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The Beneficiary: Fortune, Misfortune, and the Story of My Father
by Janny ScottA parable for the new age of inequality: part family history, part detective story, part history of a vanishing class, and a vividly compelling exploration of the degree to which an inheritance—financial, cultural, genetic—conspired in one person's self-destruction.Land, houses, and money tumbled from one generation to the next on the eight-hundred-acre estate built by Scott's investment banker great-grandfather on Philadelphia's Main Line. There was an obligation to protect it, a license to enjoy it, a duty to pass it on—but it was impossible to know in advance how all that extraordinary good fortune might influence the choices made over a lifetime. In this warmly felt tale of an American family's fortunes, journalist Janny Scott excavates the rarefied world that shaped her charming, unknowable father, Robert Montgomery Scott, and provides an incisive look at the weight of inheritance, the tenacity of addiction, and the power of buried secrets.Some beneficiaries flourished, like Scott's grandmother, Helen Hope Scott, a socialite and celebrated horsewoman said to have inspired Katherine Hepburn's character in the play and Academy Award-winning film The Philadelphia Story. For others, including the author's father, she concludes, the impact was more complex.Bringing her journalistic talents, light touch, and crystalline prose to this powerful story of a child's search to understand a parent's puzzling end, Scott also raises questions about our new Gilded Age. New fortunes are being amassed, new estates are being born. Does anyone wonder how it will all play out, one hundred years hence?
Alfred Stieglitz: Taking Pictures, Making Painters (Jewish Lives)
by Phyllis RoseA fascinating biography of a revolutionary American artist ripe for rediscovery as a photographer and champion of other artists Alfred Stieglitz (1864–1946) was an enormously influential artist and nurturer of artists even though his accomplishments are often overshadowed by his role as Georgia O’Keeffe’s husband. This new book from celebrated biographer Phyllis Rose reconsiders Stieglitz as a revolutionary force in the history of American art. Born in New Jersey, Stieglitz at age eighteen went to study in Germany, where his father, a wool merchant and painter, insisted he would get a proper education. After returning to America, he became one of the first American photographers to achieve international fame. By the time he was sixty, he gave up photography and devoted himself to selling and promoting art. His first gallery, 291, was the first American gallery to show works by Picasso, Rodin, Matisse, and other great European modernists. His galleries were not dealerships so much as open universities, where he introduced European modern art to Americans and nurtured an appreciation of American art among American artists.
Magical Realism for Non-Believers: A Memoir of Finding Family
by Anika FajardoA young woman from Minnesota searches out the Colombian father she’s never known in this powerful exploration of what family really means He loved Colombia too much to leave it. The explanation from her Minnesotan mother was enough to satisfy a child’s curiosity about her missing father. But at twenty-one, Anika Fajardo wanted more. She wanted to know her father better and to know what kind of country could have such a hold on him. And so, in 1995, Fajardo boarded a plane and flew to Colombia to discover a birthplace that was foreign to her and a father who was a stranger. There she learns that sometimes, no matter how many pieces you find, fitting together a family history isn’t easy.With her tentative entry into her father’s world, Fajardo steps on a path that will take her in surprising directions, toward unsuspected secrets about her family and herself. Set against the changing backdrops of Colombia and the American Midwest, her journey carries her back to the 1970s and the beginnings of her parents’ broken marriage, and forward to the present day, where the magic and reality of love and heartache—and her own experience as a parent—await her. The way is strewn with obstacles, physical and metaphysical—from the perils encountered on a mountain road in Colombia to the death of a loved one to the birth of her own child—but the toughest to negotiate are the shifting place of memory and truth while coming to understand her place in her family and in the world.Vivid and heartfelt in the telling, Fajardo’s story is powerfully compelling in its bridging of time and place and in its moving depiction of self-transformation. Family, she comes to find, is where you find it and what you make of it.
