National Network for Equitable Library Service

Roald Dahl is one of the most famous children's book authors ever. Now in this Who Was ...? biography, children will learn of his real-life adventures. A flying ace for the British Air Force, he was married to an Academy Award-winning actress. He also wrote books and screenplays for adults.

Ted Geisel loved to doodle from the time he was a kid. He had an offbeat, fun-loving personality. He often threw dinner parties where guests wore outrageous hats! And he donned quirky hats when thinking up ideas for books-like his classic The Cat in the Hat. This biography brings an amazingly gifted author/illustrator to life.

Everyone loves Harry Potter. Now kids can learn about Harry's creator! In 1995, on a four-hour-delayed train from Manchester to London, J.K. Rowling conceived of the idea of a boy wizard named Harry Potter. Upon arriving in London, she began immediately writing the first book in the saga. Rowling's true-life, rags-to-riches story is as compelling as the world of Hogwarts that she created. This biography details not only Rowling's life and her love of literature but the story behind the creation of a modern classic.

A collection of the year's best essays, selected by award-winning writer Alexander Chee.Alexander Chee, an essayist of "virtuosity and power" (Washington Post), selects twenty essays out of thousands that represent the best examples of the form published the previous year.

During her life, she felt uncomfortable about discussing the source of her fiction and refused to answer questions about her private life. Yet after her death in February 1995, Patricia Highsmith left behind a vast archive of personal documents, diaries, notebooks, and letters which detail the links between her life and her work.

Horror movies hold a complicated space in the hearts of the queer community. This collection features twenty-five original essays by contemporary LGBTQ writers reflecting on queerness in horror film.

If you've only just begun to develop your writing talent you'll find invaluable guidance on writing for beginners right here in this audiobook. Whether you want to write an intense crime novel, a fantasy adventure or a tragic romance, this audiobook can help equip you with all the literary tools needed to start writing your own fiction.

Word Workout is a practical book for building vocabulary⁰́₄a graduated program featuring thousands of words that begins with those known by most college graduates and ascends to words known only by the most educated, intelligent, and well-read adults. This workout is a comprehensive program, chock-full of information about synonyms, antonyms, and word origins, and replete with advice on proper usage and pronunciation. There are also creative review quizzes at each step of the way to measure your progress and reinforce learning.

British comedian and novelist Stephen Fry is fascinated with word games like crossword puzzles and Scrabble, so much that he believes them to be an integal part of our culture. With the help of linguists, puzzle makers and psychologists, Fry discovers that English seems to be almost tailor-made for word puzzles, perhaps more than any other language.

A concise, expert account of Virginia Woolf's life and ideas and explains their influence on literature and on man's struggle to understand his place in the world.