Zorx, Klax and Jennifer, three evil aliens, land on the school roof and plan to take over the Earth by finding a way into the school turning the students and staff into giant monsters. Meanwhile, George and Harold learn in science class about the effects of mixing baking soda and vinegar together (into a paper mache volcano). After messing with the teacher, they decide to play a prank on the cafeteria ladies by giving them a fake recipe that involves mixing baking soda and vinegar. The recipe is disguised as a cupcake recipe with instructions to make a set of "Mr. Krupp''s Krispy Krupcakes" for Mr. Krupp''s birthday. The lunch ladies decide to surprise Mr. Krupp and make cupcakes for the entire school. As a result, they make a batch 100 times the intended size, and the school is flooded with green goop. Furious, the lunch ladies go to Mr. Krupp''s office and instantly blame George and Harold for the incident ("But it wasn''t even my birthday!"). Mr. Krupp explains that although he knows very well that the duo was responsible, he needs proof to punish them. Furious from past harassment by the two boys, the lunch ladies quit. Soon after, Zorx, Klax and Jennifer, come into Mr. Krupp''s office very badly disguised as humans and apply for the vacant cafeteria job. Not suspecting anything, Mr. Krupp hires the three. As punishment for their antics, despite the fact that he still doesn''t have any proof and that they did not mean for such a large batch to be mixed, Mr. Krupp takes away George and Harold''s cafeteria food privileges and forces them to eat their lunch in Mr. Krupp''s office from then on. The next day, the aliens, disguised as the lunch ladies, give "Zombie Nerd Milkshakes" for lunch, so everyone in the school except for George, Harold, and Mr. Krupp becomes a zombie nerd. After sneaking out of Mr. Krupp''s office, George and Harold immediately notice what has happened to almost everyone in the school. Sneaking into the lunchroom, George and Harold learn that the aliens plan to feed the zombie nerds growth juice, turning them into giant minions bent on taking over the world. George and Harold steal the carton of growth juice and pour the contents out the window, most of which on a dandelion. After convincing Mr. Krupp that something is wrong, the three go confront the lunch ladies. The boys are able prove to Mr. Krupp that the lunch ladies are aliens, but one of the aliens snaps his tentacle (noted by George as a physical impossibility) at them, turning Mr. Krupp into Captain Underpants and prompting him to run away and fight crime. The boys temporarily defeat the aliens and by that time Captain Underpants has returned. They are unable to defeat the zombie nerds, so the three escape to the school roof and into the alien spaceship. Inside they steal Anti-Evil Zombie Nerd Juice, Ultra Nasty Self-Destruct Juice, and Extra-Strength Super Power Juice. before Zorx, Klax and Jennifer lock them in a cell. While the three aliens gloat, George and Harold switch the labels of the evil growth juice with the Ultra-Nasty Self Destruct Juice and the signs of the Spray Gun with the Fuel Tank, tricking the aliens into making the spaceship self-destruct rather than putting Rapid Growth Juice in the Spray Gun. Captain Underpants jumps off the spaceship with George and Harold before it explodes, claiming that he can use toilet paper to swing to safety. Of course, the toilet paper cannot support their weight and they instead use Captain Underpants cape as a parachute. They end up landing near a mutated dandelion which the boys accidentally created with the growth juice earlier, which begins to eat Captain Underpants. George reluctantly gives some of the "Extra-Stength Super Power Juice" to Captain Underpants, who kills the dandelion with his new powers. Harold mixes the Anti-Evil Zombie Nerd Juice with rootbeer, and transform all the zombie nerds back to normal, as well as turn Captain Underpants back into Mr. Krupp. However, as a result of the Super Power Juice, Captain Underpants permanently has super powers and the book ends with George and Harold hanging onto Captain Underpants''s cape as he flies out the window.

Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space

The book starts with a description of the vinegar tasters, which is an actual painting portraying the three great eastern thinkers, Confucius, the Buddha, and Laozi over a vat of vinegar. Each tasting the vinegar of "life," Confucius finds it sour, the Buddha finds it bitter, but Laozi, the traditional founder of Taoism, finds it satisfying. Then the story unfolds backing up this analogy. Hoff presents Winnie-the-Pooh and related others from A. A. Milne''s stories as characters that interact with him while he writes The Tao of Pooh, but also quotes excerpts of their tales from Milne''s actual books Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner, in order to exemplify his points. Hoff uses many of Milne''s characters to symbolize ideas that differ from or accentuate Taoist tenets. Winnie-the-Pooh himself, for example, personifies the principles of wei wu wei, the Taoist concept of "effortless doing," and pu, the concept of being open to but unburdened by experience. In contrast, characters like Owl and Rabbit over-complicate problems, often over-thinking to the point of confusion, and Eeyore pessimistically complains and frets about existence, unable to just be. Hoff regards Pooh''s simpleminded nature, unsophisticated worldview and instinctive problem-solving methods as conveniently representative of the Taoist philosophical foundation. The book also incorporates translated excerpts from various prominent Taoist texts, from authors such as Laozi and Zhuangzi.

The Tao of Pooh

The story centers around Deanna Lambert, a teen troubled by social exile and branding rumors. When she was thirteen, her father caught her and her brother''s friend, seventeen-year-old Tommy Webber, having unprotected sex in the back of Tommy''s Buick. Word gets around by Tommy, and Deanna is named the ''school slut''. Her father becomes distant and cold towards her, never showing any affection after what he witnessed. Three years later, Deanna still lives in her small hometown of Pacifica, California. Her affair with Tommy Webber is still a popular gossip topic and her older brother, Darren, and his girlfriend, Stacy, now live in their basement with their illegitimate child, April. Keeping a fantasy of moving out of the house with Darren and Stacy in her mind and coming to a happy home, Deanna gets a summer job at a ratty pizza parlor, Picasso''s Pizza, while also dealing with inhibited feelings of affection for her best friend, Jason, who is dating her other friend, Lee. As the summer progresses, Deanna''s secret love of Jason deepens. She begins to become more and more envious of Lee, especially of Lee''s happy home and inner peace. One day, Deanna finds that Stacy fled the house,leaving April behind, and does not return. At the same time, she develops a friendship with her boss at Picasso''s, Michael, while working alongside Tommy Webber. One evening, Michael gives Deanna a ride home from work and Deanna''s father grows suspicious of Michael''s motives. Deanna then lashes out at her father for never again trusting her after he caught Deanna and Tommy in the car, which causes her father to temporarily leave. At the end of the story Deanna reconciles with Lee and Jason, Stacy suddenly arrives home ( it is revealed that she left only intending to party before returning to motherhood ), and Deanna decides to truly move on from the affair she had so long ago. Coincidentally, her father also returns to his family and moves on from the past.

Story of a Girl

In this book, Kristof and WuDunn, husband and wife, wrote about their experiences in China from 1988 to 1993. The couple spent five years in China as journalists reporting for the New York Times. For a time, WuDunn worked and traveled around China as a tourist after her press credentials had been revoked by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on a technicality. The authors present alternating chapters with Kristof writing the odd-numbered chapters and WuDunn writing the even-numbered chapters. Only the last chapter of the book was written by both authors. Kristoff and WuDunn cover various topics such as the lives of Chinese peasants, corruption, sex, religion, China''s one-child policy, the June 4th Incident (Democracy Movement), and the future of the Communist party. The two journalists are assisted by local Chinese friends, anonymous sources, and Communist officials in researching stories for the New York Times. In the Author''s Note it is stated that the names of some Chinese sources have been changed for their protection, while the names of corrupt Communist officials have been left uncensored. The authors'' view of China is that of a country torn between Deng Xiaoping''s successful economic strategy and frustrated political reform and human rights.

