text:
"Who knew? Stars' daughtersthey're just like us."
The Daughters Join the Partyby Joanna Philbin
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They didn't ask for fame. They were born with it.
In the third Daughters novel, The Daughters Take the Stage, Hudson found her own place in "the family business," aka: show business. Now, for the first time, readers will meet Emma Conway, daughter of a powerful New York State Senator.
Emma has never fit into the sweater-set-wearing/b>/b>/b>
They didn't ask for fame. They were born with it.
In the third Daughters novel, The Daughters Take the Stage, Hudson found her own place in "the family business," aka: show business. Now, for the first time, readers will meet Emma Conway, daughter of a powerful New York State Senator.
Emma has never fit into the sweater-set-wearing world of her political family, opting for purple hair and Chuck Taylors to keep herself out of countless photo ops, but when she accidentally lets her father's presidential plans slip on national television, Emma finds herself thrown into the spotlight. Facing pressure to be the perfect First Daughter-in-training, Emma must learn to speak up for herself and for what she believes in. Thankfully, she has her new friends and fellow daughters - Lizzie, Carina, and Hudson - to help her along the way.
Editorial Reviews
"Who knew? Stars' daughtersthey're just like us."
"A thoroughly enjoyable debut. . . Who knew? Stars' daughtersthey're just like us."Publishers Weekly
Praise for The Daughters Break the Rules:
"Writing with a light tone that should appeal to a young female audience, the author chisels a little depth into the niche of chick lit. She makes readers care for her heroes and disdain her villains, and if the plot twist is predictable, that's fine for this genre. Entertaining and not entirely fluffy."Kirkus
Product Details
- 9780316179614
- Publisher:
- Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
- Publication date:
- 05/08/2012
- Series:
- Daughters Series, #4
- Pages:
- 288
- Sales rank:
- 238,557
- Product dimensions:
- 5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.75(d)
- Age Range:
- 12 - 18 Years
Read an Excerpt
The Daughters Join the Party
By Philbin, Joanna
PoppyCopyright © 2011 Philbin, Joanna
All right reserved.
chapter 1
Emma Conway stood up, looked carefully around, and stepped away from the clump of bushes in front of Flanner Hall. Nobody had followed them, thank God. The main quad was still, except for the night sounds of crickets and sputtering sprinklers, and the August sky was awash with stars. Emma felt a warm breeze caress her face and let her breath return to normal. In almost twelve months of living and studying at the Rutherford School, she'd never seen it look so beautiful. She wondered why she'd never snuck out of her dorm before.
"Okay, guys, we're cool," she said.
Behind her, Tiffany and Rachel stood up slowly from the bushes. Tiffany smoothed her perpetually messy blond ponytail and looked uneasily over her shoulder. "I thought I heard someone," she said. "You sure no one's following us?"
"We're fine, Tiffany," Emma replied.
There was a hooting sound, and Tiffany quickly squatted back down.
"Oh my God, Tiffany," Rachel said in her condescending voice. "That was an owl." She flicked her glossy Brazilian blowout–treated hair out of her eyes and turned to Emma. "So, now what? You promised us a party. Where is it?" Rachel's attitude could be a little much, even if she was the bravest girl at Rutherford—besides Emma, of course.
"First I have to get inside," Emma said, gesturing to Flanner Hall.
"Wait. How?" Tiffany asked, wide-eyed.
"I've got to climb in," Emma said.
"You're going to climb in?" Tiffany asked. "How are you going to get up there?"
Emma eyed Jeremy Dunn's window. It was the one with the peeling Obama sticker, directly above the front door. She hadn't remembered it looking that high before. Earlier that day, Flanner Hall had looked almost friendly, with its cheerful red bricks, its white windows, and the antique weather vane that spun in the wind. But now, in the moonlit darkness, the dorm looked as immense and forbidding as a Gothic castle. "It's not that bad," she bluffed. "I've climbed trees that were higher than that."
"And then what?" Tiffany said. "What do we do once we get in there? What if someone hears us?"
"Calm down, Tiff. You're summer students. I'm the one who actually goes to school here. I'm the one who could really get in trouble." Yeah, right, Emma thought. The most that could possibly happen to her was another detention. And she'd done enough of those already that she didn't care about another lost hour. "Okay, when I say 'go,' we run."
"Again?" Rachel asked. "I'm wearing platforms."
Tiffany just sighed heavily and nodded.
Emma crouched down into ready position. "Get ready," she said. "Get set… Go!"
She took off in a sprint across the quad, her bare feet sinking into the dirt. She could almost see herself as if she were in a movie: her dark brown, shoulder-length hair waving in the wind, her heavy brows knit together, her dark blue eyes ringed, as usual, with a little too much purple eyeliner. Finally, she thought, freedom. For a solid year, she'd lived on the most regimented schedule imaginable. Seven hours of class, two hours of sports, then three hours of study time, then sleep—that was the Rutherford schedule, six days a week. There were fifteen minutes before dinner when people could socialize on the quad—if the weather was nice—and a half hour in between study time and lights-out for visiting people's dorms, but other than that, students had to be busy and occupied. Sunday was the only free day, but there were usually hours of homework, and nowhere to go except for the sad excuse for a mall in town. She'd thought boarding school would be an escape from rules and chores and parental supervision—not to mention her painfully small and snobby private school in New York City. Instead, Rutherford had been anything but an escape. Except for this moment, right now.
She stopped a few feet from the front of the building and leaned over her bare knees, panting. Her favorite denim cutoffs dug into the tops of her thighs. Sweat trickled down the back of her neck. It had felt so good to run, but now she hoped she didn't smell. Discreetly she sniffed the armpit of her Cheap Trick T-shirt. No offensive odor. She was ready.
"I think I twisted my ankle," Tiffany said, hobbling to a stop.
"Oh, please," Rachel muttered.
"I think I really did," Tiffany said, limping a little on her Keds.
"I'm sure you'll be okay," Emma said. She looked up. Every window in Flanner Hall was dark, including Jeremy's, which was directly above her. For a moment she wondered if he'd forgotten about their plan.
Suddenly the window jerked open a few inches, then a few more, until a head stuck out in the dark. "You coming up or not?" Jeremy whispered in his sexy, sarcastic voice.
"Be right there," she whispered back.
Jeremy Dunn was the only thing that had made summer session tolerable. She'd noticed him that first day, at lunch, on line in the dining hall. Then again, she'd noticed lots of other guys that day, too—the freakishly tall guy with Taylor Lautner's eyes in her World History class, and the boy with the floppy strawberry-blond hair who'd quietly sketched X-Men all through Art class. But the moment she'd seen Jeremy, as she walked over to the salad bar, there had been something fascinating about him. Maybe it was what he wore: green camouflage-patterned flip-flops and a T-shirt with a picture of Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street, designed to look like Starsky and Hutch. Or maybe it was his longish, straight, sandy-colored hair, which he tucked behind his ears. Or the focused way he used the salad tongs to drop falafel onto his plate one by one, as if he were conducting a science experiment.
She made her move at the soup station. "Gross," she said, looking at the cream of broccoli soup, which had formed a solid, congealed surface of oil and cream. "That's, like, the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in my life."
"I'll eat a bowl if you will," he dared. He turned to look at her. His eyes twinkled in a way that made her momentarily speechless.
"You're on," she said. She reached for the ladle, dumped some in her bowl, and then handed it to him.
"Hey, you didn't get enough gelatinous surface in yours," he said, dumping more soup into her bowl. "We have to make this fair, after all."
They sat down together at an empty table, which was fine with Emma. She didn't really have a regular group of friends.
"Okay, you ready?" he asked, his spoon poised.
Emma looked at the green lumpy soup. "I think I might throw up."
"Come on," he said with mock seriousness. "No pain, no gain."
Thirty minutes and the most disgusting bowl of soup in her life later, Emma was in love. Jeremy was the guy she had been waiting to meet at Rutherford—funny and reckless and genuinely smart. He lived in Boston and had come to Rutherford to pull up his grades. Like her, he'd been called an "underachiever" by more teachers than he could count. Also like her, he loved Led Zeppelin, thought Twitter was lame, and knew every line from Superbad. Starting that first day, they ate every meal together, hung out on the quad together before dinner, and used enlargers that were right next to each other in Photography 2. And Jeremy seemed to like certain things about her, too. Or at least, he didn't question them. He never asked her why she wore so much eyeliner, or what she thought of her senator dad, who everyone was already saying should run for president, or why she spent so much time alone, or why she sometimes wore tiny skull earrings instead of the hoops all the other girls wore. And for the half hour every night that the inmates of Rutherford were allowed to visit one another's dorms, she and Jeremy would curl up on the sofa in their respective common rooms, cracking up over funnyordie.com.
In short, they were practically going out, except for one thing: Jeremy hadn't kissed her. Yet. And as the last week of summer session began, Emma knew that she needed to help things along.
"So am I coming to you tonight?" she'd asked him earlier that day, as they lay on the quad before dinner. Even though their arms weren't touching Emma could feel the warmth of his skin, just inches away.
"This dorm-visiting thing is so lame," Jeremy moaned, picking at a handful of grass. "Nine to nine thirty? Even on Saturday night? I just wish we could do our own thing," he said, his hand edging closer to hers on the grass. "No signing in, no watching the clock."
Emma's heart skipped a beat. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? Did he wish he could be alone with her? "What if I came over tonight?" she heard herself ask. "After lights-out?"
"You mean, what if you snuck out?" he asked, sounding unsure.
"Yeah." She'd been wondering what his room looked like for weeks. She could just picture his desk spread with books, his clothes hanging out of the dresser drawers, his bedspread and sheets in a ball on his bed…
"Well, you'd have to come in through the window," he said, sounding more excited about the idea. "Vince's room is right next to the door."
Vince Truffardi was the head prefect of Flanner and a notorious discipline freak. The rumor was that he'd deferred college for a year so he could stick around Rutherford and continue busting kids for minor infractions.
