Half-Real

A video game is half-real: we play by real rules while imagining a fictional world.We win or lose the game in the real world, but we slay a dragon (for example) only in the world ofthe game. In this t

A refreshingly candid and wickedly funny look at life’s second half from Everybody Loves Raymond TV sitcom star and three-time Emmy Award–winning comic Brad Garrett.In this no-holds-barred book of com

A passionate memoir and fearless behind-the-scenes look at the personal lives of the biggest reggae stars in the world.

A video game is half-real: we play by real rules while imagining a fictional world. We win or lose the game in the real world, but we slay a dragon (for example) only in the world of the game. In this

For fans of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, soon to be a series on Disney+, here's an insider's look at what it's like to live at Camp Half-Blood, the training ground for demigods Can't get enough Percy Jackson, or new to Camp Half-Blood? Either way, this official companion book to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is for you! Percy and other residents of the camp for demigods share insider information about the divine cabins, the magical landmarks, and the training arenas. But it's not all about the grounds. Despite what the god Apollo's orientation video claims, campers do not always co-exist in peace and harmony. The camp is not run with superior efficiency. Prophecies do not flow forth with great regularity. Sprinkled throughout are stories from heroes who have called Camp Half-Blood home or just passed through on their way to places unknown. Chiron himself introduces the book with a brief history of training based on his millennia of experience. And, of course, there are

The purrrfect series for newly confident readers, beautifully illustrated by Waterstones Children's Book Prize winner, Jenny Løvlie, and written by bestselling author, Paula Harrison. Kitty is a superhero-in-training with feline superpowers. She dreams of being just like her superhero mum one day, but she's still got a lot to learn.Join her for a series of enchanting adventures by the light of the moon. In Kitty and the Missing Pumpkins, Kitty is excited about the upcoming Autumn Festival. It's going to be a real feast for the whole community, and Kitty has worked hard all week to help prepare for it.But when she arrives to help set-up for the party, everything has been ruined. The decorations have been torn down, half the food has disappeared, and the pumpkins she and her friends carved are missing. Can Kitty use her superpowers to save the Autumn Festival?For another superhero adventure with Kitty and her cat crew, read Kitty and the Stolen Storybook.

When a team of brilliant kids-turned-astronauts find themselves in serious trouble in outer space, they must work together to get back home. This is the first book in an incredible middle-grade graphic novel series created by real life astronaut, Leland Melvin!Launch into action in T-Minus 3, 2, 1 When Tia Valor takes a test on a whim for an exclusive NASA program for middle schoolers, she never thought shed pass. After all, she never really fit in at school. In fact, shes been skipping school most days to work at her brothers auto shop instead. But Leland Melvin, a famed astronaut, sees potential in Tia, and before she knows it, shes part of a team of other talented kids training to launch to an advanced space station orbiting the earth. But the perils of space are unpredictable and Tia finds herself with only half her crew and no adults around to help. Now she must rely on her instincts and the quick thinking of her fellow kid astronauts to save the space station and their lives!Crea

