«Lo studio della figura e dell' opera di Pico è serio, attento, fatto sulla lettura dei testi, secondo l' abitudine e la grande capacità esegetica di de Lubac. Anzi, il gesuita francese rifugge dall'attualità banale. 'Anche gli storici più seri dell'umanesimo e del Rinascimento [ ... J non hanno saputo veramente capire i grandi umanisti cristiani. Ma nel mondo intellettuale ci sono certe correnti di pensiero che è utopia sperare di cambiare'. De Lubac accetta la sfida e riesce a far rivivere la figura di Pico rendendola attraente nel nostro tempo. [ ... J Gli anni della vita di Pico sono quelli del momento di passaggio, dove si scoprono o si riscoprono, anche con il ritorno all'antichità classica, orizzonti nuovi. È epoca di concepimento, di gravidanza e di parto: questo significa esperienza di gioia e di sofferenza, come sempre quando nasce qualche cosa di nuovo. Pico esplora, cerca di capire. Interesse per il mondo antico, incontro con i Padri della Chiesa, curiosità e desiderio di conoscenza della cabbalà e del mondo della natura e delle scienze». (Dall'Introduzione di Azzolino Cbiappini)

«I due volumi di de Lubac mantengono tutto l'interesse per la storia della ricezione e degli effetti del pensiero di Gioacchino da Fiore. Anche in tutte queste pagine, appare l' erudizione prodigiosa del gesuita francese. Quella che egli delinea è una straordinaria storia, del pensiero e della nostra tradizione. [ ... ] li gesuita teologo non ha fatto però soltanto opera di storico erudito. È stato teologo e uomo di Chiesa, e non ha nascosto le sue carte. Egli medesimo ci dà la chiave di lettura, il suo punto di vista, e riconosce la sua come una lettura non neutra della storia (ma esiste una lettura totalmente neutra, distaccata?). Per capire, ricordiamo che egli pubblica negli anni dopo il concilio Vaticano II, e dopo quel sommovimento della società occidentale che è indicato (simbolicamente) come il 'sessantotto'. [ ... ] Gioacchino da Fiore ha lasciato un'eredità importante, forse anche ingombrante. Ma ha anche trasmesso in determinati momenti storici e per una parte della sua posterità una certa speranza, a volte diventata utopia, a volte suscitatrice di apertura allo Spirito di Dio, che è sempre Spirito creatore». (Dall'Introduzione di Azzolino Cbiappini)

'I due volumi di de Lubac mantengono tutto l'interesse per la storia della ricezione e degli effetti del pensiero di Gioacchino da Fiore. Anche in tutte queste pagine, appare l'erudizione prodigiosa del gesuita francese. Quella che egli delinea è una straordinaria storia del pensiero e della nostra tradizione. [...] Il gesuita teologo non ha fatto però soltanto opera di storico erudito. È stato teologo e uomo di Chiesa, e non ha nascosto le sue carte. Egli medesimo ci dà la chiave di lettura, il suo punto di vista, e riconosce la sua come una lettura non neutra della storia (ma esiste una lettura totalmente neutra, distaccata?). Per capire, ricordiamo che egli pubblica negli anni dopo il concilio Vaticano II, e dopo quel sommovimento della società occidentale che è indicato (simbolicamente) come il 'sessantotto'. [...] Gioacchino da Fiore ha lasciato un'eredità importante, forse anche ingombrante. Ma ha anche trasmesso in determinati momenti storici e per una parte della sua posterità una certa speranza, a volte diventata utopia, a volte suscitatrice di apertura allo Spirito di Dio, che è sempre Spirito creatore'. (dall'introduzione di Azzolino Chiappini)

Welcome to the Weenie Zone! Wipeout of the Wireless Weenies is the seventh collection of scary short stories for middle grade readers by acclaimed author David Lubar.

A boy and his family narrowly escape a zombie apocalypse--or do they? A girl neglects her cat's litter box and finds herself in a heap of trouble. And a group of clicking, scrolling, tapping wireless weenies find themselves on the edge of disaster.

Here are thirty-three hilarious and harrowing stories that will scare you, make you laugh, or see the world in a whole new way. Find out where the author got the idea for each story at the end of the book.

Don't be a weenie. Read these stories. If you dare!

Over a year after fourteen-year-old Eddie 'Trash' Thalmeyer and his friends from Edgeview Alternative School find out about their psychic abilities, Trash is kidnapped and Torchie, Cheater, Lucky, Flinch, and Martin must join forces to rescue their friend, discovering their true talents in the process.A year after Eddie 'Trash' Thalmeyer and his friends find out about their psychic abilities, Trash is kidnapped and Torchie, Cheater, Lucky, Flinch, and Martin join forces to rescue their friend, discovering their true talents in the process.