What Is the Story of Scooby-Doo? (What Is the Story Of?)
by M. D. Payne Who HQYour favorite characters are now part of the Who HQ library! Nothing mysterious about it! Learn all about how Scooby and his friends took over Saturday mornings--and then the world--in this debut title in the What Is the Story Of? series.Most kids are familiar with the always-hungry, scaredy-cat Great Dane called Scooby-Doo and his true-blue friends of Mystery Inc. But how did Scooby and the gang make it onto the silver screen? Author M. D. Payne lays out the whole groovy tale in this book that's sure to have readers shouting, "Zoinks!"
What Is the Story of Hello Kitty? (What Is the Story Of?)
by Kirsten Anderson Who Hq Jill WeberYour favorite characters are now part of the Who HQ library! Say hello to the premier title in the What Is the Story Of? series. Hello Kitty!This cute cartoon character who's shaped like a bobtail cat and wears a bow in her hair has become an icon of our times. Hello Kitty, as she is known, is a piano-playing, cookie-baking darling from London with a heart of gold. Readers will learn all about Kitty, who was first created in Japan, but has since gone on to capture the imagination of people all around the world. Super fans of the super-fashionable Kitty will be thrilled to see her debut in the Who HQ brand.
Johannes Gutenberg: Inventor Of The Printing Press (Signature Lives Series)
by Fran Rees Frank Romano Rosemary G. PalmerA biography profiling the life of Johannes Gutenberg, a man from the Renaissance era who is best known for developing the printing press that took the place of the time-consuming method of copying books by hand. <P><P>Gutenberg's greatest accomplishment was the printing of a Latin Bible -- the Gutenberg Bible, as it came to be known. His name became forever linked to this magnificent masterpiece and to the printing press that transformed the world.
Who Was Genghis Khan? (Who was?)
by Nancy Harrison Andrew Thomson Nico MedinaNamed Temujin at birth by his nomadic family in early Mongolia, the great Genghis Khan used his skill and cunning to create the Mongol Empire and conquer almost the entire continent of Asia. As ruler of the largest empire in human history, he was as respected as he was feared. Learn more about the man and the legend in Who Was Genghis Khan?
Gabe: A story of me, my dog, and the 1970s
by Shelley Gill Marc ScheffAuthor Shelley Gill was seventeen-years-old in 1972 and a free spirit protesting the Vietnam War, marching for civil rights, and finding her way in a changing world. While volunteering in the medical tent at the first Rainbow Gathering in Granby, Colorado, Shelley met Gabe—a blue merle husky mix puppy abandoned by his owner. Gabe quickly became Shelley’s best friend and protector. They travelled the country together, hitchhiking to New Orleans, to Indiana, to New York City, to the Rocky Mountains, and eventually to Alaska, where they stayed. <P><P> Shelley Gill has lived full-force, grabbing life by the horns and not letting go. Her spirit and attitude are ever-present in this autobiography, which is a snapshot of a turbulent time in American history, as well as a love-letter to cherished dog.
Mythmaker: The Life of J.R.R. Tolkien, Creator of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
by Anne E. NeimarkA philologist of world renown, a professor at Oxford, and the author of academic treatises, J. R. R. Tolkien was far more than a fantasy book writer. His lifelong fascination with medieval texts and languages gave him a unique vision and endless inspiration for his tales. His broad interests made possible his creation of faery worlds and entire races of beings, as well as the languages, cultures, and characters that make his books as engaging today as they were fifty years ago. This clear and thoroughly researched biography of the creator of The Hobbit is accompanied by magical illustrations that recall the mystery of Tolkien's imaginary worlds.
