Planets and Their Atmospheres: Origin and Evolution

Twenty Lessons in Environmental Sociology introduces undergraduates to the topic in an innovative way. Instead of compiling articles from professional journals, this reader presents twenty classroom-tested "lessons" from dedicated, experienced teachers and researchers in the field. Building the collection on the model of a successful undergraduate classroom experience, the coeditors asked the contributors to choose a topic, match it with their favoritelecture, and construct a lesson to reflect the way that they teach it in the classroom. The result is an engaging and versatile volume that presents the core ideas of environmental sociology in concise, accessiblechapters.An Instructor's Manual, available to all adopters, contains Discussion Questions, Suggested Media, and Additional Readings for each lesson.

A Preface to Paradise Lost provides an interpretation of Milton's purpose in writing the epic.

This is a documentary history of Islam from the advent of the prophet Muhammad to the capture of Constantinople by Sultan Mehmed, the Conqueror. It is concerned with a period that extends from the beginning of the seventh century to 1453; with a region that expands from western Arabia to embrace the Middle East and North Africa, as well as parts of Asia, of tropical Africa and southern and eastern Europe; with peoples and states which, amid many diversities, shared a common acceptance of the faith and law of Islam and professed to live by them; and, finally, with the civilization they created. The volumes are now once again made available in paperback.

This classic work by the leading Middle East scholar of our time offers a definitive, insightful, and now more timely than ever history of Western-Middle Eastern relations from the late seventeenth century to the present day. Fully revised to cover the volatile developments of the last three decades, The Shaping of the Modern Middle East sheds light on the climax and sudden end of the cold war, the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Arab-Israeli wars, the formation and activities of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, the Persian Gulf War, and the Iranian revolution. Illuminating the region's geography, culture, history, language, and religion, Lewis explores the complex and often confusing issues of Arab nationalism, Islamic fundamentalism, and responses and reactions in the Middle East to centuries of Western influence, revealing the subtlety and sophistication of this dynamic civilization as no other scholar can.

Written by renowned scholar Bernard Lewis, this book has long established itself as the preferred one-volume history of modern Turkey. Now in its third edition, this book has been updated to include the most recent information on Turkey and addresses such issues as Turkey's emergence as a Western-oriented power; its inclusion in the European Union; its continued involvement with the politics of the Middle East as well as the politics of the Iraq-UN conflict; and the politically divisive issue of Kurdich violence and ethnic nationalism.

The study of New Religious Movements (NRMs) is one of the fastest-growing areas of religious studies. This Handbook covers the current state of the field and breaks new ground. Its contributors are drawn equally from sociology and religious studies and include both established scholars and "rising stars" in the field. The core chapters deal with such central issues as conversion, the brainwashing debate, millennialism, and modernization. Another section deals with NRM subfields such as neopaganism, satanism, and UFO religions. The final section considers NRMs in global perspective.

Bernard Lewis is recognized around the globe as one of the leading authorities on Islam. Hailed as "the world's foremost Islamic scholar" (Wall Street Journal), as "a towering figure among experts on the culture and religion of the Muslim world" (Baltimore Sun), and as "the doyen of Middle Eastern studies" (New York Times), Lewis is nothing less than a national treasure, a trusted voice that politicians, journalists, historians, and thegeneral public have all turned to for insight into the Middle East.Now, this revered authority has brought together writings and lectures that he has written over four decades, featuring his reflections on MiddleEastern history and foreign affairs, the Iranian Revolution, the state of Israel, the writing of history, and much more. The essays cover such urgent and compelling topics as "What Saddam Wrought," "Deconstructing Osama and His Evil Appeal," "The Middle East, Westernized Despite Itself," "The Enemies of God," and "Can Islam Be Secularized?" The collection ranges from two English originals of articles published before only in foreign languages, to previously unpublished writings, to his highlyregarded essays from publications such as Foreign Affairs and The New York Review of Books. With more than fifty pieces in all, plus a new introduction to the book by Lewis, this is a valuablecollection for everyone interested in the Middle East.Here then is a rich repository of wisdom on one of the key areas of the modern world--a wealth of profound reflections on Middle Eastern history, culture, politics, and current events.

