New Release Books by Helen Phillips

About this collection This Collection is the work of more than 50 scientists and Young Reviewers from all around the globe. Our role as editors, together with the authors, was to share our love of soil biodiversity with you. In this Collection, you will discover that soils are full of life. We will introduce some of the methods and techniques used by scientists to observe the life below our feet. We will show you that belowground life is essential to have healthy soils and, therefore, for us. However, you will soon realize that belowground life is changing and under multiple threats. The authors will give ideas on how we can protect soil biodiversity and invite you to actively help us in studying and protecting this valuable ecosystem. We have divided this article Collection into four sections, each of which is introduced below. To make our articles accessible to as many of you as possible, we have created a website hosting translations to languages other than English. Soils are alive Soils are not just rock and dust but are astonishing living systems that are full of life! In this first section, you will read about little creatures that you might already know, like earthworms. You will also discover many new creatures, like springtails and mites, that live close to you in your garden, in the parks, or in nearby fields. Our authors will even show you an entire world of tiny creatures not visible by the naked eye: tiny bacteria, fungi, and protists. Soil biodiversity is about the diversity of these organisms. But how many different organisms are there? How different are they from each other? To answer these questions, scientists need tools and methods to observe and understand the biodiversity under our feet. How can we observe this beautiful world under our feet? In the articles in this section, the authors describe the tools and methods they use to observe and understand soil biodiversity. It is not easy to see the creatures in the soil and what they are doing under our feet; therefore, soils are often called the "black box". Some scientists are using the body fat of soil creatures to identify them and monitor what they feed on; others use DNA to identify soil organisms, like forensic investigators in the movies. In addition, our authors will explain how soil organisms are "talking" to each other and how we study these interactions. What are scientists learning from studying these soil creatures? Is soil biodiversity important to us? Why is soil biodiversity so essential to us? In this section, the authors illustrate that soil biodiversity maintains processes essential for our well-being. For example, you will learn that soil bacteria can keep your food safe by protecting it from diseases. We will highlight that soil biodiversity is essential for nature to work. For example, the authors will demonstrate that soil organisms are vital for recycling dead matter and releasing the nutrients in it. In addition, you will see how soil organisms are directly affecting greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide and methane by controlling soil processes. Controlling these emissions is critical for keeping our climate stable. Soil organisms are alive, moving, and interacting, but are all these organisms and their important functions changing with time? Are these communities of soil organisms set in stone? Soil communities are changing You probably know that a lot of trees, flowers, and animals can change over the year with the seasons; flowers and fruits appear in spring and summer, leaves drop from the trees in fall. Soil animals are also changing with the seasons. And, like us, soil organisms can move to new places or disappear from others, either permanently or temporarily. These changes can be natural but can also be the result of human activities. Our authors will show you that agricultural practices and the effects of climate change (such as reduced rainfall) are affecting soil organisms, their functions, and the services they provide to us. As we saw previously, soil biodiversity is essential for us, so any changes could be disastrous. So can we protect the organisms in the soil in the same way we protect other organisms such as tigers and pandas? Protecting soil biodiversity In the final section of this Collection, our authors will show you how to protect soil biodiversity. We can reduce our impacts and conserve this wonderful belowground life. But we can even go a step further and restore lost soil functions using our knowledge of soil biodiversity; for example by using fungi to restore soils. However, this is only possible if we understand soil biodiversity and its function. This is where you can help, for example by participating in a citizen science project and going outside to help researchers. Conclusion This Collection is about illuminating the "black box" of soil and showing you some of the fantastic creatures living under our feet. You will learn how scientists are studying soil biodiversity and how this soil biodiversity is essential for us. However, you will also see that soil biodiversity is under threat and needs to be protected. Many people across the globe will be needed to effectively protect these vital systems below our feet. That’s why it is important to spread the word about the beauty and fragility of belowground life. We hope that this Collection will make you a champion of soil biodiversity and that you will pass on this message so that everyone will become more aware of, and be better able to protect soil biodiversity. Now it is your turn to explore and engage with the content of this Collection. We hope there will be something for all of you!

***LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION*** “An extraordinary and dazzlingly original work from one of our most gifted and interesting writers” (Emily St. John Mandel, author of The Glass Hotel). The Need, which finds a mother of two young children grappling with the dualities of motherhood after confronting a masked intruder in her home, is “like nothing you’ve ever read before…in a good way” (People). When Molly, home alone with her two young children, hears footsteps in the living room, she tries to convince herself it’s the sleep deprivation. She’s been hearing things these days. Startling at loud noises. Imagining the worst-case scenario. It’s what mothers do, she knows. But then the footsteps come again, and she catches a glimpse of movement. Suddenly Molly finds herself face-to-face with an intruder who knows far too much about her and her family. As she attempts to protect those she loves most, Molly must also acknowledge her own frailty. Molly slips down an existential rabbit hole where she must confront the dualities of motherhood: the ecstasy and the dread; the languor and the ferocity; the banality and the transcendence as the book hurtles toward a mind-bending conclusion. In The Need, Helen Phillips has created a subversive, speculative thriller that comes to life through blazing, arresting prose and gorgeous, haunting imagery. “Brilliant” (Entertainment Weekly), “grotesque and lovely” (The New York Times Book Review, Editor’s Choice), and “wildly captivating” (O, The Oprah Magazine), The Need is a glorious celebration of the bizarre and beautiful nature of our everyday lives and “showcases an extraordinary writer at her electrifying best” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Molly is home on her own with two small children: one-year-old B, and four-year-old Viv. Her husband is away for two weeks and she is running between her job as a paleobotanist and looking after her children. She is exhausted, anxious, losing her grip on reality and, as dusk falls, she gets jumpy - are those footsteps out in the hall? What was that noise? She holds the children close, tries to pull herself together, of course they're all safe. But moments later, in the sitting room, she sees it - a figure wearing a deer mask who climbs out of the chest in the centre of the room, looks at her and then walks out. And Molly has to follow... Gripping, unsettling, completely original, this is outstanding speculative fiction, teasing out the possibilities of alternative universes, as well as an unnervingly acute exploration of motherhood, and the splitting of sense of self that can accompany it.

Keri Lynn Russell is an American actress and dancer. She came to fame for portraying the title role of Felicity Porter on the WB drama series Felicity, for which she won a Golden Globe Award.

A collection of short stories that "offers an idiosyncratic series of 'what-ifs' about our fragile human condition ... What if your perfect hermaphrodite match existed on another planet? What if you could suddenly see through everybody's skin to their organs? What if you knew the exact date of your death? What if your city was filled with doppelgangers of you? Forced to navigate these bizarre scenarios, Phillips' characters search for solutions to the problem of how to survive in an irrational, infinitely strange world"--

Through My Story: This Is How It Was Helen Phillips Hall takes the reader through times, places, and experiences all her own that have added breadth and meaning to who she has become. Significant personal and professional experiences are shared as only she encountered them. Her story holds the special meaning of family life filled with love, laughter, shared values and unity along with strength to embrace joy and to endure tragedies and difficulties together. Her story also honors special times in the lives of each and every family member, building upon family heritage and perpetuating high aspirations and expectations as the norm for each generation.

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2015 NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR by Time Out, Bustle, The Atlantic, Electric Literature, Kobo, Kirkus and more... "Riveting... thrillerlike...drolly surreal...Ultimately, The Beautiful Bureaucrat succeeds because it isn't afraid to ask the deepest questions." The New York Times Book Review, Editor's Choice "A joyride..." -Karen Russell NAMED A MUST READ OF THE SUMMER by the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Bustle, The Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, HelloGiggles and more... A young wife's new job pits her against the unfeeling machinations of the universe in a first novel Ursula K. Le Guin hails as "funny, sad, scary, beautiful. I love it." In a windowless building in a remote part of town, the newly employed Josephine inputs an endless string of numbers into something known only as The Database. After a long period of joblessness, she's not inclined to question her fortune, but as the days inch by and the files stack up, Josephine feels increasingly anxious in her surroundings-the office's scarred pinkish walls take on a living quality, the drone of keyboards echoes eerily down the long halls. When one evening her husband Joseph disappears and then returns, offering no explanation as to his whereabouts, her creeping unease shifts decidedly to dread. As other strange events build to a crescendo, the haunting truth about Josephine's work begins to take shape in her mind, even as something powerful is gathering its own form within her. She realizes that in order to save those she holds most dear, she must penetrate an institution whose tentacles seem to extend to every corner of the city and beyond. Both chilling and poignant, The Beautiful Bureaucrat is a novel of rare restraint and imagination. With it, Helen Phillips enters the company of Murakami, Bender, and Atwood as she twists the world we know and shows it back to us full of meaning and wonder-luminous and new.

Rebecca Stead, Newbery Medal-winning author of When You Reach Me, said this book is "brimming with surprises and grand adventure. Brave, smart, and full of heart, Madeline and Ruby are a gust of fresh air." Mad's dad is the Bird Guy. He'll go anywhere to study birds. So when he's offered a bird-tracking job in Central America, his bags are packed and he's jungle bound. But going bird tracking in the jungle and disappearing completely are very different things, and when the Very Strange and Incredibly Creepy Letter arrives, Mad can't shake the terrible feeling that her father is in trouble. Roo, Mad's younger sister, is convinced that the letter is a coded message. And their mom is worried, because the letter doesn't sound like Dad at all. But Mad is sure it's a sign of something sinister. The only way to get to the bottom of it is to go to Lava Bird Volcano and find their dad themselves. Though they never could have imagined what they're about to discover. From new talent Helen Phillips, Here Where the Sunbeams Are Green is the story of what can happen when two sisters make some unusual friends, trust in each other, and bravely face a jungle of trouble all to bring their family back together.

This is a collection of cross stitch samplers and gifts that will brighten up every corner of your home. The traditional cross stitch sampler has been brought up to date with a choice of eight picture designs to welcome guests. This book also provides further small projects inspired by the sampler designs.