文有文學，電影有電影學，音樂有音樂學，電玩如此獨一無二，怎麼能沒有自己專屬的學問？你知道嗎？全球電玩業產值已突破2000億美元，超過電影、音樂、圖書產業的總和！丹麥遊戲理論大師．Jesper Juul．開啟「電玩學」新領域的典範之作遊戲開發者、媒體評論人、文化研究者、電玩愛好者，都需要的入門聖經什麼是電玩？電玩如何分類？電玩與傳統的非電子遊戲有何不同？電玩與現實的關聯是什麼？電玩如何「好玩」？當電玩不再只是少數人沉迷的次文化、網路鄉民的休閒娛樂或業界動態的新聞八卦，而是一股席捲世界的大規模社會現象，我們就需要更可靠的論述及知識基礎來回應。在這部超前時代的經典之作，丹麥遊戲理論大師朱爾主張，電玩的本質就是真實與虛構的交會。玩家依據真實世界的規則，想像一個不存在的虛構世界，並在其中進行一連串選擇。輸贏發生在現實生活，「勇者鬥惡龍」的情節卻只存在於遊戲裡頭。無論電玩如何千變萬化，都仍遵循這套基本原則，萬變不離其宗。從《俄羅斯方塊》、《世紀帝國》、《薩爾達傳說》與《俠盜列車手》，本書不僅破解電玩遊戲的背後邏輯，更將結合文本及電影分析、電腦科學、心理學、賽局理論與遊戲研究，剖析電玩如何透過規則與玩家互動、如何引導玩家想像虛構的世界，最終參透電玩的本質。▁▂▃▄▅▆▇██▇▆▅▄▃▂▁衛城出版◇全新書系登場#Beneath 閱讀地下城Beneath是遊戲與知識相遇的書系，這裡有使命的召喚，真實的虛幻，科技與魔法的盛宴，還有創造文明的體驗。在夢境般的世界，探索藝術及敘事的邊界。閱讀每一個人心中的地下城。０１　《電玩的本質：遊走於真實規則與虛構世界的藝術》　2025.02出版０２　《電玩與政治：遊戲產業如何悄悄改變世界》　即將推出０３　《面對失敗：電玩教會我的事》　即將推出０４　《打怪人生：電玩教會我的事》　即將推出

With a colorful cast of characters and a cellar full of wine, anything can happen--from murder to a second chance at love--in Jenny Elder Moke's half mystery, half romance adult debut set at a lavish destination wedding. A high-end wedding on a private island off the coast of Seattle sounds like something out of a magazine. But for bestselling mystery author Kate Valentine, it's more like a nightmare. Why Kate agreed to attend her ex-fianc?s wedding is its own enigma, but she'll plaster on a fake smile for two nights, with the aid of free champagne, naturally. And because the groom happens to be her editor, she'll try to finish a draft of her latest Loretta Starling mystery as a wedding gift. But when the bride is poisoned and Kate stumbles across a dead body, she finds herself in a real-life mystery that eerily echoes the plot of her latest novel. And the only person who seems willing to help Kate catch the killer is Jake Hawkins, aka: the Hostralian; aka: Kate's biggest romantic regr

The purrrfect series for newly confident readers, beautifully illustrated by Waterstones Children's Book Prize winner, Jenny Løvlie, and written by bestselling author, Paula Harrison. Kitty is a superhero-in-training with feline superpowers. She dreams of being just like her superhero mum one day, but she's still got a lot to learn.Join her for a series of enchanting adventures by the light of the moon. In Kitty and the Missing Pumpkins, Kitty is excited about the upcoming Autumn Festival. It's going to be a real feast for the whole community, and Kitty has worked hard all week to help prepare for it.But when she arrives to help set-up for the party, everything has been ruined. The decorations have been torn down, half the food has disappeared, and the pumpkins she and her friends carved are missing. Can Kitty use her superpowers to save the Autumn Festival?For another superhero adventure with Kitty and her cat crew, read Kitty and the Stolen Storybook.

This zany, charming story shows that sometimes we get mad and helps teach the importance of a real apology! "Look at that slimy body. That silly shell. Those tentacle eyes! I just can't look at you anymore, snail." Ari is feeling angry. When she takes that anger out on an innocent snail, the snail demands an apology! Which Ari gives, half-heartedly. And that's that. Until Ms. Snail and her friends appear in every corner of Ari's life, determined to elicit the most genuine apology from an increasingly regretful girl.

When a bolt of lightning hit Colin Lamppost he was zapped millions of years into the future and turned into a half boy, half rat, half TV! With new superkeel powers and a real life sidekick in Not Bir

Innocent wishes turn decidedly sinister in this chilling horror for fans of Katherine Arden and R. L. Stine. Peter and his half brother, Adrian, live in the shadow of Old Splinter--a formerly lavish estate now in ruins. Rumored to have once housed an eccentric magician, it's now home to little more than spiderwebs and mold. Tasked with renovating the crumbling mansion on behalf of their wealthy uncle, Peter's stepdad is at his wits' end. And the cracks are beginning to show in their once-happy cottage. A mysterious local legend may be their only hope. The wishing claw, a magical hand that grants your deepest desires, has spell-bound townsfolk for centuries. If it's real--if he can find it--then Peter might just save his family! But wishes are tricky things and they always come with a price. What starts innocently enough soon unearths much more than Peter bargained for, including a dark secret lurking in the walls of the mansion...and a monstrous hunger that comes knocking at his door.

