Pawfect Books for March

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What the Dog Saw

Malcolm Gladwell focuses on "minor geniuses" and idiosyncratic behavior to illuminate the ways all of us organize experience in this "delightful" (Bloomberg News) collection of writings from The New Yorker.

What is the difference between choking and panicking? Why are there dozens of varieties of mustard-but only one variety of ketchup? What do football players teach us about how to hire teachers? What does hair dye tell us about the history of the 20th century? 
In the past decade, Malcolm Gladwell has written three books that have radically changed how we understand our world and ourselves: The Tipping Point; Blink; and Outliers. Now, in What the Dog Saw, he brings together, for the first time, the best of his writing from The New Yorker over the same period. 
Here is the bittersweet tale of the inventor of the birth control pill, and the dazzling inventions of the pasta sauce pioneer Howard Moscowitz. Gladwell sits with Ron Popeil, the king of the American kitchen, as he sells rotisserie ovens, and divines the secrets of Cesar Millan, the "dog whisperer" who can calm savage animals with the touch of his hand. He explores intelligence tests and ethnic profiling and "hindsight bias" and why it was that everyone in Silicon Valley once tripped over themselves to hire the same college graduate. 
"Good writing," Gladwell says in his preface, "does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade. It succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else's head." What the Dog Saw is yet another example of the buoyant spirit and unflagging curiosity that have made Malcolm Gladwell our most brilliant investigator of the hidden extraordinary.

Health & Wellness

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The Whole Body Reset

New York Times Bestseller 

Stop—and even reverse!—age-related weight gain and muscle loss with the first-ever weight-loss plan specifically designed to shrink your belly, extend your life, and create your healthiest self at mid-life and beyond.

You don’t have to gain weight as you age. That’s the simple yet revolutionary promise of The Whole Body Reset, which uncovers why standard diet and exercise advice stops working for us as we approach midlife—and reveals how simple changes to the way we eat can halt, and even reverse, age-related weight gain and muscle loss.

The Whole Body Reset presents stunning new evidence about the power of “protein timing” for people at midlife—research that blows away current government guidelines, refutes the myth of slowing metabolisms and “inevitable” weight gain, and changes the way people in their mid-forties and older should think about food. The Whole Body Reset explains in simple, inspiring terms exactly how our bodies change with age, and how eating to accommodate those changes can make us respond to exercise as if we were twenty to thirty years younger.

Developed by AARP, tested by a panel of more than 100 AARP employees, and approved by an international board of doctors, nutritionists, and fitness experts, The Whole Body Reset doesn’t use diet phases, eating windows, calorie restriction, or other trendy gimmicks. Its six simple secrets and scores of recipes are easy to follow, designed for real people living in the real world. A dining guide even shows how to follow this program in popular restaurants from McDonald’s to Starbucks to Olive Garden. And best of all: It works!

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Let's Get Physical

A captivating blend of reportage and personal narrative that explores the untold history of women’s exercise culture--from jogging and Jazzercise to Jane Fonda--and how women have parlayed physical strength into other forms of power.

For American women today, working out is as accepted as it is expected, fueling a multibillion-dollar fitness industrial complex. But it wasn’t always this way. For much of the twentieth century, sweating was considered unladylike and girls grew up believing physical exertion would cause their uterus to literally fall out. It was only in the sixties that, thanks to a few forward-thinking fitness pioneers, women began to move en masse.

In Let's Get Physical, journalist Danielle Friedman reveals the fascinating hidden history of contemporary women’s fitness culture, chronicling in vivid, cinematic prose how exercise evolved from a beauty tool pitched almost exclusively as a way to “reduce” into one millions have harnessed as a path to mental, emotional, and physical well-being. 

Let’s Get Physical reclaims these forgotten origin stories—and shines a spotlight on the trailblazers who led the way. Each chapter uncovers the birth of a fitness movement that laid the foundation for working out today: the radical post-war pitch for women to break a sweat in their living rooms, the invention of barre in the “Swinging Sixties,” the promise of jogging as liberation in the seventies, the meteoric rise of aerobics and weight-training in the eighties, the explosion of yoga in the nineties, and the ongoing push for a more socially inclusive fitness culture—one that celebrates every body. 

Ultimately, it tells the story of how women discovered the joy of physical strength and competence—and how, by moving together to transform fitness from a privilege into a right, we can create a more powerful sisterhood.

