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A business parable that teaches the value of cultivating multiple streams of income—the surest, most achievable means of creating generational wealth.The Honey Bee tells the story of Noah—a disappointed, disaffected salesman who feels like his life is going nowhere until the day he has a chance encounter with a man named Tom Barnham, the beekeeper. In his charming, down-home way, Tom the “Bee Man” teaches Noah and his wife Emma how to grow their personal wealth using the lessons he learned from his beekeeping passion.Full of concrete lessons delivered through chapter after chapter of engaging vignettes, each of which includes actionable advice for new or aspiring entrepreneurs. Workbook-style sections at the end of each chapter help bring the lessons home, including questions to help you apply the lessons to your own business, and links to rich digital resources for even more information on how to get started creating your own multiple streams of income.

You’ve got yourself a startup! But now where’s the funding going to come from?In this day and age, creating a startup seems to be an easy process. After some meetings with an equally passionate cofounder, you discover you have a creative idea, the outline of a business plan, and a willingness to spend nights and weekends doing really hard work. But most startup founders have never run a company—much less had to secure funding to reach crucial milestones. If you don’t get the funding you need, you may either make progress at a snail’s pace, or you may have to give up altogether.With stakes this high, improving a startup founder’s odds of fundraising successfully—even just a little—can make a huge difference in the outcome of a venture. In this informative and enlightening book, Gordon Daugherty demystifies the fundraising process that takes place during the early phases of a startup’s evolution.Every founder cares about the valuation they will be able to negotiate with investors, and anyone who has attempted fundraising has encountered numerous debates about the valuation they’re asking for. Startup Success dedicates a whole chapter to negotiating valuation, which, in the end, involves a serious combination of art and science to execute effectively.Daugherty’s book serves as a valuable educational and planning tool for use before the fundraising campaign begins and a reference guide for interacting and negotiating with investors after things get underway. Startup Success is written in a logical sequence that follows the general life cycle of planning and executing a successful fundraising campaign. Actionable tips, tricks, and aha realizations will have readers dog-earing pages and highlighting passages for future reference. The author’s own words tell it all: “I decided to write something different that best exploits the gray in my hair and the hard lessons I’ve learned.” Any startup founder, advisor, or angel investor—regardless of their experience level—will come away with improved skills and an increased knowledge base.Gordon Daugherty is a seasoned business executive, entrepreneur, startup advisor, and investor. He has made more than 200 investments in early-stage companies as a venture fund manager and angel investor, and he has been involved in raising more than $80 million in growth and venture capital.

The Life You Want is Closer Than You ThinkOur wild world is, in many ways, backward and upside down; we've created a culture that supports poor health, loneliness, stress, emotional angst, and polarity. But buckle your seatbelt. Laurie Warren is a change agent, kicking our limiting "common but not normal" cultural mores to the curb and working to shift both our personal and societal approach in favor of empowered well-being.Wild World, Joyful Heart is both a rally cry and a guidebook for attaining the physical, emotional, and mental health that you deeply desire. Will you use your mind as a bridge or a barrier? This question is the thread that you'll follow through Laurie's extensive research, clinical experience, and unique storytelling style to create better health and more joy in your everyday life. This book is an invitation to bravely inhabit your life in a whole new way-while your joy, contentment, and wholeness reverberate out to stitch up our wounded world.

Perry Robins, MD, saved our skin-literally.The world-renowned surgeon took on an enemy of unimaginable power: the sun. At a time when most people worshipped a sun-kissed glow, the medical techniques and messages Dr. Robins promoted had the power to affect every human being on the planet.Born in Newark during the Great Depression, Perry Robins never had it easy, but he always made the best of it. Struggling in school with dyslexia and grueling part-time jobs, being drafted by the Army and sent overseas-none of the obstacles life threw his way could slow him down.After his medical training from Germany to NYU, Dr. Robins studied a type of skin cancer surgery invented by Frederic Mohs, MD, at the University of Wisconsin. He brought the technique back to NYU and established the first fellowship program in Mohs surgery. Despite resistance, Dr. Robins upended conventional wisdom in the medical community by showing dermatologists that they could be skin cancer surgeons.Today, about 40 percent of all doctors who specialize in Mohs surgery were either trained by Dr. Robins or by the doctors he trained. The Skin Cancer Foundation he founded and helped raise millions for continues to spread his message, educating the public on skin cancer and the dangers of sun exposure.