Emma turned over onto her stomach. "You're the Obama sticker, right?" she asked, pretending she didn't know which window was his.
Jeremy turned over onto his stomach, too. Now their fingers were practically touching. "Yup. Second floor."
Emma stared at the window, thinking of all the times she'd imagined climbing through it. "No problem. I used to climb trees all the time at our old house upstate."
"You want to bring friends?" he asked. "And I'll have some of the guys there?"
Her heart sank a little. A party hadn't been what she'd had in mind. "Sure," she said.
"Cool." He stood up and held out his hand to help her. "Come at eleven," he said.
"Eleven fifteen," she said, standing up and wiping the back of her shorts. "And you better be there to let me in."
"Absolutely," Jeremy said, grinning.
Emma's heart skipped again. She'd been right all along: He definitely liked her.
Except now, standing under his window, she wasn't exactly sure if this was going to work out.
"Just climb that," Rachel said, gesturing to the drainpipe that shot up the wall toward the roof, through a patch of ivy. It ran alongside Jeremy's window. "And pull yourself up with those." She pointed to a metal hook that curved around the pipe, bolting it to the building. There seemed to be a hook every three feet.
"And we're supposed to do that, too?" Tiffany asked.
Emma ignored her. "Okay, I'm going," she whispered, grabbing hold of the first-floor windowsill. She climbed onto it, saying a prayer that this wasn't Vince's room.
"Shhh!" Tiffany hissed.
Standing on the windowsill, Emma reached for the metal hook. Then she swung herself over the pipe and hugged it with her legs. She pulled one foot up the wall and then the other, so that she was in rock-climbing position. The metal piece groaned under her weight. With one tentative arm she reached up for the next hook and grabbed it.
"Good job," she heard Jeremy whisper in the dark, just as she felt the hook come loose in her hand. With a creak, one end of the drainpipe swung away from the wall.
Tiffany screamed. Emma realized that she was falling.
Pain shot up her spine as she landed on her butt. The ground beneath her felt wet. "Ow!" she exclaimed, a little too loudly.
Lights blinked on in some of the windows. Including Vince Truffardi's. Emma heard Vince scramble to his feet out of bed. Tiffany and Rachel turned and ran, just as the door to Flanner flew open. "Who's out here?" Vince's voice was loud and strident.
She stood up and brushed herself off. "Over here," she said. There was no use trying to hide.
The beam of Vince's flashlight hit her square in the face. "Hi, Vince," she said cheerfully. "What's up?"
His flashlight traveled up and down her body. "Whose room were you trying to climb into?"
The flashlight shone straight into her face again, making her squint. "Nobody's?"
"I have a problem with sleepwalking."
He clicked off the flashlight. In the moonlight, Emma could just make him out. Vince was short, with chicken legs and overdeveloped arms, and his hair was already thinning. It was no surprise that he seemed irritated all the time.
"You're in violation of code five-two-four," he barked. "Trying to gain unauthorized access to another student's room."
"Vince, do you really think I can climb a building?"
"At this point, Emma, I wouldn't be surprised," he said. "Let's go. Time to see Dean Ward."
"Awesome," Emma said. "I can't wait."
He grabbed her arm and with a sharp yank pulled her across the wet grass. Emma thought about Jeremy at his window, watching all of this. She knew what he was probably thinking: Yeah, that's Emma. Not afraid of anything. Getting busted and keeping her cool.
But just before they turned left on the path, Emma glanced back over her shoulder. To her surprise, Jeremy wasn't in the window. It was dark. And someone had even drawn the curtain.
chapter 2
"I'm going to ask you one more time," said Mr. Moyers, tapping his meaty fingers on his desk blotter. With his pale face, hangdog eyes, and rainbow-striped necktie, the headmaster of Rutherford looked like a very sad clown. "Who were you trying to see in Flanner Hall last night? And be honest, Emma. For both our sakes."
Emma shifted in the leather wing chair across from his desk. She could easily just tell him. Jeremy Dunn hadn't shown up for breakfast, and when she'd passed by him on the quad on the way to first period, he'd actually looked right past her. But she wasn't a tattletale. "Nobody. I was having trouble sleeping, so I just felt like taking a walk."
"A walk," Mr. Moyers repeated doubtfully. The afternoon sun poured in through the tall window behind him. Through it Emma could see two girls walking to the Art Building past the massive elm trees. She wished she were with them.
"I couldn't sleep," Emma said. "Doesn't that ever happen to you?"
"Emma, do you like being in this office?" Mr. Moyers asked, leaning forward. "At this point, I feel I have to ask."
She took in the framed degrees in education from Yale and Columbia, and the cheesy poster of a rainbow with a quote that read: There is nothing impossible to him who will try.—Alexander the Great. And of course the electric guitar leaning against the wall, which Mr. Moyers supposedly used for "jam sessions" with some of the faculty members. Just thinking about that made her cringe. "I guess it's kind of cozy," she said. "Though you might want to think about redecorating soon."
"Emma." Mr. Moyers sighed. "We're going to have to discuss your future here at Rutherford."
"My future?" she asked.
"Yes," he said soberly. "Your future."
Those ominous words still hung in the air when a brisk knock on the door made her jump. "Yes?" Mr. Moyers called out.
His assistant, Kathy, stuck her gray, permed head into the room. Emma always got the impression that Kathy was secretly listening on speaker to everything that went on in Mr. Moyers's office. "Senator Conway is here," she announced. "And his wife."
"My parents?" Emma exclaimed, sitting straight up in her chair. "But they're on vacation. At Lake George. Nuclear fallout wouldn't get them to leave."
Mr. Moyers coolly flapped his rainbow necktie. "They didn't seem to have a problem coming in. Especially when I told them the gravity of the situation."
A shiver ran through her as she gripped the chair's armrests. She wasn't going to just be getting detention. That much was clear. "Can I speak to them first?" she asked, getting to her feet.
Mr. Moyers blinked, surprised.
"They're my parents. Isn't that my constitutional right?"
"Go ahead," he said with a resigned shrug.
She opened the door. Her dad was talking to Kathy. He held a miniature bronzed football that he'd picked up from her desk, and his large green eyes were lit up, the way they always were when he talked to a voter. "You said your husband's a Giants fan?" he asked her, a faint New York accent curling around his words. "Well, you tell him from me that I think they're going to have a terrific season. And if they don't, I will personally—"
"Dad?" she interrupted.
His expression went from folksy to furious. "Hello, Emma," he said soberly. He put down the football and crossed his arms over his barrel chest. Adam Conway was just over six feet, but he could suddenly appear several inches taller if he wanted to, especially if he was annoyed. "I take it you're here to plead your case?" he asked.
Kathy stood up from her chair. "I'll just leave you two alone," she said, and ducked out the door.
"Where's Mom?" Emma asked, looking around. Mr. Moyers's waiting room was permanently dim, even in the middle of the day.
"She's in the ladies room," her father said. He cocked his head to the side. His thick, wavy brown hair had yet to go gray, but it seemed to be getting lighter at the temples. And it was always strange to see him out of a suit, and in a blue polo and khakis.
"First of all, this has gotten way blown out of proportion," she said. "It was barely anything. I didn't even make it into the dorm. Nothing happened."
"Whatever happened, it was bad enough to get your mother and me in a car at eight thirty this morning."
"I'm just asking you to have an open mind. The way you would if Remington got into trouble."
Her dad gave her a searing look. "Your brother doesn't get into trouble," he said, just as the door to the office opened and Emma's mother entered.
"Hello, honey," she said, reaching out her slender arms. Even in a crisis, Carolyn Conway could be counted on to look good—no, impeccable. She wore a yellow silk top and navy blue capris with gold ballet slippers, and she'd pulled her thick black hair back into a casual but chic ponytail. She didn't wear makeup, and she was too practical to indulge in jewelry. But she did like handbags. Today she carried a bright pink Kelly bag in the crook of her arm, and it banged against Emma as she gave her mom a hug.
"Hi, Mom," Emma muttered, getting a noseful of citrus-gardenia perfume. "Sorry about this."
Carolyn pulled out of the hug and frowned at Emma. "So. You snuck into a boys' dorm."
"I tried to sneak in," Emma said. "Huge difference."
Her mom seemed about to say something when she noticed Emma's T-shirt, silk-screened with Edie Sedgwick's face, and her black skinny jeans.
"Sorry I'm not decked out in J. Crew," Emma said.
"Nice earrings," Carolyn said. "Skulls really send a great message."
"Okay, let's get this over with," said her dad, heading toward Mr. Moyers's office. Her mom followed.
Emma trailed behind them with a sinking feeling in her chest. She had a strong hunch that this wasn't going to go very well.
When they walked inside, Mr. Moyers almost leaped out of his chair. "Senator, Mrs. Conway! It's so nice to see you again," he said, approaching them with his hand extended.
"Same here," said Senator Conway, shaking Mr. Moyers's hand. "And please, call me Adam."
"Then call me Jim," Mr. Moyers said, so excited that his eyes seemed about to bulge out of his face. "Mrs. Conway," he said, turning to Emma's mom.
Carolyn shook his hand. "Hello, Mr. Moyers," she said in her brisk lawyer's voice. Unlike her husband, she had little talent—or use—for chitchat. She sat down next to Adam on the couch.
"Emma?" Mr. Moyers said. "Do you want to join your parents?"
Emma realized that she was still standing by the door. She perched herself on the arm of the sofa and winced. Her butt still hurt from last night's fall.
"So, uh, Jim," her father said. He leaned forward so that his elbows rested on his knees. She'd seen him sit this way in some of the photos on his Senate Web site. SENATOR ADAM CONWAY CARES ABOUT NEW YORKERS, read the banner at the top of the page. "What can we do to help?"