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The Essential Guide to Intermittent Fasting for Women


From renowned experts Megan Ramos and Dr. Jason Fung: A transformative approach to women's health and well-being that gives readers the tools to reclaim their health sustainably.

"Essential reading for any woman wanting to improve her metabolic health and make sense of her body, hormones, and sustainable fasting strategies. "--Cynthia Thurlow, author of Intermittent Fasting Transformation

"Intermittent fasting has changed my body, mind, and life. I am truly grateful and humbled by humans like Megan who are sharing the truth about health."--Raven-Symoné

Struggling with your metabolism and hormone health? Disappointed by diets that don't provide sustainable, long term results? Sick of feeling tired and stressed all the time?

Megan Ramos was in the same position when she discovered intermittent fasting at the clinic where she was a researcher. After suffering from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, PCOS, and type 2 diabetes, she harnessed the power of fasting to reverse these conditions, lose over 80 pounds, and achieve long-lasting health. Today, as the co-founder of The Fasting Method with Dr. Jason Fung, she has helped over 20,000 people, primarily women, improve their wellbeing through intermittent fasting.

In The Essential Guide to Intermittent Fasting for Women, Ramos shares:
 

  • Easy-to-use fasting protocols that can be incorporated into your busy schedule
  • Information on when and how to eat to feel full and energized
  • How intermittent fasting can support your health through fertility struggles, PCOS, perimenopause, and menopause
  • How balancing your hormones and stress levels can help you avoid weight gain and depression


Designed specifically for women of all ages and their unique needs, this go-to guide provides you with the steps to take control of your health--for good.

 

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Built to Move

The innovators behind The Ready State and the movement bible Becoming a Supple Leopard present 10 practices proven to enhance mobility, make you feel energetic and alive, and, like a good 401(K), prepare your body for whatever comes its way in the future.

After decades spent working with pro-athletes, Olympians, and Navy Seals, mobility pioneers Kelly and Juliet Starrett began thinking about the physical well-being of the rest of us. What makes a durable human? How do we continue to feel great and function well as we age? And how do we counteract the effects of technology-dependence, sedentary living, and other modern ways of life on our body’s natural need for activity? Our bodies, after all, were built to move.

The answers lie in a simple formula for basic mobility maintenance: 10 tests + 10 physical practices = 10 ways to make your body work better.

Organized around ten assessments and ten physical practices that anyone can do, Built to Move is designed to improve the way your body feels—less stiffness! fewer aches and pain!— and boost the overall quality of your life, no matter how you spend your time. The book offers:

 

  • Easy mobilization practices to increase range of motion and avoid injury
  • Uncomplicated guidelines for improving nutrition and sleep
  • Breathing strategies to help you move more freely and manage stress and pain
  • Advice on easy ways to change sedentary habits and integrate more movement into your daily life.


This is the first body book written for exercisers and nonexercisers alike. It’s full of foundational wisdom for everyone from professional athletes to gym haters and everyone in between. Built to Move introduces readers to a set of simple principles and practices that are undemanding enough to work into any busy schedule, lead to greater ease of movement, better health, and a happier life doing whatever it is you love to do—and want to continue doing as long as you live. This book is your game plan for the long game.

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The Healing Self

After collaborating on two major books featured as PBS specials, Super Brain and Super Genes, Chopra and Tanzi now tackle the issue of lifelong health and heightened immunity.

We are in the midst of a new revolution. 

For over twenty-five years Deepak Chopra, M.D. and Rudolph E. Tanzi, Ph.D. have revolutionized medicine and how we understand our minds and our bodies--Chopra, the leading expert in the field of integrative medicine; Tanzi, the pioneering neuroscientist and discoverer of genes that cause Alzheimer's Disease. After reaching millions of people around the world through their collaborations on the hugely successful Super Brain and Super Genes books and public television programs, the New York Times bestselling authors now present a groundbreaking, landmark work on the supreme importance of our immune system in relation to our lifelong health.

In the face of environmental toxins, potential epidemics, superbugs, and the accelerated aging process, the significance of achieving optimum health has never been more crucial--and the burden to achieve it now rests on individuals making the right lifestyle choices every day.

That means you. You--not doctors, not pharmaceutical companies--are ultimately responsible for your own health.

Chopra and Tanzi want to help readers make the best decisions possible when it comes to creating a holistic and transformative health plan for life. In The Healing Self they not only push the boundaries of the intellect to bring readers the newest research and insights on the mind-body, mind-gene, and mind-immunity connections, but they offer a cutting-edge, seven-day action plan, which outlines the key tools everyone needs to develop their own effective and personalized path to self-healing.

