Whether along race, class or generational lines, hip-hop music has been a source of controversy since the beats got too big and the voices too loud for the block parties that spawned them. America has condemned and commended this music and the culture that inspires it. Dubbed ''the Hip-Hop Intellectual' by critics and fans for his pioneering explorations of rap music in the academy and beyond, Michael Eric Dyson is uniquely situated to probe the most compelling and controversial dimensions of hip-hop culture. Know What I Mean? addresses salient issues within hip hop: the creative expression of degraded youth that has garnered them global exposure; the vexed gender relations that have made rap music a lightning rod for pundits; the commercial explosion that has made an art form a victim of its success; the political elements that have been submerged in the most popular form of hip hop; and the intellectual engagement with some of hip hops most influential figures. In spite of changing trends, both in the music industry and among the intelligentsia, Dyson has always supported and interpreted this art that bloomed un watered, and in many cases, unwanted from our inner cities. For those who wondered what all the fuss is about in hip hop, Dysons bracing and brilliant book breaks it all down.

Lightning provides: 32 books with 3 levels of differentiation per book; whole texts that provide NLS genre coverage; linked themes across fiction, non-fiction and the wider curriculum; focussed teaching support for each book including comprehension and writing activities; and a teaching and practice CD that provides opportunities for ICT.

If you're an executive, designer, product manager, marketer, or engineer, communication is part of your work. Using images and text in unique ways, comics can engage readers in ways traditional methods can't. In See What I Mean, you'll learn how to create comics about your products and processes without an illustrator—just like Google, eBay, and Adobe do.

Plains Indian Sign Talk (PST), a complex system of hand signs, once served as the lingua franca among many Native American tribes of the Great Plains, who spoke very different languages. Here, Farnell reveals how PST is still an integral component of the stroytelling tradition in contemporary Assiniboine (Nakota) culture.

Three BFFs prove that girls can do anything they set their minds to in the sixth book in this hilarious series told entirely in text messages, emojis, and passed notes. Perfect for fans of Invisible Emmie and the Dork Diaries. TBH, sometimes boys say dumb things about girls. And Cece is sick of it! When she leads a super-successful event at school to raise awareness, everyone starts looking to her to take charge—of everything. Prianka needs ideas for National Poetry Month, Victoria wants advice on volunteer projects, and Gabby needs homework help. To be honest, being a leader is fun but the pressure is OOC (out of control)! Can Cece help her friends without totally losing it herself?

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • From one of our most iconic and influential writers, the award-winning author of The Year of Magical Thinking: a timeless collection of mostly early pieces that reveal what would become Joan Didion's subjects, including the press, politics, California robber barons, women, and her own self-doubt. With a forward by Hilton Als, these twelve pieces from 1968 to 2000, never before gathered together, offer an illuminating glimpse into the mind and process of a legendary figure. They showcase Joan Didion's incisive reporting, her empathetic gaze, and her role as "an articulate witness to the most stubborn and intractable truths of our time" (The New York Times Book Review). Here, Didion touches on topics ranging from newspapers ("the problem is not so much whether one trusts the news as to whether one finds it"), to the fantasy of San Simeon, to not getting into Stanford. In "Why I Write," Didion ponders the act of writing: "I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means." From her admiration for Hemingway's sentences to her acknowledgment that Martha Stewart's story is one "that has historically encouraged women in this country, even as it has threatened men," these essays are acutely and brilliantly observed. Each piece is classic Didion: incisive, bemused, and stunningly prescient.

The English say Dubliners speak the best English. Filmmaker Jim Sheridan insists they don't, but that they speak the most entertaining English. Naming a piece of public sculpture or commenting on the hardness of life, Dubliner's have a flair for waxing lyrical. So, to fully appreciate them, one must learn Dublinese.