10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works--A True Story
by Dan HarrisWinner of the 2014 Living Now Book Award for Inspirational MemoirNightline anchor Dan Harris embarks on an unexpected, hilarious, and deeply skeptical odyssey through the strange worlds of spirituality and self-help, and discovers a way to get happier that is truly achievable.After having a nationally televised panic attack on Good Morning America, Dan Harris knew he had to make some changes. A lifelong nonbeliever, he found himself on a bizarre adventure, involving a disgraced pastor, a mysterious self-help guru, and a gaggle of brain scientists. Eventually, Harris realized that the source of his problems was the very thing he always thought was his greatest asset: the incessant, insatiable voice in his head, which had both propelled him through the ranks of a hyper-competitive business and also led him to make the profoundly stupid decisions that provoked his on-air freak-out.We all have a voice in our head. It's what has us losing our temper unnecessarily, checking our email compulsively, eating when we're not hungry, and fixating on the past and the future at the expense of the present. Most of us would assume we're stuck with this voice - that there's nothing we can do to rein it in - but Harris stumbled upon an effective way to do just that. It's a far cry from the miracle cures peddled by the self-help swamis he met; instead, it's something he always assumed to be either impossible or useless: meditation. After learning about research that suggests meditation can do everything from lower your blood pressure to essentially rewire your brain, Harris took a deep dive into the underreported world of CEOs, scientists, and even marines who are now using it for increased calm, focus, and happiness.10% Happier takes readers on a ride from the outer reaches of neuroscience to the inner sanctum of network news to the bizarre fringes of America's spiritual scene, and leaves them with a takeaway that could actually change their lives.
Jackson Pollock (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists)
by Mike VeneziaRecounts the artist's childhood and education, describes influences on his work, and looks at several of his major paintings
Jesse Owens: Fastest Man Alive
by Carole Boston Weatherford Eric Velasquez<p>Jesse Owens grew up during the time of Jim Crow laws, but segregation never slowed him down. After setting world records for track in high school and college, he won a slot on the 1936 U.S. Olympic team. That year, the Olympics were in Berlin, then controlled by the Nazis, and Hitler was certain they would be a chance to prove to the world that Aryans were superior to all other races. But the triumph of Jesse's will helped him run through any barrier, winning four gold medals and the hearts of millions, setting two world records, and proving the Nazi dictator unmistakably wrong. <p>The story of Jesse Owens comes alive for young readers with Carole Boston Weatherford's award-winning free verse poetry. Eric Velasquez tackles this challenging subject with the use of pastels for the first time in twenty years-a technique that is both heart-stopping and immediate.</p>
Packinghouse Daughter: A Memoir
by Cheri Register<p>The violence that erupted when the company "replaced" its union workers with strikebreakers tested family loyalty and community stability, and attracted national attention when the governor of Minnesota called in the National Guard, declared martial law, and closed the plant. <p>Register skillfully interweaves her own memories, historical research, and first-person interviews of participants on both sides of the strike into a narrative that is thoughtful and impassioned about the value of blue-collar work and the dignity of those who do it. Packinghouse Daughter also testifies to the hold that childhood experience has on personal values and notions of social class, despite the upward mobility that is the great promise of American democracy.</p>
Making Waves: My Journey to Winning Olympic Gold and Defeating the East German Doping Program
by Chris Epting Shirley Babashoff<p>In her extraordinary swimming career, Shirley Babashoff set thirty-nine national records and eleven world records. Prior to the 1990s, she was the most successful U.S. female Olympian and, in her prime, was widely considered to be the greatest female swimmer in the world. <p>Heading into the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Babashoff was pictured on the cover of Sports Illustrated and followed closely by the media. Hopes were high that she would become “the female Mark Spitz.” <p>All of that changed once Babashoff questioned the shocking masculinity of the swimmers on the East German women’s team. Once celebrated as America’s golden girl, Babashoff was accused of poor sportsmanship and vilified by the press with a new nickname: “Surly Shirley.” <p>Making Waves displays the remarkable strength and resilience that made Babashoff such a dynamic champion. From her difficult childhood and beginnings as a determined young athlete growing up in Southern California in the 1960s, through her triumphs as the greatest female amateur swimmer in the world, Babashoff tells her story in the same unflinching manner that made her both the most dominant female swimmer of her time and one of the most controversial athletes in Olympic history.</p>
Bakhita: A Novel of the Saint of Sudan
by Veronique OlmiInspired by the true story of a former slave who became a saint, this poignant novel explores how a human being can survive the obliteration of her identity, and how kindness and generosity can be born out of profound trauma. <P><P>She recalls little of her childhood, not even her own name. She was barely seven years old when she was snatched by slave raiders from her village in the Darfur region of southern Sudan. <P><P>In a cruel twist, they gave her the name that she will carry for the rest of her life: Bakhita, "the Lucky One" in Arabic. <P><P>Sold and resold along the slave trade routes, Bakhita endures years of unspeakable abuse and terror. At age thirteen, at last, her life takes a turn when the Italian consul in Khartoum purchases her. <P><P>A few years later, as chaos engulfs the capital, the consul returns to Italy, taking Bakhita with him. In this new land, another long and arduous journey begins--one that leads her onto a spiritual path for which she is still revered today. <P><P>With rich, evocative language, Véronique Olmi immerses the reader in Bakhita's world--her unfathomable resilience, her stubborn desire to live, and her ability to turn toward the pain of others in spite of the terrible sufferings that she too must endure.
