James McCann

In this sequel to The Three Spartans, Art is all set to spend the last few weeks of summer in Birch Bay with his best friend Lea. But his plans change when he learns his nemesis Zeke is involved in a plot to tear down Finn Slough. His aunt and her girlfriend, Jordana, live in Finn Slough, a unique community near Stevenston, B. C. made up of wood homes on stilts. Art goes to Finn Slough to convince the local dragon boat hero to enter the race, only to discover his mission is close to impossible. The dragon boat hero, Teejay, has no interest in competing. Art considers giving up, but when he learns Jordana is dying, he has another reason to save the slough. Art has to draw on all of his leadership skills -and gain some paddling skills-he'if he's going to succeed. Much like the Greeks in the Battle of Salamis, Art and his new Finn Slough friends are at a disadvantage. But with some cunning they still may triumph.

Twelve-year-old Arthur loves his summers in Birch Bay, a quirky seaside village where he spends all of his time with his best friend Lea. They play video games together, hang out at the beach and explore on their bikes. This year is different, though. First, Arthur learns it will be Lea's last summer in Birch Bay. Then their freedom is threatened by the Immortals, the swim team who torments all the local kids. Lea and Arthur decide to take a stand. Using their video-game network, they gather a small army of kids who?ve had enough of the Immortals. Armed with paintball guns and shields made of garbage can lids, the Spartan army takes on the Immortals. Their goal is control of a treehouse, but the prize is knowing they stood up for themselves A humorous retelling of the Greek battle of Thermopylae, The Three Spartans is a story of friendship and belonging, and of standing up for what's right&mdasheven when the odds are against you.

A decade from now, many jobs as we know them may no longer exist as the industrial revolution of the twentieth century gives way to the technological age of the twenty-first. To succeed in the new startup economy, it will be important to understand the breadth of this change as well as prepare with the right skills. Startups and the Tech Revolution: The Essential Guide is the first step towards understanding this new world. This book is meant to help those outside the startup world get a basic understanding of the tech revolution underway by providing a simple yet comprehensive overview of how the system works and how it may impact individuals, society, and companies. Written by James McCann, Startups and the Tech Revolution: The Essential Guide demonstrates that the tech age can be good for humanity but that we must be prepared for the scale of the coming changes. This book takes readers through every element of the startup ecosystem while providing timely examples of how the tech revolution is changing our world, all in the hopes that you will be better informed to join the debate and think about how to make the most of the technological age.

After losing yet another tae kwon do tournament, Jinho gives in to his anger and breaks his opponent's fingers. While this gets him barred from competing at his dojang, it also gets him scouted by Austin, a trainer for an underground mixed martial arts club. At first the prospect of fighting without boundaries appeals to Jinho, but the more involved he gets, the more disturbing he finds it and the harder it is to find a way out. Unlike legal MMA, which has rules and regulations, underground MMA is a free-for-all: there are no weight classes and no referees to stop the fight should it go too far. When Jinho is set up to fight a boy known as The Ripper, he realizes that he doesn't belong in this world, but the only thing that can save him is the ancient code of tae kwon do. This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for middle-grade readers who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don't like to read

In From Poverty to Famine in Northeast Ethiopia, James McCann engages an interdisciplinary perspective to uncover the historical background to the persistence of famine in the northeast region of Ethiopia. His study focuses on the northern Wallo region, an area that was incorporated into Haile Selassie's modern state system and now one of the most devastated portions of the country. The history of northern Wallo and its position within the modern Ethiopian state is presented through an examination of the circumstances in which its rural population lived, farmed, and adapted to a changing physical environment and political economy between 1900 and 1935. This period also coincided with the most critical years of colonial Africa's incorporation into the world economy. McCann's employment of new field data calls into question previous studies of Africa, which have frequently identified ecological stress and famine as simply the products of capitalist development. What accounts for rural Ethiopia's vulnerability to famine, when it boasts one of Africa's most efficient traditional agricultural systems? To what extent have northern Ethiopian patterns of property, marriage, and ideology resisted or contributed to the overall impoverishment of the rural economy? The answers to these questions are found in McCann's careful examination of the historical, geographic, ecological, and demographic characteristics that have affected northern Wallo's systems of production. This comprehensive description of northern Wallo's historical experience is also instructive in terms of the nature of social change and continuity, and the persistence of famine throughout northern Ethiopia. From Poverty to Famine in Northeastern Ethiopia