The extraordinary #1 New York Times bestseller that is now a major motion picture, Markus Zusak’s unforgettable story is about the ability of books to feed the soul.

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak, author of I Am the Messenger, has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

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FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. True story of two sisters who were sent to a Nazi concentration camp for hiding Jews in their home.

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The Pink Marine is the story–full of hilarity and heartbreak–of how a teenage boy who struggles with self-acceptance and doesn’t fit the traditional definition of masculinity finds acceptance and self-worth in a bizarre world.

“TV comedy writer White’s inspiring, coming-of-age memoir. ” Kirkus Reviews

When Greg Cope White’s best friend tells him he’s spending his summer in Marine Corps boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, all Greg hears is ‘summer’ and ‘camp’. Despite dire warnings from his friend, Greg vows to join him in recruit training.

He’s eighteen, underweight, he’s never run a mile-and he’s gay.

Greg’s sheltered life hadn’t prepared him for military service. A prince out of water, he packed five suitcases since he’d never been away from home for thirteen weeks. The U.S. Marines stripped him from all of that, shaved his head and put a rifle in his hands.

At first he struggles to keep up, and afraid his secret will be discovered. But midway through, the desire to survive and become a Marine trumps fear. He learns that everyone, just like in the real world, comes into the service feeling ‘different’; possibly prejudged for the color of their skin, their weight, their poverty–some have even chosen boot camp over jail.

Can a flighty, 112-pound, unmanly Texan transform into one of the few, the proud, the Marines?

Will Greg even survive?

Advanced Praise for The Pink Marine

“A great story beautifully told-surprising, funny, courageous and inspiring.” David Hyde Pierce

“Greg is as inspirational as he is hilarious–I love this book!” Margaret Cho, Comedienne (Dr. Ken, Drop Dead Diva)

“Marine Corps boot camp was the toughest thing I ever did. I had to cope with being skinny, weak, and timid in a place that demanded strength, confidence, and fearlessness. But I didn’t have to cope with being gay or having to hide who I actually was… The Pink Marine is a wonderful book and I’m proud to be Greg Cope White’s fellow jarhead.” Jim Beaver, Actor/U.S. Marine (Justified, Deadwood)

“For five years, on a television show called Covert Affairs, I had the privilege of pretending to be a member of the U.S. military. For six years, in the United States Marines, my friend Greg pretended to be straight. He wins. The Pink Marine will inspire you, make you laugh, and remind you of what’s important in this life.”  Christopher Gorham, Actor (Covert Affairs, Popular, Ugly Betty)

“If you’re searching for the next great memoir, it’s arrived. Greg Cope White’s The Pink Marine is both funny and relentlessly honest. If we have any reason to celebrate the imposed silence of President Clinton’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, The Pink Marine is it. If Greg had talked back then, we wouldn’t have this book now. The Marines got a great soldier out of it. And we civilians got a great author.” Peter MacNichol, Actor (Numb3rs, Ally McBeal)

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This new title presents an unparalleled selection of over 300 works made between 35,000 and 11,000 years ago, featuring the earliest known evidence of human creativity. The artworks range from spectacular cave paintings to small, delicate sculptures. CAVE ART explores the origins of human artistic endeavour from key sites such as Lascaux in France and Altamira in Spain, as well as less-known locations. The works featured in the book have been selected, sequenced, and described by one of the world’s most respected experts on prehistoric art, Jean Clottes. The book includes examples of open-air rock art made after the last ice age at sites around the world, and includes a chronology, maps, a glossary, and a list of sites open to the public.

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• Collecting the dark and haunting artwork behind the critically-acclaimed Dark Souls II in a prestigious hardcover tome. Dark Souls II: Design Works features armor and weapon designs, character concepts, creatures, locations, rough sketches, an exclusive interview with the game’s creators, and more!

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Amidst the unspeakable horrors of Hitler’s Concentration Camps, a
young German girl finds beauty and love for a man that will span a lifetime.
 
This story is the true account of Inge Katz; the striking daughter of a successful businessman who meets and falls in love with a handsome fellow inmate. But when he gets shipped “Out East” to a Death Camp, she goes years not knowing if he is alive or dead. Her love for this man endures against all odds – from Nazi rifles, to starvation, to disease, to assaults of allied fire.
 
But as time passes without word or confirmation of his survival, should
she remain loyal, or, as everyone suggests, move on with another?

