High Middle

Based on more than five years of clandestine reporting on the front lines, No Turning Back is an utterly engrossing human drama full of vivid, indelible characters that shows how hope can flourish even amid one of the 21st century's greatest humanitarian disasters.

The death of Colonel Muammar Qadhafi freed Libya from 42 years of despotic rule, raising hopes for a new era. But in the aftermath, the country descended into bitter rivalries and civil war, paving the way for the Islamic State and a catastrophic migrant crisis. In a fast-paced narrative that blends frontline reporting, analysis, and history, Frederic Wehrey tells the story of what went wrong.

In Mythologies Without End, Jerome Slater argues that US policies in the region are largely a product of mythologies that are often flatly wrong. For example, the Israelis' treatment of Palestinians after 1948 undermined its claim that it was a true democracy, and the argument that Arab states refused to negotiate with Israel for decades is simply untrue. Because of widespread acceptance of these myths in both the US and Israel, the consequences have been devastating to all of the involved parties.

Read how it all began in this sweet Ayesha Dean short story! Ayesha Dean has recently started wearing hijab and on top of that is going to a new high school. She thinks this gives her more than enough reason to lie low. But when things keep going missing from the Year Eight students’ lockers, Ayesha is determined to find the culprit. Can she overcome her fears and embrace a new role as a kickass teen sleuth? Fans of Nancy Drew and The Famous Five will love this thrilling mystery series! *Longlisted for the DANZ Children's Book Award in 2024 (Diversity in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand...

What happens when democracy produces "bad" outcomes? Is democracy good because of its outcomes or despite them? This "democratic dilemma" is one of the most persistent, vexing problems for America abroad, particularly in the Middle East. When Islamist parties rise to power through free elections, the United States has too often been ambivalent or opposed, preferring instead pliable dictators. With this legacy of democratic disrespect in mind, and drawing on new interviews with top American officials, Shadi Hamid explores universal questions of morality, power, and hypocrisy.

Oliver was always a jerk. Now that he’s dead, he’s downright terrifying. Augie Doyle eats, sleeps, and breathes horror. Vampires? Real. Werewolves? Absolutely. Zombies? Don’t get him started. His best friend, Ethan, thinks it’s all nonsense—until Oliver Hackl shows up to school. Five days ago, Oliver fell off the Old Mill Bridge and broke his neck. The paramedics pronounced him dead. Now he’s back. Pale. Slow. Wrong. Augie’s convinced it’s the zombie apocalypse. Ethan’s sure there’s a logical explanation. Then Oliver’s friends start dropping like flies. One vanishes, ...

Junior High in 1987 ends with an epic pizza day that Stevie Brady and nemesis Resin Martin soon wish to forget. At his wit’s end, her father sends Stevie to stay with her Grams for the summer in rural Cinder Veil, Texas. The soon to be freshman finds her entire world lit up as she unexplainably travels 60 years into the past to Alabama. While surviving this new world and working through her own desertion issues related to her Mom, Stevie befriends a widow to uncover her painful secrets. Little does she know that the intriguing light of summer would hold the key to the mystery of Belle ...

When Queen Elizabeth was excommunicated by the Pope in 1570, she found herself in an awkward predicament. Now England's key markets would be closed to her Protestant merchants. To complicate matters, the staunchly Catholic king of Spain was determined to destroy her, bolstered by the gold pouring in from the New World. In a bold decision with far-reaching consequences, Elizabeth set her sights on the East.

EPICI played multiple defensive positions in baseball, including pitcher, catcher, shortstop, and third base; the latter is considered the hot spot. The hot spot is where the fastest and hardest balls travel. The player in this position had to be fearless, skilled, innovative, and productive. These characteristics practiced early in my childhood were found to be beneficial later throughout my thirty-two years as an educator. I always found a way to win, particularly when faced with One Opportunity for success. EPIC ...originated as a theme but evolved into an exemplary system that, after ...

In over her head this junior higher will not quit. Can she find a way to finish the production? Aimi Wilby is loyal to a fault when it comes to her friends, new and old. The administrators overload her. Her mentor abandons the project and leaves this eighth grader to ‘figure things out.' Even the lawyers try to shut her down. But, she will not let her cast members and her newest friend down. Aimi discovers that not all witches wear pointy hats and ride brooms. Her new friend asks Aimi to do the unthinkable, to go where she has never gone before. Aimi’s devotion is tested beyond what she...

