In ancient Japan, Himiko the privileged daughter of her clan's leader, fights the constraints and expectations imposed on young women, and instead finds her own path which includes secret shaman lessons.

As Himiko traverses ancient Japan in order to free enslaved members of her clan, she encounters members of many other tribes and emerges as the leader who will unify them.

"Hasan, whose power and omniscience crush him under an unbearable burden, is gradually released from his apathy and his pain. He admires the intelligence and strong will of the princess, qualities that make their friendship so dear - a friendship that takes him dangerously close to a power long forgotten, a power greater than wisdom and immortality, greater than his suffering."--BOOK JACKET.

Songs for the Spirits examines the Vietnamese practice of communing with spirits through music and performance. During rituals dedicated to a pantheon of indigenous spirits, musicians perform an elaborate sequence of songs--a "songscape"--for possessed mediums who carry out ritual actions, distribute blessed gifts to disciples, and dance to the music's infectious rhythms. Condemned by French authorities in the colonial period and prohibited by the Vietnamese Communist Party in the late 1950s, mediumship practices have undergone a strong resurgence since the early 1990s, and they are now being drawn upon to promote national identity and cultural heritage through folklorized performances of rituals on the national and international stage. By tracing the historical trajectory of traditional music and religion since the early twentieth century, this groundbreaking study offers an intriguing account of the political transformation and modernization of cultural practices over a period of dramatic and often turbulent transition. An accompanying DVD contains numerous video and music extracts that illustrate the fascinating ways in which music evokes the embodied presence of spirits and their gender and ethnic identities.

The essays in this volume examine the resurgence of the Mother Goddess religion among contemporary Vietnamese following the economic "Renovation" period in Vietnam. Anthropologists explore the forces that compel individuals to become mediums and the social repercussions of their decisions and interactions.

Spirits without Borders is an ethnographic study of the transnational and multicultural expansion of Vietnam's Mother Goddess Religion and its spirit possession ritual. The work explores how and why the ritual spread from Vietnam to the US and back again and the impact of ritual transnationalism in both countries.

This Step 2 Step into Reading leveled reader is based on Disney Frozen 2--which is in theaters November 22, 2019! Directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, and produced by Peter Del Vecho, Walt Disney Animation Studios' feature-length follow-up to 2013's Oscar®-winning film Frozen is slated for theaters on November 22, 2019. Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, Idina Menzel, and Jonathan Groff are reprising their roles in an all-new story. Girls and boys ages 4 to 6 will love this Step 2 Step into Reading leveled reader based on Disney Frozen 2! Step 2 readers use basic vocabulary and short sentences to tell simple stories. For children who recognize familiar words and can sound out new words with help.