Kyla is exactly the kind of girl Alex could never talk to in real life. She's a gorgeous, outspoken L.A. girl who parties to forget about her absent father and depressed mother. He's a shy ballet dancer from outside San Francisco who's never been kissed. Luckily, when these sixteen-year-olds meet for the first time it's not in real life - it's in a chat room, where they can share their feelings of isolation and frustration away from the conformity-obsessed high school scene. Alex and Kyla quickly forge a friendship that's far from virtual - maybe they're even falling in love. But what happens when the soul mate you've never met moves from online to in person? Sara Kadefors's wildly romantic, award-winning Swedish bestseller perfectly captures the universal angst of being a teenager, and the perhaps even more universal struggle to negotiate identity in a multi-platform world.

Jamie should have known something was off about the church of the Right & the Real from the start, especially when the Teacher claimed he wasn't just an ordinary spiritual leader but Jesus Christ himself. But she was too taken by Josh, the eldest son of one of the church's disciples, and his all-American good looks. Josh was the most popular boy at school, too, and the first boy outside the drama geeks to give Jamie a second look. But getting her dad involved in a cult was not part of the plan when she started dating Josh. Neither was her dad's marriage to the fanatic Mira or getting kicked out or seeing Josh in secret because the church has deemed her persona non grata. Jamie's life has completely fallen apart. Finding her way back won't be easy, but when her dad gets himself in serious trouble, will Jamie be ready to rescue him, and maybe even forgive him?

Free Worldwide Delivery : How Can I Get through to You : Paperback : SIMON & SCHUSTER : 9780684868783 : 0684868784 : 06 Jan 2003 : Drawing on his experience with hundreds of couples, the author of the bestselling "I Don't Want to Talk About It" explains how both men and women can escape the roles tradition has assigned them and develop the skills that lead to intimacy--learning how to hold the relationship in regard and how to speak, listen, negotiate, and stay on course.

FOR FISHER BROWN, bearing the responsibility for the well-being and happiness of the people around him is a heavy burden to shoulder. Not long after his mother's sudden departure, Fisher lost interest in school and was well on his way to becoming a classic underachiever at school. But now--under the strict supervision of his high school counselor father--he is jockeying for position at the top of his high school class. It's a challenging role, and one he has doubts about. But as long as Fisher single-mindedly prepares for college and practices for the SATs, he can keep his father happy.So when Fisher meets Lonnie Traynor, whose rootless, carefree existence is so markedly different from his own, he is drawn to his take-life-as-it-comes attitude. Lonnie easily cons him into accompanying him on a weekend outing that turns into an extended road trip. But Lonnie's footloose ways reveal a troubled man with a long history of letting down the people he loves. As Fisher becomes an unwitting participant in Lonnie's hapless adventure, he begins to rethink what it means to be responsible for other people. In the end Fisher finds his way home as well as a way to redefine his own complex relationships.

When seven hippies burned to death 39 years ago in a tragic fire, a ghost story was spawned. The legend, passed down by students at the local University, centers on Claire Wales, also know as the Hippie Queen. Graduate student Jeremy Spires thinks nothing of the tale until he stops on a deserted road to help a stranded motorist, an odd man named Grady, who retells the ghost story as if it and the Hippie Queen are real. Despite Grady's warnings to stay away, Jeremy and his devoted girlfriend, Jinni Malone, plan a camping trip to the very place - Reefers Woods - where the hippies died in 1969. After a near-death experience, an ultra-vivid dream and bizarre visions of children roaming about, Jeremy wonders if there could be some extraordinary power manifested in Reefers Woods. Can Jeremy, in his role as a cynical scientist, dare to believe in the supernatural? Can he discern what is real and what is not?Do you know what it is to burn? No? Neither did Jeremy, at least not before a girl, a beautiful stranger, kissed him unexpectedly in a bar. In the days that followed, and despite his love for Jinni, Jeremy cannot turn his thoughts away from the provocative encounter. When Jeremy gives in to his forbidden desires and seeks out the mysterious Monika, he is thrust into a shadowy subculture of sex, drugs and rock-and-roll, of which he had been completely unaware. It is Monika who asks the question, and subsequently reveals what it is to burn.I can' t believe she's dead! The intrigue and suspense intensifies after a ritualistic murder at the University draws the attention of the nation. After learning that the victim is someone very close to Jeremy and after finding evidence linking him to the crime scene, the police focus on Jeremy as a suspect, forcing him to search for the real killer and to try and make sense of the many unforeseen twists and turns his life takes.THE REAL is a deeply-layered work that can be experienced on several levels. It is up to you, the reader, to decide how deeply you wish to delve.