The gripping story of Gracianna—a French-Basque girl forced to make impossible decisions after being recruited into the French Resistance in Nazi-occupied ParisGracianna is inspired by true events in the life of Trini Amador’s great-grandmother, Gracianna Lasaga. As an adult, Amador was haunted by the vivid memory of finding a loaded German Luger tucked away in a nightstand while wandering his great-grandmother’s home in Southern California. He was only four years old at the time, but the memory remained and he knew he had to explore the story behind the gun.Decades later, Amador would delve into the remarkable odyssey of his Gracianna’s past, a road that led him to an incredible surprise. In Gracianna, Amador weaves fact and fiction to tell his great-grandmother’s storyGracianna bravely sets off to Paris in the early 1940s—on her way to America, she hopes—but is soon swept into the escalation of the war and the Nazi occupation of Paris.  After chilling life-and-death struggles, she discovers that her missing sister has surfaced as a laborer in Auschwitz. When she finds an opportunity to fight back against the Nazis to try to free her sister, she takes it—even if it means using lethal force.As Amador tells the imagined story of how his great-grandmother risked it all, he delivers richly drawn characters and a heart-wrenching page-turner that readers won’t soon forget. 

This third book in Jane Marlow’s Petrovo Series brims with pathos, poignancy, and humor.In the mid-1800s, naïve fifteen-year-old Anna finds herself pregnant out of wedlock and is banished from her tiny Russian village of Petrovo. The homeless, illiterate girl makes her way to Moscow, only to discover that the city’s frozen streets are filled with women as destitute and vulnerable as she is. Lacking other options, young Anna follows their example and accepts a yellow ticket—the government’s license to work as a prostitute. She takes up residence in a brothel, whose veneer of faded magenta silk, flaking gold leaf, and faux diamonds disguises the age-old perils of disease, unwanted pregnancy, and savage abuse that will mark her future.Anna eventually comes to grips with the realization that she must escape from her life as a prostitute before she either meets a premature death or becomes a used-up whore living in the city’s cockroach- and maggot-filled gutters. With an indomitable spirit and the help of three men (a grandpa intent upon bringing revolution to Russia, a young accountant who views life from a wheel chair, and a wealthy banker who rekindles her deeply buried dreams), she embarks on a most unusual path to a new life.

Four Centuries of Speculation and Commodity MarketsFrom Tulips to Bitcoins is a fascinating look at big events in commodity and crypto markets from the Dutch Tulip Mania to Bitcoins today. It covers the Silver Thursday and the Hunt Brothers, the doom of Amaranth Advisors and Brian Hunter, Copper and the Congo, Gold, Rare Earths, Energy Metals, and Bitcoins, which rose from below 1,000 USD to above 20,000 USD within a year. These markets are on a crossroad of investing mega trends like demographics, climate change, electrification, and digitalization. By studying and learning from our past, we can make better decisions about the future. As Benjamin Franklin said, "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest."

Renew Your Passionate SelfIn Brilliant Burnout, Nisha Jackson reveals proven and successful testing and treatment strategies, with step-by-step instructions for optimal hormone, brain, and body balance and compelling insights that have helped women all around the world change their lives and step up their game. Learn and use the very tactics explained in this book to beat the big snooze of burning out!

Izzy's trying to cope with life, love, and loneliness, but her fast life in Houston is rapidly spinning out of control. So when the twenty-three-year-old American takes a job at an international resort in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, she hopes her old life is behind her at last-and with it, all the self-doubts and insecurities that have plagued her since childhood. She's wondering if she'll be able to survive in a new job in a strange country, but for now, the city's breathtaking ocean views by day and sexy club scenes by night look like paradise. Happy and energized by the unfamiliar sights and sounds of her surroundings, Izzy sets out to prove herself in the Spanish-speaking office. Soon she's making strides at work, partying with new acquaintances, and all the while gaining confidence as she successfully navigates the local culture (and the men in it). But soon the lines start to blur in paradise. Izzy misses her family and her boyfriend back home; she senses her new friends may be ignoring her; and when she travels for work, she feels insecure and out of place. Her self-esteem takes a hit. Confusion and disorientation set in. Returning to old habits-drinking, partying hard, and looking for love with strangers-Izzy is feeling more alone than ever. When an office gaffe threatens to ruin her much-anticipated trip home for Christmas, Izzy is forced to take stock: Was the whole move to Mexico a mistake? Can she find a way to get her career-and her life-back on track? In this poignant, funny, and edgy coming-of-age story, debut author Danielle Ledezma shows us that there's strength in being vulnerable, it's all right not to be perfect, and most of all, we have to learn to love ourselves before we can truly love anyone else. Danielle Ledezma was raised in San Antonio, Texas, and attended the University of Texas at Austin. She currently lives in Texas with her husband, Pedro, and their two fur babies, Cali and Cole.

