Books with author Jo Harper

Foreword by Dr. Mehmet OzA renowned personal trainer to Olympic athletes, movie stars, Broadway actors, and supermodels, draws on twenty years of experience to create a powerful three-step fitness approach—combining mindful techniques with effective workouts—to achieve stunning results in only fifteen minutes a day. With a foreword by Dr. Mehmet Oz.Cutting edge research in the fields of neuroscience and neuropsychology shows that negative thinking prevents people from improving bad health and shedding excess weight. As the research makes clear, your mindset is the crucial factor when it comes to slimming down, toning up, and boosting overall well being.Joel Harper’s Mind Your Body provides simple, effective ways to harness your brainpower to make lasting changes. Utilizing his powerful three-step approach, readers will learn how to quickly and simply access mindful techniques, combine them with effective fifteen minute workouts, and eat simply and deliciously to quickly, efficiently, and effortlessly yield successful weight loss, a leaner and firmer body, reduced stress, improved health, increased happiness, and enhanced energy.You’ll notice improved mood, impulse control, motivation, and energy in just one day. In one week, you will have established new ways of thinking, moving, and eating that will deliver effortless weight loss, energy surges, and more restful sleep. At the end of four weeks, you will have dropped a dress size, lost up to ten pounds or more, shed fat, toned up, doubled your energy levels, and have bulletproof motivation—all thanks to a positive new outlook and fifteen minutes a day. Mind Your Body shows you how.

The author served twenty-one years in the United States Air Force and was Honorably Retired in 2006. His final assignment was at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware where he served with the Dental Evidence Response Team at the Dover Port Mortuary. This book details those years following September 11th which involved forensic dental identifications on those killed in the Pentagon Disaster, and then the thousands of fallen heroes returning from the battlefields of Iraq. The author provides an inside look at how exposure to human remains affected the team, and their individual battles with post-traumatic stress disorder. It is noteworthy that the teams' efforts were always directed by dignity, honor and respect for the fallen heroes. This work is meant as documentation, as well as some closure for those team members who continue to suffer the symptoms of PTSD. The author holds a Master's Degree from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Today he lives with his wife and cat, just south of Orlando, Florida.

Many of these seventeen short tales deriving from Mesoamerican mythology are traditional and have traveled through time among the indigenous peoples of Mexico and Central America. A few are contemporary and seem to originate with Nahuatl-speaking descendants of the Aztecs. All of them, however, grace the pages here in lively fashion for young readers nine and up.Many middle schools include Aztec and Mayan myths in their curricula, but the selection is narrow, the sources scattered, and the stories themselves usually undeveloped, even fragmentary. Most of the stories are found only in scholarly works far beyond the grasp of young readers. Now, enlarging upon the mythology that frames the decision making of her young adult hero and heroine in Delfino’s Journey and Teresa’s Journey, Jo Harper fleshes out tales of Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca for fourth through sixth graders. Young readers will also meet the Jaguar Sun, the Snake Woman, and the Pepper Man.To be as faithful as possible to the pre-Columbian, Mesoamerican worldview and humor of the original tales, Harper consulted closely with indigenous Nahuatl speakers and cultural anthropologists, yet her delivery has all the freshness and polish of a practiced storyteller who knows her audience. Here then for young readers and their teachers is an engaging introduction to Mesoamerican mythology and to an oral tradition worth preserving well beyond the classroom.Part One: Quetzalcoatl and TezcaBirth of the Fifth SunWho Will Be the People?Corn MountainWho Can Teach the People?Music Is BornQuetzalcoatl FallsTezca Shows His PowerMaster LogThe Pepper ManTezca’s MusicPart Two: Tricks and MistakesThe Thunder Spirits’ New CookThe Buzzard HusbandRafael Outsmarts the NahualLalito and the NahualThe Devil’s CaveThe Possum’s TaleChioconejo Rabbit and Coyote

When 16-year old rock climbing enthusiast Dan Harman discovers an object in his attic that gives him the ability to travel through time, he and his best friends Jesse and Ritchie hatch a get-rich-quick scheme to fund the climbing trip of their dreams: uncover buried treasure. But when Dan's trips back to Civil War-era Tennessee provide a glimpse into the truth behind the treasure, the trio realizes there may be a more altruistic ending to their adventures. With hints of history, mystery and romance, this tale of friendship will take you on a journey of a lifetime.

Jo Harper’s exquisite tale of an Aztec youth who crosses the Rio Grande with Salvador, his simple but intuitive cousin, weaves Aztec legend, culture, and tonali (fate) into a poignant tapestry of illegal immigration, indomitability, and the precarious promise of a new life.Besides his native Nahuatl, sixteen-year-old Delfino speaks Spanish, which he learned working in Mexico City. He is driven to help his married sister, who at eighteen seems too small and frail to survive her pregnancy. Teresa has lost one child, and Delfino knows Teresa’s chance to have her baby in a hospital depends upon his crossing the river from Mexico into Texas, the land of promise.Achingly drawn, Harper’s characters fill a harsh world with loving and gentle sensibilities. A masterful story of suspense and triumph.

