NEBADOR Book Seven: The Local Universe: (Global Edition)

NEBADOR - the incredible journey of five young adults from poverty and oppression to respected citizenship in the wide universe ... The crew of the little ship must first endure a long and constantly-changing deep-space mission with creatures they had never imagined working alongside, only to discover how much they admire them. - But their real challenge is a planet of humans who have their priorities backwards, where Ilika must go under cover while the rest of the crew searches for their elusive assignment. After several dead ends, they are finally rewarded with a visit to Nebador's majestic local universe capital. - These stories are filled with wit-sharpening and skill-honing challenges - mental, emotional, and spiritual - for both the characters and the reader. It is truly a grand adventure in which the characters come to understand a beloved saying of the Nebador Transport Service: Personal power is the ability to stand on your own two feet, with a smile on your face, in the middle of a universe that contains a million ways to crush you. - This book includes the short story "Buna's Search" by Shadow Buffalo-walker, winner of the 2012-13 Nebador Writing Contest. - This is the PAPERBACK GLOBAL edition in 10-point type.

Born in the Mojave Desert, J. Z. Colby now lives and writes deep in a forest of the Pacific Northwest. - He has studied many subjects, formally and informally, including psychology, philosophy, education, and performing arts, but remains a generalist. His primary profession as a mental health counselor, specializing with families and young adults, gives him many stories of personal growth, and the motivation to develop his team of young critiquers and readers. - All his life, he has been drawn toward a broad understanding of human nature, especially those physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual situations in which our capacity to function seems to reach its limits. He finds fascinating those few individuals who can transcend the limits of our common human nature and the dictates of our cultures. - In his spare time, he flies helicopters and airplanes. - Shadow Buffalo-walker is completely comfortable on a moon-lit night with coyotes yapping, wolves howling, and buffalo stomping, but has little use for cities and other man-made things. She learned more at the feet of an old native-American woman than in school, but admits that schools are probably necessary for those who want to fit into the human world. For her, it's too late -- she has seen the other side, and will spend her life with at least one foot there. The publication of "Buna's Search" was her best 18th birthday gift.