Where is the real Princess in Black? A case of hilarious costume confusion leads some neighborhood trick-or-treaters to discover their inner heroes thanks to the power of a good disguise. It's a dark and silly night, and Princess Magnolia is wearing her Princess in Black cape and mask over her clothes--just enough to pass as a Halloween costume in a hurry. She can't wait to go trick-or-treating! This year, Princess in Black costumes are popular, and so are monster disguises, like the little orange guy with horns yelling "GOAT!" as the kids shout "trick or treat!" When the little monster devours an onion, however, along with an eraser and a bar of soap (not to mention a rock), and as he politely asks for a goat at each door, it's clear to Princess Magnolia that something isn't quite right. And--oh no--the next house is Duff's goat shack! With half of her monster-fighting outfit at home, who can come to the poor critters' rescue? Halloween hijinks meet high-spirited heroics in a special

Drawing upon her own bereavement, renowned comics artist and writer Carol Tyler emerges from a decade long period of grief to create an allegorical masterpiece.During collisions between life and death, estrangement and loss, Carol Tyler turned to her pen to face facts and extract meaning from the oddly sacred experience. Exploring realms metaphorical, half-imagined, and all-too-real, she explored previously uncharted emotional territory for herself and others, in a work that is both painfully intimate and philosophically rich.An artistic advancement nearly forty years into Tyler’s comics-making career, The Ephemerata features Tyler’s most breathtaking picture making ever — fine, dense brush lines complemented with occasional color washes or highlights — and formally stunning cartooning. Combining art and text in multiple ways — in the traditional comics panel grid, as words-and-illustration, as organically flowing images surrounded by floating text — she depicts the inner monologue of

A stunning gift edition of the modern classic story The Lightning Thief, starring the iconic character Percy Jackson, published to celebrate Puffin’s 85th anniversary.Celebrating 85 years of Sparking ImaginationsA beautiful clothbound edition of the much-loved modern classic Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Bound in real cloth with two coloured foils and sprayed coloured edges, this deluxe edition is a perfect gift or collector’s item. Part of an eight book set published to mark the 85th anniversary of Puffin Books. With a brand-new foreword from Nazneen Ahmed Pathak.HALF BOY - HALF GOD - ALL HERO.Look, I never asked to be the song of a Greek god, I was just a normal kid. . . until I accidentally vaporized my maths teacher.Percy Jackson is having a bad week. His life has gone from totally normal to monsters-from-Greek-mythology-randomly-appearing kind of strange. Worse still, the king of the gods thinks Percy has stolen his all-powerful lightning bolt - and it seem

"A touching and generous romp of a novel . . . Wilson makes a bold and convincing case that every real family is one you have to find and, at some point, choose, even if it’s the one you’re born into." — New York Times Book ReviewIn this raucous and moving new road trip novel, an unexpected journey across America brings a found family together, from the bestselling author of Nothing to See Here.Ever since her dad left them twenty years ago, it’s been just Madeline Hill and her mom on their farm in Coalfield, Tennessee. While it’s a bit lonely, she sometimes admits, and a less exciting life than what she imagined for herself, it’s mostly okay. Mostly.Then one day Reuben Hill pulls up in a PT Cruiser and informs Madeline that he believes she’s his half sister, the first stop on a quest to uncover decades of family secrets. Reuben—left behind by their dad thirty years ago—has hired a detective to track down their father and a string of other half siblings. And he wants Mad to leave her ho

At a moment when our democratic abilities seem to have eroded, and political, economic, and technological forces have weakened the capacity for collective action, People, Power, and Change is a once-in-a-generation book for anyone who wants to create real and lasting change. Marshall Ganz is one of the world's leading authorities on democratic organizing, and this book is the culmination of his decades of teaching, research, and work. In People, Power, and Change, Ganz distills for students, practitioners, and activists the principles he has gleaned over the last half-century of creating collective action. Ganz explores the forces, craft, and learned skill of organizing and provides an actionable framework for how to actually do it. He focuses the book on the creation and substance of relationships, the fuel of values and narrative, the resources and power of strategy, the necessity of structure, and the accountability of action. Across these five organizing ideas, Ganz weaves in his p