The bestselling authors of The Nanny Diaries introduce a new heroine to root for: Jesse O'Rourke, coffee barista, high school senior, and unwitting reality TV star. Imagine there was never a Laguna Beach, a Newport Harbor, the shimmering Hills. Imagine that your hometown—your school—is the first place XTV descends to set up cameras. Now imagine they've trained them on you. When Jesse O'Rourke gets picked for a "documentary" being filmed at her school in the Hamptons she's tempted to turn down the offer. But there's a tuition check attached to being on the show, and Jesse needs the cash so she can be the first in her family to attend college. All she has to do is trade her best friend for the glam clique she's studiously avoided, her privacy for a 24/7 mike, and her sense of right and wrong for "what sells on camera." . . . At least there's one bright spot in the train wreck that is her suddenly public senior year: Jesse's crush has also made the cast. As the producers manipulate the lives of their "characters" to heighten the drama, and Us Weekly covers become a regular occurrence for Jesse, she must struggle to remember one thing: the difference between real and the real real.

The bestselling authors of The Nanny Diaries introduce a new heroine to root for: Jesse O'Rourke, coffee barista, high school senior, and unwitting reality TV star. Imagine there was never a Laguna Beach, a Newport Harbor, the shimmering Hills. Imagine that your hometown—your school—is the first place XTV descends to set up cameras. Now imagine they've trained them on you. When Jesse O'Rourke gets picked for a "documentary" being filmed at her school in the Hamptons she's tempted to turn down the offer. But there's a tuition check attached to being on the show, and Jesse needs the cash so she can be the first in her family to attend college. All she has to do is trade her best friend for the glam clique she's studiously avoided, her privacy for a 24/7 mike, and her sense of right and wrong for "what sells on camera." . . . At least there's one bright spot in the train wreck that is her suddenly public senior year: Jesse's crush has also made the cast. As the producers manipulate the lives of their "characters" to heighten the drama, and Us Weekly covers become a regular occurrence for Jesse, she must struggle to remember one thing: the difference between real and the real real.

What If You Could . . . *get all your work done by 6:00 p.m.?*eat dinner with your family every night?*form deep, satisfying relationships?*naturally blend the world of church with your everyday life? *spend hours a week on your hobbies?You can! Real Simplicity reveals how to make all of these things a reality. Not by working faster or having more gadgets, but by simply choosing a lifestyle of conversation and community over a lifestyle of accumulation. The Frazees' practical, motivating insights call you back to the kind of relationships and life rhythms you were created to enjoy. In Real Simplicity, Rozanne and Randy show you how---and why it's so important---to balance work and play, establish healthy boundaries, deal with children's activities and homework, bring Jesus to your neighbors, and build authentic bonds with a circle of close friends.Share these insights with those around you and help usher in an amazing transformation: your life and the lives of others blooming, in the midst of the chaos and fr

John Dortmunder and his merry crew stumble upon a television reality show whose producer decides to push the limits of the medium. The studio will film the gang as they plan and execute one of their patented nothing-can-go-wrong-until-it-does capers. As the gang strategizes its next move with the cameras rolling, Dortmunder and his partner Kelp organize a private side enterprise. It will take an ingenious plan to outwit the executive suits and keep viewers glued to their television sets. But Dortmunder is nothing if not persistent, and he's determined to end this shoot with extra money in his pockets. GET REAL is the last hilarious caper by the late Grand Master of mystery and suspense Donald E. Westlake.

