2018 Colorado Book Awards finalist in the Creative Nonfiction and National Bestseller and Honorable Mention Award Winner in the Outdoor Literature category of the 2017 National Outdoor Book Awards (NOBA) — “A beautiful book about family and finding a way to achieve more than you ever thought possible.” —Brad Meltzer, New York Times bestselling author Erik Weihenmayer has a long history of turning obstacles into adventures. Born with a rare condition that blinded him as a teenager, he never let his diagnosis hold him back from a full life. As an athlete, explorer, speaker and activist, he has opened the eyes of people around the world to what's possible. In 2001, he became the first blind man to climb Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. In 2005, he co-founded his nonprofit organization, No Barriers, to empower others to overcome adversity and achieve their biggest goals. This special edition of No Barriers introduces kids to the incredible true story of Erik's most terrifying journey: solo kayaking the thunderous whitewater of the Grand Canyon. Erik and his friends form a courageous crew to do battle with some of the harshest elements nature has to offer. Along the course of Erik's journey, he meets other trailblazers: adventurers, scientists, artists, and activists who show Erik the way forward and teach him the meaning of No Barriers—“What’s Within You is Stronger Than What’s in Your Way.”

Bestselling author Erik Weihenmayer, who Jon Krakauer calls “an inspiration,” tells the epic story of his latest adventures, including solo kayaking The Colorado River.

The incredible bestselling book from the author of No Barriers and The Adversity Advantage Erik Weihenmayer was born with retinoscheses, a degenerative eye disorder that would leave him blind by the age of thirteen. But Erik was determined to rise above this devastating disability and lead a fulfilling and exciting life. In this poignant and inspiring memoir, he shares his struggle to push past the limits imposed on him by his visual impairment-and by a seeing world. He speaks movingly of the role his family played in his battle to break through the barriers of blindness: the mother who prayed for the miracle that would restore her son's sight and the father who encouraged him to strive for that distant mountaintop. And he tells the story of his dream to climb the world's Seven Summits, and how he is turning that dream into astonishing reality (something fewer than a hundred mountaineers have done). From the snow-capped summit of McKinley to the towering peaks of Aconcagua and Kilimanjaro to the ultimate challenge, Mount Everest, this is a story about daring to dream in the face of impossible odds. It is about finding the courage to reach for that ultimate summit, and transforming your life into something truly miraculous. "An inspiration to other blind people and plenty of us folks who can see just fine."—Jon Krakauer, New York Times bestselling author of Into Thin Air

This collection of essays explores a wealth of topics in children’s and young adult (YA) literature and culture. The contributions include an examination of the Watchbird cartoons by Munro Leaf and their attempts to teach morals and manners; an ethnographic study about the role of public youth librarians; and an exploration of the role popular video games can play in the secondary classroom. Other topics investigated here encompass the presentation of environmentalism in Hayao Miyazaki’s films, psychological analyses, and the role of race, gender, and culture in children’s and YA literature.

Mit "türkischem" Urum, pontischem "Griechisch" und orthodox-christlichem Glauben unterläuft Georgiens griechische Minderheit gängige Erwartungen an das Verhältnis von Sprache und (nationaler) Identität. In Georgien als griechisch anerkannt, in Griechenland jedoch nicht unbedingt, bewegen sie sich in einem spannungsreichen Geflecht sozialer Konstellationen und (un)möglicher Zugehörigkeiten, geprägt von Spuren der sowjetischen Vergangenheit. In einer sorgfältigen ethnografisch informierten Konversationsanalyse untersucht die Autorin die Aushandlung komplexer sozialer Grenzen, Zugehörigkeiten und Positionierungen im Gespräch. Grenzziehungen und -auflösungen erweisen sich dabei als dynamische und kontextabhängige Prozesse.

Adaptation in Young Adult Novels argues that adapting classic and canonical literature and historical places engages young adult readers with their cultural past and encourages them to see how that past can be rewritten. The textual afterlives of classic texts raise questions for new readers: What can be changed? What benefits from change? How can you, too, be agents of change? The contributors to this volume draw on a wide range of contemporary novels – from Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series and Megan Shepherd's Madman's Daughter trilogy to Jesmyn Ward's Salvage the Bones – adapted from mythology, fairy tales, historical places, and the literary classics of Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, among others. Unpacking the new perspectives and critiques of gender, sexuality, and the cultural values of adolescents inherent to each adaptation, the essays in this volume make the case that literary adaptations are just as valuable as original works and demonstrate how the texts studied empower young readers to become more culturally, historically, and socially aware through the lens of literary diversity.