World of Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #109, 226 pages

 

Of Whales and Women by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr., 242 pages

 Of Whales and Women is at the same time a history of Nantucket from the whaling days of great derring-do and a warm personal memoir of many happy summers spent there by the Gilbreth (Cheaper by the Dozen) clan.

Teenage Tales by Jerry Scott & Jim Borgman, 128 pages

 Fifteen-year-old Jeremy Duncan is the heart and soul of puberty. A typical teen, Jeremy is shy, self-absorbed, and bored. He loves hanging out and playing the guitar, and is constantly befuddled at his parents' uncoolness. He lives in the shadow of his older brother's perfect 4.0 grade-point-average, star athlete, flawless complexion image. Jeremy's girlfriend, Sara, loves that she can get him to do anything for her. His best friends are Hector and Pierce, whom he's known for-almost-ever. His parents? Uncool baby boomers. (Unless you're a parent. Then they are two suburban professionals trying to do the best they can with a teenager going through that "awkward" phase.) The enormously popular comic strip Zits>/i> depicts teenage and parental angst like no other.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World by Shannon Hale & Dean Hale, 324 pages

 WHO RUNS THE WORLD? SQUIRRELS!

Fourteen-year-old Doreen Green moved from sunny California to the suburbs of New Jersey. She must start at a new school, make new friends, and continue to hide her tail. Yep, Doreen has the powers of . . . a squirrel!

After failing at several attempts to find her new BFF, Doreen feels lonely and trapped, liked a caged animal. Then one day Doreen uses her extraordinary powers to stop a group of troublemakers from causing mischief in the neighborhood, and her whole life changes. Everyone at school is talking about it! Doreen contemplates becoming a full-fledged Super Hero. And thus, Squirrel Girl is born!

She saves cats from trees, keeps the sidewalks clean, and dissuades vandalism. All is well until a real-life Super Villain steps out of the shadows and declares Squirrel Girl his archenemy. Can Doreen balance being a teenager and a Super Hero? Or will she go . . . NUTS?

The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald, 175 pages

 The best con man in the Midwest is only ten years old. Tom, a.k.a., the Great Brain, is a silver-tongued genius with a knack for turning a profit. When the Jenkins boys get lost in Skeleton Cave, the Great Brain saves the day. Whether it's saving the kids at school, or helping out Peg-leg Andy, or Basil, the new kid at school, the Great Brain always manages to come out on top and line his pockets in the process. 

Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World by Adrienne Mayor, 319 pages

 Weapons of biological and chemical warfare have been in use for thousands of years, and Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs, Adrienne Mayor's exploration of the origins of controversial weaponry, draws extraordinary connections between the mythical worlds of Hercules and the Trojan War, the accounts of Herodotus and Thucydides, and modern methods of war and terrorism.Drawing on sources ancient and modern, Mayor describes ancient recipes for arrow poisons, booby traps rigged with plague, petroleum-based combustibles, choking gases, and the deployment of dangerous animals and venomous snakes and insects. She also explores the ambiguous moral implications inherent in this kind of warfare: Are these nefarious forms of weaponry ingenious or cowardly? Admirable or reprehensible?

Road Trip! by Jerry Scott & Jim Borgman, 128 pages

 The world is full of issues but none so pressing as those faced by a teenager. For proof, look no further than Zits. This comic strip follows the life of 15-year-old Jeremy Duncan, a kid bursting with questions, concerns, hormones, and insecurities. Cast adrift between the worlds of peer and parent, Jeremy survives by clinging to his sense of humor . . . the universal flotation device of the teenage years.

Creators Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman pull all of this eating, dating, driving, and parental angst and energy together in Road Trip! (Zits Sketchbook, #7). This hilarious collection contains the very popular series of strips that follows Jeremy and his best amigo, Hector, as they actually (okay, and accidentally) get to test-drive their van. Yes, that van on the cover. 

Zits Unzipped by Jerry Scott & Jim Borgman, 128 pages

 The comic strip Zits has become one of the most popular strips on the comics pages today. The humorous daily life of parents Connie and Walt Duncan and the teenager they own and operate, Jeremy, are presented as an open book for all to read in Zits Unzipped. In this collection, creators Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman chronicle the life of 15-year-old Jeremy Duncan as if there were a camera following his every confused adolescent move. He has to be dragged out of bed at noon during summer vacation. He agonizes over and dissects every syllable of a cryptic exchange he's just had with his girlfriend, Sara. He almost bursts with the questions, concerns, and insecurities of teenagerhood, yet fends off every attempt by his mom to get him to talk with a standard "I dunno."