“Joe Wenderoth is a brilliant writer, original and subversive, sensitive and strange. I read his work with awe and admiration.”—Ben Marcus “Joe Wenderoth's brave new poetic talent is like nothing so much as a live wire writing its own epitaph in sparks. [His poems] throb brilliantly with a sense of the 'too much.' . . . But in Wenderoth's case the too much is the too little or the too ordinary—a very remarkable discovery to have made so late in the history of poetry. Philip Larkin and a few American poets have approached it, but Wenderoth's instrument is sharper than theirs; he makes quick cuts in the meat of the ordinary, which is the meat of the impossible.”—Cal Bedient This clear-eyed new work from a favorite young poet is searching and solemn, dissatisfied with artificial condolences and pat maxims. Joe Wenderoth’s determination in the face of harsh realities is what rescues us, and him, from hopelessness. “Luck” So a screaming woke you just in time An animal’s scream, or animals’. What kind of animal it was doesn’t matter, and cannot, in any case, be determined. The point is you are saved. Your mouth has been opened. Joe Wenderoth grew up near Baltimore and is the author of five books of prose and poetry. He teaches at the University of California, Davis.

Real Time II extends and evolves D.H. Mellor's classic exploration of the philosophy of time, Real Time. This wholly new book answers such basic metaphysical questions about time as: how do past, present and future differ, how are time and space related, what is change, is time travel possible? His Real Time dominated the philosophy of time for fifteen years. This book will do the same for the next twenty years.

Work has become Police Chief Brill Jessup's favorite distraction from trying to forgive her husband's infidelity. But when seven people in her town go missing, her tireless investigation threatens her family and she's forced to confront the real enemy.

Set in contemporary Israel, this powerful novel is narrated in real time by many voices: Sixteen-year-old Thomas, from Berlin, seeking answers to questions about his grandfather, a Nazi officer in World War II. Vera from Odessa, reclaiming her Jewish heritage. Baruch Ben Tov, a Holocaust survivor. Sameh Laham, illegally employed at a diner. His boss. Sameh’s friend Omar. A Palestinian doctor in an Israeli hospital. A mother. A soldier.A newscaster . . .Minute by minute, hour by hour, these lives and many others unfold—and then intersect in one violent moment on a highway outside Jerusalem. Each is drastically and irrevocably changed. What do secrets, hopes, dreams, and future plans mean after such a catastrophe? Can what was destroyed be made whole again?

A recent survey by the Pew Forum on Religion in Public Life found that the fastest growing spiritual group is the one without a religious affiliation. Sixteen percent of American adults say they currently have no affiliation with a religion. In spite of this trend, we remain hungry for personal authenticity and a deep connection with the spiritual. This book provides a path to find your real self, integrating spiritual understandings from the world’s great faith traditions. You’ll be introduced to five steps that lead you toward a deeper understanding of your authentic self and the Spirit that lives within.

The bestselling authors of The Nanny Diaries introduce a new heroine to root for: Jesse O'Rourke, coffee barista, high school senior, and unwitting reality TV star. Imagine there was never a Laguna Beach, a Newport Harbor, the shimmering Hills. Imagine that your hometown—your school—is the first place XTV descends to set up cameras. Now imagine they've trained them on you. When Jesse O'Rourke gets picked for a "documentary" being filmed at her school in the Hamptons she's tempted to turn down the offer. But there's a tuition check attached to being on the show, and Jesse needs the cash so she can be the first in her family to attend college. All she has to do is trade her best friend for the glam clique she's studiously avoided, her privacy for a 24/7 mike, and her sense of right and wrong for "what sells on camera." . . . At least there's one bright spot in the train wreck that is her suddenly public senior year: Jesse's crush has also made the cast. As the producers manipulate the lives of their "characters" to heighten the drama, and Us Weekly covers become a regular occurrence for Jesse, she must struggle to remember one thing: the difference between real and the real real.

Set in contemporary Israel, this powerful novel is narrated in real time by many voices: Sixteen-year-old Thomas, from Berlin, seeking answers to questions about his grandfather, a Nazi officer in World War II. Vera from Odessa, reclaiming her Jewish heritage. Baruch Ben Tov, a Holocaust survivor. Sameh Laham, illegally employed at a diner. His boss. Sameh’s friend Omar. A Palestinian doctor in an Israeli hospital. A mother. A soldier.A newscaster . . .Minute by minute, hour by hour, these lives and many others unfold—and then intersect in one violent moment on a highway outside Jerusalem. Each is drastically and irrevocably changed. What do secrets, hopes, dreams, and future plans mean after such a catastrophe? Can what was destroyed be made whole again?

