"A fascinating and oft-surprising exploration of the history and meaning of funeral rituals"-- "Ceremonies for honoring the departed are crucial parts of our lives, but few people know where our traditional practices come from -- and what they reveal about our history, culture, and beliefs about death. In Last Rites, author Todd Harra takes you on a fascinating exploration of American customs around death, burial, and remembrance" -- From book jacket....

"The Unwilling is the story of Judah, a foundling born with a special gift and raised inside Highfall castle along with Gavin, the son and heir to Lord Elban's vast empire. Judah and Gavin share an unnatural bond that is both the key to her survival - and possibly her undoing. As Gavin is groomed for his future role, Judah comes to realize that she has no real position within the kingdom, in fact, no hope at all of ever traveling beyond its castle...

"A deeply compelling exploration of the death industry and the people-morticians, detectives, crime scene cleaners, embalmers, executioners-who work in it and what led them there. We are surrounded by death. It is in our news, our nursery rhymes, our true-crime podcasts. Yet from a young age, we are told that death is something to be feared. How are we supposed to know what we're so afraid of, when we are never given the chance to look? Fueled by...

Judah the Foundling chose freedom over betrayal when she leaped from the top of the castle tower. Now she finds herself wandering an unknown forest, far from everything and everyone she loves. For the first time in her life, she's beyond the great Wall that surrounds Highfall castle; for the first time, she's alone. Away from the Seneschal, the power behind the throne; away from Nate Clare, the House Magus who was her teacher, friend, betrayer. Away...

At the request of a dying Tiwi man and his family on Melville Island, this film was made of the pukumani (bereavement) ceremony to follow his death. The film observes the family through the long period of preparation for the ceremony, following age-old traditions. Dancing and face-painting are rehearsed, to the family's satisfaction, and because "things should be right for this film". For the two days of ceremony, the community moves to Carslake Beach...

"Readers are introduced to the different annual festivals, holidays, and events held around the world as they learn what it's like to celebrate other cultures. This exploration of celebrations in other countries teaches the traditions and values of different groups of people, helping young readers broaden their worldview. The importance of various celebrations is explained in this engaging, age-appropriate text that encourages a deeper appreciation...

Sons of Shiva is a sustained attempt to film a four-day ceremony concerned with the worship of Shiva. Devotees of the God Shiva are shown from the initial taking of the Sacred Thread through gradually intensifying action to a culmination in a variety of ascetic and self denying practices.

To Serve the Gods is about the beliefs, rituals and performances of a week-long ceremony given by a Haitian family in honor of its ancestral spirits. We are told at the outset of the film that this sevis loua only occurs every twenty to thirty years. This particular service takes place in a rural community in southern Haiti, on family land, where relatives have gathered to propitiate gods inherited by their ancestors.

When Geraldine Kawanka's husband died, she and her children moved out of their house. In earlier times, their bark house would have been burnt, but today a "house-opening" ceremony has evolved, creatively mingling Aboriginal, Torres Strait, and European traditions in order to deal with death in the context of new living patterns in the Aboriginal community of Aurukun, on the Cape York Peninsula, north Queensland. This beautifully observed documentary...

When they find a dead bird, a group of children buries it in the woods, sings a song to it, and puts flowers on the grave.