A serious illness may bring other events into focus. This book is about the circumstances surrounding an illness which struck a man in middle life, its impact on him and on the people of his West Sepik village. It records both failure and continuing belief the failure of local treatments, Western medicine, and of a great communal effort to bring a spirit to heal him. The issues of distress, isolation in illness, and the hope of relief are universal ones, but in this setting in New Guinea they have to be placed in a framework of tentative explanations because of the harsh material conditions. To follow the course of this man's illness is to see how illness can reshape events and test social ties. The book unfolds a social drama, as it traces people's anxieties, the pressure upon them to take immediate action to try to remedy the situation, and their growing realization that they have failed.Through the text runs the problem of hope and belief in healing.

During the 1990s lone mothers reached the top of the political agenda, viewed as both a drain on public expenditure and a moral threat. What has been missing from the debate is an understanding of how we have got to where we are. This timely new study, by three leading experts in the field, sets out first to investigate the demographics of lone motherhood - how the pathways into lone motherhood have changed, and whether the changes of the last quarter of a century are as dramatic as they appear. Second, it looks at the wider context for the changes in lone motherhood in terms of ideas about marriage, and the changes in the construction of the never-married mother, from victim in the 1950s to parasite in the late 1980s. Finally, it examines the way in which policies have defined the problem of lone motherhood over time and the way in which lone mothers have been treated with regard to housing, social security, and employment. The study concludes that there is little possiblility of putting the genie back in the bottle in terms of reducing the number of lone mothers - efforts to do so by reducing public expenditure on them may be effective, but at the expense of the children involved. Instead, the authors urge policy-makers to change focus again, and pay more attention to investing in children.

The first edition of this book established itself as the most widely used, concise guide to the most frequently used procedures in clinical microbiology laboratories. Because the book describes methods in the order in which they would be encountered in the laboratory, it is the perfect bench companion both for the novice in clinical microbiology and the experienced microbiologist who needs to confirm a detail. The book encapsulates the practical experience of a group of experienced clinical microbiologists and scientists imparting valuable tips and solutions to both the methodology and interpretation of clinical microbiology results. Now this book has been extensively up-dated, it represents a state-of-the-art training aid for the diagnostic microbiology laboratory. The first edition proved to be particularly invaluable to microbiologists preparing for higher professional examinations such as membership of the Royal College of Pathologists and the American Board of Medical Microbiolog

The relationship between new religious movements (NRMs) and violence has long been a topic of intense public interest--an interest heavily fueled by multiple incidents of mass violence involving certain groups. Some of these incidents have made international headlines. When New Religious Movements make the news, it's usually because of some violent episode. Some of the most famous NRMs are known much more for the violent way they came to an end than for anything else. Violence and New Religious Movements offers a comprehensive examination of violence by-and against-new religious movements. The book begins with theoretical essays on the relationship between violence and NRMs and then moves on to examine particular groups. There are essays on the "Big Five"--the most well-known cases of violent incidents involving NRMs: Jonestown, Waco, Solar Temple, the Aum Shunrikyo subway attack, and the Heaven's Gate suicides. But the book also provides a richer survey by examining a host of lesser-known groups. This volume is the culmination of decades of research by scholars of New Religious Movements.

Recent books in the Wiley Series in Probability and Statistics Editors Vic Barnett J. Stuart Hunter David W. Scott Geoffrey S. Watson Ralph A. Bradley Joseph B. Kadane Adrian F.M. Smith Nicholas I. Fisher David G. Kendall Jozef L. Teugels Stochastic Geometry and Its Applications Second Edition Dietrich Stoyan, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany Wilfrid S. Kendall, University of Warwick, UK Joseph Mecke, Friedrich-Schiller-Universitat Jena, Germany This standard text makes the results and methods of stochastic geometry and spatial statistics accessible to practitioners and non-theoreticians. The book is also ideal as an introduction to the subject for mathematicians. The exposition is mathematically precise and takes into account the latest results, but in many cases proofs are omitted. Topics covered include the basic theories of point processes, random sets, fibre and surface processes, random tessellations, stereology and the statistical theory of shape. The theory is illustrated by many examples drawn from different branches of science; actual data in the form of images are presented, and their statistical analysis is discussed. As well as being of great interest to statisticians, this treatment of the subject has proved useful to applied scientists working in fields such as geology, biology, microscopy and materials science, and to pure mathematicians working in geometry. 1995 Bayesian Analysis in Statistics and Econometrics. Essays in Honor of Arnold Zellner Donald A. Berry, Duke University Kathryn M. Chaloner, University of Minnesota John K. Geweke, University of Minnesota This volume affords students and professionals in statistics, econometrics, and other fields of statistical applications a unique opportunity to acquaint themselves with important current and future trends in Bayesian analytical theory and practice. Over the course of forty-eight chapters, more than one hundred authors from around the world explore a vast array of practical and theoretical issues. Topics covered include inference, estimation, prediction, regression, linear model, multivariate analysis, model selection and computation. This is a valuable working resource for statisticians, economists, and all those with a professional interest in the Bayesian approach. 1996

A dynamic, inventive and articulate stage director explores in practical, down-to-cases language "The Method:" what it is and is not; the nonsense, the misconceptions, the myths that have sprung up and flourished around it; its development as a workable theory of stage technique and its application to all types of theatrical production.

