West-words gives the reader a bird's-eye view of the contemporary theatre scene across the prairies.

"Mark Mayer writes with a humorous, wistful elegance. His stories are singular, as detached and intimate as dreaming." --Marilynne Robinson Welcome to the sublime circus of Mark Mayer's Michener-Copernicus-winning debut, Aerialists, a fiercely inventive collection of nine stories in which classic carnival characters become ordinary misfits seeking grandeur in a lonely world. Under the luminous tent of Mayer's prose, we see P.T. Barnum's caravan remade: A young misogynist finds a confidante in a cable-TV strongwoman. A realtor for the one percent invokes his inner murder clown. A skin-and-bones mathematician and his bearded wife plot revolution. A friendless peach farmer holds a funeral for a beloved elephant. And a model-train hobbyist prepares to throw his miniature world in the trash. The circus has always been a collection of American exaggerations—the bold, the beautiful, the freakish, the big. Aerialists finds these myths living in the everyday. Mayer's deftly drawn characters illuminate these small-scale spectaculars, and their attempted acts of daring and feats of strength are rendered with humor, generosity, and uncommon grace.

Without music, the world is just blah. That’s my take on life, anyway. Mum says rock is the only music worth listening to, but I think everyone should find their own beat. When I hear that Principal Keiren plans to cut all of the arts classes at Watterson Primary, there's no way me and my new mate Flynn are gonna let that happen. We're dragging our secret Broadway appreciation society into the spotlight. It's time for Watterson: The Musical!

English and Literacies introduces pre-service teachers to the many facets of literacies and English education for primary students.

A Potent Moment assesses the current state of cannabis laws in the United States in the context of broader discussions about drug policy and advances a framework for future efforts to use cannabis legalization to advance social equity. It describes the racist origins of cannabis criminalization and the ways in which the prosecutors of the War on Drugs have disproportionately harmed people of color. It also offers numerous detailed case studies to identify both the successes and failures of the more recent movement to legalize cannabis at the state level, particularly in terms of their efficacy at using cannabis policy to redress social inequality. At the same time, the author considers the difficulty of crafting effective policies in the face of ongoing cannabis criminalization at the federal level, a theme which is present throughout the book as well as in a chapter dedicated to weighing the benefits—but also real dangers—of various proposals for national legalization. A Potent Moment ends with a forceful call to reorient American drug policy away from fear, stigma, and punishment and toward evidence-driven approaches that are applied with compassion.

An authentic novel about growing up in an Asian immigrant family with a mother who is suffering from a debilitating mental illness. Anna Chiu has her hands full. When she's not looking after her brother and sister or helping out at her father's restaurant, she's taking care of her mother, whose debilitating mental illness keeps her in bed most days. Her father's new delivery boy, Rory, is a welcome distraction and even though she knows that things aren't right at home, she's starting to feel like she could be a normal teen.But when her mother finally gets out of bed, things go from bad to worse. And as her mother's condition worsens, Anna and her family question everything they understand about themselves and each other.The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling is a heart-wrenching, true-to-life exploration through the often neglected crevices of culture, mental illness, and family. Its strong themes are balanced by a beautiful romance making it a feel-good, yet important read.

Brewed in 1859 near what is now the heart of downtown, Denver's first beer quenched the thirst of fortune hunters following the gold rush. It lubricated the city's transformation from Wild West town to the Queen City of the Plains until Prohibition brought a sudden end to the brewing culture. By 1979, only the famed Coors brewery remained. But then something frothy happened. Brian Dunn, John Hickenlooper and many others began satiating locals with liquid gold. The craft beer movement blossomed. Now well over seventy breweries strong, it is filled with the same pioneering spirit and irrepressible optimism that the miners embodied. Journalist and author Jonathan Shikes captures the Mile High City's sudsy stories from then until now.