Busted? by Jerry Scott & Jim Borgman, 128 pages

 Mention the comic strip Zits to teenagers or their parents and they'll eagerly launch into a long list of their favorite stories and strips that made it to the refrigerator door, making Zits the most effective form of communication between parents and their teens since the Post-it note. It's a phenomenon that takes place daily all over the world as teens and their parents thrust the latest exploits of Jeremy and his parents in front of each other and say, "This is so you!" This latest collection contains the story of Jeremy and Hector's surefire moneymaking summer koi pond digging business, the e-mail breakup between Sara and Jeremy, and over 200 more of this "essence of adolescence" comic strip.

Are We An "Us"? by Jerry Scott & Jim Borgman, 128 pages

 If you thought being 15 was rough, trying being Jeremy Duncan. His teenage trials and tribulations are on display in this collection of the phenomenally successful strip, Are We an "Us"? The honesty and humor of Zits appeals to anyone who has ever been 15 or is currently experiencing the challenges of raising a teenager. Together with his friends and family, Jeremy humorously captures the baffling essence of adolescence perfectly. Whether he's trying to navigate the tumultuous waters of teenage relationships, enduring lame jokes by his dad, or hatching a road-trip scheme with his long-time best friend, Hector, Jeremy's plight leaves Zits readers young and old knowingly nodding their heads in recognition that they've been there themselves.

Growth Spurt by Jerry Scott & Jim Borgman, 128 pages

 Is it any wonder that 15-year-olds feel caught in the middle? They're revved up with childhood energy yet trying to downshift to what they think is "adult cool." If their age group didn't already possess every morsel of knowledge in the universe, it could be downright confusing!

Zits is front and center on the comics scene, following the life of Jeremy Duncan, age 15, as he works his hardest to figure it all out. It's unfortunate that Jeremy has to live with those time warp weirdos some call his parents, but he tolerates them as long as they don't get in the way of his chief interests: music and hanging with his friends.

In Growth Spurt, Scott and Borgman hilariously illustrate the ups and downs of adolescence, particularly when, like Jeremy, you're cursed with an older brother who's perfect, burdened by your "do-I-have-to-admit-I-really-know-them" parents, and majorly handicapped by having to go to high school.

With his laid back outlook, Jeremy is making the best of it, even when it means lifeguarding the Aqua Aerobics for Seniors class with his friend Hector, or having a mom who doesn't even understand that she doesn't understand him, or inadvertently telling his girlfriend, Sara, that her freckles are nice because they hide her acne. Zits looks at the teenage years with charm and a healthy dose of warmth and humor.

Don't Roll Your Eyes at Me, Young Man! by Jerry Scott & Jim Borgman, 128 pages

 In Zits, countless readers relish Jim Borgman and Jerry Scott's right-on look at teenage life, as told through the eyes of perpetually ambivalent, yet lovable, teenager Jeremy Duncan. Here's a 15-year-old kid who seems to speak for teenagers everywhere, even if it's with a withering look or a nonchalant shrug. As Jeremy himself might say: "Adolescence bites!"

Zits has attracted an enormous following of fans, teenagers and adults alike. This Zits sketchbook, Don't Roll Your Eyes At Me, Young Man!, warmly chronicles the growing pains of the Duncan household and follows Jeremy as he navigates his way through his perpetual freshman year of high school. Caring, funny, impatient, self-absorbed, and bored silly, Jeremy is the charming essence of adolescence today.

The Homestead Doctory by Dr. Joe Hoadley, M.D., 150 pages

 

Historic Haunted America by Michael Norman & Beth Scott, 651 pages

 Historic Haunted America is an engrossing investigation into North American ghost legends, a comprehensive documenting yesterday and today's most shocking hauntings in the United States and Canada.

From the ghost-ridden forts in Old Tucson to the "Inn of the 17 Ghosts" near Philadelphia, from the haunted plantations of Louisiana and Georgia to a haunted community playhouse in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Michael Norman and Beth Scott tell stories of the past and present so terrifyingly real that even the most skeptical reader will believe.

Growing Up with the Country: Childhood on the Far Western Frontier by Elliott West, 343 pages

 Historians have paid little attention to the lives and contributions of children who took part in westward expansion. In this major study of American childhood, now available again in paperback, Elliott West explores how children helped shape--and in turn were shaped by--the frontier experience. Frontier children's first vivid perceptions of the new country, when deepened by their work, play, and exploration, forged a stronger bond with their surroundings than that of their elders. Through diaries, journals, letters, novels, and oral and written reminiscences, West has reconstructed the lives of the children who grew to become the first truly Western generation.

