When Jumvella Samonte has to move to a realm where everyone is half animal, she realizes that being a Vampire with awesome power's not enough. With the realm being mysterious in every way possible, she discovers a lot about its past while falling in love at the same time. When an ancient threat tries to escape from their condemned lives, Jumvella has to find out where she fits in all of this. She discovers secrets about herself that started in her past and begins to wonder what she has to do in order to save her home. Since she is different from the others, trouble follows her no matter what...almost completely losing the people who mean the world to her.

It's Christmastime, and international adventurer & archaeologist John Patton Jr. is home for a quiet holiday with his family. But when an old friend sends him a lead on a new discovery too enticing to pass up, John accidentally winds up on another dangerous adventure—and this time, he’s not the only one in harms way—his children are too! This exciting adventure also includes real science facts and a bonus activities section! Super Science Showcase. Smart Adventures for Smart Kids.

Until recently we have known more about gift giving practices in pre-industrial societies than about those of industrial western society. In this book, first published in 1988, David Cheal shows that the process of present giving and receiving is a vital element in contemporary social life, relevant to some of the most important theoretical traditions in sociology, particularly those of Durkheim and Weber, and to the social constructionism of Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann. This volume is the result of a major study of gift rituals carried out by David Cheal and his associates in which general themes are richly illustrated with details from individual case histories gathered during the research. It is highly significant that in western society women are more active gift givers than men and, while their voices explain how emotions and interests are interrelated within the gift economy, the author shows how that in turn is related to current theories about family, gender and religion.