"Sono un collezionista. Sempre in cerca, trovo e... conservo. Un magnifico cobalto. Brillante, vivace, Blu! Ma manca ancora qualcosa. Cosa potrą mai essere?" Il protagonista di questo delicato albo di Aura Parker č l'uccello giardiniere, notoriamente attratto dal blu. La sua č una ricerca che lo porta per cielo, mare e terra, sempre insoddisfatto, sempre in cerca di pił. E se non fosse un blu quello che manca? Etą di lettura: da 4 anni.

The O. Henry Prize Stories 2015 gathers twenty of the best short stories of the year, selected from thousands published in literary magazines. The winning stories span the globe—from the glamorous Riviera to an Eastern European shtetl, from a Native American reservation to a tiny village in Thailand. But their characters are universally recognizable and utterly compelling, whether they are ex-pats in Africa, migrant workers crossing the Mexican border, Armenian immigrants on the rough streets of East Hollywood, or pioneers in nineteenth-century Idaho. Accompanying the stories are the editor’s introduction, essays from the eminent jurors on their favorite stories, observations from the winning writers on what inspired them, and an extensive resource list of magazines.

Finding Billy White Feather
PERCIVAL EVERETT

The Seals
LYDIA DAVIS

Kilifi Creek
LIONEL SHRIVER

The Happiest Girl in the Whole USA
MANUEL MUŃOZ

A Permanent Member of the Family
RUSSELL BANKS

A Ride out of Phrao
DINA NAYERI

Owl
EMILY RUSKOVICH

The Upside-Down World
BECKY HAGENSTON

The Way Things Are Going
LYNN FREED

The History of Happiness
BRENDA PEYNADO

The Kingsley Drive Chorus
NAIRA KUZMICH

Word of Mouth
EMMA TÖRZS

Cabins
CHRISTOPHER MERKNER

My Grandmother Tells Me This Story
MOLLY ANTOPOL

The Golden Rule
LYNNE SHARON SCHWARTZ

About My Aunt
JOAN SILBER

Ba Baboon
THOMAS PIERCE

Snow Blind
ELIZABETH STROUT

I, Buffalo
VAUHINI VARA

Birdsong from the Radio
ELIZABETH MCCRACKEN

For author interviews, photos, and more, go to www.ohenryprizestories.com

We all want a more environmentally smart home, but many of us worry it will cost too much, be too difficult to fix or maintain, and not worth the bother. Not so. This book identifies the practical path to a more sustainable household. Because your situation is unique it focuses on strategies that you can readily adapt to your circumstance. It helps you to develop a familiarity with the issues so that whether you do the work yourself or hire experienced professionals, you can turn your ideals into reality. Good environmental practices need not be intimidating or expensive. This book, part of the Self-Counsel Press Green series, shows you the way.

In this heart-stopping, page-turning tale of fear, heroism, and redemption, the passengers of the Hudson River crash landing tell their remarkable stories.
 
Millions watched the aftermath on television, while others witnessed the event actually happening from the windows of nearby skyscrapers. But only 155 people know firsthand what really happened on U.S. Airways Flight 1549 on January 15, 2009. Now, for the first time, the survivors detail their astounding, terrifying, and inspiring experiences on that freezing winter day in New York City. Written by two esteemed journalists, Miracle on the Hudson is the entire tale from takeoff to bird strike to touchdown to rescue, seen through the eyes and felt in the souls of those on board the fateful flight.

Revealing many new and compelling details, Miracle on the Hudson dramatically evokes the explosion and "smell of burning flesh" as both engines were destroyed by geese, the violent landing on the river that felt like a "huge car wreck," the gridlock in the aisles as the plane filled swiftly with freezing water, and the thrill of the passengers' rescue from the wings and from rafts—all of it recalled by the "cross section of America" on board.

Jay McDonald, a thirty-nine-year-old software developer, had survived brain-tumor surgery just two years earlier and now faced the unimaginable.

Tracey Wolsko, a nervous flier, suddenly became other people's rock: "Just pray. It's going to be all right." Jim Whitaker, a construction executive, reassured a nervous mother of two young children on board, only later admitting, "I was pathologically lying the whole time." As the plane started sinking, Lucille Palmer, eighty-five, told her daughter to save herself: "Just leave me!"

Featuring much more than what the media reported—moments of chaos in addition to stoicism and common sense, and the fortuitous mistakes and quick instincts that saved lives that otherwise would have been lost—Miracle on the Hudson is the chronicle of one of the most phenomenal feel-good stories of recent years, one that could have been a nightmare and instead became a stirring narrative of heroism and hope for our times.


From the Hardcover edition.

Using simple text, describes what wind can do, including making leaves dance across the grass, pushing the sails on boats, and turning the blades of windmills.