San Antonio College Library

Maria, a poor Columbian teenager, is desperate to leave a soul-crushing job. She accepts an offer to transport packets of heroin - which she swallows - to the United States. The ruthless world of drug trafficking proves to be more than she bargained for

Speculates that almost half of the world's wildlife species may become extinct in the next fifty years as a result of loss of habitat, climate change, predation by humans, and other human activities. Suggests possible strategies for averting such a catastrophe. Examines the situations of lowland gorillas in Africa and in the Bronx Zoo, grizzly bears in the Blackfoot River valley of Montana, migrating birds and wetlands habitat in the Florida everglades,...

Questions Piaget's theory that children go though a universal development process and discusses new evidence about cultural influences. The argument is illustrated by looking at children's drawings in two very different societies: urban Dundee and Aboriginal Australia, drawing upon the work of Peter Willats of the University of Dundee, Edith Bavin of La Trobe University and other researchers.

When Mozart arrives at the court of Emperor Joseph II, court composer Antonio Salieri is horrified to discover that the godlike musical gifts he desires himself have been bestowed on a bawdy joker. Mad with envy, he plots to destroy Mozart by any means.

Simon is a young orphan being raised by his uncle Tom. As his grandfather lay dying, Simon discovers how racist and backwards his uncle is. Simon's grandfather hated Simon's father and claims that he intentionally killed Simon's mother in a car crash. Simon's family narrative is cleverly knit into a news story presented to Simon by his high school French teacher as a translation exercise. The article is read by the teacher about an attempted bombing...