China Wakes

Married to Indihar, though from his perspective in name only, Marîd Audran gets invited to a reception at the palace of the amir of the city. Shaykh Mahali, the amir, thus wishes to end the rivalry between Friedlander Bey and Reda Abu Adil, two of the most powerful men in the city. Both Audran and Bey, or "Papa" as he''s known in the Budayeen, become suspicious when their sworn enemy Abu Adil designates Audran as an officer of the "Jaish", an unofficial right-wing outfit working for Abu Adil. However, it is not until after the party that Abu Adil''s scheme unfolds: Audran and Bey are put under arrest by Lieutenant Hajjar and charged with the murder of a police officer named Khalid Maxwell. They''re sentenced on-the-spot into exile, never to return to the city under pain of death. Left to die amongst the burning sands of a vast desert, their luck finally turns as they are rescued by a Bedouin tribe of Bani Salim, allowing them to start planning the vengeance they''d exact upon Abu Adil and prove their innocence— if they ever make it back to the city alive.

The Exile Kiss

Laurence and Temeraire arrive back in Britain, following their evacuation of Danzig in Black Powder War. Their relief at arriving safely is short-lived as Napoleon continues his preparations for an invasion of the British Isles. When questioned about the lack of British air support for the Prussians, Laurence discovers that Britain had no dragons to spare: a flu-like epidemic has infected the greater part of them, and British science has yet to devise a cure. To combat it, Temeraire, Iskierka and the ferals are forced to fly frantic patrols, both as a show of force and to prevent Napoleon from getting reconnaissance in over the contaminated coverts; at one point Temeraire is forced to knock a French courier-dragon, Sauvignon, out of the sky and down into one of the coverts, risking infection himself. Temeraire and Laurence continue to develop their notions of draconic equality in British society and find common cause with William Wilberforce and the abolitionist movement in exchange for assistance from prominent political leaders. Before they can continue their plans, they are enlisted to return to Africa to seek a cure for the draconic flu, which Temeraire caught and was cured of in Throne of Jade; his immunity is proven when he fails to contract the illness from Sauvignon and the other dragons. The entire formation is shipped to the Cape Colony aboard the Allegiance, along with a black missionary, Father Erasmus, and his wife and daughters. The missionaries are manumitted slaves, causing tension between Laurence and Allegiance captain Tom Riley, a staunch supporter of the trade and sometimes-friend to Laurence. Riley is also further thrown off-balance by the discovery that some of the Aerial Corps'' officers, including Lily''s captain Harcourt, are women (the acid-spitting Longwing breed refuses to accept male handlers). After several weeks of searching, the formation makes land at the Cape of Good Hope; Maximus, the Regal Copper, is so weary that his handler Berkley does not believe he will ever return home. However, enough fungi is found to cure the formation, and with the help of two African boys, Demane and Sipho, and their small dog, they set out to find more. In the end they discover the fungus in a cave, being fertilized by dragon dung: it has been deliberately cultivated. Scarcely has this realization set in that the Aerial Corps are beset by Tswana humans and dragons; the British beasts, who have been sent back to the Cape with their precious cargo, are unable to prevent their aircrews from being captured. The Tswana, in addition to being fiercely offended by the depredations of the slave trade on their people, practice an odd form of ancestor worship in which dragons are brought up to believe they are the reincarnations of former (human) tribe leaders. The captivity is particularly challenging to Catherine Harcourt, who had become intimates with Riley during the voyage and is now bearing his child, but Mrs. Erasmus, a former member of the Tswana people, is able to provide some intercession on behalf of the British. Temeraire and the other dragons are able to organize an escape for their crews, but the Tswana overrun the Cape Colony, and indeed all European ports on the African coast, in vengeance against slavers specifically and all white men in general. Lily''s formation retreat to Great Britain aboard the Allegiance; whilst at sea, Riley marries Harcourt, more at his insistence than hers. Upon returning to Great Britain, they discover that the latest abolitionist bill in Parliament was defeated by strong opposition from Admiral Horatio Nelson, and that Sauvignon, now infected with the plague, has "escaped" back to France. Laurence and Temeraire are horrified to realize that Government and Admiralty alike have countenanced the wholesale slaughter of, not only every French dragon, but quite probably every dragon in Eurasia. Acting on their consciences, they steal a tub of cultivated mushrooms and fly the English Channel to deliver the cure to the French. For this they earn the personal respect of Napoleon Bonaparte, but Laurence turns down the Emperor''s offer of asylum, preferring to return to his beloved Commonwealth and answer for his treason. Naomi Novik went to Africa to do research for Empire of Ivory.

