Discusses the Egyptian preservation of dead bodies, stories associated with mummies, and mummies from different cultures, including Incan and Sicilian.

A shoreside burial coordinator who lives in self-enforced exile as penance for a long-ago mistake and a performer with a floating circus face unexpected life changes and new opportunities in the wake of an offshore storm.

Inspired by the culture of West Africa, a feminist fantasy debut traces the experiences of an intuitive girl who is invited to leave her discriminatory village to join the emperor's army of near-immortal women warriors. The blood ceremony will determine whether Deka will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs. But on...

"Fancy Nancy can't wait to attend her uncle's wedding. She envisions the most exquisite celebration to take place--after all, she's never been to a wedding before. But when Nancy learns that her uncle and his fiancée, Dawn, are taking a more nontraditional route, she's afraid it won't be the fancy wedding she had hoped for. Fans of Fancy Nancy will delight in this story of how Nancy learns that sometimes a simple celebration can turn out to be more...

Describes a variety of Indian tribal ceremonies and rituals, including those for war and peace, hunting and gathering, and healing.

Most people want to avoid thinking about death, but Caitlin Doughty-a twenty-something with a degree in medieval history and a flair for the macabre-took a job at a crematory, turning morbid curiosity into her lifes work. Thrown into a profession of gallows humor and vivid characters (both living and very dead), Caitlin learned to navigate the secretive culture of those who care for the deceased. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes tells an unusual coming-of-age...

Jack Mauser's former wives, Eleanor, Candice, Marlis, and Dot are stranded together in a blizzard after Jack's funeral.

High school all-American Neely Crenshaw was probably the best quarterback ever to play for the legendary Messina Spartans. Fifteen years have gone by since those glory days, and Neely has come home to Messina to bury Coach Eddie Rake, the man who molded the Spartans into an unbeatable football dynasty. Now, as Coach Rake's "boys" sit in the bleachers waiting for the dimming field lights to signal his passing, they replay the old games, relive the...

Mummies, whether they're preserved by people or nature, are a fascinating way to examine different cultures around the world. While most people know about mummies from ancient Egypt, the first mummies were made more than 7,000 years ago in South America. Anthropologists can only guess why, most likely because of a belief in life after death. Readers will be awed as they discover how different cultures perfected their mummification process. Well-chosen...

For the past 40 years, Felix Bush has been a hermit, living alone on the outskirts of town. He's the stuff of legend--a frightening eccentric whose secluded home is where little boys test their courage by throwing rocks through the dangerous man's windows. When he hears an old friend has died, he makes a rare visit to town to meet with undertaker Frank Quinn to explain how he wants to "get low." He plans his burial plot, his stone, his farewell sendoff,...