Simple, subtle, and drolly funny, the Pumphrey brothers’ newest picture book is a layered exploration of the foolishness of making assumptions and the virtue of curiosity. When four swamp creatures looking to cross a river come upon a log that would allow for precisely that, they can’t believe their luck. But a questionable tail adjacent to that log gives them second thoughts. Opossum believes it’s a sneaky tail and that they must pass it quietly. Squirrel thinks it’s a scary tail that can be cowed by intimidation. Rabbit decides it’s a mean tail that deserves a taste of its own medicine. As the critters exhaust approaches one by one, Mouse, the smallest of the lot, observes their folly and adjusts accordingly. But is it the mouse or the tail that will defy expectations? Pairing their iconic illustration style with a wry irreverence, the Pumphrey brothers have crafted a delightful tale that reminds us to think before we act.

The Institute has successfully reanimated the body of Bayou Savage from his 200-year quantum suspension. The scientists, beleaguered by a wimpy, arrogant bureaucrat, have no idea of the unholy hell that is following Bayou into the year 2206. The opening of the portal paved an eight-lane highway for the banshees, ghosts and ghouls that spent the last 200 years in an Alcatraz dimension. The prison doors have opened and the miscreant souls are thirsty for blood and revenge. What’s left of the world, from the Religious Wars of 2012, is about to be ravished by the Magi and his hoards from Hades. The only good news is that Leslie Quinn, a formidable psychic, unrestricted by conventional dimensions, has brought Razor Savage, Quirk, and Mist to the battlefield. Bayou’s famous ghostfighting father, the first director of The Institute and Bayou’s daughter will be able to lend a hand in the ghost wars that are coming hard and fast on the heels of what appeared to be a harmless experiment in resuscitation. Follow us now into an unknown world of bloodthirsty phantoms, a mystical guitar talisman and the ghost warriors come to save the planet. Will they succeed?

The bestselling, award-winning author of Bad Land realizes a lifelong dream as he navigates the waters of the Mississippi River in a sixteen-foot motorboat, producing yet another masterpiece of contemporary American travel writing. "Stunning." —The New York Times Book Review In the course of his voyage, Raban records the mercurial caprices of the river and the astonishingly varied lives of the people who live along its banks. Whether he is fishing for walleye or hunting coon, discussing theology in Prairie Du Chien or race relations in Memphis, he is an expert observer of the heartyland's estrangement from America's capitals ot power and culture, and its helpless nostalgia for its lost past. Witty, elegaic, and magnificently erudite, Old Glory is as filled with strong currents as the Mississippi itself.

The book follows General Sam Houston as he takes command of the Texas Volunteers to lead them to victory six weeks after the fall of the Alamo.

The entries in this collection take us to the farthest extremes of travel with tales of danger, disorientation and bemused discomfort; combines reportage, fiction and poetry representing some of the best-known writers of our time.