Drawing from his thirty years of entrepreneurial experience, his friendship with Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., and years of self-motivated study, Jack Kahl reveals the true spirit of leadership. In 1971, Kahl made the investment of a lifetime: he bought a small, Cleveland company with revenues of just $800,000, renamed the company Manco, Inc., and began creating one of the most exciting business stories ever. By the time Kahl retired in 2000, the company was selling consumer products to the best retailers around the globe and had achieved revenues of more than $300 million. He sold the company in 1998, sharing 30% of the wealth -- some $27 million -- with his partners, a title long held by every Manco employee. With Leading From the Heart, Kahl brings a unique and powerful lesson to all aspiring leaders: leadership begins with a choice -- a choice to serve others that comes from the heart.

Inspiring and Authentic! Boring and Incomprehensible! Which of these phrases best describes your speech presentations? Lisa Kleiman is a speaking consultant with a passion for communication. She has coached hundreds of individuals and facilitated classes, workshops, and seminars across the globe. In You Got This, she shares her secrets about stepping out in front of any group and successfully delivering your message with clarity, confidence, and authenticity. Filled with worksheets and helpful tips, You Got This helps you prepare for every possibility-from big picture issues like determining your audience to the smallest details, such as the clothes you'll wear. Lisa's easy-to-use guide gives you all the tools you need to present a speech that delivers, including the following-• Managing speech anxiety• Planning, speech writing, and practicing• Strategies to becoming a better presenter • Knowing when and how to smoothly adapt your message during your speech• Effectively planning, managing, and addressing audience questions • Speaking authentically and using humor effectively• And more! Not just for formal speeches, You Got This also includes advice for employment interviews, wedding toasts, and other impromptu speeches that everybody encounters at some point in their lives. Say goodbye to the often incapacitating stress of public speaking. With these practical and strategic guidelines, you will triumph every time! Recent graduates just starting out in their careers and repeat veteran speakers who continually struggle with crafting impactful presentations will want this must-read on their bookshelves.

Lead your most important team (your kids) with integrity, honor, and love.There are no bad teams (i.e., kids). There are only less-than-perfect leaders (i.e., parents). So says former fighter pilot and parent of four, retired US Navy Captain "Brick" Conners. Conners believes good leadership drives every successful outcome, and good parenting is no different. As a Navy Strike Fighter Pilot, Brick amassed over 4500 hours and over 1000 carrier landings during multiple combat deployments. So he understands all too well the critical importance of leadership in enabling those under his command to take off and return safely. Every parent wants the same: to have our children take off into the world and its adventures, but to return home safely at the end of the day.Conners links thrilling life-and-death experiences in leadership, adversity, and performance to practices and takeaways that will guide parents, grandparents, coaches, military personnel, and anyone else who wants to raise, develop, and lead children and young people. Through tools gleaned from his own experience as a pilot, parent, and coach, Conners shows how we can redefine our own leadership skills and develop the same in children, so that they are equipped to deal with the unavoidable hazards of growing up. As parents, if we're not happy with how we've handled parenting challenges in the past, we will find ways to reevaluate and alter our course; if we have acted on values and beliefs that were not always ideal, we will learn how to take a different approach: one that can lead our children to extraordinary trajectories, increased success, and lifelong happiness.

Building a business requires more than just a good product and talented people; it requires you to take a hard look at how you show up as a leader. Open, Honest, and Direct helps you dive into the heart of your business and your people, identifying changes you can make to transform the way you and your managers lead. Part business book, part personal-development guide, this is a how-to full of practical ways to not only build and lead a high-performance team but also bring out the best in your people. Being a successful manager is less about staying constantly on top of your team and more about providing clarity and context for people. Levy's method for creating open, honest, and direct leaders within an organization provides you with tactical tools you can put to use right away. This is a toolkit for designing a culture that supports employee performance and future-proofs your business. Many managers are promoted because they are great at what they do, but that doesn't necessarily translate into their ability to manage a team and get the most out of their people. In today's business environment where the competition for top talent is intense, it's integral to not only keep your top talent but also be able to coach all of your people and unlock their full potential. Open, Honest, and Direct is a field guide and powerful movement for leading that will give your organization the competitive edge it needs.