In addition, The Healing Self closely examines how we can best manage chronic stress and inflammation, which are immerging as the primary detriments of well-being. Moreover, Chopra and Tanzi turn their attention to a host of chronic disorders such as hypertension, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer's Disease, known to take years and sometimes decades to develop before the first symptoms appear. Contemporary medical systems aren't set to attend to prolonged low-grade chronic inflammation or the everyday infections and stresses that take their toll on the body and can lead to disease, aging, and death. Thus, learning the secrets of self-healing is not only urgent but mandatory for optimum health. The Healing Self then is a call to action, a proven, strategic program that will arm readers with the information they need to protect themselves and achieve lifelong wellness.

There is a new revolution occurring in health today. That revolution is you.

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The Wellness Mama Cookbook

A compilation of 200 simple, delicious recipes using all-natural ingredients; meal plans; time-saving tips; and advice that will take the guesswork out of dinner, from the creator of the popular Wellness Mama website. 

With six kids, a popular blog, and no free time, Katie Wells, knows firsthand how difficult it is to cook a healthy, homemade dinner every night. Faced with her own health challenges, and also concerned about the frightening statistics on the future health of her children’s generation, Katie began to evaluate the foods she was eating and feeding to her family. She became determined to find a way to create and serve meals that were wholesome, easy to prepare, budget-friendly, and family approved. 

The recipes and practical advice Katie offers in The Wellness Mama Cookbook will help you eliminate processed foods and move toward more healthy, home-cooked meals that are easily prepared—most in thirty minutes or less. The recipes focus on whole foods that are free of grains and refined sugars and without harmful fats, but are still delicious and full of flavor. With a variety of slow-cooker and one-pot meals, light lunches, dinners, and desserts, you’ll be eating better in every way in no time at all. Recipes include Sesame Chicken with Sugar Snap Peas, Sweet Potato Crusted Quiche Lorraine, Beef and Zucchini Stir Fry, and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, as well as recipes for bone broths, fermented foods, and super food drinks and smoothies. Katie also shares pantry-stocking advice, two weeks of meal plans for at home and on-the-go, shopping lists, and more. This is the ultimate cookbook that readers need to incorporate healthy eating knowledge into their daily practices.

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North

From the author of the bestseller Eat and Run, a thrilling new memoir about his grueling, exhilarating, and immensely inspiring 46-day run to break the speed record for the Appalachian Trail.

Scott Jurek is one of the world's best known and most beloved ultrarunners. Renowned for his remarkable endurance and speed, accomplished on a vegan diet, he's finished first in nearly all of ultrarunning's elite events over the course of his career. But after two decades of racing, training, speaking, and touring, Jurek felt an urgent need to discover something new about himself. He embarked on a wholly unique challenge, one that would force him to grow as a person and as an athlete: breaking the speed record for the Appalachian Trail. North is the story of the 2,189-mile journey that nearly shattered him.

When he set out in the spring of 2015, Jurek anticipated punishing terrain, forbidding weather, and inevitable injuries. He would have to run nearly 50 miles a day, every day, for almost seven weeks. He knew he would be pushing himself to the limit, that comfort and rest would be in short supply -- but he couldn't have imagined the physical and emotional toll the trip would exact, nor the rewards it would offer.

With his wife, Jenny, friends, and the kindness of strangers supporting him, Jurek ran, hiked, and stumbled his way north, one white blaze at a time. A stunning narrative of perseverance and personal transformation, North is a portrait of a man stripped bare on the most demanding and transcendent effort of his life. It will inspire runners and non-runners alike to keep striving for their personal best.
 

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Natural Born Heroes

The best-selling author of Born to Run now travels to the Mediterranean, where he discovers that the secrets of ancient Greek heroes are still alive and well on the island of Crete, and ready to be unleashed in the muscles and minds of casual athletes and aspiring heroes everywhere.

After running an ultramarathon through the Copper Canyons of Mexico, Christopher McDougall finds his next great adventure on the razor-sharp mountains of Crete, where a band of Resistance fighters in World War II plotted the daring abduction of a German general from the heart of the Nazi occupation. How did a penniless artist, a young shepherd, and a playboy poet believe they could carry out such a remarkable feat of strength and endurance, smuggling the general past thousands of Nazi pursuers, with little more than their own wits and courage to guide them?

