Books with author Michael Harman

“Stick” is the best wide receiver in the history of his high school—the football seems magnetically drawn to his hands, hence his nickname. Preston is an outcast, and his pipsqueak stature and nerdy social status couldn’t be further from a star athlete’s. Stick puts on his football costume every week to make others—his teammates, his dad, everyone but himself—happy, but he’s fallen out of love with the sport and feels that he’s lost control of his future. Preston puts on his homemade superhero costume every night to help others, too: to avenge his father’s murder, he’s determined to right the wrongs he sees in his neighborhood and regain control of the flawed world he sees around him. A twist of fate brings this unlikely pair together in a friendship that is as odd as it is true. Each can see the other better than he can see himself, and in these unexpected reflections lies a chance for mutual redemption.

"Looking for a terrific read? I highly recommend PULSE. . . It's a story to get lost in." --Stephen King"Harvey's lethal imagination is cranked to eleven in this one . . . his best yet by far. Superb!" -- Lee ChildHarvey...returns with...a crime thriller with a dash of quantum physics and spirituality ... This well-researched novel set in 1970s Boston is a real page-turner. With twists that sometimes seem to come from another world, it's sure to keep readers interested. -Joni Gheen, Library JournalThe story of a Boston murder that defies all expectations--optioned for film by 21 Laps, the company behind Stranger Things and ArrivalBoston, 1976. In a small apartment above Kenmore Square, sixteen-year-old Daniel Fitzsimmons is listening to his landlord describe a seemingly insane theory about invisible pulses of light and energy that can be harnessed by the human mind. He longs to laugh with his brother Harry about it, but Harry doesn't know he's there--he would never approve of Daniel living on his own. None of that matters, though, because the next night Harry, a Harvard football star, is murdered in an alley. Detectives "Bark" Jones and Tommy Dillon are assigned to the case. The veteran partners thought they'd seen it all, but they are stunned when Daniel wanders into the crime scene. Even stranger, Daniel claims to have known the details of his brother's murder before it ever happened. The subsequent investigation leads the detectives deep into the Fitzsimmons brothers' past. They find heartbreaking loss, sordid characters, and metaphysical conspiracies. Even on the rough streets of 1970s Boston, Jones and Dillon have never had a case like this.Pulse is a novel laced with real danger and otherworldly twists--a master class by an endlessly gifted writer.

Simon Nye's TV series, The Durrells, is based loosely on Gerald Durrell's Corfu Trilogy and in particular his much-loved bestseller, My Family and Other Animals. These books in turn are based somewhat loosely on actual events. The real-life Durrells went to Corfu at the urging of Lawrence Durrell, who was already living on the island with his wife, Nancy Myers. Their intent was to keep the family together as his mother, Louisa, was drinking heavily and recovering from a breakdown; 'We can be proud of the way we brought her up', Larry said, only half-jokingly, of the family's subsequent Corfu sojourn. Michael Haag's book covers the background to the Durrell family's years in Corfu, including their time in India, where all the children were born, and where their father, a brilliant civil engineer, had died. It recalls the real-life characters the Durrells encountered on Corfu, notably the biologist and poet Theodore Stephanides, and the taxi driver, Spiros Halikiopoulos. And Haag tells the story of how the Durrells left Corfu, including Margo's return intent on joining the Greek resistance, and Leslie's romance in England with the family's Corfite maid and friend, Maria Kondos. Further chapters cover what happened to the family in later life; here, Lawrence and Gerald Durrell's biographies are well known, but little has previously been written of Margo, Leslie and Louisa. Haag has fascinating stories to tell of them all.

Can you catch a minute? A monkey chases a minute in the rainforest in this clever, funny, and informational story about the concept of time from Michael Hall, the New York Times–bestselling and acclaimed author of Red: A Crayon’s Story. An excellent choice to share during homeschooling. It's a fun way to learn basic concepts of telling time.Monkey Time stars a silly monkey and sixty minutes, and it is perfect for fans of Mo Willems’s Waiting Is Not Easy! and anyone learning about how time passes. Look for surprises in the pictures on every page! Meet monkey. Monkey is very curious about the brightly colored—and very tasty-looking—minutes on the minute tree in his forest. But can he catch one before it disappears?Playful, educational, and entertaining, this brightly illustrated book reinforces simple counting skills while introducing children to basic concepts about time, how time passes, and how time is measured. With illustrations full of engaging animals and a call-and-response text, and loads of rhythm, repetition, and humor, this is a great choice for family and story-time sharing. Includes three pages of facts reinforcing the math concepts and describing the rainforest friends introduced in the story.

Sixteen-year-old Soliloquy’s life is anything but normal. Deserted by a mother who speaks in tongues. Informally adopted by her boyfriend’s family that owns a tequila distillery and agave farm. Visited by strange dreams filled with coded message and premonition. She is not your typical teenager. But when three alien spacecraft attack the farm, her life takes a twist down the proverbial rabbit hole.Driven into ice caves beneath the farm, she learns strange secrets about her mother, the family she is with, and the invading aliens. Nothing is what it seemed. Yet to survive, she and the family must transform in a way that will change them forever. Their response over the next twenty-four hours will have repercussions far beyond their little farm. For them, it is world war with their farm as the beachhead.