No CEO can find a point of balance and then stand still--that's not even possible on a tightrope. The expectation is that the business must always move forward. The American CEO walks a tightrope daily . . . many times blindfolded and without a net below. The job of balancing the often-competing interests of a company's constituents is so challenging that the average lifespan of a newly minted CEO is around five years. Why is it that our most successful businesspeople, individuals who have been wildly successful at every other position in their career, often fail when they get to the CEO chair? The job of the CEO is unlike any leadership position, yet many CEOs are unprepared for its challenges. Yes, you must have business acumen and people-management skills, but you'll also need to own the company vision, provide the proper resources, build the culture consistently and in alignment with company goals, make key decisions, and deliver performance that satisfies boards, shareholders, and investors. And, to complicate matters, you must work in an ambiguous environment in which you have absolute responsibility but questionable control. Your biggest challenge will be the balancing act required to be successful--to grow your company in the short term and create a long-term advantage that makes your efforts sustainable. Joel Trammell, successful entrepreneur, CEO, and investor, explores the various points of balance that challenge every CEO. He identifies what it looks like when a CEO is off balance and offers modern techniques and approaches to regain balance, drawn from almost thirty years of study and experience. You'll learn about the 50+ daily struggles that might pull you off balance, such as how to build credibility while avoiding the cheerleader vs. Eeyore trap; how to identify the right growth opportunities while avoiding the budget blower vs. budget tyrant trap; and how to create strong alignment while avoiding the CIA vs. amateur trap. Trammell has created this resource for aspiring, new, and more experienced CEOs. He shares stories that allow you to identify your own strengths and weaknesses and provides questions that promote self-analysis. Filling a void in the market for a clear, compelling guide for CEOs, The CEO Tightrope is certain to become your go-to valued resource.

A person's handwriting reveals something about who they are-their intellect, perspectives, natural abilities, and hidden aptitudes. It's also a form of expression that sends a message about how they want to be seen by others. In our lives and world, things are not as they are by accident. They're written in a specific way, and the size, placement, direction, and pressure of strokes has everything to do with the One who signed His name on it all.The Signature of God is about a God who reveals who He is through the beauty and intricacy of creation. He's signed His name on all He made, and the purpose in it is nothing short of miraculous. Nature, the universe, and God's interaction with us through His creation say much about Him and how He feels about us. If we look carefully at His writing, we realize that He's always given us a way to know His character and heart.In this book of Christian apologetics and personal reflection, Rhonda Dawes Milner delves into her experiences as a physician, therapist, spiritual director, and mother to show us the significance and meaning of God's signature in our lives and in the world.

Enjoy the Mouth Health You Deserve! Dr. Ellie challenges the traditional dental mantra that tells us to “brush and floss” because she believes it is dangerous advice and ineffective in light of our understanding that cavities and gum disease are bacterial infections. Oral health depends on the development of a bacterial balance in the mouth, and this cannot be achieved with a length of floss, by over-zealous cleaning, or indiscriminate killing of mouth bacteria.  Our mouth ecology develops early in life as bacteria transfer between parents and their babies. This exchange is important and continues throughout life as family and friends kiss, talk, or simply share food. Today we know that harmful mouth bacteria can impact our general health and that some are implicated in chronic inflammatory conditions. A healthy mouth will give you a brighter smile and provide special protection from cavities, gum disease, bad breath, sensitivity, and enamel erosion to ultimately limit your need for dental treatments—including cleanings, fillings, sealants, root canals, crowns, implants, and extractions. In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Ellie shares her easy-to-follow strategies that put oral health under your control. She reveals how to: •  Stop and reverse cavities and gum disease•  Use diet and digestive health to influence saliva quality and promote tooth and gum healing•  Enjoy xylitol  to control acidic damage and sensitivity •  End the discomfort of dry mouth and gum recession•  Avoid damage caused by flossing •  Evaluate sealants and their potential dangers•  Learn the dangers of artificial whitening and how to naturally whiten your teeth Mouth Care Comes Clean can empower you and lead you to a new level of oral health. The strategies are simple but they can miraculously transform mouth health. 

