Ellie Anders has a good life. She has wonderful parents, a furry dog named Sam, and a pretty-okay little brother. She plays tennis, eats pizza, and swaps toys and games with her best friend Lex. But a new school project is threatening to disrupt it all. Her free-spirited teacher, Miss Parker, has assigned an impossible project. Ellie must choose who's the most important person in her life.

Ellie, Lex, and Will are back for a summer adventure and challenge. Their favorite park is run down and rusty. An accident on the last day of school proves to be the last straw. They need a new park. When City Hall says there isn't enough money to replace the park, the three set out to raise the money themselves. Their fundraising begins with a wet dog wash, a lemonade stand, and yard work for their neighbors. Will their hard work inspire their community to come together and build a new park?

Featuring rumpled PIs, shyster lawyers, corrupt politicians, double-crossers, femmes fatales, and, of course, losers who find themselves down on their luck yet again, film noir is a perennially popular cinematic genre. This extensive encyclopedia describes movies from noir's earliest days – and even before, looking at some of noir's ancestors in US and European cinema – as well as noir's more recent offshoots, from neonoirs to erotic thrillers. Entries are arranged alphabetically, covering movies from all over the world – from every continent save Antarctica – with briefer details provided for several hundred additional movies within those entries. A copious appendix contains filmographies of prominent directors, actors, and writers. With coverage of blockbusters and program fillers from Going Straight (US 1916) to Broken City (US 2013) via Nora Inu (Japan 1949), O Anthropos tou Trainou (Greece 1958), El Less Wal Kilab (Egypt 1962), Reportaje a la Muerte (Peru 1993), Zift (Bulgaria 2008), and thousands more, A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Film Noir is an engrossing and essential reference work that should be on the shelves of every cinephile.

After the Human Preservation Agency stole seventeen-year-old Mira Everson’s future, she learns that a second chance at living isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Struggling to find a place in a world she no longer belongs to, she must fight for her future as her past comes back to haunt her, and the HPA threatens to steal everything from her all over again. Nate Burnham faces a world of uncertainty as his new life revolves around murder and secrecy in order to stay alive. Now bound to Mira’s soul after giving her a fresh start, Nate realizes his actions have consequences. He finds himself running from the HPA while also facing new enemies who threaten his life. In a world where Nate and Mira don’t know who to trust, they must rely on themselves to make it out alive. Can they outrun their pasts and take control of their futures, or will they lose everything they’ve fought for?

Four new short plays inspired by the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta by internationally renowned playwrights Howard Brenton, Anders Lustgarten, Timberlake Wertenbaker and Sally Woodcock. RANSOMED by Howard Brenton In the sleepy Cathedral City of Melchester, a crime has been committed. The Cathedral’s prize possession, a copy of the original Magna Carta, has been stolen in a daring heist. Who is responsible and what price will the British Government be prepared to pay for the document’s safe return? As the plot thickens, Detective Inspector Ellie Baxter seeks to find the truth in this brilliant new Magna Carta comedy. KINGMAKERS by Anders Lustgarten Ten years after the signing of Magna Carta, the barons' takeover isn’t quite going to plan. With the peasants grumbling about enormous castles and broken promises, the threat of rebellion hangs in the air. Perhaps the solution is to distract and deflect by bringing the confused and humbled king back into the fold? What about a royal wedding? A royal baby? All at the common man’s expense, of course... A fictional story from the 13th century that may just be about now. WE SELL RIGHT by Timberlake Wertenbaker In 1215, when the King of England abuses his extraordinary power, the barons’ take action. In 2015, when the kings of global business and finance abuse their extraordinary power, who will take action and what will confrontation look like? In the decades that follow, what will remain of the values we hold most dear? A gripping drama about the consequences of confronting power on a global scale. PINK GIN by Sally Woodcock In 21st century Africa, a visionary President stands on the cusp of greatness. With international investors poised to develop large tracks of land, the financial future looks bright. But why has it been raining for 97 days, and who is leading the angry mob in the streets outside? A compelling contemporary allegory throwing light on the oft overlooked companion to Magna Carta, The Charter of the Forest.

An emotionally riveting tale from a powerhouse new talent THE LADY AND THE LONER He was an outlaw. A rebel. A man she'd sworn to avoid. A drifter more comfortable roaming the range—alone—than taking a wife and building a family. But from the moment he became her protector, Jennifer Horn felt a connection and an irrepressible urge to make him her own. Corey Rainwater was running. From himself. From his past. Especially from the look in Jennifer's eyes. He could never be the husband she needed, or the father her precocious daughter so desperately desired. Because dreams weren't made for men like him. At least, that was what he'd always believed….