Junkyard

How can garbage turn into gold? What does recycling have to do with globalization? Where does all that stuff we throw away go, anyway? When you drop your Diet Coke can or yesterday's newspaper in the recycling bin, where does it go? Probably halfway around the world, to people and places that clean up what you don't want and turn it into something you can't wait to buy. In Junkyard Planet, Adam Minter-veteran journalist and son of an American junkyard owner-travels deeply into a vast, often hidden, 500-billion-dollar industry that's transforming our economy and environment. Minter takes us from back-alley Chinese computer recycling operations to recycling factories capable of processing a jumbo jet's worth of trash every day. Along the way, we meet an international cast of characters who have figured out how to squeeze Silicon Valley-scale fortunes from what we all throw away. Junkyard Planet reveals how “going green” usually means making money-and why that's often the most sustainable choice, even when the recycling methods aren't pretty. With unmatched access to and insight on the waste industry, and the explanatory gifts and an eye for detail worthy of a John McPhee or William Langewiesche, Minter traces the export of America's garbage and the massive profits that China and other rising nations earn from it. What emerges is an engaging, colorful, and sometimes troubling tale of how the way we consume and discard stuff brings home the ascent of a developing world that recognizes value where Americans don't. Junkyard Planet reveals that Americans might need to learn a smarter way to take out the trash.

Man the machines and help clean up the junkyard in this rousing robot story that encourages community building. The yard has junk! Stacks and heaps and piles of junk as far as the eye can see. But the Munching Machine robots are on the job—it’s time to get cleaning! And after a whole lot of CRUNCHING, CHEWING, CHOMPING, SLURPING, and SWEEPING, what’s next? Time to get BUILDING, DIGGING, PLANTING, and DECORATING the new park for everyone to enjoy! Fun, rhyming text paired with irresistible robots and radiant results make this an engaging read-aloud that will inspire clean-up projects of all sizes.

Justin is fascinated with the aged guard dog at the corner store. He names it Smokey and sneaks the dog treats. Smokey belongs to a company that supplies working dogs to local businesses. Justin is thrilled to get a job working for Smokey's company, until he learns about the mistreatment of the animals. When Justin can't shake his suspicion that someone in the company is involved in a rash of thefts, he tries to quit. But Justin knows too much, and his boss won't let him go.

A heartwarming story of friendship and celebrating our differences--and the teachers who help us shine--from master storyteller Patricia Polacco, author of Thank You, Mr. Falker. In this story based on the author-illustrator's own childhood, Patricia Polacco once again celebrates the power teachers have to help us discover the potential we each hold. Young Trisha is devastated when she finds out that her class at her new school is known as the junkyard. It is a special class, and she had moved from where she used to live so she wouldn’t be in a special class anymore! But then she meets her teacher, the amazing Mrs. Peterson, and her classmates, an oddly brilliant group of misfit kids, whom the other kids in school call the junkyard kids. Much to her own surprise, it is here in the junkyard that Trisha discovers the true meaning of genius, and that this group of misfits are, in fact, Junkyard Wonders, each and every one of them. Now with questions at the back of the book to help guide readers through discussions about the ideas featured in the story, this kindness edition of The Junkyard Wonders brings celebrated author-illustrator Patricia Polacco's work to a new audience of young readers who can be inspired by its message.

This resource offers more than 75 innovative, creative, and challenging demonstration games in six traditional team sports (soccer, football, basketball, baseball, hockey, and volleyball), while employing nontraditional approaches.

The question is: can dogs and cats be friends? The most unlikely of allies must band together against a common enemy; can they put aside their differences, learn to understand each other and be triumphant? What twists and turns with the story take? What will they have to learn? Who will help them? And why is there such a strange sense of familiarity between them? Join the characters on a different sort of adventure, as they battle to overcome their differences and preconceived ideas and learn how to work together. The story is a powerful journey through friendship and self-realization. And yet they still have so much to learn.

The rolling Midwest countryside is dotted with small junkyards heaped with curious, rusting hulks that have been long-forgotten. This fascinating and fun softbound edition of Diamonds in the Rust: American Junkyard Jewels (0-87938-368-2) features photos of once glorious automobiles and trucks gracing America's junkyards. Nature artfully combines with steel and rust to create a beauty only time can reveal.

A suspenseful and gut-wrenching story of an unhoused teenager struggling to survive a criminal scrapping ring while unraveling a dark family history Josh's father has gone missing without a trace, and Gran's ready to call social services. If Josh wants to keep himself and and his little brother, Twig, out of the system, he'll have to take to the streets and track down his dad. But when Josh digs too deep, his dad's old accomplices catch up to Josh and plunge him into a dangerous underground where putting his trust in the wrong person could number Josh in a growing pile of bodies. This chilling portrayal of a teen desperate for food, shelter, and safety barrels the reader through an emotionally-charged journey as Josh discovers that blood doesn't always make family—and some bonds can be broken forever.