Fishbowl

A goldfish named Ian is falling from the 27th-floor balcony on which his fishbowl sits. He's longed for adventure, so when the opportunity arises, he escapes from his bowl, clears the balcony railing and finds himself airborne. Plummeting toward the street below, Ian witnesses the lives of the Seville on Roxy residents. There's the handsome grad student, his girlfriend, and the other woman; the construction worker who feels trapped by a secret; the building's super who feels invisible and alone; the pregnant woman on bed rest who craves a forbidden ice cream sandwich; the shut-in for whom dirty talk, and quiche, are a way of life; and home-schooled Herman, a boy who thinks he can travel through time. Though they share time and space, they have something even more important in common: each faces a decision that will affect the course of their lives. Within the walls of the Seville are stories of love, new life, and death, of facing the ugly truth of who one has been and the beautiful truth of who one can become. Sometimes taking a risk is the only way to move forward with our lives. As Ian the goldfish knows, "An entire life devoted to a fishbowl will make one die an old fish with not one adventure had." Bradley Somer's Fishbowl is at turns funny and heartbreaking and you will, no doubt, fall in love with his unforgettable characters.

Fifteen-year-old Jackie Stone's father is dying. When Jackie discovers that her father has been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor, her whole world starts to crumble. She can't imagine how she'll live without him . . . Then, in a desperate act to secure his family's future, Jackie's father does the unthinkable--he puts his life up for auction on eBay. Jackie can do nothing but watch and wait as an odd assortment of bidders, some with nefarious intentions, drive the price up higher. The fate of her entire family hangs in the balance. But no one can predict how the auction will finally end, or any of the very public fallout that ensues. Life as Jackie knows it is about to change forever . . . In this brilliantly written tragicomedy told through multiple points of view--including Jackie's dad's tumor--acclaimed author Len Vlahos deftly explores what it really means to live. "A weird, sardonic delight with the shape of an allegory and the heart of a joyful song." --Brenna Yovanoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Replacement "Surprising, original, political, and deeply affecting . . . It is one of those rare works of art that keeps you guessing up to the very last page." --Leila Sales, author of This Song Will Save Your Life "It will tear you apart, and yet it's an absolute joy." --Adi Alsaid, author of Let's Get Lost and Never, Always, Sometimes

A moving, poetic story about a whale in captivity who longs for the ocean . . . because whales don't belong in fishbowls, do they? Wednesday is a whale who lives in a fishbowl smack dab in the middle of a city--it's the only home she's ever known. Cars whizz around her and people hurry past; even the sun and moon circle above. But if she leaps high enough out of her bowl, Wednesday can see it: a calm bit of blue off in the distance. When a girl in a paisley dress tells Wednesday "You belong in the sea," the whale starts to wonder, what is the sea? Readers will cheer--and get all choked up-- when, one day, Wednesday leaps higher than ever before and sets in motion a breathtaking chain of events that will carry her to her rightful home. Touching, and ultimately uplifting, here is a story about a lonely creature longing to be free--and longing to find someone just like her. A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2018! A New York Public Library Best Book of 2018!

Having roommates means living in a fishbowl: you are never alone. Smart, witty and a little bit bitchy, Fishbowl lets you press your face against the glass to see into the lives of three unique roommates - and laugh your head off. Allison, Jodine and Emma set their apartment on fire. No, they didn't do it on purpose. What kind of lunatics do you think they are? And don't go worrying. No one got hurt, although they did go to the hospital. Unfortunately, there was no one in white yelling stat! - no one climbing aboard a gurney to thump life back into someone's heart and no hot paramedic performing artificial respiration. What they do have now is one giant repair bill and no money. Problem? No way! Not for three bright women with a great fund-raising idea - they'll organise swanky soirees and dating seminars. Perfect. How could this possibly go wrong...?

Human rights are axiomatic with liberal freedom. Yet more rights for women, sexual and religious minorities, has had disempowering and exclusionary effects. Revisiting campaigns for same-sex marriage, violence against women, and Islamic veil bans, Gender, Alterity and Human Rights lays bare how human rights emerge as a project of containment and unfreedom rather than meaningful freedom. Kapur provocatively argues that the futurity of human rights rests in turning away from liberal freedom ­and towards non-liberal registers of freedom.

At the core, it doesn't matter what you believe governs the fate of man and Earth, what matters is that humans, as a global society, build a future that is sustainable and peaceful. This is the ultimate human evolutionary development, this is our challenge. By tracing our existence from where we began to what we have become today, this book explores the evolution and, should we continue on our current path, the subsequent possible obsolescence of human beings. Far from a doomsday tome, The Fishbowl Principle challenges readers to expand their worldview. We need to change our measure of a successful life from simply existing to prospering. The authors refuse to accept that life as we exist today is "as good as it gets". We argue that humans have reached a fragile tipping point; and that instead of fragmenting and isolating ourselves in a future of despair, we can and will work together to an even higher apex. As a human race, we examine what can be achieved if we look to our similarities instead of our differences. If we could harness communication as a powerful and cost effective tool to bring us together and educate ourselves in a way that fosters sustainable and responsible population growth, the positive transformation to our lives would be immeasurable. Whether you exist today as a peasant in a tribal setting or as an urban dweller we explore fostering a sense of global community based on common ground, not just niche existence. We present tangible alternatives and pose thought-provoking questions. Our vision is a collaborative one, and requires your participation. A path back to evolution starts with you, and includes all of us.

The book is adorable, highly entertaining and describes how a conductor interacts with the musicians to create a magnificent performance, The composition called for a Percussionist to dip a vibrating Gong in and out of a tub of water to create a modulation of the Gong sound. The Stage Crew, who had to drag the tub of water on and off the stage next to the Concert Master for every rehearsal and performance were not very happy about this. There idea of “getting even” was to place a goldfish in the tub of water right before the performance. When the Percussionist went on stage just before the performance was to begin and saw the goldfish in the tub, he looked back at the percussion section smiling as he pointed to the tub. We had no idea what he was smiling about. Meanwhile the Stage Crew was having a good laugh as they watched from the wings of the stage. After the performance, the Percussionist told us what happened and explained when the vibrating Gong was placed into the tub the goldfish began to swim rapidly around the tub jumping up and down. By the end of the performance, the goldfish died. But don’t be alarmed, in our story the goldfish does not die.