In the summer of 2001, Michael Harling goes on a two-week vacation to Ireland. Here, the future author of Postcards From Across the Pond experiences life in Europe for the first time, and discovers he is ill-suited to the challenge. Along the way he finds himself at odds with the Irish climate, traversing treacherous terrain and in desperate need of a Laundromat. But he is on a mission, a pilgrimage of sorts, to uncover the elusive mystique that is the real Ireland. And while this ideal continues to elude him, he finds the one thing he was determined to avoid.Postcards From Ireland is a humorous ramble through the bogs and backlands of Ireland via the bewildered musings of the author who, while displaying his trademark ineptitude at dealing with life beyond the borders of the US of A, is unknowingly being drawn into an even greater adventure.

This beautiful and informative picture book follows a single tree through the fall season, from the end of summer to winter’s first snowfall. A great read-aloud for home and the classroom by the New York Times–bestselling creator of My Heart Is Like a Zoo and Red: A Crayon’s Story.Wonderfall follows a single tree through the changing of the seasons. People, animals, and vehicles pass in front of the tree, celebrating holidays, playing in its leaves, and getting ready for winter. Fifteen combined words (thankful + fall = thankFALL, plentiful + fall = plentiFALL) underscore the themes and concepts of the season, while the main attraction—the beautiful tree—drops acorns, loses leaves, and provides food and a home for a pair of scurrying squirrels. Two full spreads at the back of the book offer additional information about the animals featured in the book, as well as the science behind squirrels, acorns, and saplings.

Ingenuity and surprise rule in this funny and colorful companion to Red: A Crayon’s Story written and illustrated by Michael Hall, the New York Times–bestselling creator of My Heart Is Like a Zoo. The crayons are ready to tell the thrilling tale of Frankencrayon. The costumes are made, the roles are cast, the pages are all set—but then disaster strikes. Someone has scribbled on the page! Hideous! Horrifying! The story can’t go on! Try as they might, the crayons can’t erase the scribble, and this picture book must be canceled. Until the crayons playing the title role of Frankencrayon think of a solution, that is. Michael Hall breaks borders and invites readers behind the scenes with his irresistible, clever style and bold artwork. A book about seeing beauty in unexpected places and the magic of storytelling.

There’s not much keeping Ian McDermott in Spokane, but at least it’s home. He’s been raising Sammy practically on his own ever since their mom disappeared again on one of her binges. They get by, finding just enough to eat and plenty of time to skateboard. But at Morrison High, Ian is getting the distinct, chilling feeling that the administration wants him and his board and his punked hair gone. Simply gone. And when his temper finally blows–he actually takes a swing at Coach Florence and knocks him cold–Ian knows he’s got to grab Sammy and skate. Run.Their search for the one relative they can think of, their only hope, leads Ian and Sammy across the entire state of Washington in the cold and rain–and straight into a shocking discovery. Through it all, Ian knows exactly what he has to do: protect Sammy, and let no one split up their family of two. Michael Harmon tells a nuanced and unflinching story of wilderness survival, the fierce bond between brothers, and teen rage–and redemption.

Leverage the power of R to elegantly manage crucial geospatial analysis tasksAbout This BookWrite powerful R scripts to manipulate your spatial dataGain insight from spatial patterns utilizing R's advanced computation and visualization capabilitiesWork within a single spatial analysis environment from start to finishWho This Book Is ForThis book is intended for anyone who wants to learn how to efficiently analyze geospatial data with R, including GIS analysts, researchers, educators, and students who work with spatial data and who are interested in expanding their capabilities through programming. The book assumes familiarity with the basic geographic information concepts (such as spatial coordinates), but no prior experience with R and/or programming is required. By focusing on R exclusively, you will not need to depend on any external software—a working installation of R is all that is necessary to begin.What You Will Learn Make inferences from tables by joining, reshaping, and aggregating Familiarize yourself with the R geospatial data analysis ecosystem Prepare reproducible, publication-quality plots and maps Efficiently process numeric data, characters, and dates Reshape tabular data into the necessary form for the specific task at hand Write R scripts to automate the handling of raster and vector spatial layers Process elevation rasters and time series visualizations of satellite images Perform GIS operations such as overlays and spatial queries between layers Spatially interpolate meteorological data to produce climate maps In DetailR is a simple, effective, and comprehensive programming language and environment that is gaining ever-increasing popularity among data analysts.This book provides you with the necessary skills to successfully carry out complete geospatial data analyses, from data import to presentation of results.Learning R for Geospatial Analysis is composed of step-by-step tutorials, starting with the language basics before proceeding to cover the main GIS operations and data types. Visualization of spatial data is vital either during the various analysis steps and/or as the final product, and this book shows you how to get the most out of R's visualization capabilities. The book culminates with examples of cutting-edge applications utilizing R's strengths as a statistical and graphical tool.