Books with author Lauren E. Smith

A young adult movie story! Twelve-year-old Ashley Enright lives in Donnybrook, a small town on the coast of Maine, with her parents and younger sister, Kelly. In the summer, she loves to wear her New York Mets baseball cap, ride her bicycle and write stories. She enjoys spending time with her best friend, Josh Stewart, who draws comic books featuring super-heroes. She also enjoys solving mysteries and is becoming known in town for "Ashley Enright Investigations." Ashley isn't nosey, just curious and intelligent. On a hot summer day, Ashley and Josh decide to go swimming at Miller's Pond rather than visit the new community pool. They meet a new friend, Kaitlyn, who could help Josh realize his dream of having his comic books published. They also sadly discover that one of Donnybrook's last wildlife refuges is about to disappear forever. Ashley and Josh unearth a secret that could save Miller's Pond and its wildlife inhabitants. Will it be in time to save the habitat?

A "fascinating, eye-opening, sometimes alarming, and ultimately inspiring" natural history of rivers and their complex and ancient relationship with human civilization (Elizabeth Kolbert).Rivers, more than any road, technology, or political leader, have shaped the course of human civilization. They have opened frontiers, founded cities, settled borders, and fed billions. They promote life, forge peace, grant power, and can capriciously destroy everything in their path. Even today, rivers remain a powerful global force -- one that is more critical than ever to our future.In Rivers of Power, geographer Laurence C. Smith explores the timeless and vastly underappreciated relationship between rivers and civilization as we know it. Rivers are of course important in many practical ways (water supply, transportation, sanitation). But the full breadth of their profound influence on the way we live is less obvious. Rivers define and transcend international borders, forcing cooperation between nations. Huge volumes of river water are used to produce energy, raw commodities, and food. Wars, politics, and demography are transformed by their devastating floods. The territorial claims of nations, their cultural and economic ties to each other, and the migrations and histories of their peoples trace back to rivers, river valleys, and the topographic divides they carve upon the world. Beautifully told and expansive in scope, Rivers of Power reveals how and why rivers have so profoundly influenced our civilization, and examines the importance this vast, arterial power holds for our present, past, and future.