A novel of startling intimacy, violence, and mercy among friends in a Midwestern university town, from an electric new voice. Almost everything about Wallace is at odds with the Midwestern university town where he is working uneasily toward a biochem degree. An introverted young man from Alabama, black and queer, he has left behind his family without escaping the long shadows of his childhood. For reasons of self-preservation, Wallace has enforced a wary distance even within his own circle of friends—some dating each other, some dating women, some feigning straightness. But over the course of a late-summer weekend, a series of confrontations with colleagues, and an unexpected encounter with an ostensibly straight, white classmate, conspire to fracture his defenses while exposing long-hidden currents of hostility and desire within their community. Real Life is a novel of profound and lacerating power, a story that asks if it’s ever really possible to overcome our private wounds, and at what cost.

The official behind-the-scenes companion to the Emmy, WGA, SAG, Golden Globe, and BAFTA-Award nominated Disney+ series The Art of Star Wars: Andor (The Complete Series) gives readers an exclusive inside look at the production art, visual development, concept art, creature designs and FX, graphics, props, and more that went into creating the Tony Gilroy helmed Disney+ series. Through extensive interviews with Gilroy, star Diego Luna, and the talented Lucasfilm visualists, author Phil Szostak documents every step of Andor's production from discussions following the initial release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story up through post-production on the final episodes of season two. With deep dives into the locations that defined the series, including Kenari, Ferrix, Aldhani, Narkina 5, Mina-Rau, Ghorman, and Yavin 4, among many others, this essential volume celebrates the legacy of all twenty-four critically acclaimed episodes and the hurdles the filmmakers, cast, and crew had to overcome to bring their vision to life. Every facet and detail of the Rebellion and Empire's inner workings and the day-to-day existence within the world of Star Wars that Andor lovingly depicted are explored in great detail along with reflections on the series overall and its espionage roots and political relevance. The lived-in, battered costumes, ships, and locales that are so crucial to the DNA of Star Wars are on full display in this volume alongside the elegant formalism of the Galactic Senate and Coruscant. Every piece of concept art--from ISB uniforms to Ferrix workwear to sleek speeders to the sterile prison cells of Narkina 5--has a tactility that leaps off the page. Cassian Andor's journey from thief to spy to rebel to martyr, and the stories of his allies, uneasy partnerships, Imperial schemes, and galactic revolution took audiences on an emotionally resonant adventure and The Art of Star Wars: Andor spotlights the exceptional work that made it all possible.

In a house full of sadness and secrets, can young, orphaned Mary find happiness? Mary Lennox, a spoiled, ill-tempered, and unhealthy child, comes to live with her reclusive uncle in Misselthwaite Manor on England’s Yorkshire moors after the death of her parents. There she meets a hearty housekeeper and her spirited brother, a dour gardener, a cheerful robin, and her wilful, hysterical, and sickly cousin, Master Colin, whose wails she hears echoing through the house at night. With the help of the robin, Mary finds the door to a secret garden, neglected and hidden for years. When she decides to restore the garden in secret, the story becomes a charming journey into the places of the heart, where faith restores health, flowers refresh the spirit, and the magic of the garden, coming to life anew, brings health to Colin and happiness to Mary.

Everyone is originally from Africa, and this book is therefore for everyone. For too long, Africa's history has been neglected. Dominated by western narratives of slavery and colonialism, its past has been fragmented, overlooked and denied its rightful place in our global story. Now, Zeinab Badawi guides us through Africa's spectacular history, from the origins of humanity, through ancient civilisations and medieval empires with powerful queens and kings, to the miseries of conquest and the elation of independence. Seeking out occluded histories from across the continent, meeting with countless historians, anthropologists, archaeologists and local storytellers, and travelling through more than thirty countries, Badawi weaves together a fascinating new account of an epic, sweeping history of the oldest inhabited continent on the planet, told through the voices of Africans themselves.