Empire of Ivory

The book begins with Halt, Horace and Will discovering that Tennyson (the priest of the Outsider) and his followers have fled to Picta. The three follow their trail and discover that Tennyson is heading toward Araluen. Tennyson''s plan is to travel to an outlying Araluen village where he has already established influence to reinvigorate his movement. Will and his companions are unaware of this however and continue to follow Tennyson through Picta, discovering and foiling some Pictan raiders en route. As the three catch up to Tennyson they engage with the remaining two Genovesans and Halt and Will successfully kill one, but the other injures Halt and escapes. After a while, the wound is discovered to be poisoned by a hallucinogen which is slowly killing Halt. In desperation Will decides to seek Malcolm - possibly the best healer in all of Araluen - and quickly brings him to help. Malcolm however explains that the poison has two possible sources with conflicting cures. Administrating the wrong cure will kill Halt. Will discovers the remaining Genovesan and forces the nature of the poison from him. The Genovesan is killed as he attempts to later escape. With Halt cured, the three along with Malcolm resume to trail Tennyson, who assumes that the three are now unimportant given that Halt is supposedly dead. Will and his companions discover Tennyson in Catacombs near a village where he is preaching to the followers of his religion. Halt successfully discredits him with Malcolm''s help. However, during this attempt, Will has to use certain explosive devices developed by Malcolm which causes the cave system to collapse on top of the Outsiders (including Tennyson) and the villagers'' gold. Halt, Will and Horace accompany Malcolm home where Trobar gifts to Will a puppy, Ebony. After separating from Malcolm, the three head home, with Will and Halt going to Redmont and reuniting with Pauline and Alyss while Horace heads to Castle Araluan. The book ends with Pauline thanking Will for saving Halt''s life and telling him about the trust she has in him.

Halt''s Peril

The story takes place in the mid to late 21st century, but in a world where the Cold War has ended, yet the Soviet regime remains strong and proud. Americans and Soviets enjoy peace, but without fully accepting each other''s ways, and with each always struggling for technological superiority. Under conditions of absolute secrecy, the Soviets have developed a miniaturization technology that can reduce a man to the dimensions of a molecule, or smaller. Although successful, the process requires an enormous input of energy to accomplish the task. So, although miniaturization has been shown to be scientifically possible, it also appears to be economically impracticable - a hollow triumph. One Soviet scientist, Pyotor Leonovich Shapirov, a pioneer of the miniaturization process, had spoken vaguely of a way to make it affordable. Unfortunately, he now lies in a coma, with his secrets apparently locked away forever. But Shapirov had been acquainted with an American scientist, Albert Jonas Morrison, who has his own peculiar theories regarding the brain''s processing and storage of creative thought. Shapirov had been greatly intrigued by Morrison''s ideas, and it''s this interest that led the Soviets to turn to Morrison for help. After a great deal of coercion, Morrison agrees to be miniaturized along with four Soviet scientists, enter Shapirov''s dying brain, and attempt to use his computer program to retrieve the thoughts contained therein. Later, having returned safely to normal size, but without any usable information from Shapirov, Morrison has made a new, startling discovery, which may help the Americans beat the Soviets at their own game.

Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain

The expanded edition covers the history of creationism from the time of Darwin to the present day. It first describes early opposition during Darwin''s lifetime, then George Frederick Wright''s conversion from Christian Darwinist to Fundamentalist opponent and how creationism influenced the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy and the rise of prominent populist creationists such as William Jennings Bryan. It then narrates the careers of two early, self-taught, ''scientific'' creationists, Harry Rimmer and George McCready Price. It then chronicles the growth of creationist organisations in the mid 20th century, such as the Religion and Science Association, the Deluge Geology Society, the Evolution Protest Movement (in the United Kingdom), and the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA), the latter moving almost immediately in the direction of theistic evolution. The book then narrates the young Earth creationist backlash against the ASA''s modernism, with Henry M. Morris and John C. Whitcomb, Jr.''s publication of The Genesis Flood and the forming of the Creation Research Society, which created the creation science movement. It continues with Morris'' founding of the Institute for Creation Research and the Seventh-day Adventist Church''s founding of the Geoscience Research Institute. The book finally describes the influence of creationism in churches and in countries outside the United States, then the rise of the intelligent design movement, before returning to the subject of creationism''s global impact.

The Creationists

The tale begins in a farmyard which is home to a duck called Jemima Puddle-duck. She wants to hatch her own eggs, but the farmer''s wife believes ducks make poor sitters and routinely confiscates their eggs to allow the hens to incubate them. Jemima tries to hide her eggs, but they are always found and carried away. She sets off along the road in poke bonnet and shawl to find a safe place away from the farm to lay her eggs. At the top of a hill, she spies a distant wood, flies to it, and waddles about until she discovers an appropriate nesting place. However, a charming gentleman with "black prick ears and sandy-coloured whiskers" persuades her to nest in a shed at his home. Jemima is led to his "tumble-down shed" (which is curiously filled with feathers), and makes herself a nest with little ado. Jemima lays her eggs, and the fox suggests a dinner party to mark the event. He asks her to collect the traditional herbs used in stuffing a duck, telling her the seasonings will be used for an omelette. Jemima sets about her errand, but the farm collie, Kep, meets her as she carries onions from the farm kitchen. She reveals her errand, and Kep sees through the fox''s plan at once. With the help of two fox-hound puppies, Kep rescues Jemima and the "foxy-whiskered gentleman" is chased away and never seen again. However, the hungry fox-hounds eat Jemima''s eggs. Jemima is escorted back to the farm in tears over her lost eggs, but, in time, lays more eggs and successfully hatches four ducklings.