McDougall makes his way to the island to find the answer and retrace their steps, experiencing firsthand the extreme physical challenges the Resistance fighters and their local allies faced. On Crete, the birthplace of the classical Greek heroism that spawned the likes of Herakles and Odysseus, McDougall discovers the tools of the hero--natural movement, extraordinary endurance, and efficient nutrition. All of these skills, McDougall learns, are still practiced in far-flung pockets throughout the world today.

More than a mystery of remarkable people and cunning schemes, Natural Born Heroes is a fascinating investigation into the lost art of the hero, taking us from the streets of London at midnight to the beaches of Brazil at dawn, from the mountains of Colorado to McDougall's own backyard in Pennsylvania, all places where modern-day athletes are honing ancient skills so they're ready for anything.

Just as Born to Run inspired readers to get off the treadmill, out of their shoes, and into the natural world, Natural Born Heroes will inspire them to leave the gym and take their fitness routine to nature--to climb, swim, skip, throw, and jump their way to their own heroic feats.

Staff Picks

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The God of the Woods

ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES’S NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2024

A NEW YORK TIMES BEST THRILLER OF 2024

A NEW YORK TIMES BEST CRIME NOVEL OF 2024

PEOPLE MAGAZINE’S #1 BOOK OF THE YEAR

ONE OF NPR’S “BOOKS WE LOVE” 2024

ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S “100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2024”

"A long novel that at first is hard to put down. By page 200, impossible." —Stephen King

“Extraordinary . . . Reminds me of Donna Tartt’s 1992 debut, The Secret History . . . I was so thoroughly submerged in a rich fictional world, that for hours I barely came up for air.” —Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air, NPR

“This expertly paced thriller …has the kineticism of a well-crafted miniseries.” —The New Yorker

When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.

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James

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER * ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR * SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE * KIRKUS PRIZE WINNER * A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and darkly humorous, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view

In development as a feature film to be produced by Steven Spielberg * A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times Book Review, LA Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Economist, TIME, and more.

"Genius"--The Atlantic * "A masterpiece that will help redefine one of the classics of American literature, while also being a major achievement on its own."--Chicago Tribune * "A provocative, enlightening literary work of art."--The Boston Globe * "Everett's most thrilling novel, but also his most soulful."--The New York Times

When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.

While many narrative set pieces of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remain in place (floods and storms, stumbling across both unexpected death and unexpected treasure in the myriad stopping points along the river's banks, encountering the scam artists posing as the Duke and Dauphin...), Jim's agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light.

Brimming with the electrifying humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a "literary icon" (Oprah Daily), and one of the most decorated writers of our lifetime, James is destined to be a cornerstone of twenty-first century American literature.

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Separate Is Never Equal

A 2015 Pura Belpr Illustrator Honor Book and a 2015 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
Almost 10 years before Brown vs. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez and her parents helped end school segregation in California. An American citizen of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage who spoke and wrote perfect English, Mendez was denied enrollment to a "Whites only" school. Her parents took action by organizing the Hispanic community and filing a lawsuit in federal district court. Their success eventually brought an end to the era of segregated education in California.

Praise for Separate is Never Equal
STARRED REVIEWS
"Tonatiuh masterfully combines text and folk-inspired art to add an important piece to the mosaic of U.S. civil rights history."
--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Younger children will be outraged by the injustice of the Mendez family story but pleased by its successful resolution. Older children will understand the importance of the 1947 ruling that desegregated California schools, paving the way for Brown v. Board of Education seven years later."
--School Library Journal, starred review

"Tonatiuh (Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote) offers an illuminating account of a family's hard-fought legal battle to desegregate California schools in the years before Brown v. Board of Education."
--Publishers Weekly

"Pura Belpr Award-winning Tonatiuh makes excellent use of picture-book storytelling to bring attention to the 1947 California ruling against public-school segregation."
--Booklist

"The straightforward narrative is well matched with the illustrations in Tonatiuh's signature style, their two-dimensional perspective reminiscent of the Mixtec codex but collaged with paper, wood, cloth, brick, and (Photoshopped) hair to provide textural variation. This story deserves to be more widely known, and now, thanks to this book, it will be."
--The Horn Book Magazine

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You Are Not Alone for Parents and Caregivers

"You are Not Alone is the beacon of hope parents and caregivers need.... Every physician and mental health provider should keep copies of this book to give parents when these issues arise; the insights and hope this book provides will be a powerful tool in the provider's therapeutic toolkit." --Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D., author, with Oprah Winfrey, of the New York Times #1 bestseller What Happened to You: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience and Healing

"Makes the complex world of children's mental health accessible to all while uplifting the voices and experiences of real parents and caregivers." --Jay Shetty, #1 New York Times bestselling author and host of the On Purpose podcast

The perfect follow-up to You Are Not Alone: a guide for parents, educators, caregivers, and mental health professionals on how to navigate mental healthcare for the young people in their lives.

