When Crusher the snake is captured, her only thought is to escape but as time goes by and she befriends the other inmates of the "zoo," she realizes that freedom also means leaving companions behind.

"This book examines Earth's reptiles, highlighting a diverse selection of 22 notable species from around the world. A blend of narrative text, authoritative nonfiction content, fact boxes, and vivid photos bring these amazing reptiles to life. Features include a glossary, online resources, source notes, and an index."--

The author melds personal history with frank biological data about every stage of life, creating an "autobiography about my body" that seeks meaning in death, but moreover, life. Shields filters his frank--and usually foreboding--data through his own experience as a 51-year-old father with burgeoning back pain, contrasting his own gloomy tendencies with the defiant perspective of his own 97-year-old father, a man who has waged a lifelong, urgent battle...

"Established by Martin Eakes and Bonnie Wright in North Carolina in 1980, the nonprofit Center for Community Self-Help has grown from an innovative financial institution dedicated to civil rights into the nation's largest home lender to low- and moderate-income borrowers. Self-Help's first capital campaign--a bake sale that raised a meager seventy-seven dollars for a credit union--may not have done much to fulfill the organization's early goals of...