The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck

First, Hosea was directed by God to marry a promiscuous woman of ill-repute, and he did so. Marriage here is symbolic of the covenantal relationship between God and Israel. However, Israel has been unfaithful to God by following other gods and breaking the commandments which are the terms of the covenant, hence Israel is symbolized by a harlot who violates the obligations of marriage to her husband. Second, Hosea and his wife, Gomer, have a son. God commands that the son be named Jezreel. This name refers to a valley in which much blood had been shed in Israel''s history, especially by the kings of the Northern Kingdom. (See I Kings 21 and II Kings 9:21-35). The naming of this son was to stand as a prophecy against the reigning house of the Northern Kingdom, that they would pay for that bloodshed. Jezreel''s name means God Sows. Third, the couple have a daughter. God commands that she be named Lo-ruhamah; Unloved, or, Pity or Pitied On to show Israel that, although God will still have pity on the Southern Kingdom, God will no longer have pity on the Northern Kingdom; its destruction is imminent. In the NIV translation, the omitting of the word ''him'' leads to speculation as to whether Lo-Ruhamah was the daughter of Hosea or one of Gomer''s lovers. James Mays, however, says that the failure to mention Hosea''s paternity this is "hardly an implication" of Gomer''s adultery. Fourth, a son is born to Gomer. It is questionable whether this child was Hosea''s, for God commands that his name be Lo-ammi; Not My People, or more simply, Not Mine. The child bore this name of shame to show that the Northern Kingdom would also be shamed, for its people would no longer be known as God''s People. Also God says that "I am not your I am"; in other words, God changes His own name in connection with his current relationship with Israel. A brief outline of the concepts presented in the Book of Hosea exist below * Chapters 1-2; Account of Hosea''s marriage with Gomer biographically which is a metaphor for the relationship with Yahweh and Israel. * Chapter 3; Account of Hosea''s marriage autobiographically. This is possibly a marriage to different women * Chapters 4-14:9; Oracle judging Israel, Ephraim in particular, for not living up to the covenant. No further breakdown of ideas is clear in 4-14:9 Following this, the prophecy is made that someday this will all be changed, that God will indeed have pity on Israel. Chapter two describes a divorce. This divorce seems to be the end of the covenant between God and the Northern Kingdom. However, it is probable that this was again a symbolic act, in which Hosea divorced Gomer for infidelity, and used the occasion to preach the message of God''s rejection of the Northern Kingdom. He ends this prophecy with the declaration that God will one day renew the covenant, and will take Israel back in love. In Chapter three, at God''s command, Hosea seeks out Gomer once more. Either she has sold herself into slavery for debt, or she is with a lover who demands money in order to give her up, because Hosea has to buy her back. He takes her home, but refrains from sexual intimacy with her for many days, to symbolize the fact that Israel will be without a king for many years, but that God will take Israel back, even at a cost to Himself. Chapters 4-14 spell out the allegory at length. Chapters 1-3 speaks of Hosea''s family, and the issues with Gomer. Chapters 4-10 contain a series of oracles, or prophetic sermons, showing exactly why God is rejecting the Northern Kingdom (what the grounds are for the divorce). Chapter 11 is God''s lament over the necessity of giving up the Northern Kingdom, which is a large part of the people of Israel, whom God loves. God promises not to give them up entirely. Then, in Chapter 12, the prophet pleads for Israel''s repentance. Chapter 13 foretells the destruction of the kingdom at the hands of Assyria, because there has been no repentance. In Chapter 14, the prophet urges Israel to seek forgiveness, and promises its restoration, while urging the utmost fidelity to God. Matthew 2:13 cites Hosea''s prophecy in that God would call His Son out of Egypt as foretelling the flight into Egypt and return to Israel of Joseph, Mary, and the infant Jesus Christ. The capital of the Northern Kingdom, in 722 BC. All the members of the upper classes and many of the ordinary people were taken captive and carried off to live as prisoners of war.

Book of Hosea

May Bird lives alone with her mother and her cat, Somber Kitty (a hairless Rex) on the edge of a wooded swamp in West Virginia. She loves to draw and make believe, and desperately wants to fit in at school but can not seem to figure out how. Most people aren''t very comfortable in the woods, but the woods of Briery Swamp fit May Bird like a fuzzy mitten. There, she is safe from school and the taunts and teases of kids who don''t understand her. Hidden in the trees, May is a warrior princess, and her cat is her brave guardian. Then May falls into the lake. When she crawls out, May finds herself in a world that is inhabited by things she thought were just in her imagination. She sees many, many ghosts and other amazing creatures. A ghost named Pumpkin, (with a pumpkin head) has pulled her into the Ever After. It is a place few living people have ever seen. Here, towns glow blue beneath zipping stars and the people walk through walls. Here the Book of the Dead holds the answers to everything in the universe. And here, if May is discovered, the horrifyingly evil Bo Cleevil will destroy her. May Bird must get out. This is the beginning of May Bird''s daring journey into the Ever After, a haunting place where true friends—and many terrible foes—await her on every corner. She meets Pumpkin, her house ghost/guardian who lives with the Beekeeper Arista in a giant house shaped like a beehive. She is told that she needs to go see the Lady of North Farm, a place no ghost is willing to go. Along the journey May meets new friends and sees new cites full of unimaginable sights. She faces many adventures with characters that you will discover when you read this book. The second book is May Bird Among the Stars and there is a third called "May Bird Warrior Princess"

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space

By Dav Pilkey

The Tao of Pooh

By Benjamin Hoff

Story of a Girl

By Sara Zarr

China Wakes

No Author Listed

The Exile Kiss

By George Alec Effinger

Empire of Ivory

By Naomi Novik

Halt's Peril

By John Flanagan

Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain

By Isaac Asimov

The Creationists

No Author Listed

The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck

By Beatrix Potter

Book of Hosea

No Author Listed

May Bird and the Ever After

No Author Listed