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This is minimalist storytelling. Fifty non-fiction stories on American life, work, dreams, and death told with the least number of words possible. Giving the reader a taste of the intangible thing that burns inside so many. A taste of the American spirit. Not some generic pseudo-patriotic bumper sticker spirit. But the thing that enabled this country and the people in it to forever change the course of human history. For better, and sometimes, for worse.

This book is about America. Not the government, policy, or politics, but the people. People like Margaret Utinsky who rose from a wheat farm in St. Louis to become a secret agent during World War II. People like Chuck Taylor who leveraged a bad basketball career to make a bad basketball shoe the most famous in the world. And people like Glen Sherley who went from the confines of Folsom Prison to a record deal and tour with Johnny Cash. It’s about the people that made this country the most creative, tragic, and inspiring in history. These are their stories. These are American hearts.

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Read the not often told true story of a drafted combat infantry soldier and the men who fought beside him during the unpopular Vietnam War.

Find hope, as they did, amidst their struggle to survive in the war torn jungles and rice paddies.

Suitable for Young Adults

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Twelve-year-old Johnny “No Good” Emmerstaff is an only child in a semi-rural section of Sanford, Florida in the late 1940s—until town snitch Tommy J drops in with the news that Johnny is getting a brother, an orphan named Josh. At first, Johnny doesn’t know what to think of Josh. He’s short, quiet, and he’s butting into his life, sharing his bed, and eating his pancakes. But when Johnny’s friend, Cully, picks on Josh, Johnny sticks up for him – his new brother. Soon after, Tommy J is found murdered, and the town forms a posse to track down the killer. The town’s main suspect is an elderly Negro nicknamed Old Man Badeau, who all the kids in town think is bewitched. But Josh knows more about Old Man Badeau than anyone else. And when Johnny squeals the secret, Josh runs off with the killer still on the loose. Johnny must now track Josh down before it’s too late. In the process, he discovers who he really is. Recipient of the Florida Writers Association’s Royal Palm Literary Award, this heart-felt story brings to life a lost segment of American life when boys could be boys as they struggle to understand racial prejudice and how to see people for who they really are.

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Meet eight combat-injured men who sustained life-altering injuries. Read eight inspiring stories of heroism and the re-building of independent, productive and fulfilling lives after seemingly impossible circumstances.

This project looks at the struggles of these incredible men to reshape their lives after combat. It also sets these stories within the context of current veteran healthcare; injury, suicide, and disability statistics; and looks briefly at the impacts on the caregivers who support these men. Being face-to-face with combat-injured veterans has given me an insight that all Americans should have. Veterans of the Vietnam era began the process of opening our eyes to the grim realities that await veterans both psychologically and physically. These men’s stories show how much more we have to accomplish.

This book isn’t about war or politics – it is about figuring out what it takes to move forward AFTER the war. I wrote this book to raise awareness of what our warriors need most when they return, what the government does and doesn’t provide and why there is a high demand for private non-profits to fill the gaps. Make no mistake – we are in this period of recovery and rehabilitation for decades to come. It also introduces the non-profit organization Warrior Foundation~Freedom Station which has taken on the task of helping our combat-injured men and women make the daunting transition from military to civilian life. 100% of the proceeds benefit them in this much-needed labor of love.

It’s not about the war. It’s about the warrior.

100% of the proceeds benefit Warrior Foundation~Freedom Station.

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Honor can never be left behind.

Sixty years ago, as Allied forces pushed across Europe, the Nazis launched a desperate, overwhelming attack that caught them unprepared, setting off what would become known as one of the bloodiest, most brutal battles in human history: the Battle of the Bulge. Then, more than half a century after the last shots of World War II were fired, a team of forensic scientists and relic hunters enlisted the aid of several veterans of the Bulge for one last mission: to return to the battle site and recover the lost remains of their brothers-in-arms, to ensure they would be buried with all the honors they deserve. Written by a member of the expedition, this is a story of loyalty and the bonds of war, a compelling scientific mystery, and a long-awaited homecoming for families who waited decades for the return of their loved ones.

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Finding Uri is a memoir written by a man who had only one fleeting remembrance of his father. The father, Uri Munro, was a naval aviator flying off the U.S.S. Enterprise in the Pacific in WWII. Uri was shot down and lost in January of 1945.

The author, also a navy carrier pilot in the 1960s, unexpectedly received in 2007 a box in the mail following his mother’s death at the age of eighty-five. It contained 190 letters written back and forth between Uri and Betsy (the mother) while Uri was in the service flying in TBM torpedo bombers. It was the first time that the author had any inkling of the existence of the letters.

