Best Fantasy

In the richest installment yet of J. K. Rowling's seven-part story, Harry Potter is faced with the unreliability of the very government of the magical world and the impotence of the authorities at Hogwarts. Despite this (or perhaps because of it), he finds depth and strength in his friends, beyond what even he knew, boundless loyalty; and unbearable sacrifice. Though thick runs the plot, listeners will race through these tapes and leave Hogwarts, like Harry, wishing only for the next train back. As his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry approaches, 15-year-old Harry Potter is in full-blown adolescence, complete with regular outbursts of rage, a nearly debilitating crush, and the blooming of a powerful sense of rebellion. Somehow, over the summer, gossip (usually traced back to the magic world's newspaper, the Daily Prophet ) has turned Harry's tragic and heroic encounter with Voldemort at the Triwizard Tournament into an excuse to ridicule and discount the teen. With an overwhelming course load as the fifth years prepare for their Ordinary Wizarding Levels examinations (O.W.Ls), devastating changes in the Gryffindor Quidditch team lineup, vivid dreams about long hallways and closed doors, and increasing pain in his lightning-shaped scar, Harry's resilience is sorely tested.

With Ron and Hermione at his side, he's trying to hunt down Voldemort's Horcruxes, escape danger at every turn, and find a way to defeat evil once and for all. As a postgraduate she moved to London to work at Amnesty International, doing research into human rights abuses in Francophone Africa. She started writing the Harry Potter series during a Manchester to London King’s Cross train journey, and during the next five years, outlined the plots for each book and began writing the first novel. Awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003, chiefly for his work promoting the work of chldren's literature, Dale was also inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2009.

For twelve long years, the dread fortress of Azkaban held an infamous prisoner named Sirius Black.

A flash of lightning, quivering ground, and, instead of her grandparents' farm, Polly sees mist and jagged mountains -- and coming toward her, a group of young men carrying spears. Madeleine L'Engle was the author of more than forty-five books for all ages, among them the beloved A Wrinkle in Time, awarded the Newbery Medal; A Ring of Endless Light, a Newbery Honor Book; A Swiftly Tilting Planet, winner of the American Book Award; and the Austin family series of which Troubling a Star is the fifth book.

For twelve long years, the dread fortress of Azkaban held an infamous prisoner named Sirius Black.

THIS EDITION IS INTENDED FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY.

Mrs Dursley, quant à elle, était mince et blonde et disposait d'un cou deux fois plus long que la moyenne, ce qui lui était fort utile pour espionner ses voi­sins en regardant par-dessus les clôtures des jardins. En fait, Mrs Dursley faisait comme si elle était fille unique, car sa soeur et son bon à rien de mari étaient aussi éloignés que possible de tout ce qui faisait un Dursley. Les Dursley tremblaient d'épou­vante à la pensée de ce que diraient les voisins si par malheur les Potter se montraient dans leur rue. Après avoir terminé ses études secondaires, elle étudie la littérature française et la philologie à l'université d'Exeter et à la Sorbonne, à Paris. C'est en 1990 que l'idée de Harry Potter et de son école de sorciers germe dans son imagination, lors d'un voyage en train. Vivant dans une situation précaire, elle se plonge dans l'écriture de la première aventure de Harry Potter et termine la rédaction de ce manuscrit qui l'avait accompagnée de Londres à Porto, jusqu'aux cafés d'Édimbourg. J. K. Rowling a également écrit trois petits livres, dont les bénéfices sont reversés à des organisations caritatives, et qui sont comme des ouvrages authentiques sortis tout droit de la bibliothèque de Poudlard : Les Animaux fantastiques, Le Quidditch à travers les âges et Les Contes de Beedle le Barde. Après un OBE (Order of the British Empire, ordre de chevalerie du système honorifique britannique) pour ses services rendus à la littérature enfantine, J. K. Rowling a reçu de nombreux prix et décorations, notamment le prix Prince des Asturies de la Concorde, la Légion d'Honneur française et le prix Hans Christian Andersen.

Brian O'Doherty of The New York Times said that Mr. Sendak's work, "disguised in fantasy, springs from his earliest self, from the vagrant child that lurks in the heart of all of us." In 1970 he received the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal for Illustration, in 1983 he received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award from the American Library Association, and in 1996 he received a National Medal of Arts in recognition of his contribution to the arts in America.

To mark the 100th birthday of William Steig and in anticipation of the next blockbuster movie Shrek the Third, Macmillan Audio presents The One and Only Shrek! “Since one of the great pleasures of Steig's books is the language he uses, it's a particular delight to have the recording of The One and Only Shrek! You can really hear that the brilliance of 'Shrek' lies in the language Steig uses...one of the most delightful moments is when Shrek accosts a peasant, who is busy 'singing and scything,' and Tucci snarls Shrek's greeting: 'You there, varlet, why so blithe?'. The ogre's extreme repulsiveness gives Steig plenty of opportunity to trot out a vile vocabulary, but one of the most delightful moments is when Shrek accosts a peasant, who is busy "singing and scything," and Tucci snarls Shrek's greeting: "You there, varlet, why so blithe?" “What better way to learn the original story of Shrek than by listening to it on this unabridged recording...Meryl Streep is her best while reading Brave Irene ...And let's not forget Mr. Tucci.

It begins a magnificent tale of adventure that will plunge the members of the Fellowship of the Ring into a perilous quest and set the stage for the ultimate clash between powers of good and evil. As Bilbo's nephew, Frodo, and his friends take center stage to help dispose of the ring before some truly unsavory characters can obtain it, Inglis demonstrates he is up to the task of relating the original story's drama, suspense, and dark mysticism.

The hysterical #1 New York Times bestseller from Newbery honoree Carl Hiaasen featuring gators, snakes, bats that bite, and reality show hosts gone wild! But the job keeps getting more complicated: Derek Badger insists on using wild animals for his stunts; and Wahoo's acquired a shadow named Tuna—a girl who's sporting a shiner courtesy of her father and needs a place to hide out. “Only in Florida—and in the fiction of its native son Carl Hiaasen—does a dead iguana fall from a palm tree and kill somebody.” — New York Post “ Chomp is a delightful laugh-out-loud sendup of the surreality of TV that will be enjoyed by readers of all ages.” — Los Angeles Times “ Chomp shines in its humorous, subtle tweaks on pop culture. Grown-ups might stop you in an airport and tell you they like the novels, but kids will sit down and write a three-page letter, complete with illustrations. They're sharp and perceptive, and they really love the irreverent point of view in the books. Reality television taps into the same human impulse that makes you slow down on the highway to gawk at a six-car pile-up. Beside Jon Stewart, the best comedy on television is Finding Bigfoot and some of these other reality shows. Poisonous snakes, gators, crocs, iguanas, black widow spiders, all that stuff. In Chomp, both Mickey and Wahoo are fearless when it comes to snakes and other wild beasts (and nutty people, for that matter)--do you have any animal phobias? A. I just thought it would be cool to name a boy after Wahoo McDaniel, who played for the Dolphins when I was a kid. And the reality, sadly, is that some kids go home every night wondering if their mother or father is going to hurt them. In Scat I had a character whose dad comes back very badly injured from Iraq. You clearly have the single word title thing going for your kids’ books, is that just something you started with and stuck to, or is there more to the story? I have a son in middle school (and also grandchildren), and none of them are ready to read the Big Person novels yet. A. I was at a book-signing in Boulder, Colorado, when a very nice woman told me she'd named her cancerous tumor after a character in one of my novels.