Books with title The magic mountain

The first book of the classic feminist 'Herland trilogy', Charlotte Gilman's 'Moving the Mountain' was first published in 1911. It tells the tale of American John Robertson, a native of South Carolina, and student of ancient languages, who at the age of 25 travels to Tibet and, after an unfortunate accident, suffers complete memory loss. Thirty years later, in 1940, he is found by his sister Nellie, recovers his memory and returns to the United States. Much has altered since John left his native shore. Women have become emancipated, and have changed many aspects of society for the better: crime, poverty, prostitution, corruption and racism are no more. For John the culture shock is extreme - he retains the misogynist world-view of his youth, and finds equality of the sexes a bitter pill to swallow. Gilman skillfully uses John's (fictional) reactionary feelings to dissect and reject the (actual) domination and gender discrimination practiced by the men of her own time. A timely reminder of how far feminism has come - and altered - in the past 100 years.

"Miss Stafford writes with brilliance. Scene after scene is told with unforgettable care and tenuous entanglements are treated with wise subtlety. She creates a splendid sense of time, of the unending afternoons of youth, and of the actual color of noon and of night. Refinement of evil, denial of drama only make the underlying truth more terrible. " --Saturday Review "Hard to match . . . for subtlety and understanding. . . written wittily, lucidly, and with great respect for the resources of the language. " --New Yorker Coming of age in pre-World War II California and Colorado brings tragedy to Molly and Ralph Fawcett in Jean Stafford's classic semi-autobiographical novel, first published in 1947. Torn between their mother's world of genteel respectability and their grandfather's and uncle's world of cowboy masculinity, neither Molly nor Ralph can find an acceptable adult role to aspire to. As events move to their swift and inevitable conclusion, Stafford uncovers and indicts the social forces that require boys to sacrifice the feminine in order to become men and doom intelligent girls who aren't pretty.

In the first book, the two brothers meet Haktu, the young Indian brave who was trapped inside the body of an underwater dragon, and then find his lost pony, Uno, deep within a mysterious forest. After the boys narrowly escape several vicious attacks from evil wolf-crows, they receive a magic blue feather from Haktu as he bids them his final farewell. Book Two begins with Archibald and Jockabeb flying to a secluded summer camp perched high in a rugged mountain range far from home. The fact that they are the only two campers to show up at Camp Bear Claw that summer is just the first of many surprises -- incredible surprises that test the protective power of their magic blue feather in completely unexpected ways. On their way to a final face-to-face showdown with a deadly creature that possesses supernatural strength, the young boys meet several unforgettable characters who end up changing their lives forever. If you liked In the Forest, hold onto your hat as you read its sequel!

ABOUT THE BOOK The story of THE MOUNTAIN was first published as a poem titled "SORE FEET" in Judith Weinshall Liberman's book PASSION: Poems of Love and Protest (iUniverse, 2013). THE MOUNTAIN tells the story of a boy who, with his scout troup, undertakes to climb a tall mountain. Due to various factors, the boy lags behind his mates. However, he persists, and although he reaches the mountain top after his mates have already done so and are on their way back, the boy feels special pride in his accomplishment. THE MOUNTAIN will inspire readers to put in their best effort despite apparent obstacles. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Born in Israel (then called "Palestine"), Judith Weinshall Liberman came to the United States in 1947 to pursue higher education. She earned four American university degrees including two in law, a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School and an LL.M. from the University of Michigan Law School. After settling in the Boston area in 1956, she studied art and creative writing. Beginning in the early 1960s, and for four decades thereafter, Ms. Liberman created numerous series of artworks. Her art has been widely exhibited, and is represented in the collection of museums and other public institutions. During her long career in visual art, Ms. Liberman wrote several books, among them some children's books. Her book THE BIRD'S LAST SONG (Addison-Wesley, 1976), which she also illustrated, won a citation as one of the "fabulous books of the year." Since 2012, she has published several additional picture books, including ICE CREAM SNOW (2012) , THE LITTLE FAIRY (2013), COLOR IN OUR WORLD (2014), THE VERY OLD PAINTER AND HER HUSBAND (2014), HAIFA (2014), ANGEL'S PUPPIES (2014), THE GIANT HOUSE (2014) and THE BEE AND THE BUTTERFLY (2014). Judith Weinshall Liberman's archives can be found in the Arts Department of the Boston Public Library and at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art. ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR This is the fifth book on which Judith Weinshall Liberman, the author, has collaborated with Gail Davis, the illustrator. Since she did not feel that, in light of her deteriorated eyesight, she could do justice to illustrating THE MOUNTAIN herself, Ms. Liberman selected a fine artist, Ms. Gail Davis, to create the illustrations under the author's guidance. The two had previously collaborated on THE LITTLE FAIRY, on THE VERY OLD PAINTER AND HER HUSBAND, on ANGEL'S PUPPIES, and on THE GIANT HOUSE. In the present book, Ms. Davis beautifully captures the spirit of the story and of its characters.

Travel with Mia and her mamma through the changing seasons of the beautiful Smoky Mountains as Mia searches for the magic that she so often hears her mother speak of but cannot find herself. Sometimes it is hard to see when you look at it every day. Mia must learn that her magic is different from her mamma’s, but it doesn’t mean that it is not there.

Yao, Fey, and Shem are travelling from their home in River Haven to the neighboring town of Glorydale. Unfortunately the only way to get there in on a toll road, or so they think until Fey's father tells them of another way. Yao and Shem decide to take the old Mountain Road and it changes them forever. Length: 96 pages (about 10,000 words) What is "A Little Fiction?" These engaging stories are kept intentionally short so that they may be read in a few hours. Each book in this series examines a traditional family value in a fictional setting so that it is fun to read, instructive, and entertaining. Excerpt: The water was icy cold, and the road bed was a full two feet above the surface of the marsh. The stream must have been fed by glacial waters further up the mountain. The rock, while dry, did not mask the temperature of the water that ran beneath it. Yao admired the marsh grasses and the brilliant colors that they displayed, but quickly made his mind up to leave as his feet began to freeze on the icy surface of the stone roadway. He had just picked up his pack to move on when he was startled by the braying of a wild animal off the side of the trail. Yao walked cautiously forward, and when he had come around a bend in the trail, found a small goat trapped in a large thicket of thorny bushes. He could see the dry places that the buck had used to get at some of the sweet marsh grasses. He must have gotten tangled in the thorns before he could retreat back to the safety of the plateau. Yao carefully laid down his pack on the stone roadway, and made his way out to the frightened goat. As he got closer the goat began to panic and bray more loudly. He spoke gently to it as he got closer, and soon found himself face to face with the goat. Gently Yao began to stroke the goat along his spine, and once the buck had calmed down he began untangling the long pointy briers from its fur. It proved to be quite the task, as the mountain goat’s fur was thick and ready for the upcoming winter. Somehow he managed to untangle the thorns, and the goat was soon hopping from stone to dry patch, back up to the stone roadway. Yao began his own careful way back to the road. When he reached the roadway, he realized that the goat had not run off, but was waiting for him. At first he thought this rather pleasant, but once he had climbed up onto the road and picked up his pack his mind quickly changed. There on the path leading out of the bog sat a large mountain lion.