After almost a year’s consideration, the letters were arranged in chronological order and the author began a two-year process of reading the letters, and writing about the experience in real time. There are excerpts and photographs, and the emotional nature of the letters themselves as Uri’s family is also brought into the story. Uri was born in Russia. His Scottish father, Alec, and his mother, Varvara, smuggled him out of Russia early in the Bolshevik Revolution.

The author explored other sources, and his own shipboard experiences to tell the story of Uri’s Torpedo Squadron 90, but even more significantly—getting to know his father, and his surprising mother, during that two year period in their lives. It’s an intimate but true tale that the reader discovers along with the author.

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This book presents in depth the work of George Hurrell, the photographer who more than anyone else was responsible for inventing the Hollywood “glamour” portrait – the essential publicity tool for the major studios during the Golden Age of the movies. The book traces his immense impact on the portrayal of the leading stars year by year, from his arrival in California in 1925 until his departure in 1943. During that time he photographed all of the greatest personalities, at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Brothers, and Columbia as well as independently. The prints come from the Chapman Collection, one of the most extensive archives of original Hurrell photographs in the world, and they include a number of rarities and surprises. Although some photos by Hurrell are familiar and frequently reproduced, most of the images in this book will come as a revelation, since they have not been published in over half a century. The genesis of the pictures is examined in a remarkable text by Mark A. Vieira, himself a highly regarded portrait photographer, who came to know Hurrell well during the photographer’s later years. Vieira explains in detail Hurrell’s technical feats of lighting and retouching. And drawing on firsthand accounts, he vividly re-creates the lively interplay between the photographer and his subjects at the shooting sessions in which these portraits were taken.

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• FELDSTEIN: The Mad Life and Fantastic Art of Al Feldstein! takes a long-overdue look at the entire remarkable career of this legendary artist, writer, and editor. Both a full biography and a coffee-table art book, we begin with the earliest surviving Feldstein artwork from the High School of Music and Art, present his very earliest comic book work, and follow his development from the 1940s Victor Fox shop (including the titillating “headlight” comics Junior, Sunny, and Meet Corliss Archer). And we examine his highly visceral work for the classic E.C. comic book line.
• Along with rare and previously unpublished photographs, the book pictures every E.C. Feldstein comic book cover (many placed alongside the original artwork), presents several complete E.C. stories, plus nearly every splash page and house ad Feldstein did for E.C. We trace his thirty-year career as the editor of MAD, and present his post-retirement work as a “fine” artist, including his prize-winning Western canvases and his many commissioned paintings “revisiting” his classic cover images from the 1950s. We examine every aspect of Feldstein’s long career and fascinating personal life, not all of it sweetness and light.

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The God of Scripture and history actively works among His people today. This history of revival demonstrates the movement of God from the Old Testament to recent times. Students of revival, people hungry to grow spiritually, pastors and church planters, missionaries and laity will be stirred to pray for a fresh movement of God as they read the stories of God’s divine work in the past.
If you have a hunger to know God more, to grow in your faith, or to understand how God has worked in the past to know better how He works today, Firefall 2.0 will help to shape and grow your faith.

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Paris. The fall of 1940. World War II has begun and eighteen year-old Krista finds her dream of living in Paris for a year with her best friend Gaby has turned into an unimaginable nightmare. Hitler and the German army have marched into the city and taken control, beginning a four-year reign of terror against the Jews.

When the American family Krista works for and has grown to love reveals a shocking secret, she is forced to turn to the French Resistance and, surprisingly, Josephine Baker, the famous African-American entertainer, for help. Together they devise a plan to smuggle the family across German lines to safety in the south of France, but when their daring escape goes awry, Krista must use her wits and every means available, no matter how dangerous, to elude the Nazis’ deadly grasp.

A timeless story of war, love, sacrifice, and ultimately, the indomitable power of the human spirit. For young adults and teens in Upper Middle and High School. Includes discussion questions and writing prompts. The Joy of Stealing Paris was recently selected as a finalist in its category in the 2015 San Diego Book and Writing Awards.

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This true story of survival, determination, and incredible luck will lift your spirits and inspire you to never give up on your dreams!

Some people are born lucky. Others make their own luck. As a boy, Hank wanted nothing more than to fly like the fighter pilots he admires in the skies over Amsterdam. When the lives of Dutch citizens are turned upside down with the Nazi occupation of Holland, his dreams will have to wait as he witnesses the tragic unfolding of events affecting those around him before finding himself in a fight for his own life. He must go into hiding before his sixteenth birthday despite the fact that he is not Jewish.

