Few of us realize what strange wet miracles of science operate inside us after every meal. In her trademark style, Mary Roach investigates the beginning, and end, of our food, addressing such questions as why crunchy food is so appealing, how much we can eat before our stomachs burst, and whether constipation killed Elvis.

After crushing their very first quest, young adventurers Pan, Moxie, and Fart are hungry for their next challenge. Luckily, the Great and Powerful Kevin has cooked up something for the trio: Locate a bedazzler―a rare and monstrous creature of truly horrific power―and bring back . . . its barf. But the danger in tracking down a bedazzler is hard to swallow. Rumor tells of a ruthless pirate captain who may be the only living soul that knows where...

After their masters are vaporized in a goblin battle gone badly, Fart, Pan, and Moxie, three lowly apprentices, decide to impersonate their mentors and pick up the mantle as heroes of the realm. But they need more than a fancy robe, magic staff, and book of magical beasts to be real heroes. They need a quest! So when The Great and Powerful Kevin puts out a call for help, seeking the coveted Golden Llama and its magical golden fart, young Fart and...

"More like a tapestry than a traditional novel, The Book of Kane and Margaret by Kiik Araki-Kawaguchi blends magical elements with stories based on the oral narratives of the author's grandparents and their experiences during the 1940s at the Tulare Assembly Center and the Gila River War Relocation Center, two WWII relocation camps in Arizona. The author's technique gives the novel the effect of working through accretion, collecting one-breath fictions...