, which is near Corleone, situated in the province of Palermo. Chiusa Sclafani is not mentioned in the movie Vendetta, nor the books covering the incidents and families involved.Fifteen years and roughly 60,000 hours of research are included in this book. This is one of most uniquely written books seen in centuries, and embodies a far-reaching and massive amount of documentation.For the most part this book is a reference material. Included are details of ancestor voyages, accounts of major incidents, the impacts those incidents had on these families, and more. There are steamer ship voyages documented for 27 families and for 795 individuals. There are 32 family trees presented. The Index includes 731 unique surnames and 2948 individuals documented in the family trees presented.The early chapters of this book describe the experience of the voyage and American citizenship process for our Sicilian immigrant ancestors, the "incidents" which occurred in New Orleans which caused the massive family dispersions, as well as a short description of Chiusa Sclafani and New Orleans.The middle chapters contain the steamer ship voyages for many of those who left the island of Sicily and entered America. This is the main artery of this book, which connects the present to the past and vice-versa. This chapter will help many people in their research by "jumping the ocean", a peculiar and meaningful genealogy term.The latter chapters of this book include the family descendant trees, which span from the earliest ancestors researched in Sicily, to the present. The first page (sometimes more than one page) of most of the family chapters includes a short dialogue explaining the familys entrance to America, detailing who migrated from Sicily to America, migrations from New Orleans to other places, many surname spelling changes, and more.Because the original research focused on the authors own family, the Palisi family documentation includes 400 years and 12 complete generations. Further, the Palisi chapter contains a heraldry entry found in a document dated from the 1500s, placenames around the globe where the name Palisi is used, and genetic DNA testing results of the Palisi line. Frank Palisi chose to include his own familys genetic DNA testing and results in this book since he was inspired by National Geographics (and their partner IBM) efforts to genetically test the DNA of a sampling of the worlds population to determine how the earth was repopulated after the last Ice Age.As a result of this book, first, second, and third cousins can now find out who and where their relatives are, after being separated over a hundred years ago.This book has attracted and will continue to attract historians, genealogists, mafia enthusiasts, university professors & students, and more!

She needs a fresh start. He’s got scars that haven’t healed. With the help of some rescue dogs, they’ll discover that everyone deserves a chance at happiness. After a year of heartbreak and loss, the only thing keeping Constance afloat is the dog rescue she works at with her sister, Sunny. Desperate for a change, Constance impulsively joins a new gym, even though it seems impossibly hard, and despite the gym’s prickly owner. Rhett Santos keeps his gym as a refuge for his former-military brothers and to sweat out his own issues. He’s ready to let the funny redhead join, but unprepared for the way she wiggles past his hard-won defenses. When their dog rescue is threatened, the sisters fight to protect it. And they need all the help they can get. As Rhett and Constance slowly open up to each other, they’ll find that no one is past rescuing; what they need is the right person—or dog—to save them.