Explores different applications of Aristotle's hypothesis on the components of form, matter and pyschological states.

Critical Cultural Policy Studies: A Reader brings together classic statements and contemporary views that illustrate how everyday culture is as much a product of policy and economic determinants as it is of creative and consumer impulses.

Critical Cultural Policy Studies: A Reader brings together classic statements and contemporary views that illustrate how everyday culture is as much a product of policy and economic determinants as it is of creative and consumer impulses.

"2 Young 2 Go 4 Boys is Linda Lewis' delightful prequel to We Hate Everything But Boys!"Here is the story of Linda Berman before boys--when she was a determined tomboy and an avowed boy-hater! But what could she do when her best friends went crazy over boys and she began having weird feelings herself?

Christianity Reborn provides the first transnational in-depth analysis of the global expansion of evangelical Protestantism during the past century. While the growth of evangelical Christianity in the non-Western world has already been documented, the significance of this book lies in its scholarly treatment of that phenomenon.Written by prominent historians of religion, these chapters explore the expansion of evangelical (including charismatic) Christianity in non-English-speaking lands, with special reference to dynamic indigenous responses. The range of locations covered includes western and southern Africa, eastern and southern Asia, Latin America, and Oceania. The concluding essay provides a sociological account of evangelicalism's success, highlighting its ability to create a multiplicity of faith communities suited to very different ethnic, racial, and geographical regions.At a time of great interest in the growth of Christianity in the non-Western world, this volume makes an important contribution to our understanding of what may be another turning point in the historical development of evangelical faith.Contributors:Marthinus L. DaneelAllan K. DavidsonPaul FrestonRobert Eric FrykenbergJehu J. HancilesPhilip Yuen-sang LeungDonald M. LewisDavid MartinMark A. NollBrian StanleyW. R. Ward

CUA Press is proud to announce the CUA Studies in Canon Law. In conjunction with the School of Canon Law of the Catholic University of America, we are making available, both digitally and in print, more than 400 canon law dissertations from the 1920s to 1960s, many of which have long been unavailable.These volumes are rich in historical content, yet remain relevant to canon lawyers today. Topics covered include such issues as abortion, excommunication, and infertility. Several studies are devoted to marriage and the annulment process; the acquiring and disposal of church property, including the union of parishes; the role and function of priests, vicars general, bishops, and cardinals; and juridical procedures within the church.For those who seek to understand current ecclesial practices in light of established canon law, these books will be an invaluable resource.

After trying just about everything to get her parents to give her a pet for her birthday, Linda is put to the test as she has to train her new kitten in two weeks after Scratchy the cat begins to destroy the house. As her birthday approaches, Linda spends all her energy trying to convince her parents that a pet dog would be the perfect present. When her mom refuses, saying there isn’t enough room in the apartment for a dog, Linda wishes she could get rid of her twin kid brothers and let a pet take their place. But with some thought, Linda’s dad decides they could squeeze a little kitten into their home. It takes Linda a few days, but she eventually comes to love Scratchy the cat. And one thing is for sure, Scratchy is far smarter than her brothers, but she is also a bit more destructive… After Scratchy destroys her mom’s favorite plant and gets caught eating right off of the dinner table, Linda’s parents give her just two weeks to teach the kitten to behave… or else!

Determined to make Brenda Roman’s summer at Camp Winnepeg the worst she’s ever had, Linda sets out to show all the campers just how much of a terror Brenda can be. When Linda’s mother sends her off to sleep away camp, the last thing on her mind is the activities Camp Winnepeg has to offer. How can she begin to think about swimming or hiking when she has to spend the summer with her sworn enemy, Brenda Roman. When Brenda ruins Linda’s plan to bunk with the boys, whom she thinks are her real friends, she is determined to get even. As she continues to terrorize Linda, she is determined to show everyone that Brenda is the guilty one while making sure she realizes Camp Winnepeg isn’t big enough for the both of them.