Hidden Talents is the first novel in a hit supernatural duology for young readers by award-winning author David Lubar. This hilarious coming-of-age-with-powers story starring the misfits at Edgeview Alternative School was shortlisted for the Printz Award and is now available in trade paperback.

When thirteen-year-old Martin Anderson arrives at the Edgeview Alternative School, it's the end of the road. Literally. He's been expelled from every other school. Edgeview is the last stop. A warehouse for the system's rejects.

Martin fits right in.

Everyone has given up on Martin. Even Martin. But at Edgeview Martin falls in with a group of five outsiders who make the other Edgeview rejects appear gifted by comparison. He makes a remarkable discovery: each of his friends possesses a remarkable talent. One is telekinetic. Another is empathic. Others have psychic abilities. Martin thinks these talents make them special. They think it makes them freaks.

Martin has one shot to convince them otherwise.

"Hidden Talents provides us with a glimpse of David Lubar as a writer whose comic talent is matched by his ability to write with sensitivity and power about adolescents." --The Alan Review

“Surprising news!” With these words, Fr. Henri de Lubac,S.J., whose orthodoxy had been so vigorously attacked, responded to the announcement of his selection to participate in the 2nd Vatican Council. His participation as a theologian and expert would make a lasting impact on the Council, and his insights and comments are recorded in this long-awaited volume.

These Notebooks trace the two years of preparation, the four conciliar sessions, and the three periods between sessions. They give us the opportunity to assist at the discussion of the schemas (initial drafts of conciliar texts), but also, during the meetings of the theological commission and the sub-commissions, at the elaboration and correction of the texts submitted to the Council fathers. The eminent theologian de Lubac is a sure guide for the reader, introducing us to the theological ferment of the Council and helping us to grasp what was at stake in the often animated debates.

De Lubac does not hesitate to express clearly what he thinks of the theologians around him, of the new concepts appearing because of the Council, or of the problems he judges to be most serious for the Christian faith. TheseNotebooks invite us to a greater historical and theological understanding of the Council.

Besides information about the numerous aspects of the conciliar assembly, what makes the testimony of these notebooks so captivating is the strongly rendered presence of men and their psychology. De Lubac excels in sketching the portrait of the participants with only a few words. Among the many interesting encounters, he tells of deepening his acquaintance with Josef Ratzinger, whom he describes as a “theologian as peaceable and kindly as he is competent”. In the same way, during the long discussion over the drafting of the constitution Gaudium et Spes, he observed the assertiveness of Karol Wojtyla, whose interventions struck him because of the seriousness, the rigor, and the solidity of his faith, which created in him a lively sense of spiritual friendship, which was reciprocated.

“These Notebooks bear witness to the difficulties Fr. de Lubac experienced in the years following the publication of Surnaturel (Supernatural,1946), very much in evidence within the Theological Commission, in the preparatory period during which the theologian, just recently named to the commission by John XXIII, was confronted with future conciliar schemas prepared by his adversaries. Nevertheless, it was his theology that prevailed inLumen Gentium and also in Dei Verbum.”
— Jacques Prevotat, Professor of Modern History, University of Lille-III, From the Preface

Flip is a propulsive standalone science fiction novel for middle grade readers by acclaimed author David Lubar now available in trade paperback.

Eighth-graders Ryan and Taylor are twins, but that's where the similarities end.

Their parents and teachers think Taylor is the perfect student. Ryan never met a test he couldn't fail. In fact, failure is what he does best. But they share at least one thing in common: nothing is turning out as they planned. It's as if the rules have suddenly changed. No matter who you are, everyone wants you to be someone else. But who?

They may have found the answer: magical alien disks that allow them to "flip" into the character of a hero from the past—Einstein, Cleopatra, Hercules. The possibilities are endless. As Ryan and Taylor discover, being a hero is fun. It's being yourself that is really hard.

Flip is a fast and funny coming-of-age adventure that will appeal to avid and reluctant readers alike, by David Lubar, the beloved author of the popular Weenies short-story collections.

A sizzling young adult novel about Chad, a teenager living near the New Jersey boardwalk who becomes obsessed with the Bozo—the clown who sits above a tank of water, taunting people until they pay a couple of bucks to try to dunk him. But even as he tries to master the slashing humor of the Bozo, Chad finds he also needs to learn humor’s healing power if he is to help his best friend recover from a serious illness.

Emotionally rich, filled with fascinating detail about life on the Boardwalk, this is David Lubar’s breakthrough novel.

From the author of Dunk comes this sparkling novel that covers a year in the life of high school freshmen Scott Hudson, who is sideswiped by the unexpected news that his mother is about to have another baby. In a hilarious and touching journal addressed to the unborn intruder, Scott bares his soul as he copes with the trials and tribulations of a life that is changing faster than he wants it to. Filled with Lubar’s trademark wit, enlivened by unexpected twists and turns of plot,Sleeping Freshman Never Lie is widely considered as one of the best YA novels of 2005.