"Well, I believe you know what happened here last night," Mr. Moyers said, settling into his chair. "Leaving one's room after lights-out, and then trying to enter another dormitory, is a serious violation of the Rutherford student code."
"So what's the punishment?" asked her mom. "This can't be the first time someone has done this."
"It's the first time someone has violated as many codes as your daughter has," Mr. Moyers said.
"How many are we talking about?" Emma's father asked, casting an alarmed glance in her direction.
"Well, let's see here…" Mr. Moyers picked up the file on his desk. "January tenth, Emma showed up in homeroom with purple hair."
"What?" her mother exploded. "She dyed her hair?"
"Yes. Purple."
"Burgundy," Emma cut in.
Mr. Moyers gave her an annoyed glance. "February fourteenth and twenty-first, she cut first and second period to sleep in."
"I was sick," she argued.
"When the RA went to her room," Mr. Moyers said, "she found Emma watching a movie on her laptop."
"Which was for class," Emma said.
"Emma," her father warned.
"March fifth," he went on, "Emma was caught in the pool, with a boy, after hours."
Emma let that one pass. Her dad sighed deeply and looked at the carpet.
"April seventeenth," said Mr. Moyers, "Emma started a food fight in the dining hall."
"I flung a piece of bread at someone," she said.
"Which hit Miss Wilkie, the math teacher," Mr. Moyers added. "May tenth—"
"Okay, we get the picture," Adam interrupted, holding up his hand. "And then last night—"
"Our head prefect heard Emma first try to scale the boys' dorm, and then fall on the ground." Mr. Moyers closed the file. "Which leads me to conclude that this might not be the best place for your daughter." He cleared his throat and swallowed. "We think it best she explore new possibilities for the coming school year."
Her parents looked dumbfounded. "Are you saying you don't want her to continue here?" her mom asked.
"I don't believe Emma wants to be here, Mrs. Conway. And I think she's doing everything she can to let us know that."
"You know she's dyslexic," her mom pointed out, in a way that made Emma cringe.
"We have plenty of other students with learning disabilities who don't have the… behavioral issues that Emma has." Mr. Moyers swallowed again. He seemed uncomfortable. "Emma's bright. She has the capacity to be an excellent student, despite her learning disability. But she doesn't take school seriously. In fact, she doesn't seem to take anything seriously."
"That's not fair," Emma argued. "What about my A in Swimming? And Photography? And the social service I did at the animal shelter?"
"Emma," Adam said sternly.
Carolyn reached over and put her hand on Emma's arm.
"I'm sorry," said Mr. Moyers. "But we think it's best that you find Emma another school."
Emma fumed silently. Come on, Dad, she thought, staring at the carpet. If he could get the Republicans and Democrats to agree on a health-care bill, he could get Mr. Moyers to keep her here. But instead of saying something persuasive and charming, her dad simply looked at her mom and held up his hands.
"All right, then," Carolyn said, reading his signals. "We'll take her home."
Emma got to her feet. "It was Jeremy Dunn," she confessed. "That's who I was trying to see last night. He's on the second floor of Flanner. Summer student, from Boston. Just ask him—"
"Thank you, Emma," Mr. Moyers said, scribbling something on a pad. "And good luck."
"That's it?" she asked. "I just gave you a name."
Mr. Moyers sighed. "Good-bye, Emma."
She went straight to the door, not even waiting for her parents. This was a joke. If this school wasn't going to give her a second chance, if it was going to kick her out for attempting to sneak into someone's room, and if it wasn't even going to give her a break for naming names, then she didn't want to be here anyway.
She hurried past Kathy, who she knew had probably heard every word, and threw open the door to the hall. All she wanted to do was run back to her room, slam the door, and try to think. She just needed to be alone. Even though she knew that would be impossible. Behind her she heard her parents walk into the hall.
"Well, I guess we shouldn't be too surprised," Emma heard her dad say. "It was a matter of time."
"You're the one who thought she was ready for boarding school," her mom replied.
"I just said we should try it," he said. "I didn't say it was going to be the perfect solution."
Emma whirled around. "Can you stop talking about me like I'm not here?"
"What would you like us to do?" her father asked. "You're walking ten paces ahead of us."
"You didn't even try to talk him out of it!" she said. "You didn't even defend me."
"Defend you?" Her mother's voice was uncharacteristically loud. "For dyeing your hair purple? Causing food fights?"
"Of course you'd believe all that," Emma muttered.
"Are you aware of what's going on with your father these days?"
"No, I have no idea," Emma said sarcastically.
There was no way she couldn't know. For the past six months, whenever she walked by the huge flat-screen TV in the student lounge, he was all over the news. If Conway runs for president… Senator Conway put in another appearance today… The crowds showing up for Conway today were in the thousands… Sources close to the Senator say he is definitely eyeing a run… She'd see a snippet of her dad making a speech in front of a crowd, or being applauded as he walked from his town car into a building, and it would all feel like she was watching someone else. It was too surreal. But ever since he'd won the Democratic New York seat for the second time, he'd practically become a celebrity.
First there'd been the health-care bill that he'd shepherded through the Senate, the one that nobody thought would get passed. Then there'd been his book, Bridging the Divide, about his plans for a "united United States of America," which had hit the New York Times bestseller list the day it was released and hadn't dropped off since. Then there'd been the interview on 60 Minutes, where, when Morley Safer asked him about his plans for a campaign, he said, "I definitely haven't ruled it out," which only got every on-camera pundit and political blogger more obsessed over whether he might run. She would've had to have been trapped under a rock not to know what was going on with her dad. "Of course I know," she said.
"Well, there's more," her mother said. "When we get home—"
"I'm not going to live at home."
"Emma, your mother is trying to tell you something," her dad said somberly.
"And I am not going to Chadwick," Emma added. "You are not going to make me go to Remington's school. I refuse."
She turned and headed for the door that led out onto the quad. She needed to get some air. Expelled, she thought. It was such an ugly word.
She pushed through the doors and there, on the veranda of the administrative building, stood a man talking on a cell phone. "Yeah, we had a quick change of plans this morning," he said in a raspy voice. "Now we're at their daughter's school." His slicked-back, dark hair was beginning to thin on top, and he wore an expensive-looking black suit. He looked up and saw her. "Lemme get back to you." He clicked off the phone. "You must be Emma," he said, holding out his hand. "I'm Tom. Tom Beckett."
Emma shook his hand. There had always been people hovering around her family—mostly anxious men in their twenties, who were always waiting to ferry her dad to appearances or to hand him a speech. But none of them had ever seemed this confident or well-dressed, and none had ever come with her parents to her school. "Hi," she said uncertainly.
Just then her parents came through the doors. "Who is this?" she asked them, turning around.
"This is Tom, my chief strategist," said her father.
"Chief strategist for what?" she asked. "You just got reelected last year."
Her dad paused for a moment. "I'm running again, honey."
Emma blinked. "You're running again? For what?"
"For president."
For a moment the words didn't compute. She watched as he put his hand on Tom's shoulder. "Tom here is the best," her dad went on. "Came highly recommended to me by Shanks. Where is he, by the way?"
"Out by the car, on the phone," said Tom. "He's lining up that Parks Department event for you tonight."
Emma tried to think of something to say. Anything.
"It all just happened," her mother put in. "Tom came up to the house yesterday for a meeting with a few people from his team. We were going to tell you when you came home next week."
"Come on," her father said. "Let's go pack up your things."
Emma began to follow them across the quad. She was supposed to be leading them, but she was too distracted to do anything but put one foot in front of the other.
Tom Beckett slipped on a pair of black wraparound sunglasses that made him look like a cross between an alien predator and Tom Cruise. "Everything okay?" he asked her parents.
"Not exactly," her father said, giving Emma a disapproving glance. "But then again we're all a little used to that by now."
chapter 3
As they walked the curving path to her dorm, certain images kept popping into her mind: Cameras. Crowds waving. Halls packed with people and decorated with red, white, and blue bunting. Burly Secret Service men following her every move, for the rest of her life… Okay, calm down, Emma thought. First you just have to get through this day. Then you can freak out about the rest of your life.
At her dorm she swiped her key through the slot and pulled open the door. She led the way up the staircase and unlocked the door to her single room. She tried to step in front of the terrarium on the floor and kick it under the bed, but she was too late.
"A snake?" her mom said. "You have a snake in your room?"
"That's Archie. I found him outside the dorm," Emma said, sliding the top door aside to pet the green garter snake.
"He's staying here," her mom said firmly.
"But who's gonna take care of him?"
"It's a snake, Emma," her father said curtly. "It can take care of itself."
"I'm bringing him," she insisted. "There's no need for him to be traumatized, too." That's when she noticed Tom Beckett staring at her and trying not to laugh. She glared at him.
"I'll go bring the car around the back," he said, excusing himself.
Adam bent over the mattress and began to pull it off the frame.
"Dad," Emma said, "the mattress stays here. I just need the sheets."
"Oh," he said.
He pushed the mattress back onto the frame, and Emma and her mom pulled off the hot pink and white batik sheets. It didn't take long to pack up the rest of her stuff: her posters of PJ Harvey and Lou Reed, her clothes, her Doc Martens, her favorite rainbowcolored hook rug, her purple beanbag chair. She dumped all of her Clairefontaine journals into a shopping bag and held on to it, in case it wound up in her dad's hands and, God forbid, one of the journals fell out and he glimpsed a page. Her mom zipped up her bulging suitcase and then picked up a framed photo of her parents and Remington, taken at Lake George several years earlier. "You don't want to forget this," she said, and put it in her purse.
When everything was finally packed, Emma picked up Archie's terrarium and closed the door behind her. So long, Rutherford, she thought. It's been real. On her way past Tiffany and Rachel's room she thought about scribbling a sarcastic message on their Dry Erase board—something like "Bye, guys! Vince Truffardi should be calling u later!"—but then thought better of it. The two of them weren't worth it.