In Dear Jeff: A Mother’s Reflections and Responses Throughout a Family Tragedy, Carmen Westberg shares the heartbreaking story of her son, Jeff, who received a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a farming accident at the age of 14. The story, told through a series of letters she writes to him, begins just before the accident occurs and follows their family’s journey from the ICU forward.  As Carmen comes to understand that Jeff’s life has changed forever and learns to navigate both the internal and external challenges that accompany his condition, she shares her reactions and emotions, memories of her upbringing, and the continuing history of her family. She finds a way to communicate with a son whose personality and capabilities have transformed in an instant, providing a window into a grieving mother’s mind and heart.  Dear Jeff is not only the story of a family’s perseverance in the face of TBI but also a comfort for anyone facing a similar tragedy—especially mothers. Carmen’s letters show that feeling confused and overwrought in the midst of a painful journey is normal. She offers the perspective and experience that families may need when their worlds are upended by trauma . . . and she reassures them that they are not alone.

In quintessence: the poetry of true nature, author and teacher Sara Priestley continues her longtime exploration of both knowledge and experience, moving through reflections, emotions, and inner dialogue to reach a fuller recognition of the abundance of being. She frames this journey using the five fundamental elements of the universe as themes, grouping poems using the principles of earth, water, air, fire, or essence. Not only does this framework help with the discovery of meaning but also the attribution of it, coloring each poem with a new light. Though Sara's approach to poetry is often described as an inside-out way of knowing, she prefers to call it inside-in, to bring recognition to the directness of the paths of understanding. You'll find profound truths penned with clarity, lightness, and simplicity as you share in her journey, poem by poem. And after you experience all the joy, freedom, grief, and peace quintessence offers, you may discover a new understanding of your own true nature.

What it means to be GreekIn Opa!, author Arthur Cosmas presents a loving portrait of what it was like to be brought up as a Greek American in the Greek community in the United States during the 1950s. Some of the topics the author covers include the Greek family, Greek holidays and religion, the Mediterranean diet-healthy as well as unhealthy-the agora, assimilation, chaos, superstitions, and the evil eye. In this engaging and lovable portrayal of Greeks, the author relates facts about Greek culture and then brings these elements to life through true-life anecdotes about his family. Entertaining and informative, Opa! is a look into Greek heritage and traditions. This delightful book will make you laugh, it might revive affectionate memories of what it was like for you growing up, and it will remind you that we are all more alike than we are different.

An Action Thriller about Cyber Warfare and International Intrigue"As James drove back to his office, his head was spinning. Why would Philip suddenly go to the dark side, as they used to call it? Throughout their careers they both had reveled in the fact that they were developing cyber defenses to stop cyber threats. It was part of their core beliefs. They were white hats, not black hats, as the cyber community referred to defenders as compared to the offenders. What caused Philip and the company to develop malware? Not just malware, but advanced persistent threats, the most insidious of all cyber threats? Also, why would he be working with the federal government when their corporate by-laws specifically barred such work by VSI? Violating that requirement could trigger significant penalties.James wondered if he really knew his partner and best friend as well as he thought."-An excerpt from Cyber CountdownWhen a high-ranking consultant to NSA and Cyber Command is suddenly murdered, James Jordan must leverage his knowledge of the technology and his experience with his former company to work with the President and the US Navy to save his country-and the world.In the near-future world of Cyber Countdown, cybersecurity is critical to the nation's well-being. This exciting and intriguing story of a future conflict between the US and North Korea includes a description of how North Korea may have already hidden their nukes from the US.Flynn expertly weaves his central characters in China, North Korea, Europe, and the United States to create a narrative of political intrigue and conspiracy, where nobody is as they first appear and secrets pervade even the closest relationships. The end result is a compelling, highly readable story that feels like it was ripped from today's headlines.

Be Compassionate, Create a ConnectionIt’s becoming clear that organizations willing to explore compassion’s complexities—its hows and whys, nuances, and manifestations—can reap the rewards of far-reaching and culture-changing effects. However, before compassion can become part of organizational culture, we need a common language. Beyond offering a definition, this book provides actionable strategies to practice compassion.Author Dee Borgoyn will show you why we need compassion, how we are healthier and happier when we show our compassion, that we are born to be compassionate, and how this translate to the workplace.With 28 Ways of Compassion, Borgoyn has created a useful tool for leaders in the healthcare industry and beyond who are looking to optimize employee retention and engagement while improving customer satisfaction.

