Daily Deals: House of Thieves and Tracing ABC

House of Thieves

When winter time is about the end we wish summer time most of all. Amazon could not sell you summer, but could help you to be there by using power of your imagination. While reading the next book House of Thieves by Kaui Hart Hemmings you will be in Hawaii just for $0.99.

In her debut collection of short stories, House of Thieves, Kaui Hart Hemmings has set the magnificent islands of Hawaii as a backdrop to describe bold frustrated adolescents and adults as they wrestle with themselves and each other over the age-old issues of deprived freedom, misguided love, being cool, and being true; and as they experience together the loneliness of feeling miserable in paradise.

The nine stories in House of Thieves are told from varied points of view–a father, a child, a young woman, an adolescent boy, and more. Rooted in the circumstances and situations of island people, they reveal the mundane cycle of small triumphs and tragedies that make up the lives of ordinary people everywhere. A single mother’s discovery of a pornographic magazine in her thirteen-year-old son’s room sends her down a spiral of jealousy that ultimately guarantees her loss of him. A middle-aged man struggles with this secret hatred for his brother and finds a way to enact a revenge whose absolute destructiveness promises to heal him. A white man who is left by his native Hawaiian wife struggles to understand why he and his daughter, abandoned together, feel such deep resentment for each other. A boy who insists on the illusion of his happy family suddenly recognizes his father’s lack of real love and comes to “the understanding that certain things are severed and they can’t grow back again, the sorrow from loving a place that doesn’t love you back.”

Hemmings’ tart, confident voice plunges headfirst into the unfamiliar world of a Hawaii far from the tourist track, providing glimpses of the islands’ divisive racial and class issues, as well as the proud heritage of kings and warriors and the legacy of colonialists and missionaries. Her unceremonious dealing with issues like drugs, sex, and abandonment and her entirely unself-conscious prose allow her stories to wash effortlessly like an ocean wave, portraying with unsentimental insight and wry humor the complex forces that bind family members together in love and hate.

Tracing ABC

 

Get your little one on track to perfect penmanship with the Tracing ABC app for your Android device. Ideal for children four years and older, the Tracing ABC app has a simple and engaging interface designed to help children print letters, numbers, and various shapes with ease and confidence.

It’s as Easy as…

Choose among four practice options: capital letters, lower-case letters, numbers, and shapes. For the beginners with clumsy little fingers, the Guided Tracing Mode is a good place to start and Free Style Mode offers more of a challenge.

Just Learning

The Guided Tracing Mode displays a large, transparent letter on a chalkboard. A bright, green star indicates where your child should begin, followed by a path of fading yellow stars. To properly print the letter, your child will follow the yellow star path, beginning with the brightest, green star. If it’s necessary to lift the chalk for a new line, a new bright green star will appear indicating such.

Guided Tracing Mode makes it impossible to go outside of the lines. It’s best for simply familiarizing your child with the letters, and providing positive feedback and encouragement.

I Think I Got It

Free Style Tracing Mode offers a more organic writing experience when your child is ready for more of a challenge. While the star path is still there, the chalk line follows the exact path of your child’s finger. If your little one gets sloppy, the line will turn red. Each effort is awarded one, two, or three stars. Children may also be encouraged to simply try again.

A is for Alligator

After successfully tracing a letter, the overhead screen is pulled down displaying a word and photo of something beginning with that letter. Likewise, children will see a photo which represents the numbers and shapes as well.

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