Planets and Their Atmospheres: Origin and Evolution

Twenty Lessons in Environmental Sociology introduces undergraduates to the topic in an innovative way. Instead of compiling articles from professional journals, this reader presents twenty classroom-tested "lessons" from dedicated, experienced teachers and researchers in the field. Building the collection on the model of a successful undergraduate classroom experience, the coeditors asked the contributors to choose a topic, match it with their favoritelecture, and construct a lesson to reflect the way that they teach it in the classroom. The result is an engaging and versatile volume that presents the core ideas of environmental sociology in concise, accessiblechapters.An Instructor's Manual, available to all adopters, contains Discussion Questions, Suggested Media, and Additional Readings for each lesson.

A Preface to Paradise Lost provides an interpretation of Milton's purpose in writing the epic.

This is a documentary history of Islam from the advent of the prophet Muhammad to the capture of Constantinople by Sultan Mehmed, the Conqueror. It is concerned with a period that extends from the beginning of the seventh century to 1453; with a region that expands from western Arabia to embrace the Middle East and North Africa, as well as parts of Asia, of tropical Africa and southern and eastern Europe; with peoples and states which, amid many diversities, shared a common acceptance of the faith and law of Islam and professed to live by them; and, finally, with the civilization they created. The volumes are now once again made available in paperback.

This classic work by the leading Middle East scholar of our time offers a definitive, insightful, and now more timely than ever history of Western-Middle Eastern relations from the late seventeenth century to the present day. Fully revised to cover the volatile developments of the last three decades, The Shaping of the Modern Middle East sheds light on the climax and sudden end of the cold war, the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Arab-Israeli wars, the formation and activities of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, the Persian Gulf War, and the Iranian revolution. Illuminating the region's geography, culture, history, language, and religion, Lewis explores the complex and often confusing issues of Arab nationalism, Islamic fundamentalism, and responses and reactions in the Middle East to centuries of Western influence, revealing the subtlety and sophistication of this dynamic civilization as no other scholar can.

Written by renowned scholar Bernard Lewis, this book has long established itself as the preferred one-volume history of modern Turkey. Now in its third edition, this book has been updated to include the most recent information on Turkey and addresses such issues as Turkey's emergence as a Western-oriented power; its inclusion in the European Union; its continued involvement with the politics of the Middle East as well as the politics of the Iraq-UN conflict; and the politically divisive issue of Kurdich violence and ethnic nationalism.

The study of New Religious Movements (NRMs) is one of the fastest-growing areas of religious studies. This Handbook covers the current state of the field and breaks new ground. Its contributors are drawn equally from sociology and religious studies and include both established scholars and "rising stars" in the field. The core chapters deal with such central issues as conversion, the brainwashing debate, millennialism, and modernization. Another section deals with NRM subfields such as neopaganism, satanism, and UFO religions. The final section considers NRMs in global perspective.

Bernard Lewis is recognized around the globe as one of the leading authorities on Islam. Hailed as "the world's foremost Islamic scholar" (Wall Street Journal), as "a towering figure among experts on the culture and religion of the Muslim world" (Baltimore Sun), and as "the doyen of Middle Eastern studies" (New York Times), Lewis is nothing less than a national treasure, a trusted voice that politicians, journalists, historians, and thegeneral public have all turned to for insight into the Middle East.Now, this revered authority has brought together writings and lectures that he has written over four decades, featuring his reflections on MiddleEastern history and foreign affairs, the Iranian Revolution, the state of Israel, the writing of history, and much more. The essays cover such urgent and compelling topics as "What Saddam Wrought," "Deconstructing Osama and His Evil Appeal," "The Middle East, Westernized Despite Itself," "The Enemies of God," and "Can Islam Be Secularized?" The collection ranges from two English originals of articles published before only in foreign languages, to previously unpublished writings, to his highlyregarded essays from publications such as Foreign Affairs and The New York Review of Books. With more than fifty pieces in all, plus a new introduction to the book by Lewis, this is a valuablecollection for everyone interested in the Middle East.Here then is a rich repository of wisdom on one of the key areas of the modern world--a wealth of profound reflections on Middle Eastern history, culture, politics, and current events.