Zits by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman, 128 pages

 Fitting in. Being different. Growing up. Staying a kid: Zits is a comic strip about the funniest, most painfully emotionally charged, physically demanding, mentally challenging, and colorful times of our lives--adolescence. Those who are living it can relate. And those who have been through it cannot remember the time without smiling, or at least wincing at the arrogance and ignorance we all mistook as maturity during those few eternal years.

Zits: Sketchbook #1 is an inside look at life from the point of view of Jeremy, a private 15-year-old who is desperately hacking his way out of childhood and into maturity. He labors in the shadow of Chad, his perfect older brother who is away at college. Jeremy is a freshman in high school whose main pastimes are hanging out with his best friend, Hector Garcia, forming a garage band, and being amazed at his parents' spectacular ignorance about almost everything. Impatient, self-absorbed, emotional, and bored silly, Jeremy is the essence of adolescence. Zits resonates with its fans because the strip contains so much truth and insight, wrapped in an uproarious context that's all too familiar to everyone who's been 15 or has parented a teenager.

Gary Larson's The Curse of Madame C by Gary Larson, 109 pages

 A compilation of Far Side cartoons, once again featuring cows, chickens, pterodactyls and nerds. Other work by the author includes The Chickens Are Restless, Unnatural Selections, Cows of Our Planet and Bride of the Far Side.

Betty & Veronica Spectacular Book 2, 224 pages

 BETTY & VERONICA SPECTACULAR VOL. 2 is the second in a chronological collection featuring the magazine-format series spotlighting Riverdale's iconic duo. This is presented in the new higher-end format of Archie Comics Presents, which offers 200+ pages at a value while taking a design cue from successful all-ages graphic novels.

Betty & Veronica take on the world in this series of once-quarterly stories! See how B&V tackle the world of fashion, prep for the red carpets of Hollywood and still have time to finish their homework!

The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer, 274 pages

 An earl's son turned highwayman...

A spirited young society beauty who is kidnapped...
A sinister duke, known as 'The Black Moth'...

Set in the eighteenth century at Georgian England. Disgraced Jack Carstares, now rightful Earl of Wyncham, left England seven long years ago, sacrificing his honour for that of his eldest brother when he was accused of cheating at cards. But he is determined not to claim his title and instead turns highwayman. Now he is back, roaming his beloved South Country in the disguise of a highwayman. Not long after his return, he encounters the Black Moth, his old adversary, the notorious Lord Tracy Belmanoir, Duke of Andover, just in time to dispute at the point of his sword the attempted abduction of dark-haired lovely Diana Beauleigh. Once more Jack's noble impulse to save the day landed him in trouble, but not before sending the villainous duke scurrying. Diana took her gallant rescuer in and nursed his wounds, and soon truer emotions grew between them. But Jack couldn't stay, for a lady and an outlaw would make a scandalous pair. And the libertine Duke was foiled once, but the society beauty was under siege. The Duke of Andover meant to have her--if not with her assent, then by force. But Diana was not about to surrender her virtue. She had already lost her heart to the handsome mysterious highwayman who rescued her from the Duke. Torn between his tarnished past and the hope for Diana's hand, Jack had one dangerous chance to reclaim his honor -- by defeating the Black Moth for good!

The Kings of Cut-Rate: The Very American Story of Isaac and Michael Katz by Brian Burnes with Steve Katz, 192 pages

 This new release from Kansas City Star Books tells the story of Isaac and Michael Katz, who changed forever our definition of drug store. It could be a prescription for our economic times. Clearly the Katz boys were ahead of theirs. Sons of immigrants, they started with a fruit stand in Kansas City s West Bottoms. In 1914 they acquired two cigar stands downtown and turned them into drug stores. But that was just the beginning. Isaac, who walked with a limp and quit school at age 14 to sell newspapers on the railroad, hardly had a moment when he wasn t innovating. They expanded to two stores, four, then eight. Other druggists filled prescriptions. But Katz began stocking cameras, cosmetics, clocks, shirts, pets and the best selection of discounted smokes, beer and whiskey in town. They treated customers like kings. By 1970 they had 65 stores throughout the Midwest and annual sales of more than $100 million. Let s go to Katz had become a refrain. The story of how they did it, and what happened then, unfolds in the pages of The Kings of Cut-Rate: The Very American Story of Isaac and Michael Katz.

B & V Friends Double Digest #229, 226 pages

 Cheryl Blossom is running for class president unopposed. Not willing to stand by and watch Cheryl come into power, Veronica rolls up her sleeves and throws her hat in the ring. Which of Riverdale's most popular students will be elected the next class president when it comes down to one vote? The answer lies at the conclusion of 'Madam President!' 

