Exit The Turtle Lady

When what is assumed to be a gas explosion destroys a woman’s home, a witness is drawn into events that lead far beyond the victim’s passion for protecting turtles and into a criminal plot that will test lifelong friendships, endanger a dam and involve a once-famous imprisoned eco-terrorist. A mysterious van that was once used in a plot to damage the Lincoln Memorial is found disabled atop a dam in rural Idaho, bringing to light the burglary, twenty-five years earlier, of the Federal Ordinance Arsenal in Washington State and creating suspicion about the motives of a group of locals caring for their recently injured friend—the Turtle Lady. Law enforcement initially pursues R.A. Endicott—an unlikely suspect most comfortable tending his pumpkins—and his good friend Skipper for their vague involvement with the damaged home, but information is gathered that suggests a conspiracy and imminent plot aimed at eliminating Double Falls Reservoir in the name of salmon habitat. However, when the plan is ultimately exposed, that proves not to have been the case at all. The target is something no one imagined and the goal far more sinister than anyone suspected.

When what is assumed to be a gas explosion destroys a woman's home, a witness is drawn into events that lead far beyond the victim's passion for protecting turtles and into a criminal plot that will test lifelong friendships, endanger a dam and involve a once-famous imprisoned eco-terrorist. A mysterious van that was once used in a plot to damage the Lincoln Memorial is found disabled atop a dam in rural Idaho, bringing to light the burglary, twenty-five years earlier, of the Federal Ordinance Arsenal in Washington State and creating suspicion about the motives of a group of locals caring for their recently injured friend-the Turtle Lady. Law enforcement initially pursues R.A. Endicott-an unlikely suspect most comfortable tending his pumpkins-and his good friend Skipper for their vague involvement with the damaged home, but information is gathered that suggests a conspiracy and imminent plot aimed at eliminating Double Falls Reservoir in the name of salmon habitat. However, when the plan is ultimately exposed, that proves not to have been the case at all. The target is something no one imagined and the goal far more sinister than anyone suspected.

As her grandmother taught her, Magdalena continues to protect the sea turtles that nest near her home even after Grandma's death.

A touching, timeless novel--perfect for fans of Lisa Graff and Lauren Wolk--about a girl who discovers that the ocean is holding secrets she never could have imagined. Twelve-year-old Summer loves the ocean. The smell, the immensity, the feeling she gets when she dives beneath the surface. She has lived in Barnes Bluff Bay since she was two years old, when Lindy found her on the beach. It's been the two of them ever since. But now, ten years later, Summer feels uncertainty about her place with Lindy and starts to wonder about where she came from. One night, Summer goes for a swim and gets caught in a riptide, swallowing mouthfuls of seawater. And that night, she dreams of a girl. A girl her age living in the same town, but not in the same time. Summer's not persuaded that this girl is real, but something about her feels familiar. Summer dreams again and again about this girl, Tink, and becomes convinced that she is connected to her past. As she sees Tink struggle with her sister growing away from her and her friends starting to pair off, Summer must come to terms with her own evolving home life and discover how the bonds that make us family can help heal the wounds of the past. From Melissa Sarno, the author of Just Under the Clouds, comes a new story of discovery, family, and finding where you belong.

Recent estimates suggest that nearly 3 million people in the US alone keep an amphibian or reptile as a pet. YouTube videos with odes to cane toads are ubiquitous. And yet amphibians and reptiles also keep extermination companies in business, and are reviled by many. These emotions pose great challenges to the conservation of these species, just as their populations in the natural world are in great decline. It can be quite hard to inspire stewardship of a tomato toad in the same way that one can more generally charismatic fauna like pandas and polar bears. In response, herpetologists have created large-scale programs such as Amphibian Ark, the umbrella organization behind the Year of the Frog campaign, http: //www.amphibianark.org/, to educate and enthrall citizens with the charm of the more slimy species of the planet. Few herpetologists have contributed more to the conservation of amphibians and reptiles than Marty Crump, a renowned expert on declining amphibians. This manuscript is her ode to the toad, a masterful compilation of science and narrative centering on human relations with amphibians and reptiles across the globe. An intrepid explorer and skilled writer, Crump has gathered stories and myths and paired them with natural history to give a wonderful view of how essential amphibians and reptiles are to our well being. Using symbolism, folklore, and science, the manuscript also explores the conservation consequences of our complicated amorous and vexed affair with snakes, frogs, toads and other herpetofauna.

A strong woman through the 97 years of her life, Ila Fox Loetscher was always on the leading edge. Her life took her from being a pioneer aviator, through an enchanted marriage and tragic widowhood, to becoming a leading environmentalist, devoted to protecting sea turtles and making her home in South Padre Island, Texas.

In traditional China, upper-class literati were inevitably strongly influenced by Confucian doctrine and rarely touched upon such topics as love and women in their writings. It was not until the mid-Tang, a generation or two after the An Lushan rebellion, that literary circles began to engage in overt discussion of the issues of love and women, through the use of the newly emerging genres of zhiguai and chuanqi fiction. The debate was carried out with an unprecedented enthusiasm, since the topics were considered to be the key to understanding the crisis in Chinese civilization. This book examines the repertoire of chuanqi and zhiguai written during the Six Dynasties and Tang periods and analyzes the key themes, topics, and approaches found in these tales, which range from expressions of male fantasy, sympathy, fear, and anxiety, to philosophical debate on the place of the feminine in patriarchal Chinese society. Many of these stories reflect tensions between masculine and feminine aspects of civilization as seen, for example, in the conflict of male aspiration and female desire, as well as the ultimate longing for reconciliation of these divisions. These stories form a crucial chapter in the history of love in China and would provide much of the foundation for further explorations during the late imperial period, as seen in seminal works such as The Peony Pavilion and Dream of the Red Chamber.

A young woman encounters strange events in her Mexican hometown in this novel by an author who “immerses us...in her wickedly funny and imaginative world” (Latina). Leaving Tabasco tells of the coming of age of Delmira Ulloa, raised in an all-female home in Agustini, in the Mexican province of Tabasco. In Agustini it is not unusual to see your grandmother float above the bed when she sleeps, or to purchase torrential rains at a traveling fair, or to watch your family’s elderly serving woman develop stigmata, then disappear completely, to be canonized as a local saint. But as Delmira becomes a woman, she will set out on a search for her missing father, and must make a choice that could mean leaving her home forever, in a tale filled with both depth and delightful mystery that poses questions about just how real the real world is. “To flee Agustini is to leave not just a town but the viscerally primal dreamscape it represents.”— The New York Times Book Review “Vibrant...Each chapter is an adventure.”—The Boston Globe “We happily share with [Delmira] her life, including the infinitely charming town she inhabits [and] her grandmother’s fantastic imagination.”—The Washington Post Book World