A serious illness may bring other events into focus. This book is about the circumstances surrounding an illness which struck a man in middle life, its impact on him and on the people of his West Sepik village. It records both failure and continuing belief the failure of local treatments, Western medicine, and of a great communal effort to bring a spirit to heal him. The issues of distress, isolation in illness, and the hope of relief are universal ones, but in this setting in New Guinea they have to be placed in a framework of tentative explanations because of the harsh material conditions. To follow the course of this man's illness is to see how illness can reshape events and test social ties. The book unfolds a social drama, as it traces people's anxieties, the pressure upon them to take immediate action to try to remedy the situation, and their growing realization that they have failed.Through the text runs the problem of hope and belief in healing.

During the 1990s lone mothers reached the top of the political agenda, viewed as both a drain on public expenditure and a moral threat. What has been missing from the debate is an understanding of how we have got to where we are. This timely new study, by three leading experts in the field, sets out first to investigate the demographics of lone motherhood - how the pathways into lone motherhood have changed, and whether the changes of the last quarter of a century are as dramatic as they appear. Second, it looks at the wider context for the changes in lone motherhood in terms of ideas about marriage, and the changes in the construction of the never-married mother, from victim in the 1950s to parasite in the late 1980s. Finally, it examines the way in which policies have defined the problem of lone motherhood over time and the way in which lone mothers have been treated with regard to housing, social security, and employment. The study concludes that there is little possiblility of putting the genie back in the bottle in terms of reducing the number of lone mothers - efforts to do so by reducing public expenditure on them may be effective, but at the expense of the children involved. Instead, the authors urge policy-makers to change focus again, and pay more attention to investing in children.

The first edition of this book established itself as the most widely used, concise guide to the most frequently used procedures in clinical microbiology laboratories. Because the book describes methods in the order in which they would be encountered in the laboratory, it is the perfect bench companion both for the novice in clinical microbiology and the experienced microbiologist who needs to confirm a detail. The book encapsulates the practical experience of a group of experienced clinical microbiologists and scientists imparting valuable tips and solutions to both the methodology and interpretation of clinical microbiology results. Now this book has been extensively up-dated, it represents a state-of-the-art training aid for the diagnostic microbiology laboratory. The first edition proved to be particularly invaluable to microbiologists preparing for higher professional examinations such as membership of the Royal College of Pathologists and the American Board of Medical Microbiolog

The relationship between new religious movements (NRMs) and violence has long been a topic of intense public interest--an interest heavily fueled by multiple incidents of mass violence involving certain groups. Some of these incidents have made international headlines. When New Religious Movements make the news, it's usually because of some violent episode. Some of the most famous NRMs are known much more for the violent way they came to an end than for anything else. Violence and New Religious Movements offers a comprehensive examination of violence by-and against-new religious movements. The book begins with theoretical essays on the relationship between violence and NRMs and then moves on to examine particular groups. There are essays on the "Big Five"--the most well-known cases of violent incidents involving NRMs: Jonestown, Waco, Solar Temple, the Aum Shunrikyo subway attack, and the Heaven's Gate suicides. But the book also provides a richer survey by examining a host of lesser-known groups. This volume is the culmination of decades of research by scholars of New Religious Movements.

Recent books in the Wiley Series in Probability and Statistics Editors Vic Barnett J. Stuart Hunter David W. Scott Geoffrey S. Watson Ralph A. Bradley Joseph B. Kadane Adrian F.M. Smith Nicholas I. Fisher David G. Kendall Jozef L. Teugels Stochastic Geometry and Its Applications Second Edition Dietrich Stoyan, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany Wilfrid S. Kendall, University of Warwick, UK Joseph Mecke, Friedrich-Schiller-Universitat Jena, Germany This standard text makes the results and methods of stochastic geometry and spatial statistics accessible to practitioners and non-theoreticians. The book is also ideal as an introduction to the subject for mathematicians. The exposition is mathematically precise and takes into account the latest results, but in many cases proofs are omitted. Topics covered include the basic theories of point processes, random sets, fibre and surface processes, random tessellations, stereology and the statistical theory of shape. The theory is illustrated by many examples drawn from different branches of science; actual data in the form of images are presented, and their statistical analysis is discussed. As well as being of great interest to statisticians, this treatment of the subject has proved useful to applied scientists working in fields such as geology, biology, microscopy and materials science, and to pure mathematicians working in geometry. 1995 Bayesian Analysis in Statistics and Econometrics. Essays in Honor of Arnold Zellner Donald A. Berry, Duke University Kathryn M. Chaloner, University of Minnesota John K. Geweke, University of Minnesota This volume affords students and professionals in statistics, econometrics, and other fields of statistical applications a unique opportunity to acquaint themselves with important current and future trends in Bayesian analytical theory and practice. Over the course of forty-eight chapters, more than one hundred authors from around the world explore a vast array of practical and theoretical issues. Topics covered include inference, estimation, prediction, regression, linear model, multivariate analysis, model selection and computation. This is a valuable working resource for statisticians, economists, and all those with a professional interest in the Bayesian approach. 1996

A dynamic, inventive and articulate stage director explores in practical, down-to-cases language "The Method:" what it is and is not; the nonsense, the misconceptions, the myths that have sprung up and flourished around it; its development as a workable theory of stage technique and its application to all types of theatrical production.