This is a full and revealing account of the perilous and adventurous course of the Northern Territory; a comprehensive account of its history which debunks the myths and makes human both the high and low points. During the second half of this century writers, journalists and the tourist trade have promoted the image of the Territory as Australia's last frontier. To many Australians who live south of the Tropic of Capricorn the far north is still outside the real Australia. Until recently it was an area largely neglected by Australian historians who concentrated their work on the south-east corner of the continent. Alan Powell's work was one of the first to help redress that balance. The Northern Territory is a wondrous place of bizarre natural history and eccentric personalities; of great unrest and great triumph. Far Country presents the place and its story with skill and simplicity.

From the award-winning author of The Brightstorm Chronicles, Vashti Hardy, comes a powerful new story set in a surprising world filled with action, adventure and big questions about family and what it means to be human. Perfect for readers aged 9+ and for fans of Ross Welford and Piers Torday. Twelve-year-old Rose can't remember anything before last week, when she woke up not knowing her own name, her own house, or or even her own mother.The only thing Rose recognized was her puppy, North. But Mother patiently explained everything - well, not everything. Not the real-feeling dreams Rose has about a mysterious forest she half-recognizes.Or why she is not allowed to stray beyond the garden, out into Luminelle, the vast city surrounding them. Mother is kind and helpful, but Rose can't shake the feeling that something's not right. Or maybe it's everything that's not right? But then, when Rose flees to the outside world with North, it quickly becomes clear to Rose that she is differen

“A novel that portrays with devastating immensity how those on the dark fringes of society can be consumed by the darkness of their own hearts.”―Yoko Ogawa, author of The Memory PoliceThis second half of Lady Joker, by Kaoru Takamura, the Grand Dame of Japanese crime fiction, concludes the breathtaking saga introduced in Volume I. Inspired by the real-life Glico-Morinaga kidnapping, an unsolved case which terrorized Japan for two years, Lady Joker reimagines the circumstances of this watershed episode in modern Japanese history and brings into riveting focus the lives and motivations of the victims, the perpetrators, the heroes and the villains. As the shady networks linking corporations to syndicates are brought to light, the stakes rise, and some of the professionals we have watched try to fight their way through this crisis will lose everything―some even their lives. Will the culprits ever be brought to justice? More importantly―what is justice?

In this middle grade contemporary fantasy by a critically acclaimed author, half-Japanese teen Eliot grieves the loss of her beloved grandma and attempts to contact her beyond the grave.Eliot is mourning Babung, her beloved grandmother who just passed way. She’s less than excited to move to her new house, which smells like lemons and deception, and is searching for a sign, any sign, that ghosts are real. Because if ghosts are real, it means she can find a way back to Babung.When Eliot chases the promise of paranormal activity to Honeyfield Hall, she finds her proof of spirits. But these ghosts are losing their memory, stuck between this world and the next, waiting to cross over. With the help of Hazel, the granddaughter of Honeyfield's owner, Eliot attempts to uncover the mystery behind the hall and the ghosts residing within. As Eliot fits the pieces together, she may just be able to help herself hold on to Babung's memory, while restoring the spirits' memories as well.

In a city filled with dangerous yet heavily regulated alchemical magic, a man from the slums discovers he may be its only hope to survive certain destruction in this wickedly entertaining fantasy debut. Ever since the city of Bezim was shaken half into the sea by a magical earthquake, the Inquisitors have policed alchemy with brutal efficiency. Nothing too powerful, too complicated, too much like real magic is allowed–and the careful science that’s left is kept too expensive for any but the rich and indolent to tinker with. Siyon Velo, a glorified errand boy scraping together lesson money from a little inter-planar fetch and carry, doesn’t qualify. But when Siyon accidentally commits a public act of impossible magic, he’s catapulted into the limelight. Except the limelight is a bad place to be when the planes themselves start lurching out of alignment, threatening to send the rest of the city into the sea. Now Siyon, a dockside brat who clawed his way up and proved himself on rooftop

