Higher Life

Essays on personal growth, relationships, parenting, education, work, daily life, and the world, present and future.

The world is getting sicker, and yet doctors continue to keep quiet. Nothing new here. And obviously the politicians aren’t going to do anything! Luckily, you can do something about it all.

A completely revised and updated values-based guide to navigating the first year of college that speaks to college students in their own language and offers practical tools that listeners need to keep from drinking, sleeping, or skipping their way out of college. In the four years since its initial publication, The Freshman Survival Guide has helped thousands of first year students make a successful transition to college life. However, much has changed on campuses.

When widowed mule breeder Cy Bellman reads in the newspaper that colossal ancient bones have been discovered in the salty Kentucky mud, he sets out from his small Pennsylvania farm to see for himself if the rumors are true: that the giant monsters are still alive and roam the uncharted wilderness beyond the Mississippi River. Promising to write and to return in two years, he leaves behind his daughter, Bess, to the tender mercies of his taciturn sister and heads west.

In What It Means to Be Moral: Why Religion Is Not Necessary for Living an Ethical Life, Phil Zuckerman argues that morality does not come from God. Rather, it comes from us: our brains, our evolutionary past, our ongoing cultural development, our social experiences, and our ability to reason, reflect, and be sensitive to the suffering of others.

Lookout High School Here We Come!: My Years In Middle School This is Book No. 6, entitled Lookout High School Here We Come!, in the six-part series My Years in Middle School. Follow the adventures of Nancy Jane and her two best friends, Helen Schunter and Karen Stamm, as they experience school, boys, bullying, getting even, dealing with Nancy Jane's nemesis, Lois Talker, and more. Other titles in this series include: Book #1: The Summer Before Book #2: Is This Love? Book #3: Scanner In My Neighborhood Book #4: Summertime Memories Book #5: Girl's RevengeFollowing is an excerpt from Book #6: ...

Everybody recalls that one teacher who made a difference—the coach who inspired, the teacher who challenged, and the English teacher who listened. Melissa Pyrch is that teacher. She has spent over two decades in classrooms with teenagers just like you. She understands your uncertainty, fear, and sheer excitement when thinking about your future. She gets it, and she's got you. So sit back and get comfortable as Mrs. Pyrch offers 12 lessons packed with encouraging advice for learning, leaving home, choosing a college major, landing a job, and navigating relationships.

Eighteen years ago, Stanford MBA Michele Raffin pulled off the road to help an injured dove, a momentary impulse that ignited in her a fervent commitment to saving vulnerable bird species. Today, her suburban home plays host to Pandemonium Aviaries, one of the largest avian rescue sanctuaries and endangered breeding facilities in the country, with a maze of 54 individual aviaries that house over 40 species, 14 of which are listed as threatened with extinction.

In Origin Story, medical historian Howard Markel recounts the two-year period (1858 to 1860) of Darwin's writing of On the Origin of Species through its spectacular success and controversy. Simultaneously, Markel delves into the mysterious health symptoms Darwin developed, combing the literature to emerge with a cogent diagnosis of a case that has long fascinated medical historians.

Cat brothers Cecil and Anton are as different in personality as they are in looks. Cecil, stocky and black with white patches, thirsts for seafaring adventure as he roams the docks of his harborside home, taking day trips on fishing boats when the chance comes along. Slim, gray Anton prefers listening to the sailors' shanties at the town saloon. But one day when Anton does venture to port, he's stolen off the dock, and the next thing he knows, he's at sea.

What would you risk to find a cavern of gold? Your family? Your lover? Your life? Jake Garnes risks it all in this gritty drama that takes place in Lead, South Dakota, site of the Homestake Gold Mine, the largest modern-day gold mine in the United States, a place where dreams turn into nightmares as suddenly as a timber cracks and tunnels collapse. When Jake falls in love with Mary Stennis, her father, Sandy, tells Jake an unbelievable story of a cavern of gold he discovered in the accident that crippled him years before. Jake knows such a tale can’t be anything more than the wild ravings...

In 1910, Crystal Eastman was one of the most conspicuous progressive reformers in America. By the 1920s, her ardent suffragism, insistent anti-militarism, gregarious internationalism, and uncompromising feminism branded her "the most dangerous woman in America" and led to her exile in England. Yet a century later, her legacy in shaping several defining movements of the modern era-labor, feminism, free speech, peace - is unquestioned.

The ultimate adulting guide for every teen and young adult – empower yourself with over 15 life skills today! Let’s face it, adulting is hard. While this might sound like a cliché, it does ring with truth. The moment your childhood years come to an end, you face a transitionary period of life – the teenage years – when you have to figure out where you fit. And in all this, you also need to struggle with the idea of living independently, preparing yourself for the life ahead.

To their coworkers, neighbors, and others who knew them, they led unremarkable lives. They had careers as military pilots, police officers, landscapers, small business owners, farmers, realtors, reporters, authors, veterinary technicians, nurses, doctors, handymen, painters, and chefs, while they simultaneously stalked city suburbs, college campuses, trailer parks, and red-light districts. This chilling book looks at the horrifying stories of nearly thirty malevolent killers who were mistakenly trusted.

Nothing But Blue Skies: Seeking Heart Teen Series, Book Two Returning from her crazy week at camp, Amber Wilson gets back to her normal life, or at least that's her intention. In the days leading up to her sixteenth birthday and during the first few weeks of her junior year, she has some difficult choices to make and finds her life changing in more ways than one. Between spending time with her friends -- both new and old, her busy volleyball schedule, her first official date, and plenty of other surprises, Amber experiences both joy-filled and confusing moments. Will she make the right ...

It is the mid-'80s, two decades into the kleptocratic, brutal rule of Ferdinand Marcos. The Philippine economy is in deep recession, and civil unrest is growing by the day. But Primi Peregrino has her own priorities: tracking down books and pursuing romantic connections with their authors.

When murder crashes his vacation, can a techie in paradise still catch some waves while snaring a killer? Marty Golden is ready to kick back at the beach. When his neighbor offers free rooms in Hawaii, the software engineer is quick to round up his girlfriend, sister, and nieces for the luau of a lifetime. But his arrival at the resort turns his sun-filled hopes into hunches about homicide after he encounters a very deceased and inconvenient body. Pressured into helping, a grudging Marty uses his sharp attention to detail to hone in on a crucial clue missed by the police. But his half-...

You are the ultimate teen. It’s time to unleash the power within. Embark on a transformative journey with Derek T Freeman's groundbreaking 2-in-1 compilation that combines his acclaimed first two books – "Building Unstoppable Self-Confidence for Teens" and "88 Life-Changing High School Hacks (A Sur-Thrival Guide)." This isn't just a book; it's a transformative guide designed to empower teens to not only navigate high school but to dominate every aspect of life beyond. Book 1: Building Unstoppable Self-Confidence for Teens 5 simple steps to find your uniqueness and embrace the amazing ...

You Are the Boss of You is a uniquely actionable and compassionate body of wisdom that addresses the ten most essential building blocks of a truly inspired life: defining boundaries, soothing yourself, softening perfectionism, redefining your self-concept, honoring sleep, healing trauma, feeling it all, creating your rhythm, advocating for yourself, and building your future.

Take control of your life, conquer your fears, and design the future you deserve—because you are the architect of your destiny. Unlock proven strategies to eliminate procrastination, master time management, and transform your life from average to extraordinary. This empowering memoir blends personal development insights with practical tools to help readers take charge of their futures and become high achievers. In this book, you will learn to eliminate procrastination and take decisive action. Increase your income and maximize your savings.