She walked across the parking lot behind the dorm toward a black SUV in the guest spot. She supposed the SUV was Tom's—it looked like the kind of car he would drive. Emma opened the backseat door, slid Archie's tank onto the floor in front of the seat, and then swung herself up and into the car, next to her mom and dad. Tom Beckett sat behind the wheel and beside him in the shotgun seat was another man, older than Tom and much heavier, with a mop of gray hair and a large mustache. All of his attention was focused on a small laptop resting on his knees.
"Emma, this is Michael Shanks," her father said. "He's my chief of staff at the Senate."
Shanks turned around and offered Emma his hand. "Hi there," he said in a gravelly voice. "I've heard a lot about you."
"I haven't heard a thing about you," she replied with a smile, and felt her mom elbow her softly.
A few moments later they were headed south on the highway, whizzing past green trees and the occasional roadside Denny's. It was annoying to have these two strangers in the car. She wished she could at least have half an hour alone with her mom and dad. "So, why now?" she finally asked.
"Your father set up an exploratory committee," her mom said. "It's a group of people in charge of finding out if it's a good time for a candidate to run. They call people and do polling, and in the case of your dad, the response was enormous. A lot of people thought he should run for president."
"And then there's been the response to the book," her father added.
"And the health-care bill," Tom added.
"It just seemed like the right time," her mom said.
Emma didn't say anything. It seemed ludicrous to think that her dad should have consulted her about this first, but she almost wanted to ask him why he hadn't.
"So, as we were saying," Tom said, looking at Adam in the rearview mirror, "the first thing you'll want to do is get to the steak fry in Iowa next month."
"Already?" her mom asked. "The caucus isn't for almost a year and a half."
"You can't start courting Iowa too early," Tom said. His blue eyes were harsh and glittery in the rearview. "Most of the other candidates have already made inroads there."
"Wait. A steak fry is important when you're running for president?" Emma asked.
"He's not going there for the steak; he's going there to speak," Tom said condescendingly. "It's an enormous Democratic event."
"Emma," her mother said, taking her hand. "You can't tell anyone about this. Not a soul. Your dad won't be announcing this until January, at the earliest. So we have to keep this in the family."
"Fine," Emma said. "Does Remington know?"
"We called him yesterday," her mom said. "He should be home by the time we get there. His plane lands at three."
Of course he'd gotten a phone call, she thought. Her brother would always beat her in everything—grades, popularity, and parental attention, even when he was overseas. "How'd he like Cambridge?" she asked.
"You know Remington," her dad said. "Sounds like he loved it."
"He took post–World War Two European History and English," said her mom. "With that and his AP classes he's almost got the first year of college covered. Isn't that amazing?"
Emma fought the urge to roll her eyes. Only her brother would already be started on his college courses while he was still in high school.
"We should invite some press to this event tonight," Shanks piped up from the front seat.
"Let's ask Bernard Summers at the Times," Adam said. "We went to college together."
"Don't you know his daughter?" Carolyn asked, turning to Emma. "What's her name? Lucy?"
"Lizzie," Emma said. Lizzie Summers wasn't her closest friend in the world, but they'd attended each other's family Thanksgivings and Christmas parties. Lizzie was one of the nicer girls Emma had known when she lived in New York.
"Right. She goes to Chadwick, doesn't she?"
Emma gripped the armrest of her seat. Don't say anything, she thought. "Yes," she managed to say.
"Well, then at least you'll know someone there," her mom said, taking out her BlackBerry.
"Wait. I have to go to this tonight?" Emma asked.
"Well, since both you and Remington will be home, yes," she said. "And maybe you and Lizzie can talk about Chadwick."
Emma squeezed the armrest harder. "I told you I don't want to go to Remington's school. Can we not talk about this like it's a done deal?"
"Emma, it's August fifteenth," her mom said, fixing her with a glare. "School starts in three weeks. Where on earth do you think I can get you in by then?" Her mom pressed a button and put the phone to her ear.
Emma wanted to grab the phone, or at least yell and plead her case. But then she remembered Shanks and Tom in the front seat. She couldn't say anything—not with them there. How convenient, she thought. Her parents had probably brought them on purpose.
With a sigh, she grabbed her iPod out of her backpack. When they got home, and they were finally alone, she would try to get her mom to listen to her. If they were finally alone. She was starting to think that the little privacy they'd had as a family was now going to disappear.
It was late afternoon when they crossed the Henry Hudson Bridge into Manhattan. As they drove down the West Side Highway, the Hudson River looked as smooth as glass. Beside it a steady stream of bicyclists and Rollerbladers rode up and down the path, luxuriating in the beautiful summer day. Emma remembered her dad teaching her how to ride a bike on this path. Remington had tried to teach her how to Rollerblade, too, but it had been a disaster. She'd refused to wear kneepads and skinned both her knees pretty badly. But for the few moments before she'd fallen, she'd loved the feeling of skating near the water, and being a part of the city. She'd never loved New York the way her brother did, but now, as they drove, it felt good to be home.
Home, specifically, was a bright, sprawling apartment on Eighty-ninth between Lexington and Third, not too far from where her dad had grown up, in an even more sprawling apartment on Park Avenue. Adam Conway came from money—lots of it. His father was Remington Conway, a brilliant lawyer who founded one of the first literary agencies in the country. Along with his two older brothers, Adam attended Andover, summered in Southampton, and made annual trips to Italy and the South of France to brush up on his language skills. It was expected that he'd go to work for his dad, or at least become a lawyer. But when he decided to run for president of his class at Harvard Law School, and won, everything changed. He decided to go into politics.
At first his parents were aghast. But Adam Conway's career took off right away. At twenty-six he won a spot on the New York City Council. At thirty, he was elected to the New York State Senate. Despite his upper-class background, he quickly earned a reputation for being hardworking, committed, charismatic, and brilliant. The newspapers called him the "Camelot Kid," comparing him to another politician who also had looks, ambition, and loads of charm. It was only a matter of time until he ran for the United States Senate. But there was still something of the black sheep about her father, despite his success. His wife—whom he'd met at Harvard Law—was the one who became a lawyer at a fancy midtown firm.
When they reached their apartment building, Tom double-parked and stayed behind the wheel. Her mom dialed someone on her BlackBerry. "Remington? Could you come down here? We just pulled up. Emma has a lot of things she needs to bring in." She paused. "Yes, Emma's home. It's a long story." She hung up.
Great, Emma thought. Of course she would have to get expelled on the same day Remington came home from Cambridge. She leaned down and grabbed Archie's tank. Suddenly all of her limbs felt weary. None of this was going to be easy.
Outside on the street, Emma helped Tom and her dad pull her belongings out of the back of the car and onto the curb. It was a messy pile of stuff, and Emma caught her dad eyeing the snake tank in her arms with irritation.
"You guys need a hand?" asked Shanks as he got out of the car. Emma finally got a good look at him. He had a mustache and a potbelly and a permanently distracted air, as if he were late for three things at once.
"No, we're good," Tom said, hefting her suitcase down onto the sidewalk. He seemed to be eager to impress her dad. Just as the suitcase touched down the zipper opened slightly, showing the lace-edged back of one of Emma's bras.
"I got it!" she yelled, frantically stepping in front of the suitcase. Why were there always so many people around? Why couldn't they just be alone once in a while?
Remington walked out of the building and stopped short at the sight of Emma, stuffing her bra back into her suitcase with her foot. "You okay, Em?" he asked. "Need some help?" Her brother was extremely, ridiculously handsome, with light blue-green eyes, wavy chestnut hair, and a cleft chin.
"Nah, I'm good," she said, finally managing to get the bra out of sight. "Hi," she said, giving him a quick hug.
"How are you, sweetie?" Carolyn asked her son as she hugged him. "How was your flight?"
"It was okay," he said. "Not too bad. Here, Em. Let me take that."
As he picked up her suitcase, Emma noticed that he'd lost weight over the summer. His favorite Harvard crew shirt seemed a bit big on him, and his legs looked thin under his khaki shorts. Whenever he stopped his swim team training, he always got skinnier.
Excerpted from The Daughters Join the Party by Philbin, Joanna Copyright © 2011 by Philbin, Joanna. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Meet the Author
Joanna Philbin was born in Los Angeles and raised in New York City. She holds a B.A. from Brown University and a J.D. and M.F.A. from the University of Notre Dame. She is the author of The Daughters series, and lives and writes in Los Angeles. Visit her at joannaphilbin.com.
Customer Reviews
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I loved this book!! It is full of surprises, romance, and fun. The book was fast paced, short and funny. I loved it. Joanna Philbin is such a great writer, you HAVE to read this book!
One of da best books i have ever read 11-14 year olds wood love this book!!!!!!
These books are awesome and soo easy to relate to even if you dont have a celeberty parent!
I really love this series but i went on Joanna Philibin's website and she said that this is the last daughters book.:'(
Ok im kinda nervous to read this book considerin i just love lizzie carinia and hudson they should so make the other 3 books a movie how ever im not soo sure abouut comin away from the loved characters for some1 we have never heard of i wwould have loved a book from the piont of view of ava however this is a great autor and im sure it will turn out just fine
ALL of her books have been great so I am sure this on will be two!
Thid book was about a teen named emma who is the senators daughter. She doesnt really fit into her family who wears banana rupublic and j crew,she likes black stuff and purple dyed hair. When she lets plans out about her dads plans to become president her life gets turned around.this is a great book,the begining was a little slow but it got better. If you are a fan of the other daughters books i would reccommend this book
Great book, so interesting read it in one night and a day! Wish there would be more to the series!
This book is great i read it all in about day
Loved all the books so far. Definitely buying this one.
Love love love the series! Cant wait for this onne to come out. Should be fantastic!!!!!!!!
I loved this series!! But this is the best IN the series!!!! Read it your gonna LOVE it!!!!!!