After the war, his life takes another unexpected turn when he is enlisted by his father in the American Army in Germany where his inability to speak English results in hilarious missteps at every turn. He can roll with the punches if the Army will teach him to fly, but when he learns that pilot training stopped with the end of the war, it seems he’ll never reach his goal.

Undaunted, Private Hank evolves into a suave and popular soldier. He learns what it means to be American, arriving in America broke but determined to pursue his lofty goals in a manner only this quirky and very lucky Dutch-American would even think of trying, flying by the seat of his pants to some of the highest levels of aviation.

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NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS IN THE COLONIES. Sisters Gabby and Dawn have escaped British Floridaland and now find themselves under the “protection” of The Republic of Texas. But their supposed freedom and safety is a sham- trading one prison for another as they discover the secrets of those who supposedly rescued them. Sam is dead. But the fates of Drew, Jeremy, and Lee are unknown. Together, the two sisters discover the many truths and lies of the new world around them. Sides must be chosen. Bonds must be broken. Alliances forged… And the war begins.

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His betrothed’s unexpected skill with a sword having narrowly saved him from a gory fate at the gnashing jaws of the undead, Earl Ciel Phantomhive, along with his intrepid butler, Sebastian, fights to see another day aboard the doomed Campania. But as they draw nearer to the heart of the Aurora Society’s scheme to reanimate the dead, the pair are met by the beautiful young “Kaiser,” who holds all the keys to this mystery in the palm of his gloved hand, platinum blond locks fluttering in his wake…

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In 1961 Mississippi, facing violent opposition from segregationists, Freedom Rider Jeri Turner plunges into a mystery, in the end demonstrating that good intentions often lead to trouble, even placing innocent people in great danger.

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THE HEART OF A CHAMPION

The Heart of A Champion trumpets the Golden Age of Long Island Basketball, from the late-1950s through the mid-1980s, producing 25-30 Division I players. Coach Gus Alfieri took his 1973-1974 St. Anthony’s High School Basketball Team and used it as a microcosm of the era. In this memoir, he describes how he got into basketball, what inspired him to become a high school coach, and how he turned an inexperienced and struggling program into the #1 high school in New York State, #1 Catholic School in the country and the fifth best overall team in the nation. The climax of the book centers around St. Anthony’s defeating Lutheran High School in the first unofficial state tournament, held at Hofstra University before 6,500 basketball enthusiasts. This climatic game was labeled by Larry Sherman of the Long Island Press as, “The Super Bowl of High School Basketball.” Besides giving St. Anthony’s national attention, the victory over Lutheran was the 39th straight win on its way to a 49-game winning streak.

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** NEW EDITION November 2015 **

A teenage boy with something to prove gets caught up in a web of crime and deceit in England, 1945.

In the weeks leading up to his sixteenth birthday, gifted psychic Leighton Cavendish finds himself suddenly packed off to Blackpool, a glittering, teenage paradise filled with plenty of opportunities for amusement-and trouble. With only a preoccupied grandmother to keep an eye on him, Leighton’s desperation for adventure leads him out into a world of holidaymakers, candy, and carnival rides-the ideal place to spend six weeks away from home.

But Leighton’s psychic visions are encroaching on his fun, trying to warn him of the danger that lurks beyond the shimmering lights of the Golden Mile. Who are the mysterious thieves Leighton sees in his head, and what do they want with the children they seek? A girl called Faye holds the answer, but she has enough problems of her own. Amid the climate of a tourist town recovering from the impact of the Second World War, two lost teenagers will discover a shocking truth about human greed. Together, they will try to fight against it. For Leighton and Faye, this will be a summer to remember-one filled with challenges that must be overcome.

A summer that turns a boy into a man.

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A Reasonable Doubt is life during Reconstruction, an era when every southerner wore the oppressive yoke of Yankee invaders. In an attempt to throw off this yoke, ex-soldier Bill Tanner faces deadly peril and the injustice of a corrupt government. Along the way he encounters gentler invaders, a homeless widow named Abigail and her young son Jacob, who seek refuge on Bill’s land.
Woven into the tale is the true story of Sidney Wallace, a man known both as villain and hero in a place where carpetbaggers control politics, elections are rigged, and one small town in Arkansas becomes nationally known as Bloody Clarksville.

