Everland

Forget the story of Peter Pan and Wendy you know. Because in Everland, the only way to grow up is to survive. London has been destroyed in a blitz of bombs and disease. The only ones who have survived are children, among them Gwen Darling and her siblings, Joanna and Mikey. They spend their nights scavenging and their days avoiding the ruthless Marauders -- the German Army led by Captain Hanz Otto Oswald Kretschmer. Unsure if the virus has spread past England's borders but desperate to leave, Captain Hook hunts for a cure, which he thinks can be found in one of the survivors. He and his Marauders stalk the streets snatching children for experimentation. None ever return. Until the day they grab Joanna. As Gwen sets out to save her, she meets a daredevil boy named Pete. Pete offers the assistance of his gang of Lost Boys and the fierce sharpshooter Bella, who have all been living in a city hidden underground. But in a place where help has a steep price and every promise is bound by blood, it will cost Gwen. And are she, Pete, the Lost Boys, and Bella enough to outsmart Captain Hook?

A novel of two expeditions, a century apart, that “conjures the Antarctic convincingly . . . in its vastness and implacable indifference to human life” (The New York Times Book Review). In 1913, three explorers—Dinners, Millet-Bass, and Napps—volunteer to leave their ship, the Kismet, and scout an uncharted and unknown island in the Antarctic, which Napps names “Everland.” While all three are enticed by the promise of adventure and reward, they are immortalized by the disastrous outcome of the expedition, their stories preserved for posterity. In 2012, Brix, Jess, and Decker—three researchers with their own reasons for being so far from home—set out on a centenary field trip to survey the same island. Their equipment is more advanced than the previous group’s, and their purpose more scientific—but the weather of Everland remains an unpredictable and deadly force, and under the harsh ultraviolet light of a sun which doesn’t set, isolated from the world, they begin to echo the expedition of a hundred years ago. “Nothing short of stunning: an adventure story, a psychological investigation of physical and mental breakdown, and a remarkable account of weather and endeavor.” —The Guardian

Forget the story of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz you know. Because in Ozland, the only way home is to kill the wicked queen. With Everland and Umberland both annihilated, the survivors have taken refuge in a small village tucked within the shadows of the Bloodred Queen's castle. Doc has found an actual cure for the Horologia virus, while Gwen, Pete, and Alyssa begin plotting the assassination of the queen with the help of Gail, an excellent huntress. But killing the queen won't be enough. The world has been destroyed and its needs a ruler to set things right again. A ruler who is good, kind, and fair. Someone like the former king of Germany. But he's dead . . . or is he? There's a rumor that the king has been hidden away in a secret land, where only the worthiest can find him. Desperate to end the war, a plan is hatched that could put everything right again. Yet before it's set in motion, the village is burned to the ground, all survivors taken prisoner to the castle. Except Gail.But is one girl enough to find a long-dead king, kill the wicked queen, and save the world?

From Sophie Cameron, the author of Out of the Blue, comes a novel of magic, adventure, and what it means to truly belong. Brody Fair feels like nobody gets him: not his overworked parents, not his genius older brother, and definitely not the girls in the projects set on making his life miserable. Then he meets Nico, an art student who takes Brody to Everland, a “knock-off Narnia" that opens its door at 11:21pm each Thursday for Nico and his band of present-day misfits and miscreants. Here Brody finds his tribe and a weekly respite from a world where he feels out of place. But when the doors to Everland begin to disappear, Brody is forced to make a decision: He can say goodbye to Everland and to Nico, or stay there and risk never seeing his family again. Will Nico take the last bus to Everland?

Bella, Gwen, and the Lost Boys have escaped to Alnwick Castle, but it is not the safe haven they hoped it would be for the "cure" for the Horologia virus has mutated into something even worse--so the Duchess Alyssa and Maddox Hadder set out searching for the virus's origin, an extinct poisonous apple, supposedly from a tree at the center of a labyrinth hidden deep within Germany and guarded by monsters.

The author was a published writer and experienced book editor. His work appeared on the radio and in several periodicals and nonfiction books, including: National Public Radios All Things Considered, The Harvard Crimson, Harvard University Gazette, The Harvard Education Report, The Young Readers Companion, The Student Handbook, The Volume Library and The Weekly Reader. Lawrence taught in some of the premier college prep schools in Boston, New York City, and Long Island. He earned degrees in Literature and Education from Georgetown, Harvard, and was working toward his Ph.D. at the University of Rochester at the time of his death.

In 1987, Motorola developed Six Sigma out of a need for improvement in their pager manufacturing processes. Since then, Six Sigma has been implemented by a number of manufacturing companies, predominantly in the USA. In the late 1990s, however, Six Sigma gained wider and international popularity due to successful implementation at General Electric. Six Sigma has now become one of the integral aspects of manufacturing, as well as non-manufacturing businesses worldwide. In recent years, many books have been published on Six Sigma, mainly on its application in manufacturing and product development. This book, by contrast, focuses specifically on the application of Six Sigma in service and transactional environments. The book comprises two parts. Part One provides the necessary knowledge for understanding the Six Sigma methodology and its underlying concepts. Part Two consists of practical examples of Six Sigma application to transactional and service environments which have been provided in the form of real world case studies written by internationally successful companies, to complement the reader's knowledge of Six Sigma and to increase comprehension of issues surrounding Six Sigma implementations. It has been written for newcomers as well as for experienced practitioners who are interested in improving processes in everyday business operations. The focus is on the implementation of the Six Sigma methodology rather than on the statistical tools and techniques. The aim of this book is to provide the reader with some practical and useful guidelines for Six Sigma deployment and its application to transactional and service processes.

This Tinkerbell is finally in with The Lost Boys. Seriously, she's the new lead singer for their band. But the guitarist she's crushing on only sees her as a cute little mascot. And the guy who's crushing on her? She doesn't see him at all. I blame my car. If the stupid old clunker hadn't broken down, I would have had time to go home and change before auditioning for lead singer of my crush's band. Instead, I showed up in a Tinkerbell costume. Awesome. Now I'm not so much the hot rocker chick as I am that weird fairy girl, but whatever. I mean, I got the gig, that's what counts. And I owe it all to Maverick. If the newest member of the Princess Troupe hadn't stopped and played a real life prince by rescuing me and giving me a ride, I never would have gotten to the audition at all. Maverick even goes so far as to stick around and give me a ride home afterward, which is really going above and beyond for a new work friend. But when he tries to kiss me at the end of the night? Friends, we've officially entered never-never land. This can't be real. We live in two different worlds. Someone needs to tell Maverick that star football players don't go for girls like me. He says he's cool with being friends first, so yeah...okay. Friends I can do. Besides, it looks like I'm gonna need all the friends I can get as I prove to my new band that I'm not some kid who likes to play dress up. I'm a grown up. Mostly. Just...don't challenge me to a game of Never Have I Ever.