The 4th book in the daughters wasnt as good as the others since the new girl EmmA wasnt an original daughter, but it was still fun to read!
and i quote"I WANT THIS BOOK" That is all
I have LOVED all of the books far so im deff buyin his one as soon as it comes out! btw- when DOES it com out??
Joanna Philbin did a phenomanal job in 'The Daughters' series.Something to make it even better would be a Daughters book from Ava Elting's point of view. AE should join the daughters quadruplate.
So far, this series of The Daughters is fenominal. I absolutly love it. I think I liked the second one better, and that is good, because it means that they just keep on getting better!!!!!!!!! I recomend these books to readers who love to read about adventure and excitment. Even for readers who don't, maybe! But I love to read about those things!!!!!
OMG!!!!!!!!I dont know how its posable but this is TOTES THE BEST BOOK EVER


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Book your room at Atlanta Marriott Century Center/Emory Area
Get an overview of this hotel3.5-star hotel with restaurant and outdoor pool
Situated in the business district, this hotel is within 6 mi (10 km) of Georgia Shakespeare at Oglethorpe University, Oglethorpe University, and Lenox Square. Northlake Mall and Legoland Discovery Center are also within 6 mi (10 km).
Hotel Features
This smoke-free hotel features a restaurant, an outdoor pool, and a fitness center. Free WiFi in public areas and free self parking are also provided. Additionally, a bar/lounge, a coffee shop/café, and a snack bar/deli are onsite.
Room Amenities
All 287 rooms offer WiFi, wired Internet, and LCD TVs. Room service, coffee makers, and free weekday newspapers are among the other amenities available to guests.Would you like to give us feedback? Share it! Opens in a new window
Atlanta Marriott Century Center/Emory Area2000 Century Blvd NE Atlanta GA 30345
Hotel Amenities
Hotel Amenities
Atlanta Marriott Century Center/Emory Area features an outdoor pool and a fitness center. The hotel offers a restaurant, a coffee shop/café, and a snack bar/deli. A bar/lounge is on site where guests can unwind with a drink. Public areas are equipped with complimentary high-speed wireless Internet access.
Business-related amenities at this 3.5-star property consist of a business center and meeting rooms. Event facilities measuring 25000 square feet (2323 square meters) include conference space. This business-friendly hotel also offers gift shops/newsstands, concierge services, and complimentary newspapers in the lobby. Onsite self parking is complimentary.
Atlanta Marriott Century Center/Emory Area is a smoke-free property.
- 24-hour front desk
- ATM/banking
- Bar/lounge
- Breakfast available (surcharge)
- Business center
- Coffee shop or café
- Free newspapers in lobby
- Concierge services
- Conference space
- Conference space size (feet) - 25000
- Conference space size (meters) - 2323
- Dry cleaning/laundry service
- Elevator/lift
- Express check-out
- Fitness facilities
- Free self parking
- Free WiFi
- Gift shops or newsstand
- Laundry facilities
- Luggage storage
- Meeting rooms 16
- Number of floors - 15
- Number of meeting rooms - 16
- Outdoor pool
- Outdoor seasonal pool
- Porter/bellhop
- Restaurant
- Safe-deposit box at front desk
- Shopping on site
- Smoke-free property
- Snack bar/deli
- Television in common areas
- Total number of rooms - 287
- Wedding services
Family Friendly Amenities
- Cribs/infant beds (complimentary)
- Free Wi-Fi
- Laundry facilities
- Outdoor pool
- Refrigerator (on request)
- Snack bar/deli
Available in all rooms: Wireless internet access ( USD 12.95 per day ), Wired internet access ( USD 12.95 per day )
Available in some public areas: Free WiFi
Free self parking
Room Amenities
- Air conditioning
- In-room climate control (air conditioning)
- Coffee/tea maker
- Free toiletries
- Free weekday newspaper
- Free cribs/infant beds
- Daily housekeeping
- Desk
- Hair dryer
- Iron/ironing board
- Pay movies
- Premium TV channels
- Private bathroom
- Refrigerator (on request)
- Room service (limited hours)
- Shower/tub combination
- Wired high-speed Internet access (surcharge)
- WiFi (surcharge)
Where to Eat
Buffet breakfasts are available for a surcharge.
Stackstone Grille - This restaurant specializes in American cuisine and serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The Stackstone Lounge - This restaurant specializes in American cuisine.
Century Cafe - This coffee shop serves breakfast only.
The Greatroom - This restaurant specializes in American cuisine and serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Room service (during limited hours) is available.
Nearby Things to Do
Recreational amenities at the hotel include an outdoor pool and a fitness center.
To make requests for specific accessibility needs, complete the "Special or Accessibility Requests" section of "Trip Preferences" when you book your hotel.
- Accessible bathroom
- In-room accessibility
- Roll-in shower
Hotel Policies
Check-in time starts at 3 PM
Check-out time is noon
Payment types
- Pets not allowed (service dogs only)
You need to know
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on hotel policy.
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card or cash deposit are required at check-in for incidental charges.
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges. Special requests cannot be guaranteed.
Only service dogs are allowed
Optional extras
- Fee for buffet breakfast: USD 18 per person (approximately)
- Fee for in-room wireless Internet: USD 12.95 per day (rates may vary)
- Fee for in-room high-speed Internet (wired): USD 12.95 per day (rates may vary)
Hotel Name
- Century Marriott
- Marriott Atlanta Area
- Marriott Atlanta Century Center/Emory Area
- Marriott Century
- Marriott Century Center/Emory
- Marriott Century Center/Emory Hotel
- Marriott Century Center/Emory Hotel Atlanta Area
- Atlanta Marriott Century Center/Emory Area Hotel
- Marriott Century Center/Emory Area Hotel
- Atlanta Marriott Century Center/Emory Area
- Marriott Century Center/Emory Area
- Atlanta Marriott Century Hotel Atlanta

subset: commoncrawl


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The Yakima WingRider 2 Towers is an aerodynamic rack that fits vehicles with factory or Yakima Tracks and compliments today's aero automotive designs. These sleek aerodynamic towers...Continue Reading
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Category Archives Fun
To kick off this Christmas week, please join in and sing the following to the tune of "I'll be home for Christmas" by Bing Crosby.
"I'm laming out for the Holidays
You can count on it.
There won't be posts, or anything newâ¦
It's a present just for me.
Christmas Eve will find me
Far away from this blog
But I'll be back again next week
I'm off to watch TV"
That's right folks, I am totally "laming out" (laming rhymes with flaming) and kicking back and relaxing with the family. I'm not working, blogging,
breathing, eating, posting, no Grid episode, no guest blog Wednesday; just joyous rest, relaxation, the sounds of distorted guitars and explosions as I play Call of Duty between football games. So, take a brief moment to soak in all the wonder and magic that is the stock image with text I added in Photoshop, and then let's not think about any of this until next week? Deal? Deal!
Here's wishing you and your family a safe, happy, healthy holiday and all the joy His season can bring. :)
Merry Christmas!
-Scott, Braddo, and the entire crew here at KelbyOne
Hi gang, meet Julio. He's a little shy in the video above (after all, it's just his first day), but he's an awesome guy (we've been working with him for about a year – he helps out on complex shoots and assists the instructors that come here with location shoots and stuff while they're taping classes for KelbyOne). He's an event/portrait photographer himself, and he's joining our team full-time as chief editor, fancy-pants blog specialist, and big kahuna of content on the just-launched KelbyOne blog, where you'll find him every day bringing' the love.
Julio's job is to make the KelbyOne blog incredibly awesome! He's going to make it packed full of cool content on Photoshop, Lightroom and Photography; he's going to tell us what's going on in the biz each day, he's bringing cool guests, breaking news, reviews, whatever's going on â" he's totally going to be on top of it. Plus, he has really awesome hair (rivaling the finely-tuned fro of Jared Polin, which is not an easy thing to do).
If you get a chance, stop by the K1 blog, or just leave him a shout-out here. Thanks for helping us welcome Julio (you can follow him on Twitter at @julifro) and we look forward to him sharing
his hair care secrets his freshly starched ideas with us all.
Have an awesome Tuesday everybody, and we'll see you back here tomorrow for Guest Blog Wednesday.
P.S. Joe McNally is our in-studio guest tomorrow at 4pm live on "The Grid."
OK, my buddy Jeff Cable (he's a sports photographer and works with Lexar), does this "Jeff's Favorite Things" big giveaway every year, and he's giving away a ton of stuff again this year â" everything from a Wacom Intuos Pro tablet to a Canon 70D camera, to a DJI Phantom 2 Drone to a Sigma lens and a whole bunch more (including some of my books).
Anyway, he's got 36 prizes in all and he'll draw 36 winners starting on December 12th, so it's worth checking out. Here's the link to enter.
Here's a list of what Jeff is giving away this year:
- DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ Drone
- Canon 70D DSLR camera with 18-135mm IS STM lens
- Canon PIXMA Pro-1 Printer
- Wacom Intuos Pro Medium
- Drobo 5D
- 32GB Lexar Professional 1066x CF Card or 32GB 600x Lexar Professional SD card (2 prizes)
- Sigma 50mm 1.4 lens
- Lexar HR-1 Workflow Solution w/ 2 Readers
- Gitzo GM5561T 6x Carbon Fiber Monopod
- Photo Mechanic software (2 prizes)
- One year subscriptions to Zenfolio (2 prizes)
- Scott Kelby Autographed Books - "The Digital Photography Book, Part 5: Photo Recipes" (5 prizes) and "Lightroom 5 book" (2 prizes)
- KelbyOne: One year full memberships (2 prizes)
- LowePro ProRunner 450AW Backpack
- JOBY Suction Cup (2 prizes)
- Epson R2000 printer with Velvet Fine Art paper (8—10), 5—7 pack and 4—6 pack of photo glossy paper
- FotoFusion Extreme software (2 prizes)
- B&H $100 gift certificates (2 prizes)
- Acratech GP Ball Head with lever clamp and a Swift Clamp
- M&M Photo Tours - $750 credit on one of their International photo trips
- BlackRapid straps - CrossShot strap, Sport strap, Yeti strap (3 prizes)
- Western Digital - My Passport for Mac 500GB drives (2 prizes) and a My Passport Wireless Drive 1TB
Today in the U.S. we celebrate Thanksgiving; a national holiday where we give thanks for the many blessings we enjoy (and I truly feel like the most blessed guy on earth). Traditionally this is a day where families come together to eat a Thanksgiving turkey feast, and then we watch football until we pass out. It's just about a perfect day.