Overlooking the Border continues the dialogue surrounding the social history of Jerusalem. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, the book juxtaposes Israeli and Palestinian personal narratives about the past with contemporary museum exhibits, street plaques, tourism, and real estate projects that are reshaping the city since the decline of the peace process and the second intifada. As sites of memory, Jerusalem's homes, streets, and natural areas form the setting for emotionally charged narratives about belonging and rights to place.

Not all witches ride brooms, wear pointy hats, and have warty noses. A fortune teller predicts Augie Doyle will soon meet a green-eyed beauty with a crescent-moon tattoo. Best yet, she’s his soul mate. That would be exciting news if he didn’t already have a girlfriend. Breaking up is out of the question. She lives with him and his dad. They’re practically a family. But then the new girl arrives. Just like the psychic predicted: gorgeous, smart, confident … and somehow into Augie. It feels too good to be true. And it is. As soon as she enters his life, things start going wrong. One ...

Here, National Book Award winner Richard Winston explores life in the Middle Ages - from the fifth to the 15th centuries - beginning with the fall of the Roman Empire and ending with the dawn of the Renaissance. In both countryside and cities, from the peasants to the bourgeoisie to the nobility, no aspect of life in this era is left unexplored.

When Emma Sky, an intrepid young British woman, volunteered to help rebuild Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, she had little idea what she was letting herself in for: a tour that would last over a decade, longer than that of any senior military or political official. As the only adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Kirkuk and the closest confidante to US General Odierno, Sky was valued for her controversial voice and outsider's point of view.

A fifteen-year experience of day-by-day, year-by-year, learning how to create an authentic Montessori education at home through elementary, middle, and high school. The main guide or teacher during these years had taken AMI teacher training courses for 0-3, 3-6, and 6-12 and had taught for many years. Even though this is not to be thought of as an instruction manual for Montessori homeschooling it is hoped that the book will be helpful for parents and teachers wanting to understand the value of a unique educational path, rather than thinking that all children should be educated exactly the ...

James Verini arrived in Iraq in the summer of 2016 to write about life in the Islamic State. He stayed to cover the jihadis' last great stand, the Battle of Mosul, not knowing it would go on for nearly a year, nor that it would become, in the words of the Pentagon, "the most significant urban combat since WWII." They Will Have to Die Now takes the listener into the heart of the conflict against the most lethal insurgency of our time. We see unspeakable violence, improbable humanity, and occasional humor.

The year is 1095. Thousands of men, including many of the leaders of the Christian world, have assembled in a meadow in France near Clermont. Pope Urban appeals for the liberation of Jerusalem and the people shout, Deus lo volt! The cry is taken up, echoes forth, is carried on. The crusades have begun. Wave upon wave of Christian pilgrims assault the growing power of the Muslims in the Holy Land, and will do so for the next 200 years.

In The Role of the Scroll, Thomas Forrest Kelly brings to life the most interesting scrolls in medieval history, placing them in the context of those who made, commissioned, and used them, and reveals their remarkably varied uses. Scrolls were the best way to keep ever-expanding lists, for example, those of debtors. Kelly explores the scroll's incredible diversity. A recipe for turning everyday metal into gold offers a glimpse into medieval alchemy, and a log of gifts for Queen Elizabeth I showcases royal flattery and patronage.

World history began in the Persian Gulf. The ancient port cities that dotted its coastlines created the first global seaboard, a place from where faiths and cultures from around the world set sail and made contact. More than a history, The Center of the World shows us that contradictions that define our modern age have always been present.

Two years ago, Graham Robb moved to a lonely house on the very edge of England, near the banks of a river that once marked the southern boundary of the legendary Debatable Land. The oldest detectable territorial division in Great Britain, the Debatable Land served as a buffer between Scotland and England. It was once the bloodiest region in the country, fought over by Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, and James V. After most of its population was slaughtered or deported, it became the last part of Great Britain to be brought under the control of the state.