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The veil of mystery cast over the Aurora Society’s “absolute salvation” is torn away, and the true mastermind behind the scheme steps forward at long last. In the ensuing battle, Earl Ciel Phantomhive looks on in horror as Sebastian, his infallible manservant, is struck down by the death scythe of an unforeseen combatant. Devil though he may be, even Sebastian is not immune to the blade of a reaper’s scythe. As Sebastian’s cinematic record spills forth, the tale of how a devil became a butler to a little lost lord flickers to life in shades of sepia, blood, and ash…

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This is the only modern, published account of the Soldier’s Orphan Schools of Pennsylvania. A bureaucrat of the system wrote a so-called history in 1873 but it is very self-serving and devoid of any critical analysis. Also included, a bonus feature on the Ill-Fated Gettsyburg Orphanage.
The Soldier’s Orphan Schools of Pennsylvania, 1864- 1889 were unique to the history of the nation. They were the first historical example of a government attempting to nurture and educate the children of soldiers killed in war. During the 25 years of its existence, over ten thousand children passed through the Soldiers’ Orphan Schools of Pennsylvania.
Established largely through the efforts of Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin, they were not orphanages but privately owned boarding schools funded by the state which took in soldiers’ orphans between the ages of eight and sixteen.
While they designed a rigid academic plan of studies, the well-known professional educators who supervised the system for the state were mainly interested in the moral development of these children from the lower strata of society. Discipline, hard work, and obedience were the principal aims of those who ran the schools. Intellectual development was always secondary.
Located mainly in the rural and agricultural areas of the state, the Soldier’s Orphan Schools were challenged by the new economic and social forces of the latter nineteenth century.
In a state renowned for its savage partisan politics, the Pennsylvania Soldiers’ Orphan Schools got emeshed in a so-called scandal which involved the Democratic governor and the GOP opposition. Charges of neglect and fraud dominated the political press for months. This episode of 1886 soured the public on the system of relief established during the Civil War.
An add-on chapter concludes the book – The Ill-Fated Gettysburg Orphanage. This institution was like a counterpoint to the S.O.S. The latter was a government sponsored creation. The orphanage in Gettysburg for soldiers’ orphans was a private endeavor with no government supervision or financial involvement.
This is truly an amazing story beginning with the battle of Gettysburg, the discovery of a dead soldier clutching the picture of his three children, the search for his identity, the sale of the picture to raise funds for an orphanage, its life from 1866-1877, and its closing largely because of a “cruel headmistress” who among many “evil acts” kept her charges in an underground torture chamber. This section features the Lunden Family Letters, printed for the first time. The 3 Lunden children corresponded with their mother while under the care of the notorious headmistress, Rosa Carmichael.

The book is enhanced by 170 photographs and drawings.

To request a review copy, please e-mail [email protected]

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Set against well-known historical events, this new Young Adult romance series centers on a hope chest that passes through the lives of various young women who respond to the challenges of their day. Sixteen-year-old Katherine rescues a handsome young stranger who is fleeing from the loyalists, and soon finds out her own father is secretly involved in American Patriot activities. Disguising herself as a boy, she sets out to help the cause of freedom and finds adventure and love along the way.

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Although many Americans were touched by the tragedy of 9/11 or the deployment of loved ones to a far-away desert region or the crisis of breast cancer surgery and recovery – few dealt with all three at the same time. Even fewer were able to write about the experience in a voice that will help others with similar struggles. New York City native Marjorie Belson has captured the American spirit of recovery and redemption in her first novel by melding such a story in a brilliantly evocative tone while letting realism and her enduring spirit shine on center stage.

Kirkus calls “Nothing is Promised” a “remarkable” story of courage that will resonate with others and praises Marjorie for telling a frank and cathartic story with “endearing self-deprecation.”

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When the imminent death of a far-flung planet causes its inhabitants to scatter seedpods throughout the galaxy, one of these meteors plummets deep into Earth’s ocean floor. In time, the sea and the stone give birth to aquatic humanoids, the first sentient beings on this once-lifeless planet—and so begins Earth’s epic tale of woe.

Darkening the history of the Aquatics is the ill-fated Hyperion, the jealous and paranoid prince of the Pacific, who, in a failed attempt to murder two Aquatics, inadvertently gives rise to a new land-dwelling life-form: the mouth breather. This marks the first steps of human history.

Now, thousands of years later, Earth faces its own impending doom as global warming threatens to submerge the entire planet. But this doesn’t just spell the end of life for humans. The Aquatics are also suffering from the ecological imbalance. And if either hopes to survive, they must trust each other and work toward a shared future.

But the long-banished Hyperion has been brooding, and he may prove to be the supreme danger—unless someone can wield the trident stuck in the Sea Stone.

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