Our offices are closed today for Thanksgiving, but I'll be back here tomorrow with some insane deals on all our stuff in honor of the biggest shopping day of the year (known as Black Friday).
In the meantime, please enjoy the stock image above (nothing brings the warmth, togetherness, and joy of Thanksgiving together like a stock image with soft cushiony letters).
In all seriousness, here's wishing you and your family a joyous, happy, and yummy Thanksgiving.
All my best,
Welcome to my "9th Annual Gonzo Holiday Gear Guide" (yes, last year I brought the "Gonzo" back after a brief break because just calling it a "Holiday Gear Guide" lacked that certain, I dunno, "gonzoness.") So, I now bring you the blog-version of my "Gonzo Holiday Gear Guide" (which appears in the current issue of Photoshop User magazine, seen above) whose light burns brighter than a thousand suns (insert dramatic pause here), featuring an unbridled collection of 100% absolutely necessary gear that there's no way we can see clear to live another minute of our hopeless, desperate lives without. (I gotta tell ya, you have to search far and wide to find any holiday gear guide that uses the terms "hopeless" and "desperate" in the opening paragraph, which is more irrefutable proof that this guide truly stands alone.)
Before we get to the list, remember that the holidays aren't about which gifts you get. They're about how many gifts you get, and the person who dies with the most gifts wins. (By the way, you can now add "dies" to "hopeless" and "desperate," making this the most riveting of all gear guides ever!) Okay, folks, watch your Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung, because here we go!
These are my self-imposed guidelines for which products make it into the guide. It's just two rules actually. First, to be listed here they have to be products that I use myself, and that I absolutely love, and now can't live without (well, I could live without them, but I wouldn't want to). Second, if a product makes the guide, it has to be one I would recommend to a close friend without hesitation, especially if my friend is a personal injury attorney (kidding).
Gear Guide Categories:
In sacred Gonzo tradition, I'm breaking things into three distinct categories:
1: Stocking Stuffers (You can also use these as actual holiday gifts if you're not that crazy about the person.)
2: Great Value Gear (Stuff that's a really good deal for not a lot of money, but he or she will totally dig it.)
3: Cha-ching! (Stuff you buy for the doctor/lawyer/rap mogul on your holiday gift list. This is the stuff that makes them burst into spontaneous tears of joy. Well, at least I would.)
Really Nice Photo Paper
Really Nice Photo Paper
Starting at around $11.99
Remote Shutter Release (Wireless or Wired)
Remote Shutter Release
Starting at around $18
Spare Battery
Spare Battery
Starting at around $40
Collapsible Rubber Lens Hood
Starting at $4.95
Some Cool Books
Night Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots
Landscape Photography Workflow Using Lightroom and Photoshop
The Digital Photography Book Part 5
Picture Perfect Posing
Starting at $9.99
Macphun Tonality Pro
Macphun Tonality Pro
Think Tank Photo Airport Roller Derby
MagMod Modular Flash Modifiers
Starting at $89
BlackRapid CURVE (RS-7) Strap
Cactus Wireless Flash Transceiver V5
$74.95 for two
SmugMug Portfolio
SmugMug Portfolio
Starting at $40/year
3 Legged Thing Punks - VYV Magnesium Alloy Tripod & Airhed
Battery Grip
Battery Grip
Starting at $49.95
MPIX Modern Metal Print
MPIX Modern Metal Print
Starting at $33.99
B&H Gift Card
B&H Gift Card
Starting at $20
Westcott Zeppelin
Westcott Zeppelin
Starting at $399.90
Lightroom + Photoshop CC Photography Bundle
Profoto B1 500 AirTTL
Profoto B1 500 AirTTL
Synology NAS (Network Attached Storage) Backup
Starting at around $380
Canon EOS 7D Mark II
Canon EOS 7D Mark II
Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-f/6.3 Di VC PZD (for Full-Frame DSLRs)
DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ Copter
A One-Year KelbyOne Membership
$249/year; $25/month
Corey Barker's Photoshop Down & Dirty Tricks for Designers, Volume II
Treat Them to a Live Seminar
KelbyOne Seminars
Starting at $89; $79 per person for groups of five or more
Treat Them to Photoshop World Vegas
Photoshop World Vegas
Starting at $599


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Welcome to RPGFan's Roundtable 2007! This Roundtable's topic? Eastern Vs. Western RPGs, the similarities and differences between the two types, and whether or not there can be an "ideal" RPG that incorporates all the distinct qualities of typical Western and Eastern RPGs. Members on our panel discussion include Eric Farand (RPGFan Editor-In Chief), Patrick Gann (Chief Soundtracks Editor), Damian Thomas (Chief Reviews Editor), and Mark P. Tjan (Previews Editor).
Tales from the Borderlands July 31 • 9:00am PDT/12:00pm EDT
Sword Coast Legends Aug 7 • 9:00am PDT/12:00pm EDT
Breath of Fire IV Continues! Every Monday • 5:00pm PDT/8:00pm EDT
Star Wars: KotOR Continues! Coming soon...


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TAFE NSW Degrees
TAFE NSW degrees are nationally accredited higher education programs. Our degrees have strong industry links, are student-focused and develop both practical skills and theoretical knowledge.
Applications for Semester 1 2017 intake will open shortly. Applications forms will be available on the Applying and Fees page.
Please note that courses will only run subject to minimum enrolment numbers being met.


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What We're Reading This Week: July 29
American Educational Research Association: "The difficulties faced by indigenous learners and their communities can be conceived of as a 'perfect storm' and threaten to destroy the timeless treasures of humanity that are indigenous knowledge systems."
The Conversation: "[Zero-tolerance] laws, though supposedly neutral with regard to race, are disproportionately impacting students of color."
Disability Scoop: "'The failure to provide needed services to students with disabilities can result in serious social, emotional and educational harm.'"
EdSource: "These volatile times call for helping teachers learn how to promote constructive discussions of charged issues with all their classes. Whether planned or not, these issues will get raised, if not by teachers, then by their students."
The Hechinger Report: "With many experts finding little correlation between passing an exit exam and finding success in college or the job market, some states are looking for alternatives."
Panama City News Herald: "'They suspended him for craziness. ... '"
The Unwritten Record: "Just as Margaret Chase Smith's political career was coming to an end, Shirley Chisholm launched her own historic run for the White House."
U.S. News & World Report: "... [I]f children aren't being exposed to diversity, how are they expected to thrive in a diverse society?"
The Washington Post: "'... [L]egally and culturally, we've come to accept segregation once again.'"
If you come across a current article or blog you think other educators should read, please send it to email@example.com , and put "What We're Reading This Week" in the subject line.
Where Scholars Disagree: How SCOTUS Influenced the Civil Rights Movement
In units on the civil rights movement, U.S. Supreme Court rulings in cases such as Brown v. Board are often central to student learning. But how many students also learn that scholars are divided on the role of the Supreme Court in the movement? Some, like Robert Jerome Glennon, have argued that "historians of the civil rights movement have not paid sufficient attention to the critical role played by the legal system in sometimes helping, other times hindering, but always affecting the pace and character of the struggle for racial equality." At the same time, others, like Michael Klarman, maintain that "[c]ourt decisions … cannot fundamentally transform a nation. The justices are too much products of their time and place to launch social revolutions."
It's worth educators visiting this debate in the classroom. The story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott is an especially telling example of this historical problem and a good starting point for building students' understanding. Specifically, it opens up questions about the different methods and impacts of court decisions and grassroots activism.
The boycott, which officially began shortly after Rosa Parks' arrest in December 1955, lasted for 381 days, during which protesters actively sought concessions from the city of Montgomery. These protesters demonstrated collective resolve in the face of intense resistance. About two months in, though, the city showed no signs of giving in; in fact, opposition to the boycott was increasing. For example, on January 31, 1956, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s home was bombed by white supremacists intent on sending a message to the emerging leader of the then-nascent civil rights movement. If anything, the boycott's early success was more in rallying support—and ratcheting up opposition and fear—than in actually ending segregation.
Civil rights leaders realized they needed to mount a parallel legal challenge to segregation on the buses. With Rosa Parks' case mired in the city court system, attorney Fred Gray filed Browder v. Gayle based on the experiences of four black Montgomery women—Aurelia Browder, Mary Louise Smith, Claudette Colvin and Susan McDonald—who had all been mistreated on city buses. The case worked its way through the court system. When the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs (in a ruling authored by Frank Johnson, who would later uphold the marching rights of Selma marchers), the city appealed, putting the case before the federal Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the boycott had grown into a mass movement, demonstrating, according to Klarman, "that tens of thousands of ordinary black southerners, united across class lines, were fed up with the racial status quo and were prepared to fight it, even at the cost of extreme personal hardship, incarceration, and threatened injury and death."
But what actually transformed that status quo? For scholars, educators and students alike, considering this kind of cause-and-effect question means thinking carefully about the actual mechanisms of change as well as the goals and ambitions of the civil rights movement.
The bus boycott lasted over a year, and in that time, city officials repeatedly found ways to oppose the changes sought by reformers. Glennon has argued that there was, in the fall of 1956, "no evidence to suggest that the bus boycott was about to succeed in integrating the bus system, absent judicial intervention. On the contrary, it appears that the boycott would shortly have ended and that the buses would have remained segregated."
