Jason Ross Arnold Livres

Meet the Beef Squad: a group of unforgettable kids who are serious about pranks but also about doing whatever it takes to help the people and places they care about.Nick Rhodes and his friends Pratchett, Hogue, and Jared--together known as Beef Squad--have got seventh grade totally hacked. They have the smarts to make perfect grades by day, pull spectacular pranks by night, play video games in between, and do it all with a zany sense of humor. (Because someone has to celebrate National Asparagus Appreciation Day.) But seventh grade is about to strike back! Trouble at school and a secret from their town's Gold Rush past put Beef Squad on a collision course with Leonardville's most powerful forces. Now, with the help of Karla Woo, a new girl on their robotics team, they decide to reveal what's going on, no matter the consequences.This laugh-out-loud story about a group of truly amazing and strongminded kids is one middle-grade readers will cheer for.

Examining the paradox of increased government transparency alongside rampant secrecy, this book delves into the tactics employed by presidential administrations from Reagan to Obama to evade transparency laws. It highlights how excessive secrecy became a bipartisan issue, with officials using strategies like overclassification and document suppression to maintain control over information. Through various case studies, including the concealment of critical health data, the author illustrates the systemic flaws that have kept the public uninformed, revealing the complexities of the "sunshine era."

With its conceptual innovations and case studies, Whistleblowers clarifies the much-discussed but under-studied phenomena of leaking and whistleblowing, with a particular focus on the collaborative networks that make the extraction and publication of secrets possible.