The Royal Treatment by MaryJanice Davidson, 320 pages

 In a world nearly identical to ours, the North won the Civil War, Ben Affleck is the sexiest man alive, and Russia never sold Alaska to the U.S. Instead, Alaska is a rough, beautiful country ruled by a famously eccentric royal family, and urgently in need of a bride for the Crown Prince. But they have no idea what they're in for when they offer the job to a feisty commoner. . .a girl who's going to need. . .

The Royal Treatment
The Princess-To-Be Primer,
Or, Things I've Learned Really Quick, As Compiled by Her Future Royal Highness--Yeah, Whatever--Christina. That's me.
1. Telling jokes you picked up from the guys on the fishing boat doesn't go over really well at a fancy ball.
2. Must learn to curtsy, stifle burps, and tell the difference between a salad fork and a fruit knife.
3. Must not keep thinking about Prince David's amazing eyes, lips, hands, shoulders, uh. . .wait, can I start over?
4. Becoming a princess is a lot harder than it looks.
5. Falling in love is a whole lot easier. . .
In this dazzling, delightfully wacky tale from MaryJanice Davidson, a tough commoner and a royal prince are about to discover that who they truly are. . .and what they desperately desire. . .may both be closer than they ever dreamed. . . 

Betty and Veronica Double Digest #117, 226 pages

 

A Million Little Pieces of Close to Home by John McPherson, 144 pages

 Is your face suffering from a lack of exercise? Readers rely on John McPherson's Close to Home cartoon to contort their facial muscles into an unstoppable grin each day. Not even Botox can stop you from smiling at this latest collection of Close to Home.

How do you measure a cartoon's popularity? The true measure of a comic panel's popularity is how often it is posted on a refrigerator, cubicle, break room bulletin board, or office door. By that standard, Close to Home wins the comic panel popularity contest hands down.

Close to Home captures the humor in all facets of life. From home to hospitals, from classrooms to courtrooms, from boardrooms to backyards--there's a Close to Home panel that hits us where we live and work and play.

A Million Little Pieces of Close to Home features hilarious panels first published in newspapers in the year 2000, the year of the Y2K scare that never materialized. Of course, that's just the kind of thing you'd expect from a Close to Home world.

Death and the Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh, 307 pages

 The party's over when murder makes an entrance...

With the notion of bringing together the most bitter of enemies for his own amusement, a bored, mischievous millionaire throws a house party. As a brutal snowstorm strands the unhappy guests, the party receives a most unwelcome visitor: death. Now the brilliant inspector Roderick Alleyn must step in to decipher who at the party is capable of cold-blooded murder..

Catabunga! by Darby Conley, 134 pages

 The Get Fuzzy team is back in action, and they’re jumping in with all feet.

 

Our tough-as-nails crew has been assembled. Bucky Katt has a plan to take out the ferrets next door, and it will require all of his powers of disguise and stealth to get the job done. Satchel Pooch is going on the offense and channeling his inner assault-broccoli to defeat the vegetables before they defeat him. And Rob, the unofficial peacekeeper, is left to clean up the aftermath before the whole thing becomes an international incident.
 
Packed with intrigue, covert aggression, and domestic warfare, Catabunga! is an all-out battle of wit and words that’s not to be missed.

Save Room for Pie: Food Songs and Chewy Ruminations by Roy Blount Jr., 280 pages

 Our best-laid plans will yield to fate.

And we will say, “We lived. We ate.”

Roy Blount Jr. is one of America’s most cherished comic writers. He’s been compared to Mark Twain and James Thurber, and his books have been called everything from “a work of art” (Robert W. Creamer, The New York Times Book Review) to “a book to read till it falls apart” (Newsweek). Now, in Save Room for Pie, he applies his much-praised wit and charm to a rich and fundamental topic: food.

As a lifelong eater, Blount always got along easy with food—he didn’t have to think, he just ate. But food doesn’t exist in a vacuum; there’s the global climate and the global economy to consider, not to mention Blount’s chronic sinusitis, which constricts his sense of smell, and consequently his taste buds. So while he’s always frowned on eating with an ulterior motive, times have changed. Save Room for Pie grapples with these and other food-related questions in Blount’s signature style. Here you’ll find lively meditations on everything from bacon froth to grapefruit, Kobe beef to biscuits. You’ll also find defenses of gizzards, mullet, okra, cane syrup, watermelon, and boiled peanuts; an imagined dialogue between Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden; input from Louis Armstrong, Frederick Douglass, and Blaze Starr; and of course some shampooed possums and carjacking turkeys.

In poems and songs, limericks and fake (or sometimes true) news stories, Blount talks about food in surprising and innovative ways, with all the wit and verve that prompted Garrison Keillor, in The Paris Review, to say: “Blount is the best. He can be literate, uncouth, and soulful all in one sentence.”

Betty and Veronica Double Digest #107, 226 pages