New Releases by Ann Kelley

Meet Reuben Raccoon, the craftiest critter in the countryside! Every night, this determined raccoon steals more than just dog food – he steals the show with his clever antics! When Grandma Belle and Uncle Mark try to stop his midnight snack raids, Reuben won’t be outsmarted. With a hungry family to feed, Reuben rolls up his sleeves (well, paws) and hatches a plan that will have you giggling. Will Grandma Belle ever win, or will Reuben’s raccoon rascals outwit her every time? A delightful tale of mischief, teamwork, and never giving up when there’s food on the line!

Mysterious Microbes of the Atolls offers an enthralling expedition into the unseen, microcosmic world residing within the atolls. Authored by renowned biologist Sophie Ann Kelley, this book delves deep into the obscure and often underestimated realm of atoll-dwelling microbes. Explore how these microscopic beings not only survive but thrive in one of Earth''s most delicate environments. Discover how they maintain delicate marine ecosystems, uphold the biodiversity that inspires our dreams, and perhaps contain answers to our greatest environmental challenges. The intricate dynamics between microbes and coral reefs Microbial symbiosis and its implications Future applications of microbial research in environmental conservation This book bridges the gap between casual readers and specialists in marine biology by breaking down highly complex topics into an engaging and accessible narrative. Mysterious Microbes of the Atolls beckons to ecologists, environmentalists, and anyone enchanted by the mysteries of the sea. Join Sophie Ann Kelley as she maps the hidden alleys of marine microbiology, unraveling the blueprints that sustain life''s most resplendent jewels. Embark on this scientific voyage and rediscover the wonder of the unseen.

Experienced mental health professionals and hosts of the Therapist Uncensored podcast offer a groundbreaking new clinical perspective that integrates modern attachment theory, relational neuroscience, and current cultural context to create a hopeful framework for deeper and more permanent change, growth and connection in all types of relationships. "This is the book to hand not just to your clients, but also to friends and family members, along with anyone who''s interested in improving their relationships. Which is to say: everyone!" —Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk To Someone and co-host of the Dear Therapists podcast Secure Relating offers a refreshing and innovative approach to understanding and improving relationships in today''s increasingly polarized world. Drawing on over thirty years of professional clinical experience, authors Ann Kelley, PhD and Sue Marriott, LCSW, CGP integrate modern attachment theory, relational neuroscience, and depth psychology into practical tools for deepening self-awareness and navigating closeness with strength in even the most challenging relationships. Instead of the popular broad attachment categorizations, Secure Relating presents a nuanced understanding of attachment and interpersonal defensive patterns, allowing readers to delve into the complexities of their own experience and apply the specific skills they need. Kelley and Marriott make complex concepts accessible and relatable, emphasizing the realistic capacity for neural change and psychological growth. They provide contemporary concepts and interactive tools such as the Modern Attachment Regulation Spectrum, a new framework that helps readers identify their unconscious defensive patterns, update and revise their personal narratives, and cultivate a secure state of mind amid chaos and adversity. Secure Relating delivers hope, connection, and empowerment amidst the many barriers to emotional closeness and provocations towards self-protection by offering a comprehensive approach to understanding and transforming all kinds of relationships into more secure and satisfying bonds.

From the start as a tiny seedling, all the sad pine tree wanted was to make children happy. Follow its journey from the forest to Grandma Belle and Uncle Mark''s house to see how it makes many little children happy.

When improperly managed, type 2 diabetes mellitus is a serious and chronic health condition with far-reaching repercussions for individuals, families, and societies. In the United States, 34.2 million individuals live with diabetes, and 90%-95% have type 2 diabetes. While the United States healthcare system faces the monumental task of improving diabetic care outcomes and associated costs, publications have established that motivational interviewing (MI) can improve self-efficacy and associated self-care behaviors of type 2 diabetics, resulting in improved hemoglobin A1c values. Thus, this scholarly project’s intent was to track participant hemoglobin A1c values over three months, measure participant self-efficacy and self-care tendencies via validated questionnaires, provide participants with MI, and evaluate participant hemoglobin A1c, self-efficacy, and self-care progress through follow-up appointments three months after the intervention’s introduction. Practice changes included utilizing an evidence-based communication model to improve diabetes care, instead of antiquated physician-centric models. This scholarly project’s measurable outcomes were found to be statistically insignificant. Implications for practice included highlighting the need for personalized care delivery models in diabetes management and providing further insight into the fluidity of self-efficacy in those living with chronic disease such as type 2 diabetes mellitus.

