From the award-winning author of Parable of the Sower:After the near-extinction of the human race, one young man with extraordinary gifts will reveal whether the human race can learn from its past and rebuild their future . . . or is doomed to self-destruction. In the future, nuclear war has destroyed nearly all humankind. An alien race intervenes, saving the small group of survivors from certain death. But their salvation comes at a cost. The Oankali are able to read and mutate genetic code, and they use these skills for their own survival, interbreeding with new species to constantly adapt and evolve. They value the intelligence they see in humankind but also know that the species—rigidly bound to destructive social hierarchies—is destined for failure. They are determined that the only way forward is for the two races to produce a new hybrid species—and they will not tolerate rebellion. Akin looks like an ordinary human child. But as the first true human-alien hybrid, he is born understanding language, then starts to form sentences at two months old. He can see at a molecular level and kill with a touch. More powerful than any human or Oankali, he will be the architect of both races' future. But before he can carry this new species into the stars, Akin must reconcile with his own heritage in a world already torn in two.

Women's Rites of Passage grew out of Abigail Brenner s desire to answer some fundamental questions about the role of rites of passage in contemporary women s lives. Relying on a research study involving over 50 women, Brenner shows how women today understand the need to take responsibility for their lives and for directing their own paths, and are beginning to do so by creating their own very personal rites of passage.

It's no secret: something has happened to America's families. Dramatic shifts in our culture mean that what was once an acceptable way to produce mature, capable adults has now all but disappeared. In Rite of Passage Parenting, family expert Walker Moore explains how that happened. And after concisely assessing the problem, Moore teaches you how to build into your children''s lives the essential experiences every child needs: (1) an authentic Rite of Passage, (2) Significant Tasks, (3) Logical Consequences, and (4) Grace Deposits from parents, grandparents, and other caring adults. Walker Moore writes from years of experience as a minister, family speaker, youth culture specialist, and father. He knows well the damage to self-reliance, self-worth, values foundation, and identity that missing out on these essential experiences can cause. In Rite of Passage Parenting, he shows you how to prevent the damage and help your children move toward adulthood in a healthy way. If you are concerned about the effects of the current cultural chaos; if you notice in your children a lack of responsibility, the lack of a good work ethic, disrespect for authority; if you are worried that your children may experiment with false rites of passage-profanity, smoking, drugs, alcohol, body piercing, or sex-let Walker Moore show you how to provide the four essential experiences most children are missing.

The book is the volume of “History of Customs in the Qing Dynasty” among a series of books of “Deep into China Histories”. The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC) and the Bamboo Annals (296 BC) describe a Xia dynasty (c. 2070–1600 BC) before the Shang, but no writing is known from the period The Shang ruled in the Yellow River valley, which is commonly held to be the cradle of Chinese civilization. However, Neolithic civilizations originated at various cultural centers along both the Yellow River and Yangtze River. These Yellow River and Yangtze civilizations arose millennia before the Shang. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest civilizations, and is regarded as one of the cradles of civilization.The Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC) supplanted the Shang and introduced the concept of the Mandate of Heaven to justify their rule. The central Zhou government began to weaken due to external and internal pressures in the 8th century BC, and the country eventually splintered into smaller states during the Spring and Autumn period. These states became independent and warred with one another in the following Warring States period. Much of traditional Chinese culture, literature and philosophy first developed during those troubled times.In 221 BC Qin Shi Huang conquered the various warring states and created for himself the title of Huangdi or "emperor" of the Qin, marking the beginning of imperial China. However, the oppressive government fell soon after his death, and was supplanted by the longer-lived Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD). Successive dynasties developed bureaucratic systems that enabled the emperor to control vast territories directly. In the 21 centuries from 206 BC until AD 1912, routine administrative tasks were handled by a special elite of scholar-officials. Young men, well-versed in calligraphy, history, literature, and philosophy, were carefully selected through difficult government examinations. China's last dynasty was the Qing (1644–1912), which was replaced by the Republic of China in 1912, and in the mainland by the People's Republic of China in 1949.Chinese history has alternated between periods of political unity and peace, and periods of war and failed statehood – the most recent being the Chinese Civil War (1927–1949). China was occasionally dominated by steppe peoples, most of whom were eventually assimilated into the Han Chinese culture and population. Between eras of multiple kingdoms and warlordism, Chinese dynasties have ruled parts or all of China; in some eras control stretched as far as Xinjiang and Tibet, as at present. Traditional culture, and influences from other parts of Asia and the Western world (carried by waves of immigration, cultural assimilation, expansion, and foreign contact), form the basis of the modern culture of China.

Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism (CR) is a polytheistic, animistic, religious and cultural movement. It is an effort to reconstruct, through both scholarly research and experiential practice, a spiritual tradition that is true to ancient Celtic religion and relevant to our lives in the modern world. This print edition of "The CR FAQ - An Introduction to Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism" includes a detailed pronunciation guide and an extensive glossary of terms and deities. "The CR FAQ" was written by a diverse collective of Celtic Reconstructionist (CR) elders and long-term practitioners. It is the very first book to be published that is wholly about Celtic Reconstructionism. All profits from the sale of this book are being donated to Gaelic language and cultural preservation charities in the Celtic Nations and worldwide.

Ranging over various aesthetic forms (literature, film, music) in the period since 1960, this volume brings an antipodean perspective into conversation with the art and culture of the Northern Hemisphere, to reformulate postmodernism as a properly global phenomenon.

Rite of Passage Parenting Workbook teaches parents how to build into their children's lives the essential experiences every child needs: (1) an authentic Rite of Passage, (2) Significant Tasks, (3) Logical Consequences, and (4) Grace Deposits from parents, grandparents, and other caring adults. Writing from years of experience as a minister, family speaker, youth culture specialist, and father, Walker Moore shows parents how to guide their kids to become capable, responsible, self-reliant adults.

Demonstrating the influence of scholar-teacher Stanley Weintraub on his students, Shaw and Other Matters reflects the scope of that influence in its concern with a variety of literary figures - from Shaw to Joe Orton - and of topics such as war memoirs and golem/robots. The variety is there, as well, in the approaches to the subjects: Rodelle Weintraub's dream analysis of Arms and the Man; Julie Sparks's comparison of Shaw with Bellamy, Morris, and Bulwer-Lytton as world "betterers"; Michael Pharand's evaluation of Shaw's changing views of Napoleon; Kinley Roby's tracing of Shaw's exchanges of views on playwriting with Arnold Bennett; and Kay Li's archetypal exploration of characters in Heartbreak House.