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Kid Olympians: Summer

Triumphant, relatable, and totally true biographies tell the childhood stories of a diverse group of international athletes who have captured the world’s attention at the Summer Olympics and Paralympics, like Simone Biles, Jesse Owens, Naomi Osaka, Tatyana McFadden, and 12 other incredible olympians.

Athletes throughout history have dreamed of competing in the Olympics—and some were kids themselves when those dreams and plans began! In Kid Olympians: Summer, discover the childhood stories of legends such as:

  • Usain Bolt, who used to skip practices to go to the arcade and play video games.
  • Serena Williams, who sometimes hit her tennis ball over the fence on purpose!
  • Tatyana McFadden, who had to fight to be allowed on her school’s track team

Featuring kid-friendly text and full-color illustrations, you’ll be inspired to dream bigger, faster, and higher than ever before!

The diverse and inspiring group also includes Michael Phelps, Yusra Mardini, Dick Fosbury, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Gertrude Ederle, Nadia Comaneci, Ellie Simmonds, Tommie Smith, Wilma Rudolph, and Megan Rapinoe.

Posted by Kim Ismael

Work It Out

An encouraging fitness book that meets you where you are—even if you’re lying on the floor.

Exercise is the most reliable way to improve mental health. But if you’re depressed, anxious, burned out, or struggling, it may feel impossible to get started, get serious, or even get up.

Written by an autistic personal trainer, Work It Out busts myths about fitness while providing clear, actionable advice on how to:

  • Incorporate exercise into your daily life
  • Build an adjustable workout plan for both good and bad mental health days
  • Shake off the messages that say you’re never doing enough
  • Set up a workout log that motivates you in exactly the way you need
  • Celebrate all your achievements, including getting out of bed
  • But also get a little exercise in bed, if that’s where you are today

Frank, funny, and sympathetic, Work It Out offers realistic tips, encouragement, and dozens of activity ideas for times when exercise is the only thing that will help—and the last thing you want to do.

Posted by Kim Ismael

Goblin Mode

Embrace your inner goblin! Learn to decorate, dress, craft, forage, and live according to the goblin principles of community, diversity, proud weirdness, and joyful mess.

Do you ever feel strange, gross, chaotic, underappreciated, or like you don’t quite fit in? Great news: you might be a goblin! That means your imperfections and idiosyncrasies are the most awesome things about you, and you can build a more balanced, comfortable, harmonious life by accepting and honoring them—taking inspiration from the frogs, fungus, moss, rocks, and dirt that goblins love.

Can a mushroom give you fashion tips? Can a snail teach you to be a better person? You bet they can—and in this book you’ll also learn to:

  • Build a moss garden for your lair
  • Grow and use medicinal plants
  • Forage for berries (even in the city)
  • Mend your cozy sweaters
  • Display your cool rock collection
  • And more!

Anyone can be a goblin, and Goblin Mode includes life advice for celebrating physical and mental diversity, rejecting prejudice, and generally hanging on to a little joy.

Featuring 25 whimsical illustrations by Marian Churchland, Goblin Mode will help you rethink your relationship with your body, your home, your community, and the earth.

Posted by Kim Ismael

Unplug and Play

Good Night

For insomniacs, sleep procrastinators, and anyone who wants to improve their sleep hygiene, this friendly handbook will help you focus on catching some zzz’s.

In our busy, hyper-connected times, it can be hard to sleep through the night. But sleep is one of the keys to overall well-being, and if you’re not getting enough of it, it can have a major impact on your physical and mental health.

This handbook from two certified yoga and Ayurveda teachers will help you understand the connection between diet, exercise, stress, and sleep so you can improve the quality of your sleep from every angle. Good Night contains tips and tricks for:

•  Breaking bad habits, from sleep procrastination to bringing devices into bed
•  Navigating health issues that make sleeping through the night difficult
•  Calming your anxious mind and allowing yourself to rest

Simple and effective lifestyle adjustments are all you need to feel like your best, most well-rested self.

Posted by Christina Schillaci

The United States of Cryptids

Meet the monsters in our midst, from bigfoot to Mothman and beyond!

Welcome to the United States of Cryptids, where mysterious monsters lurk in the dark forests, deep lakes, and sticky swamps of all fifty states. From the infamous Jersey Devil to the obscure Snallygaster, travel writer and chronicler of the strange J. W. Ocker uncovers the bizarre stories of these creatures and investigates the ways in which communities embrace and celebrate their local cryptids. Readers will learn about:

• Batsquatch of Washington, a winged bigfoot that is said to have emerged from the eruption of Mount Saint Helens
• Nain Rouge of Michigan, a fierce red goblin that has been spotted before every major city disaster in Detroit
 Flatwoods Monster of West Virginia, a robotic extraterrestrial that crash-landed in rural Appalachia
• Lizard Man of South Carolina, a reptilian mutant that attacked a teenager in the summer of 1988
• Glocester Ghoul of Rhode Island, a fire-breathing dragon that guards a hoard of pirate treasure
• And many more!

Whether you believe in bigfoot or not, this fully illustrated compendium is a fun, frightening, fascinating tour through American folklore and history, exploring the stories we tell about monsters and what those stories say about us.

Posted by Christina Schillaci