Patience is for people without worlds to conquer. I'm practically a teen, and I have ZERO patience. Surviving sixth grade is tough enough with an annoying older brother, a best friend acting distant, and schoolwork. After adding instructive kissing games and the torturous wait for a real date with her biggest crush, Darla is perpetually torn between behaving like an adult and throwing temper tantrums. Games of flashlight tag, and the crazy cat lady roaming Shiloh Farms in a "demon bus," serve as distractions during her parents' quarrels and her anxiety about show choir auditions. Yet the more Darla waits for her adulthood to begin, the more she learns that summoning patience won't be the hardest part of being eleven. "This novel has the potential to be to a modern audience what [Judy] Blume's works were to girls of the 70s and 80s, and its blunt honesty and relevant topics make it the preferable choice." AvidEye EVOLVED PUBLISHING PRESENTS a frank and funny look at the path to adulthood, in the first book of the "Darla Decker Diaries" series, which takes us on a journey of love, loss, and the nitty-gritty of growing up as seen through Darla Decker's eyes. "In Darla, McHugh has created a character that is dynamic and interesting and while I don't pretend in any way to really know the mindset of a young, pre-teen girl, I read the prose and I feel like I am hearing the voice of a child. Not the perfected, cartoonized version of a child, not as simple fodder for the story, but as a genuine, three-dimensional, real child. It brought me back to a lot of the young adult books I would read in grade school, living along with the day-to-day exploits of the protagonist as she deals with the dramas of her life and underneath everything, the ultimate and slow transition into adulthood." C. Clark, Author

Evolved Publishing presents the second book in the "Darla Decker Diaries" series by Jessica McHugh. This edgy young adult novel follows a girl's tentative journey toward adulthood. A week at Camp Wakonda is exactly what Darla Decker needs. Having said goodbye to sixth grade and her best childhood friend, she's ready to create new memories and meet new people. Unfortunately, entering summer camp on a whopper of a lie and a fight with a fellow camper isn't the best way to begin. Aided by her schoolmate Nate, Darla navigates the twists and turns of life at summer camp while pretending to be Wakonda's only "undercover counselor." Despite the lies, older guys, bullies, and breakdowns, Darla discovers the truth about friendship through the mayhem and magic of camp. A frank and funny look at the path to adulthood, "Darla Decker Takes the Cake" continues the journey of love, loss, and the nitty-gritty of growing up through Darla Decker's eyes. Be sure to check out Book 1 in the Darla Decker Diaries series, "Darla Decker Hates to Wait."

Cigarettes, shoplifting, and show choir.... I'm sure it will be a doozy of a 7th grade! Seventh grade starts on a hopeful note when Darla Decker and the Fairmount Fifteen are invited to the State Show Choir Competition at Coaster Kingdom. Although she's made a no-dating bet with Nate, she's jealous of her friend Reggie's cell phone, and her parents are constantly at each other's throats, Darla remains determined to make seventh grade the best year ever. Will the temptation of raising mischief be too strong for Darla? In the race to act like an adult, will she stay on the straight and narrow, or will she convince herself that bad deeds aren't bad if done for the greater good? "Between the annoying older brother, mostly supportive parents with their own problems, and all the anxiety of early puberty, Darla reminded me of my earlier teenage years in an almost uncomfortably realistic way (which is a high compliment)." Kimberly Lacey EVOLVED PUBLISHING PRESENTS a frank and funny look at the path to adulthood, in the third book of the "Darla Decker Diaries" series, which takes us on a journey of love, loss, and the nitty-gritty of growing up as seen through Darla Decker's eyes. "Once again McHugh delivers with this coming-of-age series. It definitely hits you right in the feels over and over!" Mad Mae

The intoxication from a pint of vodka, the electric buzz from snorting cocaine, the warm embrace from shooting heroin--drinking and drugging provides the height of human experience. It's the promise of heaven on earth, but the hell that follows is a constant hunger, a cold emptiness. The craving to get high is a yearning as intense of any blood-thirsty monster. The best way to tell the truths of addiction is through a story, and dark truths such as these need a piece of horror to do them justice. The stories inside feature the insidious nature of addiction told with compassion yet searing honesty. Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of accidental deaths, and some of the most incredible names in horror fiction have tackled this modern day epidemic. A WICKED THIRST, by Kealan Patrick Burke THE ONE IN THE MIDDLE, by Jessica McHugh GARDEN OF FIENDS, by Mark Matthews FIRST, JUST BITE A FINGER, by Johann Thorsson LAST CALL, by John FD Taff TORMENT OF THE FALLEN, by Glen Krisch EVERYWHERE YOU'VE BLED AND EVERYWHERE YOU WILL, by Max Booth III RETURNS, by Jack Ketchum