Explores different applications of Aristotle's hypothesis on the components of form, matter and pyschological states.

Critical Cultural Policy Studies: A Reader brings together classic statements and contemporary views that illustrate how everyday culture is as much a product of policy and economic determinants as it is of creative and consumer impulses.

Critical Cultural Policy Studies: A Reader brings together classic statements and contemporary views that illustrate how everyday culture is as much a product of policy and economic determinants as it is of creative and consumer impulses.

"2 Young 2 Go 4 Boys is Linda Lewis' delightful prequel to We Hate Everything But Boys!"Here is the story of Linda Berman before boys--when she was a determined tomboy and an avowed boy-hater! But what could she do when her best friends went crazy over boys and she began having weird feelings herself?

Christianity Reborn provides the first transnational in-depth analysis of the global expansion of evangelical Protestantism during the past century. While the growth of evangelical Christianity in the non-Western world has already been documented, the significance of this book lies in its scholarly treatment of that phenomenon.Written by prominent historians of religion, these chapters explore the expansion of evangelical (including charismatic) Christianity in non-English-speaking lands, with special reference to dynamic indigenous responses. The range of locations covered includes western and southern Africa, eastern and southern Asia, Latin America, and Oceania. The concluding essay provides a sociological account of evangelicalism's success, highlighting its ability to create a multiplicity of faith communities suited to very different ethnic, racial, and geographical regions.At a time of great interest in the growth of Christianity in the non-Western world, this volume makes an important contribution to our understanding of what may be another turning point in the historical development of evangelical faith.Contributors:Marthinus L. DaneelAllan K. DavidsonPaul FrestonRobert Eric FrykenbergJehu J. HancilesPhilip Yuen-sang LeungDonald M. LewisDavid MartinMark A. NollBrian StanleyW. R. Ward

CUA Press is proud to announce the CUA Studies in Canon Law. In conjunction with the School of Canon Law of the Catholic University of America, we are making available, both digitally and in print, more than 400 canon law dissertations from the 1920s to 1960s, many of which have long been unavailable.These volumes are rich in historical content, yet remain relevant to canon lawyers today. Topics covered include such issues as abortion, excommunication, and infertility. Several studies are devoted to marriage and the annulment process; the acquiring and disposal of church property, including the union of parishes; the role and function of priests, vicars general, bishops, and cardinals; and juridical procedures within the church.For those who seek to understand current ecclesial practices in light of established canon law, these books will be an invaluable resource.

After trying just about everything to get her parents to give her a pet for her birthday, Linda is put to the test as she has to train her new kitten in two weeks after Scratchy the cat begins to destroy the house. As her birthday approaches, Linda spends all her energy trying to convince her parents that a pet dog would be the perfect present. When her mom refuses, saying there isn’t enough room in the apartment for a dog, Linda wishes she could get rid of her twin kid brothers and let a pet take their place. But with some thought, Linda’s dad decides they could squeeze a little kitten into their home. It takes Linda a few days, but she eventually comes to love Scratchy the cat. And one thing is for sure, Scratchy is far smarter than her brothers, but she is also a bit more destructive… After Scratchy destroys her mom’s favorite plant and gets caught eating right off of the dinner table, Linda’s parents give her just two weeks to teach the kitten to behave… or else!

Determined to make Brenda Roman’s summer at Camp Winnepeg the worst she’s ever had, Linda sets out to show all the campers just how much of a terror Brenda can be. When Linda’s mother sends her off to sleep away camp, the last thing on her mind is the activities Camp Winnepeg has to offer. How can she begin to think about swimming or hiking when she has to spend the summer with her sworn enemy, Brenda Roman. When Brenda ruins Linda’s plan to bunk with the boys, whom she thinks are her real friends, she is determined to get even. As she continues to terrorize Linda, she is determined to show everyone that Brenda is the guilty one while making sure she realizes Camp Winnepeg isn’t big enough for the both of them.