New Releases by Alison Hart

In this hilarious sequel to School Rules are Optional, Jesse is back with even more hysterical antics as he navigates the worst family health kick ever and the chaotic end of Grade Six. It''s my first day back at school after the holidays and I''ve already got three burning questions: 1) When is my family''s disgusting diet going to end? 2) How will I finish my group project on time? 3) Why is my best friend Alex suddenly not talking to me? If that''s not bad enough, the classroom is overrun with lizards. At least things can''t get worse, right? Praise for School Rules Are Optional ''A rollicking ride!'' Nat Amoore, author of Secrets of a Schoolyard Millionaire ''Hilarious! A must-read.'' Kate and Jol Temple, authors of Frog Squad and The Underdogs

It''s my first day back at school after the holidays and I''ve already got three burning questions: 1) When is my family''s disgusting diet going to end? 2) How will I finish my group project on time? 3) Why is my best friend Alex suddenly not talking to me? If that''s not bad enough, the classroom is overrun with lizards. At least things can''t get worse, right?

Jesse is in his final year of primary school and should be living it up as one of the ''Kings'', but he can''t even get his Prep buddy to follow school rules. A hilarious story of being undervalued and over everything for fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Secrets of a Schoolyard Millionaire. It''s the first day of school and I''ve already got three problems: 1) Mrs Leeman is my classroom teacher. She''s so ancient she taught my dad. 2) I might have accidentally been voted school captain. I had an unusually popular day when the class voted last year. 3) Somehow I''ve lost my Grade Six jumper between receiving it and Mrs Leeman''s lecture about being responsible. That''s a lot to go wrong in half an hour. On top of that, it''s a million degrees. So that''s four problems. It''s worse than I thought! At least things can only get better, right? Jesse will have you roaring with laughter as he navigates the rites and rituals of Grade Six including a disrespectful Prep buddy, a plumbing problem the size of Niagara Falls, not to mention the dreaded compulsory school camp. ''Prepare yourself for a rollicking ride!'' Nat Amoore, author of Secrets of a Schoolyard Millionaire ''Hilarious! A must-read.'' Kate and Jol Temple, authors of Frog Squad and The Underdogs

Hats finish an outfit; they make a statement, provide panache and lift your spirits. This book explains how to make your own hats, using traditional construction methods with both specialist millinery foundation materials and a range of fabrics and trimmings. It showcases twenty-six hats and headpieces, each with step-by-step photographs and instructions, some using ready-made elements, others that are made from scratch. Celebrating the versatility of hats, it introduces the wide range of styles and shapes that modern millinery has embraced. Explains the anatomy of the hat and how to fit a hat, and gives general millinery tips. Suggests sources of inspiration and design ideas. Introduces a range of hats and hat styles, from small, fun and fast headpieces to special occasion hats. Superbly illustrated with 534 colour step-by-step photographs.

"So compelling it gave me goosebumps from the very first pages." —ISABEL ALLENDE A family saga: four generations of mixed–race African American, Native American, and Irish women experience intergenerational trauma as well as the healing brought by nature and music, leading to triumphant resilience. Mostly White begins in 1890 when Emma, a mixed–race Native American and African American girl, is beaten by nuns and confined in a closet for speaking her language at an Indian Residential school in Maine. From there, a tale that spans four generations of women unfolds. Emma''s descendants suffer the effects of trauma, poverty, and abuse while fighting to form their own identities and honor the call of their ancestors. ALISON HART studied theater at New York University and later found her voice as a writer. She identifies herself as a mixed–race African American, Passamaquoddy Native American, Irish, Scottish, and English woman of color. Her poetry collection Temp Words was published by Cosmo Press in 2015, and her poems appear in Red Indian Road West: Native American Poetry from California (Scarlet Tanager Books, 2016) and elsewhere. Hart lives in Alameda, California.

When her pet dachshund, Scooter, goes missing, Maryellen decides to go looking for him, a search which leads her to the rocket launchpad at Cape Canaveral.