Commemorating the first 10 years of publication of the School Community Journal, this book presents a collection of articles from those 10 years and reflects its diverse contents. The articles are: (1) "The Community of the School" (Sam Redding); (2) "How My Immigrant Experience Shaped My Work with Families and Schools" (Dorothy Rich); (3) "The Politics of Virtue: A New Compact for Leadership in Schools" (Thomas J. Sergiovanni); (4) "The Impact of Race on School Change Teams" (Alison A. Carr-Chellman); (5) "In Search of the Elusive Magic Bullet: Parental Involvement and Student Outcomes" (Kim O. Yap and Donald Y. Enoki); (6) "Childhood: Our Children's Voices" (Frances K. Kochan); (7) "Our 'Changing' Town, Our 'Changing' School: Is Common Ground about 'Good' Classroom Practices Possible?" (Jean L. Konzal); (8) "Recommendations for Research on the Effectiveness of School, Family, and Community Partnerships" (Nancy Feyl Chavkin); (9) "Building a Learning Community through Teacher Action Research: Honoring Teacher Wisdom in Three Chicago Public Schools" (Norman Weston); (10) "Proactive Thoughts on Creating Safe Schools" (Constance M. Perry); (11) "Community-Based Education" (Christine J. Villani and Douglas Atkins); (12) "Improving Parent Involvement Programs and Practice: A Qualitative Study of Parent Perceptions" (Amy J. L. Baker); (13) "Improving Parent Involvement Programs and Practice: A Qualitative Study of Teacher Perceptions" (Amy J. L. Baker); (14) "The Peabody Family Involvement Initiative: Preparing Preservice Teachers for Family/School Collaboration" (Laurie Katz and Jerold P. Bauch); (15) "Parents' Educational Beliefs: Implications for Parent Participation in School Reforms" (Lee Shumow); (16) "Parent Involvement: The Key to Improved Student Achievement" (Steven R. Hara and Daniel J. Burke); (17) "Family-School Partnerships in Prekindergarten At-Risk Programs: An Exploratory Study" (Brent A. McBride, Ji-Hi Bae, and Thomas R. Range); (18) "Parent Involvement in American Public Schools: A Historic Perspective 1642-2000" (Diana Hiatt-Michael); (19) "Relationship, The Fourth 'R': The Development of a Classroom Community" (Nancy Meltzoff); (20) "Minimal Parental Involvement" (David J. Dwyer and Jeffrey B. Hecht); (21) "Family Programs for Academic Learning" (Herbert J. Walberg and Trudy Wallace); (22) "Connecting Families and Schools through Mediating Structures" (Vivian R. Johnson); (23) "Creating a Community of Readers" (Paul J. Baker and R. Kay Moss); and (24) "Someone's Most Precious Darling: Building the Home-School Connection in Preservice Teacher Education Programs" (Brenda Power and Constance M. Perry). All but one article contain references. (KB)

The theme of the conference this year was Critical CALL, drawing inspiration from the work carried out in the broader field of Critical Applied Linguistics. The term ‘critical’ has many possible interpretations, and as Pennycook (2001) outlines, has many concerns. It was from these that we decided on the conference theme, in particular the notion that we should question the assumptions that lie at the basis of our praxis, ideas that have become ‘naturalized’ and are not called into question. Over 200 presentations were delivered in 68 different sessions, both in English and Italian, on topics related specifically to the theme and also more general CALL topics. 94 of these were submitted as extended papers and appear in this volume of proceedings.

The Critical Thinking Toolkit is a comprehensive compendium that equips readers with the essential knowledge and methods for clear, analytical, logical thinking and critique in a range of scholarly contexts and everyday situations. Takes an expansive approach to critical thinking by exploring concepts from other disciplines, including evidence and justification from philosophy, cognitive biases and errors from psychology, race and gender from sociology and political science, and tropes and symbols from rhetoric Follows the proven format of The Philosopher’s Toolkit and The Ethics Toolkit with concise, easily digestible entries, “see also” recommendations that connect topics, and recommended reading lists Allows readers to apply new critical thinking and reasoning skills with exercises and real life examples at the end of each chapter Written in an accessible way, it leads readers through terrain too often cluttered with jargon Ideal for beginning to advanced students, as well as general readers, looking for a sophisticated yet accessible introduction to critical thinking