She had made me envious. Strange as it might seem, I had not known envy before. Surely there must be other ways of living, I thought, not hand-to-mouth, alone, in a draughty old shack looking out at the same scene, day after day. Was this to be my future? It''s 2137, and the future''s dark. Sixteen-year-old Flora is scraping out a humble living, selling homegrown supplies from her late grandparents'' run-down Shell Shack and keeping her illegal copy of Pride and Prejudice hidden from the terrifying Uzi soldiers. But Flora''s life changes when she meets Li-li, the daughter of a powerful Rice Lord. Flora is seduced by the lavish lifestyle of her rulers, but also sees the brutality that underpins their lifestyle. What choices will she face on her last days in Eden? An innocent adrift in a world ripped apart by greed and want...The year is 2137, but the people of Eden are reduced to living in medieval fashion. The human race is deeply divided and the world has been brought to its knees by the Oil Wars and rising sea levels. Flora is trying to hold on to her humanity as her world changes forever. Costa Award winning author Ann Kelley''s disturbing vision of the future has much to say about our own times. It''s a disturbing, compulsive read that makes you realise that not so very much needs to shift for this to happen here. HELEN DUNMORE on Runners The author as artist evokes people and places with delicacy, humour and truth - a novel of outstanding beauty. COSTA AWARD JUDGES on The Bower Bird

A resource book with over seventy games and lists for using improvisation games to teach drama skills. Classroom tested and proven to be intellectually stimulating and creatively successful.

As mankind strives to rebuild society in the wake of climate change, over-population and global food shortages, every day is a struggle for people like Sid and his younger sister Lo. They are ''runners''- people whose very survival the government has outlawed. As they move west, trying to find family or somewhere they can call home, they must work out which of the people they meet on the way can be trusted, and which want to cut their adventure short. Encountering people on both sides of the law, as well as those who seem to exist outside it, Sid and Lo make and lose friends as they fight for their lives and each other.

Winner of the 2007 Costa award This title continues the story of Gussie, a precocious young girl diagnosed with a rare heart condition. Despite her health problems, she is determined to live life to the fullest, experiencing typical adolescent woes such as love and strained relations with her parents. Never complaining, she offers a direct and honest insight about herself and the world around her, bringing this poignant, charming and oddly optimistic tale to life. REVIEWS ''Brilliant'' THE MAIL ON SUNDAY ''I''m pleased to be able to announce that Gussie has lived to see another day with Kelley capturing so beautifully Gussie''s optimism and hope.'' SUE BAKER''S PERSONAL CHOICE, PUBLISHING NEWS ''The world of life and death, beauty and truth seen through the eyes of a 12 year old girl. A rare and beautiful book of lasting quality - we felt this is a voice that needs to be heard and read.'' COSTA AWARD JUDGES ''It''s a lovely book - lyrical, funny, full of wisdom. Gussie is such a dear - such a delight and a wonderful character, bright and sharp and strong, never to be pitied for an instant.'' HELEN DUNMORE, author of ''Ingo'' BACK COVER Gussie is twelve years old, loves animals and wants to be a photographer when she grows up. The only problem is that she''s unlikely to ever grown up. ''I had open heart surgery last year, when I was eleven, and the healing process hasn''t finished yet. I now have an amazing scar that cuts me in half almost, as if I have survived a shark attack''. Gussie needs a heart and lung transplant, but the donor list is as long as her arm and she can''t wait around that long. Gussie has things to do; finding her ancestors, coping with her parents'' divorce and keeping an eye out for the wildlife in her garden.

It was after I ate King that everything started to go wrong in our entire family, as if someone had put an evil spell onto us, a hex - like a bad fairy godmother had said at my birth, when you are eleven you are going to be struck by a sorrow so big it will be like a lightning bolt. There will be grief like a sharp rock in your throat. Twelve-year-old Gussie was born with a rare, life-threatening heart disease, but it hasn''t hampered her curiosity. When she reads about the Burying Beetle, which has the unusual habit of burying dead birds, mice, and other small animals by digging away the earth beneath them, it becomes her mission to find one. As she searches the Cornish coast for the elusive insect, Gussie learns to be like the Burying Beetle, to bury things past and to live. BACK COVER Meet Gussie. Twelve yhears old and settling into her new ramshackle home on a cliff top above St Ives, she has an irrepressible zest for life. She also has a life-threatening heart condition. But it''s not in her nature to give up. Perhaps because she knows her time might be short, she values every passing moment, experiencing each day with humour and extraordinary courage. Spirited and imaginative, Gussie has a passionate interest in everything around her and her vivid stream of thoughts and observations will draw you into a renewed sense of wonder. Gussie''s story of inspiration and hope is both heartwarming and heartrending. Once you''ve met her, you''ll not forget her. And you''ll never take life for granted again.

