self-realization

Despite the hatred the other gems have for the Lunarians, Pho makes an effort to communicate. But the job is perhaps more difficult than one gem can handle.

Pho gets new legs and can now go to battle. But when the times comes to fight, he is too afraid. To punish himself, he stays awake all winter while the other gems sleep.

When Ventricosus the sea snail suggests that sea creatures may have much needed answers, Pho and Cinnabar head to sea to find a less lonely job for Cinnabar. But the two are not built for the sea and experience danger and hardship.

Two hundred years after an attack on the Lustrous, Phosphophyllite tries to get Kongo to pray for the Lunarians again, and the Lunarians ready themselves to pass into nothingness. The gemstones prepare for life alone on the moon, and Euclase wakes up.

Crystalline lifeforms called The Lustrous fight for their way of life against Lunarians who want to use them for decorations. The oldest among them, Phosphophyllite, wants to join the battle, but is instead ordered to complete a natural history of the gems. And while initially disappointed, Pho makes a new friend in an isolated gem named Cinnabar.

"Bittersweetness is a tendency to states of longing, poignancy, and sorrow; an acute awareness of passing time; and a curiously piercing joy when beholding beauty. It recognizes that light and dark, birth and death--bitter and sweet--are forever paired. A song in a minor key, an elegiac poem, or even a touching television commercial all can bring us to this sublime, even holy, state of mind--and, ultimately, to greater kinship with our fellow humans. But bittersweetness is not, as we tend to think, just a momentary feeling or event. It's also a way of being, a storied heritage. Our artistic and spiritual traditions--amplified by recent scientific and management research--teach us its power. [The author] shows how a bittersweet state of mind is the quiet force that helps us transcend our personal and collective pain. If we don't acknowledge our own sorrows and longings, she says, we can end up inflicting them on others via abuse, domination, or neglect. But if we realize that all humans know--or will know--loss and suffering, we can turn toward each other. And we can learn to transform our own pain into creativity, transcendence, and connection"--Provided by publisher.

"[This book] is a practical guide to help you unlock your creative potential and find fulfilment and happiness in the process"--Provided by publisher.

"In Drum's hometown of musical instruments, even the birds sprout miniature trumpets from their beaks. He loves his violin brother, his cello father, and his piano mother, yet secretly he feels like an outcast because he alone, among all his family and neighbors, can't play a melody. But Drum is about to discover what he was meant to do"--Front dust jacket.

"This 365-days' worth of bite-sized advice is part-parent, BBF, and therapist all wrapped up into a chunky and colorful oracle book. Each entry is set against bright and bold graphics and range from hard advice, light positive pep-talks, and snarky, "too real" advice. Readers can open the book for a random daily bit of advice (ala oracle books and cards) or flip to the page that feels right and display it at their desk or in their home"--Provided by publisher.

Millie Price deals with her lovable but introverted dad, her drama club rival, Oliver, and her "Millie Moods," the feelings of intense emotion that threaten to overwhelm, but when an accidentally left-open browser brings Millie to her dad's embarrassingly moody LiveJournal, Millie knows she must find her mom.