A growing number of children and teens in the U.S. are struggling with mental health conditions, but parents, teachers, and other caregivers are often at a loss when concerns arise for their own child. Are your preschooler's constant tantrums typical for their age, or an indication of a developmental difficulty? Is puberty or depression to blame for your pre-teen's challenging behavior? Is my child in the wrong school, or being influenced by the wrong friends? Am I a bad parent or teacher, or am I overreacting? What exactly should I do?

In You Are Not Alone for Parents and Caregivers, child psychiatrist and NAMI's Associate Medical Director Dr. Christine M. Crawford provides a comprehensive, compassionate, and practical resource for anyone concerned about a child's mental health. Drawing on her own clinical experience and guidance from leading experts, Dr. Crawford provides a lens through which to understand the many complex factors affecting children's mental health. Analyzing young people from preschool to high school, she shares insights into how mental health conditions may manifest at different ages, what kind of interventions may be necessary, and what to do to help kids thrive. Throughout, the book channels the collective wisdom of the NAMI community. Parents, caregivers, and young people themselves share personal stories about their paths to recovery, ensuring readers know that they are not alone.

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Likeable Badass

Behavioral scientist Alison Fragale offers powerful new insights and a practical playbook for women to advance in any workplace, full of tips, tricks, and strategies to help secure that elusive corner office.

Over decades of research, speaking engagements, and mentorship, psychologist and professor Alison Fragale encountered recurring questions from high powered and early career women alike: How do women thread the needle of kindness and competence in the workplace? How can women earn credit for their accomplishments, negotiate better, and navigate complex office politics without losing the goodwill of their peers?

Fragale investigated and determined that many women's workplace issues boil down to what psychologists call status: the perception of them by others. No amount of power-- no degree, title, or paycheck-- will raise a woman's workplace stature unless it also affects how others see her. Acknowledging this roadblock, Fragale pulls back the curtain on how we can change how others see us by developing our standing as a "likeable badass." By cultivating perceptions of warmth and assertiveness, women can achieve the kind of reputation that leads to a seat at the table and a fulfilling career path.

Likeable Badass is equal parts behavioral science and life hacks, weaving together rigorous research with actionable advice and impactful stories from a diverse array of women. This is a warm, heartening book written for women, their allies, and anyone who struggles to rise, and wants evidence-based, practical strategies for success, served with a side of inspiration and humor.

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The Ferryman

“Next to impossible to put down . . . exciting, mysterious, and totally satisfying.”—STEPHEN KING
 
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Passage comes a riveting standalone novel about a group of survivors on a hidden island utopia—where the truth isn't what it seems.

Founded by the mysterious genius known as the Designer, the archipelago of Prospera lies hidden from the horrors of a deteriorating outside world. In this island paradise, Prospera’s lucky citizens enjoy long, fulfilling lives until the monitors embedded in their forearms, meant to measure their physical health and psychological well-being, fall below 10 percent. Then they retire themselves, embarking on a ferry ride to the island known as the Nursery, where their failing bodies are renewed, their memories are wiped clean, and they are readied to restart life afresh. 

Proctor Bennett, of the Department of Social Contracts, has a satisfying career as a ferryman, gently shepherding people through the retirement process—and, when necessary, enforcing it. But all is not well with Proctor. For one thing, he’s been dreaming—which is supposed to be impossible in Prospera. For another, his monitor percentage has begun to drop alarmingly fast. And then comes the day he is summoned to retire his own father, who gives him a disturbing and cryptic message before being wrestled onto the ferry.

Meanwhile, something is stirring. The Support Staff, ordinary men and women who provide the labor to keep Prospera running, have begun to question their place in the social order. Unrest is building, and there are rumors spreading of a resistance group—known as “Arrivalists”—who may be fomenting revolution. 

Soon Proctor finds himself questioning everything he once believed, entangled with a much bigger cause than he realized—and on a desperate mission to uncover the truth.