In Donald E. Westlake's classic caper novels, the bad get better, the good slide a bit, and Lord help anyone caught between a thief named John Dortmunder and the current object of his attention. However, being caught red-handed is inevitable in Dortmunder's next production, when a TV producer convinces this thief and his merry gang to do a reality show that captures their next score. The producer guarantees to find a way to keep the show from being used in evidence against them. They're dubious, but the pay is good, so they take him up on his offer.A mock-up of the OJ bar is built in a warehouse down on Varick Street. The ground floor of that building is a big open space jumbled with vehicles used in TV world, everything from a news truck and a fire engine to a hansom cab (without the horse). As the gang plans their next move with the cameras rolling, Dortmunder and Kelp sneak onto the roof of their new studio to organize a private enterprise. It will take an ingenious plan to outwit viewers glued to their television sets, but Dortmunder is nothing if not persistent, and he's determined to end this shoot with money in his pockets.

The bestselling authors of The Nanny Diaries introduce a new heroine to root for: Jesse O'Rourke, coffee barista, high school senior, and unwitting reality TV star. Imagine there was never a Laguna Beach, a Newport Harbor, the shimmering Hills. Imagine that your hometown—your school—is the first place XTV descends to set up cameras. Now imagine they've trained them on you. When Jesse O'Rourke gets picked for a "documentary" being filmed at her school in the Hamptons she's tempted to turn down the offer. But there's a tuition check attached to being on the show, and Jesse needs the cash so she can be the first in her family to attend college. All she has to do is trade her best friend for the glam clique she's studiously avoided, her privacy for a 24/7 mike, and her sense of right and wrong for "what sells on camera." . . . At least there's one bright spot in the train wreck that is her suddenly public senior year: Jesse's crush has also made the cast. As the producers manipulate the lives of their "characters" to heighten the drama, and Us Weekly covers become a regular occurrence for Jesse, she must struggle to remember one thing: the difference between real and the real real.

The bestselling authors of The Nanny Diaries introduce a new heroine to root for: Jesse O'Rourke, coffee barista, high school senior, and unwitting reality TV star. Imagine there was never a Laguna Beach, a Newport Harbor, the shimmering Hills. Imagine that your hometown—your school—is the first place XTV descends to set up cameras. Now imagine they've trained them on you. When Jesse O'Rourke gets picked for a "documentary" being filmed at her school in the Hamptons she's tempted to turn down the offer. But there's a tuition check attached to being on the show, and Jesse needs the cash so she can be the first in her family to attend college. All she has to do is trade her best friend for the glam clique she's studiously avoided, her privacy for a 24/7 mike, and her sense of right and wrong for "what sells on camera." . . . At least there's one bright spot in the train wreck that is her suddenly public senior year: Jesse's crush has also made the cast. As the producers manipulate the lives of their "characters" to heighten the drama, and Us Weekly covers become a regular occurrence for Jesse, she must struggle to remember one thing: the difference between real and the real real.

Rhea and Alicia's relationship is still new when they move from the protective environments of the city of San Francisco to the wilds of Australia. Both women will be tested as an ex-lover and the near death of one of them will make them question their commitment and love. Will Rhea and Alicia walk away from their love or dig deep within their hearts to unearth the real love they both have for each other? This struggle will involve family and friends as the two women learn what it takes to be a couple while becoming comfortable with their new life in Australia.

Given that engineering flexibility can potentially provide a competitive advantage, the question then becomes: Precisely how valuable is this flexibility? However, traditional methods often fail to accurately capture the economic value of investments in an environment of widespread uncertainty and rapid change. The real options method represents the new state-of-the-art technique for valuation and management of strategic investments, enabling corporate decision-makers to leverage uncertainty and limit downside risk. Real Options in Engineering Design, Operations, and Management presents and synthesizes the body of knowledge in the area of real options for engineering systems. Providing case studies and step-by-step computations of real options valuation, it covers engineering applications across different disciplines such as industrial and civil engineering, and computer science. The authors review financial-option research results, consider how to quantify engineering activities, and analyze optimal business strategies based on a variety of real option models. They integrate academic work on real options in engineering, current practice, and discussion of future needs and opportunities. Flexibility in decision making allows firms to compete more effectively in a world of substantial price and demand uncertainty, product variety, short product life cycles, and rapid product development. And with more frequent demands being placed on engineering systems to change, managers and manufacturing systems must react to events as they unfold. This book explores a real options modeling framework for engineering transitions that allows decision makers to capture and investigate several alternatives for improving an engineering system.