The author of this delightful collection of short stories begins the forward with a confession: "I collect odd people... Much the way other people collect stamps or coins, I collect artists, deviants, egomaniacs, the sexually and morally confused, social faux pas, anarchists, true believers and rabid atheists." And Indonesia, a land where there is a very porous frontier between the natural and supernatural worlds, provided him with a rich hunting ground. In this collection, the reader will meet Thomas Perkasa, a gentle early childhood teacher with a secret passion for women's clothes; Maurice de Castillon, an eccentric artist who manages to break the cardinal aesthetic rule; the seductive Dewi Bambridge and her pesky drain dwarf; and Richelle Orlando whose passion for rebelliousness is tempered by an egg named Felicity. The author spent several years living in Indonesia and is quick to point out that the stories themselves are a blend of fact and fancy. What is not fiction is Indonesia where the tectonic plates of the natural and spiritual worlds rub their backs together and create the Ring of Fire.

Fifteen years after the tragic death of her husband, Malaika receives his private journals and an odd invitation to write his biography. Financially strapped, Malaika accepts the invitation only to find that her husband's death is not nearly as straight forward or as simple as it once seemed. In the final entry in his diary, Malaika reads something that will change the course of her life. Her husband, Paul Mondeson, did not die of natural causes. Driven by guilt and a relentless quest for the truth, Malaika's research takes her back to Tanzania in the early 1980's when a young, idealistic American Peace Corps Volunteer comes out to Tanzania to teach physics at a "bush school." As his project officer, Malaika attempts to teach Paul the "rules of engagement" for working in a desperately poor African country. Soon the couple falls in love against a brutal background of corruption, racism, witchcraft, betrayal and murder. Malaika's journey into the past is also one of self-discovery as she pursues the absolution that always seems just beyond her reach.

William R. Powell and Ochan Powell's Becoming an Emotionally Intelligent Teacher guides teachers through the process of developing and enhancing their emotional intelligence in order to reap benefits in the classroom. Based on the premise that emotional intelligence can be taught and that emotionally intelligent teachers support highly effective and efficient student learning, this book provides teachers with the essential research, case studies, and practical tools for strengthening their emotional intelligence skill set. Using Daniel Goleman's five components of emotional intelligence as a framework-self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, social awareness, and relationship management-the book highlights the particular significance that each of these components holds for teachers and, ultimately, for student success in the classroom.