In November 1956, Montgomery officials had filed for an injunction that would potentially eliminate the taxi and shuttle system altogether, an outcome that could derail—or even end—the boycott. In fact, on November 12, as boycott leaders waited anxiously for the ruling on the injunction, King rallied his followers to "believe that a way will be made out of no way." He says in his memoir that he felt "the cold breeze of pessimism passing through the audience."
And then, on November 13, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the lower court's decision in Browder v. Gayle, legally ending racial segregation on public transportation in Alabama. Boycotters rejoiced, and an early, important victory for the civil rights movement was secured. One month later, on December 20, the ruling became official when it was served to city officials.
The nature of that victory, however, is up for debate. Desegregating the buses was a vital step in ending Jim Crow, yet some have argued that the greater significance of the boycott was in providing shape and direction to the emerging civil rights movement. When reached for an interview, Klarman leaned more toward this latter view, observing that "the larger story of the Montgomery [B]us [B]oycott was the extraordinary mobilization of tens of thousands of blacks in the Deep South to protest, at great personal inconvenience, the practice of bus segregation." He went on to suggest that "the benefits of that movement—educational, organizational, inspirational—would not have been lost had the buses not, in the end, been desegregated immediately." Still, the ruling in Browder v. Gayle continued the deconstruction of the legal basis for segregation and provided a legal exclamation point on the boycott's collective action success.
It might be best to view these developments as intertwined and to teach them as such. The Court's ruling was undoubtedly shaped by the growing clamor against Jim Crow, which was fomented by the strength and persistence of the boycott as well as the newly articulated vision of the civil rights movement leadership. At the same time, the Court's ruling also legitimized the boycott and gave shape and direction to subsequent action—both social and legal—against Jim Crow. In the classroom, learning about these intertwined developments build students' historical thinking skills and help them gain a deeper appreciation for the transformational power of the movement.
Gold is a seventh- and eighth-grade history teacher at Moses Brown School in Providence, Rhode Island.
Small Stories With Superpowers
"Gotta know how to save people."
"And fight evil!"
"You need special superpowers."
"A cape and tights!"
I stood before an easel and chart paper, rapidly recording the eager responses of my third-grade students as they generated a growing list of answers to the question, "What does a superhero need to be successful?" It was our weekly Say Something Do Something meeting, and there was energy in the air. Spring had finally arrived, and I was pleased to recognize that, for the most part, the third-graders in my class had become a strong community of learners. The idea of creating their own superheroes to protect our beloved school was captivating to the soon-to-be fourth-graders.
Each week, one period in every classroom of our school is dedicated to the implementation of a district-mandated anti-bullying curriculum. In these Say Something Do Something Meetings, students in grades K-8 engage in teacher-led discussions and activities designed to develop a common language and provide explicit instruction in an effort to address and prevent bullying behavior. While the curriculum is generally sound, accessible and age appropriate, the lessons have at times felt a bit hollow, without the presence of real-life stories, our own stories. So when I read "Behind the Shield," a Teaching Tolerance interview with Vishavjit Singh, I was excited to have found a story and perspective that I felt certain would resonate with my students and provide a solid framework worthy of consideration.
Singh drew cartoons that told the stories and experiences of Sikhs in the United States. Who doesn't love cartoons? Eventually, Singh even donned tights and branded a shield to become Sikh Captain America in an effort to tell his story to a wider audience. Students sighed audibly at the part of the story when Singh, overcome with misgivings at his skinny stature said, "Man, this is not going to work." Then, they cheered loudly when his wife countered, "If you're going to do Captain America, you go out as who you are." The tentative leap from small, ordinary person to powerful superhero seemed perfectly plausible and outrageously heroic all at the same time. The kids were hooked!
And so, armed with a list of superhero traits and a second list of school values they had deemed important, students got right to work creating original superheroes. Some had no difficulty whatsoever adding costumes and powers to renditions of themselves, while others struggled to find the hero within. Some sketched and drew their super character first, while others chose to write detailed descriptions or punchy dialogue. The conversation around the room flowed freely. The superheroes-in-the-making were vulnerable, rather small and remarkably full of power. They had names and feisty personalities. "Bully Freeman" stopped bullies in their tracks, made them listen to sound advice and sent the bullies home happier than before. "Writer Woman" used her powerful pencil to promote the kind of understanding that evolves into friendship. "Invisible Wondergirl" whispered strong, positive thoughts to give other girls courage in the face of bullies.
Singh says,
I think for a lot of kids and even adults, they might not realize it, but just by seeing [an] image on a poster or on a computer screen, it goes in our subconscious and it's like this new data point that creates a new universe where now we can envision a black Captain America or a turbaned, bearded Captain America. … It's a fictional image, but when we see it [there's] a real-life transformation.
At the end of every Say Something Do Something lesson, our class would compile a final list of new or changed thinking titled "Guess What I Think Now!" Below is the list we posted in the classroom following our superhero project:
- Beneath every superhero is an ordinary person.
- I have qualities in me that a superhero has.
- Once I create an image or story [about a superhero], the story I tell can have special superpowers.
- Telling our own stories and listening to other people's stories connect us and help us understand more about each other.
Fueled by their own experiences and the stories of real people like Singh, my third-grade students had the opportunity to gain new insights by creating superheroes meant to protect our school values and keep our community safe. If our fictional superheroes have the courage to say something or do something, perhaps the small, ordinary people beneath the cape and behind the shield will as well.
Hsu is a recently retired third-grade teacher who lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Dispelling Six Myths About Transgender Identity
Many misconceptions about transgender identity have flourished as states and municipalities across the country contemplate "bathroom bills." What often gets lost in the discussion is that transgender people go to the bathroom to relieve themselves, just like everyone else. The ideas that distract us from this basic fact of life are grounded in the following six myths. Educators committed to inclusion and safety for all students—including those who are transgender—can help by learning to separate misunderstanding from fact.
MYTH: Transgender-inclusive bathroom policies put non-transgender students at risk of sexual assault.
FACT: School districts all over the country—including Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest in the nation—have permitted transgender students to use restrooms consistent with their gender identity for years. Not one of these schools has seen an increase in incidence of sexual assault or other problems in bathrooms and locker rooms. Similarly, numerous states and municipalities have enacted transgender-inclusive laws and ordinances without any rise in sexual assault or violent crimes.
It is also important to note that transgender individuals are frequently the targets of sexual violence—not perpetrators. Half of transgender individuals are sexually abused or assaulted at some point in their lives.
Advocates for sexual assault and domestic violence survivors should follow the lead of the more than 250 sexual assault and domestic violence organizations that have opposed the passage of laws restricting transgender individuals' access to restrooms and other gender-segregated facilities. For example, according to the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women, "Forcing [transgender people] out of facilities consistent with the gender they live every day makes them vulnerable to assault."
MYTH: Permitting transgender individuals to use the restroom or locker room that matches their gender identity violates the privacy rights of non-transgender people.
FACT: This myth relies on two false assumptions. The first is that transgender individuals enter sex-segregated spaces looking for sexual gratification. The second is that seeing anatomical features typically associated with another gender violates privacy.
As discussed above, the first premise is factually incorrect. Transgender individuals, like everyone else, are simply using the locker room and restroom to shower, change clothes and go to the bathroom. Schools, municipalities and states that permit transgender individuals to use the facilities consistent with their gender identity report no increase in sexual assault or violent crimes.
The second premise—that seeing anatomical features typically associated with another gender violates your privacy—relies on an interpretation of privacy that exceeds its accepted meaning. Privacy is generally thought of as a right to keep certain information or aspects of ourselves from being disclosed. It is not a right to never see bodies that are unfamiliar or look different from one's own.
When people raise privacy as an argument for limiting transgender access to facilities, they're often revealing an emotional truth that many people share. Young people are told throughout their upbringing that their bodies are private, and they may not have previously seen bodies that are typically associated with another gender. When they do see bodies that look different from their own, they may be curious and ask questions that make adults uncomfortable. Do these students have a right to privacy? Yes. Do these students have the right to prevent others from using the facilities? No.
Most people agree that it's OK to have separate men's and women's locker rooms; permitting transgender people to use locker rooms consistent with their gender identity does not disturb this principle, as long as one accepts that transgender women are women and transgender men are men. And support for this idea is strong: Medical experts have explained that gender identity is the primary determinant of biological sex, along with chromosomes, hormones and internal and external reproductive anatomy.
Schools committed to inclusion and safety should allow any uncomfortable student—transgender or not—to have access to alternative restrooms or changing areas, as the federal government suggested in recent guidelines. In their Dear Colleague Letter on Transgender Students, released in May 2016, the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice state, "A school may not require transgender students to use facilities inconsistent with their gender identity or to use individual-user facilities when other students are not required to do so. A school may, however, make individual-user options available to all students who voluntarily seek additional privacy."
A related myth troubling some school leaders is that cisgender boys will exploit inclusive bathroom policies to harass girls. But this doesn't happen—school districts with inclusive restroom policies like the Los Angeles Unified School District have shown that. And, even if it did happen, the school's disciplinary or anti-harassment policy would apply, regardless of where the harassment took place.
MYTH: Transgender identity is a mental illness.
FACT: Transgender identity
is not a mental illness. The word transgender
describes a persistent and authentic difference between a person's gender
identity and the sex they were assigned at birth. For some individuals, this
difference results in pain, discomfort and distress.
The good news is transgender individuals can relieve this pain and discomfort through authentic expression of their gender. For some individuals, physical interventions such as hormone therapy aid in achieving a sense of well-being and authenticity. For others, wearing hairstyles and clothing that are more comfortable helps to alleviate distress.
