“Venter instills awe for biology as it is, and as it might become in our hands.” —Publishers Weekly On May 20, 2010, headlines around the world announced one of the most extraordinary accomplishments in modern science: the creation of the world’s first synthetic lifeform. In Life at the Speed of Light, scientist J. Craig Venter, best known for sequencing the human genome, shares the dramatic account of how he led a team of researchers in this pioneering effort in synthetic genomics—and how that work will have a profound impact on our existence in the years to come. This is a fascinating and authoritative study that provides readers an opportunity to ponder afresh the age-old question “What is life?” at the dawn of a new era of biological engineering.

Shining a light on mania, depression and everything in between, this no-nonsense guide to life with bipolar disorder gives advice on how to manage the condition and work towards stability. Drawing on his own experiences, Kai Conibear discusses the realities of life with bipolar and shares practical tips and advice. He explains different symptoms, including mania, hypomania, psychosis and depression, and gives advice on managing relationships, facing stigma and discrimination and learning to be comfortable with stability. The book also contains a chapter on how friends, family and caregivers can support someone with bipolar practically. Whether you suspect you have bipolar disorder, have been recently diagnosed or have been living with the condition for many years, this honest but hopeful guide is a must read.

An eleven-year-old Jewish girl living in the South during the 1950s struggles with the antisemitism and racism which pervade her small community.

Every family has a story. Every story, eventually, must be told. For most of their lives, Julian Perel and his sister, Paula, lived in a house cast in silence, witnesses to a father struggling with a devastating secret too painful to share. Though their father took his demons to the grave, his past refuses to rest. As adults, brother and sister struggle to find their voices. A scientist governed by numbers and logic, Julian now lives an ordered life of routine and seclusion. My father gave up his language and his homeland. But he carried his sadness with him, under his skin. It was mine now. In contrast, Paula has entered the world as eagerly as Julian retracts from it. An aspiring opera singer, she is always moving, buoyant with sound. Singing was the only gift I could offer to my father. I filled the house with music. I tried to give him joy. . . . Yet both their lives begin to change on a Wednesday, miercoles, the day that sounds like miracles. Before embarking on a European opera tour, Paula asks her housekeeper, Sola, to stay at her place--and to look after Julian in the apartment above. Yet Sola, too, has a story. I want to clean myself like the window of a house, make myself clear for things to pass through. Flat and quiet. As Paula uncovers pieces of her father's early life in Budapest and the horrifying truth of his past, Julian bears witness to Sola's story--revelations that help all three learn how to both surrender and revere the shadows that have followed them for so long. The Speed of Light is a powerful debut about three unforgettable souls who overcome the tragedies of the past to reconnect with one another and the world around them. In an extraordinary accomplishment, Elizabeth Rosner has created a novel of love and redemption that proves the pain of the untold story is far greater than even the most difficult truth.

Life was not easy in the twelfth century for the latter sons of even the wealthiest of men. As King John put it, "For the fourth sons, even of a king, are among the most insignificant of God's creatures." In those days, the first born inherited everything. A late-arrival had a choice of becoming a hearth son, dependent upon the largesse of his family, or of seeking his fortune through his own abilities and talents. "The Fourth Son" is the dramatic saga of a man who chose the latter path. William Marshall suceeded so well, in fact, that he far surpassed his own family standing and left his mark on history, serving eventually as regent of England. This imaginative version is based on the life of a real flesh and blood man. The feats of the great Knight William are recorded in history throughout the tumultuous reign of the fiery Plantagenets, including the lusty Henry II and his sons, the dashing Couer de Lion and the treacherous John. Maintaining his position (and his head) in the fickle court of kings was a constant struggle what with the sibling rivalry of the king's sons and the constant friction between the English and the French, who wanted nothing less than to shove the Angevins back across the channel. But the besieged Knight William found his greatest challenge in his arranged marriage, sight unseen, to a beautiful Irish princess some twenty years his junior. To his dismay, he found his knightly prowess of no use in his relationship with the head-strong Isabel de Clare, for beneath his fierce warrior's breast there beat a tender heart with a conscience--a distinct disadvantage in those days.

When Sovern Briggs survives a car crash, she stops talking to seal in the memory of her mother’s life. As conflict with her father builds, Sovern seeks relief in a dangerous boyfriend and in speed’s adrenaline edge. Dyslexia, math, cutting-edge science, genius, and love weave together in a reluctant journey toward acceptance.

Kirkus Star Junior Library Guild Gold Selection Mark Weston’s high-interest story and Rebecca Evans’s colorful graphics make scientific discovery the coolest thing this side of Jupiter. More than two centuries before Einstein, using a crude telescope and a mechanical timepiece, Danish astronomer Ole Romer measured the speed of light with astounding accuracy. How was he able to do this when most scientists didn’t even believe that light traveled? Like many paradigm-shattering discoveries, Romer’s was accidental. Night after night he was timing the disappearance and reappearance of Jupiter’s moon Io behind the huge, distant planet. Eventually he realized that the discrepancies in his measurements could have only one explanation: Light had a speed, and it took longer to reach Earth when Earth was farther from Jupiter. All he needed then to calculate light’s speed was some fancy geometry.