The author served twenty-one years in the United States Air Force and was Honorably Retired in 2006. His final assignment was at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware where he served with the Dental Evidence Response Team at the Dover Port Mortuary. This book details those years following September 11th which involved forensic dental identifications on those killed in the Pentagon Disaster, and then the thousands of fallen heroes returning from the battlefields of Iraq. The author provides an inside look at how exposure to human remains affected the team, and their individual battles with post-traumatic stress disorder. It is noteworthy that the teams' efforts were always directed by dignity, honor and respect for the fallen heroes. This work is meant as documentation, as well as some closure for those team members who continue to suffer the symptoms of PTSD. The author holds a Master's Degree from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Today he lives with his wife and cat, just south of Orlando, Florida.

Illustrations by Gary KelleyWhen Frankie's grandmother invites him to a blues concert, he's hesitant at first – he loves hip hop! But he can't resist his beloved grandmother's invitation. Little does he know, that night ignites his passion for learning to play the blues. Along the way, an afternoon in the park opens a door for Frankie that proves to be life-changing. He not only learns to play guitar, but he also discovers the roots of the blues and its profound influence on popular music.

*WINNER OF A 2018 EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST DEBUT NOVEL**WINNER OF AN ALEX AWARD FROM THE ALA* NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2017 BY St. Louis Post-Dispatch • BooklistA propulsive, gritty novel about a girl marked for death who must fight and steal to stay alive, learning from the most frightening man she knows—her father.Eleven-year-old Polly McClusky is shy, too old for the teddy bear she carries with her everywhere, when she is unexpectedly reunited with her father, Nate, fresh out of jail and driving a stolen car. He takes her from the front of her school into a world of robbery, violence, and the constant threat of death. And he does it to save her life.Nate made dangerous enemies in prison—a gang called Aryan Steel has put out a bounty on his head, counting on its members on the outside to finish him off. They’ve already murdered his ex-wife, Polly’s mother. And Polly is their next target. Nate and Polly’s lives soon become a series of narrow misses, of evading the bad guys and the police, of sleepless nights in motels. Out on the lam, Polly is forced to grow up early: with barely any time to mourn her mother, she must learn how to take a punch and pull off a drug-house heist. She finds herself transforming from a shy little girl into a true fighter. Nate, in turn, learns what it’s like to love fiercely and unconditionally—a love he’s never quite felt before. But can their powerful bond transcend the dangerous existence he’s carved out for them? Will they ever be able to live an honest life, free of fear?She Rides Shotgun is a gripping and emotionally wrenching novel that upends even our most long-held expectations about heroes, villains, and victims. Nate takes Polly to save her life, but in the end it may very well be Polly who saves him.

Two orphan boys raised together as brothers, go their separate ways after they are sent to different foster homes. But in a sadistic way, life pits them against each other as they meet as a mobster and a cop after several years. A story of brotherhood, friendship and loyalty in an atmosphere of blood and violence. Book 1 : Thicker Than BloodRon and Sam were two orphans who grew up in one foster home before getting separated. Though not in blood, but these boys were nothing less than brothers. However, fate had different plans for them when they come to know that they will be living miles away in different foster homes.Book 2 : A Reunion of BrothersRon and Sam chose different lives for them. Where Ron had the life of street thrusted upon him, Sam decides to be a cop to save the people around him. Living in their own worlds they both are content with what they have, and have almost forgotten about each other. However, this will change when they have a rendezvous set by fate.Book 3 : My Best EnemyRon is ordered to set base in Sam's small peaceful town. Sam and his colleagues at the local PD have no intention to let these strangers spoil the tranquility of their home. But when Ron's new boss forces him to go further using extreme measures, things turn bloody. Book 4 : The DepartedRon goes to talk to Alfeo Fersko, thinking he would hear him out like his brother did, but gets snubbed instead. Alfeo makes Luca the head of operations, putting him directly over Ron. The first thing Luca does is to send Ron on a job as he plans something grim behind his back to hurt him.Book 5 : PaybackAfter Sam's death, Ron heads out to get revenge. Where Dave proves his unflinching loyalty towards him, he also questions Ron if he would do the same for him, had it was him instead of Sam. Losing Dave, Ron now goes after the killers of his friend and his gang, all by himself.Book 6 : The Boy Who Cried WolfAfter Luca's death Alfeo Fersko declares a million dollar bounty on Ron's head. And with Dave not by his side anymore, Ron certainly cannot go face to face with the Big Boss. How will he get his ultimate revenge then? Well Ron has a plan.

A small town hides big secrets in The Dry, an atmospheric, page-turning debut mystery by award-winning author Jane Harper.After getting a note demanding his presence, Federal Agent Aaron Falk arrives in his hometown for the first time in decades to attend the funeral of his best friend, Luke. Twenty years ago when Falk was accused of murder, Luke was his alibi. Falk and his father fled under a cloud of suspicion, saved from prosecution only because of Luke's steadfast claim that the boys had been together at the time of the crime. But now more than one person knows they didn't tell the truth back then, and Luke is dead.Amid the worst drought in a century, Falk and the local detective question what really happened to Luke. As Falk reluctantly investigates to see if there's more to Luke's death than there seems to be, long-buried mysteries resurface, as do the lies that have haunted them. And Falk will find that small towns have always hidden big secrets.