"Leo is a hardened old sea dog who knows not to trust anyone but himself after four ocean voyages. But when he sets sail with Magellan on a journey to find a westward route to the Spice Islands, he develops new friendships as they experience hunger and thirst, storms and doldrums, and mutinies and hostile, violent encounters. Will they ever find safe passage?"--

Sports sponsorship gained prominence in the 1970s in the United States (U.S.). According to Benoît Seguin, at the University of Ottawa, Canada, as television and radio licenses increased in the 1970s, competition between advertisers to attract consumers attention was fierce. As originally coined by Tony Meenaghan in the International Journal of Advertising in 1991, sponsorship is defined as an investment in cash or kind, in an activity, person or event (sponsoree, or athlete being sponsored), in return for access to the exploitable commercial potential associated with that activity, person or event by the investor (sponsor). According to sports sponsorship expert, IEG, what originally began as a means to attract advertisers across the four major U.S. professional sports leagues and their teams is now an industry of over $2.46 billion.

Abstract: Three dances, On This Day, Panties and Pathologies, and Naked Spotlight Silver were choreographed and performed in fulfillment of the requirements to complete an M.F.A. degree in dance. The performances took place at the Martha B. Knoebel Dance Theater located on the campus of California State University, Long Beach. On This Day premiered October 2012, Panties and Pathologies premiered March 2013, and Naked Spotlight Silver premiered October 2013. This thesis examines how each project investigates choreographic approaches used in concert dance to communicate issues of gender and sexuality as well as participate in a discourse on identity politics. The three dance pieces attempted to confront themes of marriage equality, representation and the marketing of femininity, and queer identity representations in performance. Each piece was unique in its methodologies and served as an explorative approach to political communication and artistic development.

Branding research has begun to explore how loved brands are included in consumers'' self-concepts. Such self-brand overlap can enable consumers to react to brand-relevant situations as though they were self-relevant. Synthesizing theories of self-other overlap and perspective taking, self-enhancement and self-protection, as well as brand portfolios, I articulate how self-serving biased cognitions can influence consumer attitudes and behaviours toward entire brand portfolios via the consumer''s self-brand overlap with a single portfolio member. Study 1 was designed to investigate how self-serving biases can positively affect consumer evaluations of multi-brand portfolios of which the consumer''s focal brand is a member. Potential reasons for the resulting inconclusive findings are discussed and prospects for future research are suggested. Study 2 was designed to investigate consumer interpretations of brand portfolio restructuring. Results indicate that consumers who have a high degree of self-brand overlap can interpret such brand portfolio management decisions as a personal rejection of themselves when the brand is eliminated, and personal acceptance or validation when their brand is retained after an elimination threat. Study 3 was designed to investigate the behavioural aftermath of such inferences. Partial results and prospects for future research are offered. Potential implications for brand managers and marketing theory are discussed.

Looks at the life and career of celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck.

For all lovers of horses and history, it''s the next book in the popular Horse Diaries series. Born in California at the start of the Great Depression, Risky Chance is a gray thoroughbred who was born to race. Life at the track and being spoiled by his jockey''s young daughter, Marie, is all Chance could ask for. He loves nothing more than running fast and winning. But after an accident, Chance discovers a side of horse racing that has little to do with glory. Like Black Beauty, this moving novel is told in first person from the horse''s own point of view and includes an appendix full of photos and facts about thoroughbreds, horse racing, and the Great Depression.

The reader makes a series of choices that determine how the story''s main character will deal with her jealousy when her good friend, a gymnast, joins Innerstar University''s diving team and immediately excels.

Here is the much-begged-for sequel to Shadow Horse. With a feisty female protagonist, a little romance, a lot of mystery, and a barnful of animals just waiting to be loved, this young adult horse mystery novel will have young girls galloping to the bookstore to grab their copy. When thirteen-year-old Jas Schuler found her beloved mare Whirlwind dead in her padlock, she thought her heart would break. But now Jas knows the truth: Whirlwind is alive! Wealthy horse breeder Hugh Robicheaux faked the mare''s death, collected insurance money, then sold her to an unsuspecting buyer. And he''s going to get away with his crime, too—unless someone can find Whirlwind. And that''s exactly what Jas plans to do. But hunting for Whirlwind is dangerous. Hugh has threatened to destroy everything Jas holds dear unless she stops her search. As she struggles with her desire to find Whirlwind without endangering the people she loves, Jas must ask herself: Should she risk so much for a horse she may never find? This heartfelt YA novel by a highly regarded equestrian author will have young readers chomping at the bit for more.