From Pittacus Lore, bestselling author of the I Am Number Four series, comes a gripping duology closer about a half-human, half-alien teen who must choose between destroying and protecting humanity, putting the entire universe at risk of its wrath. Pittacus Lore finished telling the story of the Lorien Nine. Now, he’s back to recount an all-new adventure rooted in the real mysteries surrounding Roswell, New Mexico that will enthrall fans of Jay Kristoff, Amie Kaufman, and Brandon Sanderson.Syd Chambers grew up on Earth with his human mother and barely remembers his alien father, who left on a mission when Syd was very young. After leaving Earth to join his Denzan uncle in the Vastness, Syd learned the truth of his father’s disappearance on the planet Ashfall―his father had died protecting a devastating secret about the history between humans and Denzans.Syd is now faced with a choice―free humanity from imprisonment on Earth, allowing them to come into physical power beyond their wildes

From a NYT bestselling author, a gripping story about a girl who learns she was born of an affair―and moves in with Dad’s “real” family.High school junior Michaela is close with her single mom. Her dad only pops into her life on holidays; they barely know each other beyond surface obligations.But then Mom dies suddenly, and Michaela is forced to move in with her dad . . . who reveals he's been married with kids all this time and she was the product of an affair. Before she can even fully grieve, she’s thrust into a strange house with three half-siblings, including Emery, also a junior, who is not thrilled at the prospect of sharing her room (and her life). Michaela needs to let go of everything she’s ever known . . . but will she ever find a home with this family that didn’t ask for her in the first place?Rachel Vincent pens another gripping and emotional high school saga about the complexities of family, self-identity, and belonging.

Inception meets The Magicians in this intricate and compelling LGBTQ+ story about the secret worlds we hide within ourselves―and what happens when they become real. Now in paperback!A few weeks ago, Kane Montgomery was in an accident that robbed him of his memory. The only thing he knows for certain is that the police found him half-dead in the river. The world as he knows it feels different―reality seems different. And when strange things start happening around him, Kane isn't sure where to turn.And then three of his classmates show up, claiming to be his friends and the only people who can tell him what's truly going on. Kane doesn't know what to believe or who he can trust. But as he and the others are dragged into increasingly fantastical dream worlds drawn from imagination, it becomes clear that there is dark magic at work. Nothing in Kane's life is an accident, and only he can keep the world itself from unraveling.

A story of multigenerational pain, magic, and the lengths to which we'll go to protect the people we love.Kohei Fujiwara has never seen a big ryū in real life. Those dragons all disappeared from Japan after World War II, and twenty years later, they've become the stuff of legend. Their smaller cousins, who can fit in your palm, are all that remain. And Kohei loves his ryū, Yuharu, but..Kohei has a memory of the big ryū. He knows that's impossible, but still, it's there, in his mind. In it, he can see his grandpa – Ojiisan – gazing up at the big ryū with what looks to Kohei like total and absolute wonder. When Kohei was little, he dreamed he'd go on a grand quest to bring the big ryū back, to get Ojiisan to smile again.But now, Ojiisan is really, really sick. And Kohei is running out of time.Kohei needs to find the big ryū now, before it's too late. With the help of Isolde, his new half-Jewish, half-Japanese neighbor; and Isolde's Yiddish-speaking dragon, Cheshire; he thinks he ca

Journey deeper into the world of Chicago’s most dangerous, alluring crime family in this incendiary installment of the Shadow Riders series from #1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan.Shadow Rider Elie Archambault has been called many things: domineering, brash, loyal, but most of all fast. And there’s nothing faster than choosing to marry a woman you’ve never met. All he has is a signed contract and a list of his new bride’s expectations for their arranged marriage. He’s not expecting love or some happy ever after, just a partner that knows exactly what she signed up for. He’ll be faithful because he’s a man of honor, but she’ll never have his heart.... Elie knows who he is. A privileged member of the Archambault family. A skilled rider and fighter. A man who's always had things easy for all the wrong reasons. He's made his mistakes and lost his chance at real, true passion with his other half thanks to his own careless arrogance. Now he just wants to do his duty as a S

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a legal icon. In more than four decades as a lawyer, professor, appellate judge, and Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court, Ginsburg influenced the law and society in real and permanent ways. This book chronicles and evaluates the remarkable achievements Ruth Bader Ginsburg made over the last half-century. Including chapters written by prominent court-watchers and leading scholars from law, political science, and history, the book offers diverse perspectives on an array of doctrinal areas and different periods in Ginsburg's career. Together, these perspectives document the impressive legacy of one of the most important figures in modern law. This updated second edition features a new foreword from Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer and a new introduction from the editor Scott Dodson.