Gussie is a twelve year old girl from St. Ives in Cornwall. She is passionate about learning, wildlife, poetry, literature, and she wants to be a photographer when she grows up. But her dreams were put on hold as she struggled with a serious heart condition. Now she has got what she needed: a heart and lung transplant. But it isn''t working out quite the way she thought. Firstly she has to leave her beloved Cornwall to live in London and in the months following her operation she is unable to do very much except read and adopt a stray kitten, but she could do that when she was sick. She craves adventure and experience beyond her four walls, until, that is, she hits upon a plan - she is going to get her divorced parents to fall in love again. It''s not going to be easy, her mum is still dating her doctor boyfriend and despises Gussie''s father, who happens to be living with his new girlfriend - the Snow Queen. But Gussie is a determined girl and there is only one thing that could stop her now. REVIEWS ''Not many books around that you can give to anyone of any age and be sure of an appreciative audience, but Kelley does it beautifully in this, the third in the Gussie series, following the well-deserved Costa Category award for The Bower Bird.'' SUE BAKER''s Personal Choice, PUBLISHING NEWS'' A great book.'' THE INDEPENDENT ''You have to read it, and it will stay with you forever!'' TEEN TITLES BACK COVER I ask for a mirror. My chest is covered in wide tape, so I can''t see the clips or incision but I want to see my face, to see if I''ve changed. Gussie wants to go to school like every other teenage girl and find out what it''s like to kiss a boy. But she''s just had a heart and lung transplant and she''s staying in London to recover from the operation. Between managing her parents'' love lives, waiting for her breasts to finally start growing, and trying to hide a destructive kitten in her dad''s expensive bachelor pad, Gussie makes friends with another cardio pation int the hospital, and finds out that she can''t have everything her heart desires...

For the first time in years Gussie can run, climb and jump. Every breath she takes is easier now, and every step more confident, but Gussie can''t help wondering about her doner. Was she young? Had she been very sick or was there an accident? And with her new life comes a whole new set of problems. She is going back to school at last - but she doesn''t know anyone her own age, with the exception of Siobhan, the girl she hates most in the world. With school not meeting up to her expectations, Gussie turns to her old pastimes of bird watching and photography, but troubling news awaits her there too. And the lightning strikes and Gussie must act at once.

No parents. No rules. No way home. Fourteen-year-old Bonnie MacDonald couldn''t be more excited for a camping trip on an island off the coast of Thailand. But when a strong current sweeps Bonnie and her friends past their appointed campsite, depositing them instead on what the boatman calls a "forbidden island," they''re just happy to have reached dry land. Overnight, things take a turn for the worse. Three torturous days pass, but the boatman doesn''t return, and what once seemed like a vacation in paradise becomes a battle against the elements. Peppered with short, frantic entries from Bonnie''s journal as she struggles to survive, Lost Girls tells the page-turning, heart-pounding story of a group of teen girls fighting for their lives.

This is the first study to document the natural history of Lemur catta, ring-tailed lemurs, outside of gallery forest environments: in xerophytic Didiereaceae-Euphorbia, bush habitat that represents over 90% of this species'' potential range. Moreover, this study is the first to document ring-tailed lemurs, or any primate species for that matter, as cactus dwellers. Data were collected for 15 consecutive months on two different troops in the Cap Sainte-Marie (CSM) area, which is Madagascar''s southernmost region. All-day follows, nutritional analyses, and health assessments were the methods used to test hypotheses on the following themes: a) behavioral flexibility, b) ecology, health, and nutrition, c) the shared use of space with humans, and d) the utilization of nonnative species. Significant findings include: extremely large home ranges, highly social and spatially cohesive (juvenile centered) groups, coexistence with Antandroy villagers, and diverse diets comprised of native species despite the population''s adaptation to Opuntia monacantha and Opuntia stricta. Based on these findings, I suggest that L. catta have historically been present in the CSM region, but that this population likely persists here today only because of the presence of Opuntia.

How can an island go from being a tropical paradise to a place of death and destruction in just one night? Bonnie and her friends will have to use all their strength and call upon their most basic survival instincts to stay alive - but they won''t all make it home.