Books published by publisher Hearst Communications

411 for Life! The teen years are one of the most difficult periods of your life, while at the same time one of the funnest. You are dealing with so many changes that sometimes you don't know which end is up. Now there is help! Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul is your handbook for surviving and succeeding during these exciting years with both your sanity and sense of humor intact. You will relate to and learn from the stories here, without feeling criticized or judged. Featuring contributions from stars Jennie Garth, Jennifer Love Hewitt and A.J. Langer, as well as many teens just like you, this edition of Chicken Soup contains lessons on: the nature of friendship and love; the importance of belief in the future; the value of respect for yourself and others, and dealing with tough issues like death, suicide and the loss of love. The awesome stories in this collection include "My First Kiss, and Then Some," "Please Listen," Detention Can Be Fun," "No-Hair Day" and "Wile Thing." Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul will become your good friend: one who understands your feelings, is there for you when needed, and cheers you up when things are looking down.

Bestselling author Frank McKinney boldly enters young reader fiction in this deeply imaginative fantasy sure to race and gladden the hearts of all readers. The story was inspired by the more than one thousand walks to school the author has shared with his daughter and her friends in real life. Come along with them into the imaginative world of Dead Fred, Flying Lunchboxes, and the Good Luck Circle! Thirteen-year-old Ppeekk (pronounced 'Peekie') finds a very small, very flat, very dead fish. When he comes to life in her hand, he has an amazing story to tell.In the brilliant underwater world called High Voltage, manatees talk, starfish sing, and practical-joking clownfish encourage children to launch their lunchboxes off the bridge. Now the fiendish Megalodon, a fifty-foot prehistoric shark, has laid siege to High Voltage and dethroned King Frederick the Ninth (whom Ppeekk calls "Dead Fred"). The monster reigns amphibiously under the old drawbridge with his army of crabs and blood-red remora fish, whose suckers drain victims' joy and imagination. Ppeekk hides Dead Fred in the only safe place she can think of: the usher's coat room at church. As she grows to know Fred, she learns to trust and love him. Unlike her parents, he listens to her and counsels her. Dead Fred trusts Ppeekk, too. In fact, he has a big favor to ask. Can she help him save High Voltage from the evil Megalodon?Ppeekk and her friends use everything they've got to lure the evil beast to his demise—exploding coconut bombs, strangler fig lassos, even themselves as human bait—to vanquish Megalodon and his rogue army. In the climactic scene, they fight the battle of their lives in a Category-5 hurricane . . . Will they be able to save Dead Fred and High Voltage? Read Dead Fred, Flying Lunchboxes, and the Good Luck Circle to find out!

Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul II offers more inspiring stories to help you master the game we call life. Today's teens have ever more issues and social pressures to juggle than young adults just 20 years ago. This book, like its predecessor, can be your guide - a beacon in the darkness, a safe haven in a storm, a warm hug in the cold and a respite from loneliness. There's no preaching as to what you should and shouldn't do. Instead, this book is full of teens sharing their experiences on learning to accept like, becoming the best person you can be, being happy with who you are, and loving yourself - no matter what.

When Nicole Maxwell first visited the Amazon more than forty years ago, she had no idea that she would make a life's work of the people, plants and lore to be found there. Decades before Americans became aware of the riches to be found in the knowledge of plant medicines which native shamans had passed down over thousands of years, Ms. Maxwell, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, was scouring the Amazon ram forest for clues to this ancient medical tradition.Now, on the eve of the decade in which mankind will have its last chance to determine the fate of this region and its wealth of traditional knowledge, Citadel Press's Library of the Mystic Arts is proud to bring out a newly revised edition of this classic work. Long hailed as one of the major works of popular ethno-medicine, this book is both an engaging adventure story and an engrossing account of the traditions of plant medicine to be found among the tribes of Amazonia -- and its re-release could not be more timely.Scientists now fear that one plant species per day is being made extinct by man's ravenous appetite for "progress". Of the plants which are found only in the Amazon rain forest, only a tiny percentage have been tested for their full medical possibilities. Witch-Doctor's Apprentice is an inspiring and amusing plea to modern civilization to save these plants -- and the people who know how to use them -- before they are destroyed forever.On the occasion of this newly revised edition, Ms. Maxwell has created an appendix which catalogs all of the plants mentioned in the text, with their scientific names, the names by which they are known locally, and their medicinal uses. This edition also includes a newintroduction by the noted ethno-botanist Terence McKenna."A spirited and engrossing personal narrative, as much about people and places, discomforts and dangers, the beauty of the jungle and the arc-leap of wordless communication across cultural barriers, as it is about... bringing natu

The third volume in the Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul series promises more love, support and inspiration for the series' loyal teen readers. More and more, life is a struggle for teens. Not just dealing with the tragedies that seem to plague them so often, but also handling the daily pressures that pervade their lives. This book, like the first two volumes in the series, will help them, and will serve as their guide and constant companion. The original Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, a New York Times bestseller, has sold over 4.5 million copies. Its successor, Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul II, a #1 New York Times bestseller, has already sold over 2.2 million copies. The third volume in this blockbuster series promises to be every bit as successful as the first two, as teen readers continue to cherish and be inspired by this series. Chapters focus on love, friendship, family, tough stuff, growing up, kindness, learning lessons and making a difference. In keeping with the themes and content of the Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul series, teens will also find support, encouragement and understanding from their peers, as well as from caring and compassionate adults. This book is a must-read for all teens-a book they will read and reread, sharing their favorite stories with one another over and over again. It is also the perfect gift for all adults to give to the teens in their lives.

After being adopted as an infant, Louis is now reunited with his birth mother. Through this family experience, Louis explores his feelings, finds encouragement, and is hopeful for what the future holds. This beautifully illustrated children's book was written to educate and encourage the adopted child, and also to provide conversation starters for the adoptive and birth family in their relationship in an open adoption arrangement. Told from the child's point of view, this book shares the ideas of domestic adoption, transracial adoption, birth mothers, and the ongoing relationships of open adoption. Additional Family By Love titles are A Story of Open Adoption and A Christmas Together. These (and much more) are available online. Buy all three titles together and save at familybylove.com.