This collection of essays on the Robin Hood tradition explores both its medieval contexts and the evolution of the legend after the medieval period. They deal with Robin Hood in literature and drama, with local traditions, monuments and forgeries, with folkloric connections, and with the changing perspectives of antiquarian and modern studies of the Robin Hood material. Contents: Helen Phillips, Studying Robin Hood; Douglas Gray, Everybody's Robin Hood; Derek Pearsall, Little John and the ballad of Robin Hood and the Monk; Richard Firth Green, The hermit and the outlaw: new evidence for Robin Hood's death?; Roy Pearcy, The literary Robin Hood: character and function in Fitts 1, 2, and 4 of the Gest of Robin Hood; Thomas H. Ohlgren, Merchant adventure in Robin Hood and the Potter; Timothy S. Jones, Tristan, Malory, and the outlaw-knight; David Hepworth, A grave tale; Liz Oakley-Brown, Framing Robin Hood: temporality and textuality in Anthony Munday's Robin Hood plays; Stephen Knight, Meere English flocks: Ben Jonson's The Sad Shepherd and the Robin Hood tradition; Linda Troost, The noble peasant; Helen Phillips, Robin Hood, the priories of Kirkless and Charlotte Bront���«; Lois Potter, Robin Hood and the fairies: Alfred Noyes' Sherwood; Michael Evans, Robin Hood in the landscape.

The third edition of this popular textbook for learning French, now in colour with an access to an interactive ebook.

Flying Free; How to Reach Your Full Potential. We have all asked ourselves these questions. Who am I? Where am I going? What is my purpose? This book answers all those questions in a readable volume which is interesting and enlightening. If you read this book and follow the steps one by one you will reach your full potential'Step by revealing step we are processed through eight steps of our core being. We pause at the end of each step to establish a 'Rung in Our Ladder' of our rehabilitation process. Rung by rung our ladder is created, helping us to climb up and beyond ourselves in order to experience the exhilarating journey of 'FLYING FREE''Les Fenner.There are principals of wisdom from philosophy, from business success, from psychology, but above all the wisdom of the Christian faith.The analysis of our lives is enlightening and deep seeking and by approaching the subject with sensitivity we gain insight into our own strengths and weakness and learn how to overcome the faults and build on our strengths.We learn how to fly above the storms of life, how to break soul ties which bind us with negative paradigms, and how to forgive ourselves and our past as well as the people who have hurt us.We learn about communication which is the basis of all relationships. We learn how to communicate in different circumstances and how to listen to others and enrich our own lives.In this book we learn how to fly like an eagle.

This critical study of The Canterbury Tales contains full separate readings of each tale, together with clear exposition of historical and literary background. The book approaches Chaucer through modern theoretical perspectives, focusing particularly on gender, political and narratological approaches, and it also presents critical views of Chaucer from the past. Chaucer's reputation as a bawdy humorist and proto-novelist, specializing in character, realism and irony, is re-examined in more modern and subtle terms than the traditional picture usually associated with him.

A young couple comes of age in a surreal world of apocalypse, delight, longing, and tenderness.

Emotion provides a clear, contemporary review of our understanding of emotions and their neural basis - what is happening in our brains to make us 'feel the way we do'. It also explores emotional disorders, and how our understanding of emotion can be used to treat a range of psychiatric disorders.

When Mad and Roo receive The Very Strange and Incredibly Creepy Letter from their missing ornithologist father, the sisters set out to Costa Rica to investigate. With the help of a golden-eyed boy, some magic jungle flowers that grow on Roo's toes and tremendous bravery, the girls must fight to save their father.

With Quick-to-Stitch Cross Stitch Keepsakes, readers will be able to create one-of-a-kind gifts and keepsakes that commemorate all of the most important occasions in life. Seven themed chapters feature 100 perfect present ideas and 20 miniature sampler designs that are quick to stitch but yet make a big impact. The author offers over 1,000 universal motifs that can be mixed and matched into unique designs and the addition of decorative alphabets can be used to further personalize projects.

This book provides all of Chaucer's dream poems with individual introductions and a full critical guide to the genre of dream poetry. Now in a second edition, it discusses The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, The Parliament of Fowls and The Legend of Good Women. New pieces that have come to light more recently are incorporated, including eight additional legends taken from The Legend of Good Women. The texts provide an indispensable guide to the poetic agenda that informs other works by Chaucer and they are profound explorations of subjects central to his thought such as love and transience, the experience of suffering (especially of women), and the role of the modern vernacular poet in relation to cultural tradition. The new additions connect with Shakespeare in several cases, and involve important critical considerations such as rape, masculinities, and patriarchal ideas of female sexual honour. Each poem is accompanied by details of composition, manuscript and sources, as well as allusions to contemporary religious, historical and social issues. A general introduction gives context to all the pieces and provides a penetrating account of Chaucer's development and innovative use of the dream vision to give greater depth to English poetry.