陰鬱濕冷、污穢橫流的19世紀倫敦，天涯畸零人聯手破解謎案。 A wonderfully murky, carnivalesque world of intrigue, unexpected friendships and mysteries solved.Sheba the wolf girl joins an unusual troupe of performers that includes Pyewacket, a witch’s imp; Gigantus the giant and Sister Moon, a knife thrower. For the first time in her life she feels she might make true friends, and learn a real stage craft. But soon that’s not all she has to think about . . .Children are being sucked into the Thames and there have been strange sightings of a mechanical monster. The carnival troupe know first-hand that looks only tell half a story – they become determined to find these forgotten children. Perhaps they will unravel the mystery that has defied even the law!Illustrated with black and white artwork from superstar illustrator, Sam Usher, and the first in a brand new series!‘Thrilling, original, full of zest and wit.’ The London Times‘An atmospheric and exciting read.’ BookTrust‘A page-turning adventure.’ The Daily Mir

Milo and I have been looking forward to this half-term for what feels like FOREVER - we're finally going to the National Space Centre, to meet a real-life space engineer!My whole family wanted to tag

Real-life 7-year-old Sophia Spencer was bullied for loving bugs until hundreds of women scientists rallied around her. Now Sophie tells her inspiring story in this picture book that celebrates women in science, bugs of all kinds, and the importance of staying true to yourself.Sophia Spencer has loved bugs ever since a butterfly landed on her shoulder—and wouldn't leave!—at a butterfly conservancy when she was only two-and-a-half years old. In preschool and kindergarten, Sophia was thrilled to share what she knew about grasshoppers (her very favorite insects), as well as ants and fireflies…but by first grade, not everyone shared her enthusiasm. Some students bullied her, and Sophia stopped talking about bugs altogether. When Sophia's mother wrote to an entomological society looking for a bug scientist to be a pen pal for her daughter, she and Sophie were overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response—letters, photos, and videos came flooding in. Using the hashtag BugsR4Girls, scientists tweet

Lens on China: Intermediate and Advanced Readings on Film for Learning Chinese is an innovative textbook that uses film to teach Mandarin Chinese. It not only provides students with a non-traditional way to learn Chinese by combining visual and textual materials, but also creates real, sociocultural and linguistic situations where students can use their acquired skills. Each lesson of the textbook focuses on one film in a highly engaging and effective way of learning. Each lesson comes with a comprehensive vocabulary list, detailed grammar explanations, and exercises in various forms. Such a design ensures a balance between basic language training in vocabulary and grammatical structure, and more advanced goals in interactive communication and in-depth reflection. Ten films are chosen to help the student achieve sociocultural knowledge that will deepen their understanding of contemporary China. Half of the films selected are light-hearted works on youth, love, and aspirations, with d

’When the real apocalypse arrives, may it be even half as funny as this’ Linwood Barclay’Pure, unadulterated entertainment’ New York Times‘A gripping, fast-paced outbreak thriller’ Sci-Fi Now‘You’ll b

"Emily X.R. Pan's brilliantly crafted, harrowing first novel portrays the vast spectrum of love and grief with heart-wrenching beauty and candor. This is a very special book."--John Green, bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars and Turtles All the Way DownA stunning, heartbreaking debut novel about grief, love, and family, perfect for fans of Jandy Nelson and Celeste Ng.Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird.Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her grandparents. And as she grieves, she must try to reconcile the fact that on the same day she kissed her best friend and longtime secret crush, Axel, her mother was taking her own life.Alternating between real and magic, p