Thirteen-year-old foster kid Jasmine Schuler is immediately drawn to the scrawny, broken-looking brown gelding huddled in the corner of an auction house stall. Feeling a kinship with the lonely animal, Jas convinces her new foster mom, who rescues and rehabilitates abused horses on her Virginia farm, to buy him. Slowly, the horse Jas names Shadow begins to blossom and even to thrive. But when Jas uncovers a startling clue to Shadow''s true identity, she becomes entangled in a mystery which could have serious consequences for the two of them. Both the heartwarming story of a young girl''s love for her horse and an intriguing mystery, this inspiring middle-grade novel will appeal to horse lovers and mystery fans alike.

It all started with one mysterious briefcase.... When Allie''s father dies, her half sister, Kat, is left in charge of his detective agency -- and of Allie. Despite the many changes in her life, Allie can''t help being excited by the possibility of being close to some real private-eye adventures, the kind she is always daydreaming about. So when a man comes to the agency asking Kat to guard his briefcase, it looks like Allie will get her chance to investigate. But when Allie breaks into the briefcase, she makes a shocking discovery. And when she begins asking around, she realizes she may have taken on more than she bargained for. Whoever wants the briefcase kept safe desperately needs the agency''s help, and whoever wants them uncovered will do anything to find them....

Girls are able select their own endings in this interactive story that takes place on the campus of Innerstar University! Readers can imagine themselves as the main character, a girl who rides horses at the stable but steers clear of competition. Whenever there''s an audience, her confidence heads for the hills. When she''s invited to ride a spirited quarter horse in the next event, she has some tough choices to make. Will she find her confidence and climb on? With more than 20 different endings, girls will enjoy this book again and again to see how different decisions change the story. Plus, each book comes with a secret access code to unlock additional endings online!

Vermont, 1850s Bell’s Star is a brown Morgan colt with a white star and two white stockings. He was bred for hard work, yet he longs to run free with his human friend, Katie, on his back. But when Star helps rescue a runaway slave girl, his ideas about freedom may change forever. Here is Star’s story . . . in his own words. With exciting and knowledgeable text and lovely black-and-white art throughout—both by real horse owners—Horse Diaries are the perfect fit for all lovers of horses and history!

ABBY IS FREE FROM SLAVERY BUT NOT FROM THE SECRETS OF HER PAST... It''s 1865 in the conquered South and things are not as they were before the war. Thirteen-year-old Abby Joyner still lives on the plantation where she was raised but she and her grandparents are free now and continue on for a small salary. One thing is the same as it has always been, though -- Abby does not know what became of her mother. Why won''t anyone tell her? Abby is determined to find the truth behind her disappearance. But answers are few and she is about to discover that, like freedom, the truth is harder to come by than she could have imagined.

- Fun groups party game for 9 players (8 kids + 1 adult) - Girls get to dress up & solve a mystery themselves by reading a script & clues based on the characters in AG''s Samantha stories. - Same genre as the "murder mystery dinner party" but for kids age 8-12. Very few retail market competitors in this age range. - Everything is included: invitations & envelopes, scripts, clues, name tags, and detailed instructions for the host. What''s Included: - 9 party invitations with envelopes - 9 character cards - 9 scripts, one for each character (8 kids and one adult) - 7 Secret clues and 30 hobo code signs - Party planner for adult - Name tags

- Fun group party game for 9 players (8 kids + 1 adult) - Girls get to dress up & solve a mystery themselves by reading a script & clues based on the characters in AG''s Samantha stories. - Same genre as the "murder mystery dinner party" but for kids age 8-12. Very few retail market competitors in this age range. - Everything is included: invitations & envelopes, scripts, clues, name tags, and detailed instructions for the host. What''s Included: - 9 party invitations with envelopes - 9 character cards - 9 scripts, one for each character (8 kids and one adult) - 5 Secret clues and 1 sign - Party planner for adult or older player - Name tags

In 1864, Samuel, a thirteen-year-old slave, works as a horse groomer on a plantation and dreams of becoming a famous jockey, but when he gets a chance to prove himself in the horse-racing world, he learns that his father has enlisted as a Union soldier, so he is torn between joining his father to fight for freedom or pursue his life-long dream.

A convict escapes from a prison work crew and hijacks a car. State police notify police departments all over the state of Virginia to be on the lookout for a stolen vehicle. When the car is spotted by a Staunton police officer, an exciting chase ensues. Includes a police badge sticker. Full-color photos. Consumable.

Armed robbers take hostages at a bank in downtown Staunton! Specialized units within the police department work together to defuse the dangerous situation.