Although transgender identity is not itself an illness, transgender people may experience mental health issues because of discrimination and disapproval. Some transgender young people lose friends, families or a place to sleep when they begin to live authentically. They may be subject to abuse at home, at school or in their communities. Years of surviving rejection and stigma can take their toll, causing anxiety, depression and other psychological disorders. But these illnesses do not cause—nor are they caused by—transgender identity. They result from social exclusion and stigma.
MYTH: Children aren't old enough to know their gender identity.
FACT: In reality, many children know their gender identity from a very young age. Rather than interrogate our young transgender children or students about their gender identity, we should support them and encourage them to explore this facet of their identity.
When youth begin to express a desire for medical interventions, it is recommended that parents or guardians take their child to medical and mental healthcare professionals who have experience working with children and adolescents who identify as transgender. These professionals may recommend fully or partially reversible medical interventions such as puberty blockers or hormone therapy if children insistently, consistently and persistently express a gender identity that differs from their assigned sex. A variety of interdisciplinary gender identity clinics exist all over the country to holistically serve these young people. In addition, emerging research suggests that social transition "may be associated with better mental outcomes among transgender children."
MYTH: Transgender women are not "real" women, or transgender men are not "real" men.
FACT: Designating individuals' gender identity as "real" or not reflects a lack of understanding about the difference between gender identity and assigned sex. Gender identity refers to a person's deep-seated, internal sense of being male, female or another gender. Gender identity is the primary determinant of biological sex, along with a number of other factors including chromosomes, hormones and internal and external reproductive anatomy.
A person's gender identity can differ from the sex a doctor designated on the birth certificate (assigned sex) or the way they were raised. This difference gives rise to a transgender identity.
It's common for people unfamiliar with gender identity and assigned sex to insist that there is no difference; however, scientists, psychologists, advocates and educators who have studied gender for decades offer clear evidence that, for some individuals, there is a difference, and that difference is beyond individual control.
Ultimately, we should honor individuals as they identify themselves to us. The alternative causes harm by perpetuating stigma, negative stereotypes and essentialist notions of gender.
MYTH: Someone is not transgender unless they medically transition.
FACT: People can be transgender even if they don't take hormones and even if they haven't had surgery. For some people, gender-affirming healthcare such as hormones or surgery is necessary to achieve a sense of well-being and authenticity. Other transgender people do not require any gender-affirming healthcare in order to live authentically. For still others, gender-affirming healthcare may be unaffordable or advised against by a medical professional.
Transgender individuals often face serious barriers to high-quality, affordable, culturally competent healthcare. Many transgender people avoid seeing medical providers for fear of discrimination, and half report having to teach their doctors about transgender care. Especially in light of these barriers, it is inappropriate and inaccurate to judge the legitimacy of someone's transgender status based on what medical interventions have been performed.
Although some transgender people do not medically transition, it is not merely cosmetic for those who do. For many people who are transgender, medical transition is an integral part of living an authentic and happy life. In fact, numerous courts have held that gender-affirming healthcare is medically necessary.
Be an Ally
These myths survive only so long as non-transgender people fail to educate themselves and others about the facts. Be an ally to transgender individuals by offering these truths in response to misperceptions you hear among students and staff. Together, we can strengthen the fabric of our community by ensuring all individuals are valued for who they are.
Mula is an Equal Justice Works Fellow sponsored by the Mansfield Family Foundation.
A Teachable Moment on Gender Fluidity
Several months ago, I spoke to a group of students at Metro Montessori Middle School in Portland, Oregon, about my life as a gender-fluid person, an immigrant and a person of color. At first, the youth were shy. After all, it was 8 a.m. and my coffee hadn't kicked in yet, so I was kind of in the same boat.
But it didn't take long for us to break the ice and have an amazing conversation.
Many of the youth had never heard the term gender fluid, but that didn't stop them from asking questions and being engaged. We talked about everything from the umbrella term queer to my own gender expression journey.
They asked, "What was it like being gay in Jamaica?" "When did you know you were gender fluid?" "What is the difference between transgender and gender fluid?" And "How did your friends and family respond to you coming out as gender fluid?"
At the end of the session, the students left me with a new sense of purpose and a hope that their generation will have greater understanding for people like me.
The next day, their teacher forwarded me an email from a parent that I will never forget. The email reads:
H. throws backpack into back of car and hops into front seat.
Me: Hi Love, good day? Today was OWL, yes?
H.: Yes, Mom.
Me: How were this week's guests?
H.: Guest.
Me: I thought there were going to be three transgender guests, each talking about their experience.
H.: Nope, only one.
Me: Who was it?
H.: Giovanni.
Me: Tell me about Giovanni.
H.: He's from Jamaica but has been living here for a while.
Me: And he's trans?
H.: No Mom. Giovanni is gender fluid.
Me: OK, how is that different than trans? You might have to explain that to me
H.: (turns up the radio)
Me: (turns down the radio) Seriously, help me here.
H.: Gender fluid means you don't identify or feel like any one specific gender.
Me: Whereas trans…
H.: You feel a specific gender but your body may not be that.
Me: Got it. Thanks. I'll stop for now.
H.: (sarcastic) Thank you, Mom.
(Quiet driving moment)
Me: So…can a gender-fluid person be gay, straight or are they also sexually fluid?
H.: (exasperated) MOM!!!! (turns up radio)
Me: (turns down radio) I want to understand.
H.: They are queer.
Me: Isn't queer, gay?
H.: No. It's different.
Me: How?
H.: MOM!!! You're so annoying.
Me: I prefer curious.
(We arrive at practice, H. gets out of car as quick as he can)
Me: (shouting through window) Thanks, H.. I'm glad you can help me here.
H.: (sarcastic, walking away) That's great Mom. Goodbye.
(Later that night, after dinner…)
H.: (hands me his phone open to Instagram and @iamgiovanni who had posted a photo and a few words about his visit to MMM) This is Giovanni, check it out, he posted his visit today…
Me: Cool. Seems like a nice guy.
H.: Yea.
H. showing me @iamgiovanni was a big deal. It meant that Giovanni connected with him enough that H. sought him out on Instagram. And by sharing it with me, I knew our 7-minute car ride conversation mattered.
I never expected this outcome. Who would know that H. would later become the teacher, educating his parent using his own succinct explanation of gender identity and sexual orientation—not something he got from slideshows or pamphlets, but just from an open and honest dialogue?
In the LGBT advocacy realm, there's a common theme "to change
hearts and minds." Too often, we forget some of the most important hearts and
minds we're shaping belong to youth. There's a lot they can teach us, and
there's a lot we can teach them.
Resources for Educators
Metro Montessori Middle School fosters a community where students can understand, embrace and celebrate their differences. This space creates the opportunity for students to learn and to take those lessons into the world. For educators wanting to follow Metro's lead, here are three resources.
A school play for K-5 students, Why Frogs and Snakes Never Play Together, tells a story of friendship. Two groups of young frogs and snakes cross paths and become friends. After sharing the good news with their parents, they were forbidden to ever play together again.
OWL (Our Whole Lives), the resource used by Metro, is a lifespan sexuality education curriculum anchored in respect for differences in gender expression, sexual orientation and culture.
A project of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, Welcoming Schools offers a trans-inclusive set of tools, lessons and resources made to create more welcoming elementary schools.
McKenzie is the founder of Queer Intersections Force and serves as a youth ambassador for the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.


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Head & Shoulders Classic Clean 2 in 1 Anti-Dandruff Shampoo
£5.00 (£1.12 per 100ml)
Brand Price Match - Checked Tesco.com 25/07/2016
Product Summary
Head & Shoulders 2in1 anti-dandruff shampoo & conditioner Classic Clean with it's conditioning system is expertly formulated to thoroughly clean and condition without build-up, leaving your hair soft and shiny. Also try Head & Shoulders Classic Clean shampoo.
Please note that whilst we take every care to ensure the product information displayed on our website is correct, product recipes are regularly changed and this may affect nutrition and allergen information therefore you should always check product labels and not rely solely on the information presented here.If you require specific advice on any Waitrose branded product, please contact Customer Support on 0800 188884 or email firstname.lastname@example.com. For all other products, please contact the manufacturer.This information is supplied for personal use only. It may not be reproduced in any way whatsoever without the prior consent of Waitrose Limited nor without due acknowledgement.


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Only Fools and 3 CoursesToday
Join us for the Dinner event of the year, which combines fine food and Comedy action, served up ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES style.
Sheffield Oktoberfest 201603/08/2016
This year, the Oktoberfest in Sheffield has gone especially Oktoberfest-mad! Entrance is free on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. There will be a £5 entrance fee on the busy Saturday.
Tockwith & District Agricultural Show07/08/2016
Tockwith & District Agricultural Show. Sunday 7th August. A great day out for all the family from 8.30 am to 5pm.
Tribfest Music Festival 201618/08/2016
Tribfest is the world's biggest tribute band festival, now in its 10th year!
Yorkshire Whisky Festival10/09/2016
The oldest Whisky Festival in the UK outside of London returns.
Sparkling Wine and Champagne Tasting in York13/09/2016
The world of sparkling wines is getting bigger all the time- from fruity, fun Italian Prosecco to rich biscuity Champagne there is a big range of styles and prices to select from. But how are they different? Is one better value than the others and which one do you like best?
Sparkling Wine and Champagne Tasting in York13/09/2016
A night to indulge in all things bubbly and beautiful! Join us at Yorkshire Wine School for a decadent evening comparing Prosecco, Champagne, English Fizz and more.


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Detroit's New Activist Generation


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The Beercycling ExperienceSeptember 3, 2015 - Dan Rabin
Beercycling was founded in 2011 by Evan Cohan, a Portland, Oregon-based systems administrator and, not surprisingly, a beer and cycling devotee. Before the Beercycling concept had taken root, Cohan's appreciation of Belgian ales had prompted a biking pilgrimage to Belgium, where "I just fell in love with the country," explains the adventure-loving 33-year-old. "The business... View Article