The global community clamors for American innovation and ideas. But no one wants our health care system.Americans spend trillions of dollars on health care only to generate some of the worst health outcomes in the world. Addressing health care's problems with incremental solutions cannot generate the transformational change that's desperately needed. Janis Powers offers a visionary alternative-the Dream Plan.Powers advocates for a system rooted in the values of the American Dream: personal accountability, longitudinal goal-setting, and community support. Her proposal requires a complete decentralization of the current payment system, ostensibly eliminating both health insurance and Medicare while dramatically altering Medicaid. Some of the thought-provoking points in this rigorously researched book include:• Why health insurance will soon be obsolete• Why a longitudinal perspective on health is critical to improving outcomes and saving money• Why the private sector, not the government, must drive health care innovation• Why all Americans must brace for rationing in health care spendingThe Dream Plan elevates the role of preventative care, creates a more market-based economy for health care goods and services, and shifts more accountability for outcomes to the patient. Powers offers an ambitious plan that serves as the first step in the transformation of the American health care system.Janis Powers is a health care strategy consultant who lives in Austin, Texas.

An examination of the society-wide relationship crisis that threatens us all—and a strategic look at how we can reverse it--It is the crisis that everyone feels but that has gone unnamed. We see the pieces: families disintegrating; communities in chaos; businesses losing the trust of customers and employees; political and religious discourse that sows dysfunction and divide. Yet until now, no one has connected the dots that reveal the larger narrative. Our broken relationships have a death grip on economic, political, and social advancements that capitalism, democracy, social programs, and tax policy have been unable to break.  Cumulatively this crisis feeds an emerging caste system: Individuals and organizations that possess superior relationships have, while those with deteriorating relationships are destined to have not.  In This Land of Strangers, Robert Hall lays the crisis bare, and you will be shocked at the magnitude of destruction he reveals. Hall’s best-selling business book, The Streetcorner Strategy for Winning Local Markets, helped spawn the customer relationship management movement.  Now, with deep passion and insight borne from three decades of study, he widens the lens to look at the breadth of our relational decline and the societal trends that got us here. Focusing on four key domains—home, work, politics, and faith—he presents wide-ranging research that explores the unraveling of our life-giving relationships and the attendant costs.  He debunks the assumption that we can build better lives and a stronger society on crumbling relationships. With engaging narrative style and stories, Hall looks at modern life through the prism of relationships. He challenges readers to embrace three aims that will reverse the forces that gave birth to today’s land of strangers to usher in a new era—the Age of Relationship.

Move into the Present Room and Enjoy Your Life "The Three Rooms is a heartfelt seminal text which addresses self-understanding in spatial and temporal terms, simple enough for a child to understand, yet deep enough to awaken a true spiritual seeker."-Dr. Michael R. Cunningham, Chancellor, National University System Most of us are sleepwalking, focusing on the physical world when we should be paying attention to our inner selves, and to being in the present. The Three Rooms will help readers awaken and align with their Higher Self. The book uses the metaphor of rooms to represent places our thoughts go: backwards to the Past Room, forward to the Future Room, or now in the Present Room. In the Present Room, there are no regrets of the past or fears of the future; it is the ideal state "where we can find joy, peace, acceptance, and compassion," among other positive emotions. That is where we are meant to be.

Zert Cage accepts a dare. The 13-year-old sneaks out of his house to engage in a Trash War with his friends. Nothing out of the ordinary about that. Except that it's 2083, and the world is falling apart. The Nuclear Mistake has left the oceans dead and brown, and grime and pollution are the way of life for anyone not wealthy enough to live in the Up Cities, which float high above the surface of the earth. Those left behind in the Low Cities wear gas masks when they go outside to avoid the Superpox, a highly infectious and deadly disease with a vaccine that few can afford. When the Trash War goes all wrong-Zert encounters Superpox and also has a brush with the law-he must do something drastic to secure a vaccine and avoid a long stint in Teen Jail. Zert and his father get wind of a top secret project to save people from both the disease and the wasteland that the earth has become and agree to allow themselves to be shrunk to the size of their thumbs and transported to an as-yet-undisturbed national park. With signs of infection appearing on Zert's arm, they act quickly, and overnight, they become outsiders in a community of minimized people who are trying to thrive in the wild using insects as food. Roach stew? Cricket farming? Predators bigger than he is? Zert must find a way to fit in with this new world if he's going to survive. Surviving Minimized is a thrill-ride of a young adult novel that will make you both laugh and think. This is the story of a flawed, but good-hearted kid who wants to do the right thing when everything around him has gone wrong.