Peter Kenny

Peter Kenney is known worldwide as a passionate fan of J.R.R. Tolkien and the world of fantasy. Using this love and his wide-ranging imagination, Mr. Kenny has produced (in the guise of "selecting" poems and stories by his "uncle," Fortinbras Proudfoot, Esq.) Dreams of Another Land, a collection that explores the history and happenings of a faraway land that still feels very familiar to us. Small folk, dragons, warriors, ladies, and wizards and their adventures are described in rhythmic language that is enjoyable to read, either aloud or silently. Standout poems include "Mushrooms," for its galloping pace and humour, and "The Last Ship Into the West," for its simultaneous elegiac farewell to one departing world, and hopeful acceptance of a new age dawning. Beautifully complementing the text are Sue Bradley's watercolour illustrations. Their soft, yet bright, colours and delicacy of line are perfectly suited to "Mr. Proudfoot's" stories. By turns whimsical and wistful, Dreams of Another Land will satisfy readers of all ages. Sherry Larson-Rhodes: Self-employed Freelance Editor and Reference & Instruction Librarian at Milne Library, SUNY Genesco.

Dreams of Another Land

A Handbook of Public Speaking for Scientists and Engineers helps scientists and engineers improve their skills at speaking in public in the course of their professional activities. The book shows how best to prepare papers for presentation at a technical conference and how to put cases to committee meetings. Not only does the book deal with specific events, but it also provides the techniques of more effective speaking, whether presenting papers, answering questions, or speaking "off-the-cuff." The book is written in a highly entertaining manner and should put all complacent lecturers on their guard. This is essential reading for every scientist and engineer called upon to speak in public on technical matters.

A Handbook of Public Speaking for Scientists and Engineers

James Andrew Kenny

Multiple placements, delay in achieving deadlines, and emancipation have increased the burdens on already vulnerable foster children. The child welfare and court systems, despite good laws and policies, have generally failed to provide children with permanent homes in a developmentally timely manner. Ignorance of the nature and critical importance of bonding is a major cause of this lack of success. Attachment and bonding are words that have been used loosely to describe a variety of personal relationships, beginning with the theories of Bowlby and Ainsworth. Bonding is defined in practical and objective terms that are research-based. It is important and significant because its disruption can lead to significant increases in mental illness, crime, and homelessness. An overwhelming number of statistical studies have documented and affirmed this. Readers will learn how to perform a bonding evaluation and how to present the findings in court. The roles of the birth parent, foster parent, adoptive parent, child, case manager, mental health professional, attorneys, and the court are all considered for their part in achieving permanence for children in temporary care. Finally, the authors share innovative recommendations about ways to improve the system and reduce time in foster care. Every child has the right to a permanent home.

Attachment and Bonding in the Foster and Adopted Child

Iain Banks

Frank, no ordinary sixteen-year-old, lives with his father outsIde a remote Scottish village. Their life is, to say the least, unconventional. Frank's mother abandoned them years ago: his elder brother Eric is confined to a psychiatric hospital; and his father measures out his eccentricities on an imperial scale. Frank has turned to strange acts of violence to vent his frustrations. In the bizarre daily rituals there is some solace. But when news comes of Eric's escape from the hospital Frank has to prepare the ground for his brother's inevitable return - an event that explodes the mysteries of the past and changes Frank utterly.Iain Banks' celebrated first novel is a work of extraordinary originality, imagination and horrifying compulsion: horrifying, because it enters a mind whose realities are not our own, whose values of life and death are alien to our society; and compulsive, because the humour and compassion of that mind reach out to us all.

Peter Kenny

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