Hedy's Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World
by Richard RhodesWhat do Hedy Lamarr, avant-garde composer George Antheil, and your cell phone have in common? The answer is spread-spectrum radio: a revolutionary invention based on the rapid switching of communications signals among a spread of different frequencies. Without this technology, we would not have the digital comforts that we take for granted today. Only a writer of Richard Rhodes's caliber could do justice to this remarkable story. Unhappily married to a Nazi arms dealer, Lamarr fled to America at the start of World War II; she brought with her not only her theatrical talent but also a gift for technical innovation. An introduction to Antheil at a Hollywood dinner table culminated in a U.S. patent for a jam- proof radio guidance system for torpedoes--the unlikely duo's gift to the U.S. war effort. What other book brings together 1920s Paris, player pianos, Nazi weaponry, and digital wireless into one satisfying whole? In its juxtaposition of Hollywood glamour with the reality of a brutal war, Hedy's Folly is a riveting book about unlikely amateur inventors collaborating to change the world.From the Hardcover edition.
Miss Kopp Just Won't Quit (A Kopp Sisters Novel #4)
by Amy StewartTrailblazing Constance’s hard-won job as deputy sheriff is on the line in Miss Kopp Just Won’t Quit, the fourth installment of Amy Stewart’s Kopp Sisters series. After a year on the job, New Jersey’s first female deputy sheriff has collared criminals, demanded justice for wronged women, and gained notoriety nationwide for her exploits. But on one stormy night, everything falls apart. While transporting a woman to an insane asylum, Deputy Kopp discovers something deeply troubling about her story. Before she can investigate, another inmate bound for the asylum breaks free and tries to escape. In both cases, Constance runs instinctively toward justice. But the fall of 1916 is a high-stakes election year, and any move she makes could jeopardize Sheriff Heath’s future—and her own. Although Constance is not on the ballot, her controversial career makes her the target of political attacks.
A Carnival of Losses: Notes Nearing Ninety
by Donald HallNew essays from the vantage point of very old age, once again “alternately lyrical and laugh-out-loud funny,”* from the former poet laureate of the United States * New York Times Donald Hall lived a remarkable life of letters, one capped most recently by the New York Times bestseller Essays After Eighty, a “treasure” of a book in which he “balance[s] frankness about losses with humor and gratitude” (Washington Post). Before his passing in 2018, nearing ninety, Hall delivered this new collection of self-knowing, fierce, and funny essays on aging, the pleasures of solitude, and the sometimes astonishing freedoms arising from both. He intersperses memories of exuberant days—as in Paris, 1951, with a French girl memorably inclined to say, “I couldn’t care less”—with writing, visceral and hilarious, on what he has called the “unknown, unanticipated galaxy” of extreme old age. “Why should a nonagenarian hold anything back?” Hall answers his own question by revealing several vivid instances of “the worst thing I ever did," and through equally uncensored tales of literary friendships spanning decades, with James Wright, Richard Wilbur, Seamus Heaney, and other luminaries. Cementing his place alongside Roger Angell and Joan Didion as a generous and profound chronicler of loss, Hall returns to the death of his beloved wife, Jane Kenyon, in an essay as original and searing as anything he's written in his extraordinary literary lifetime.
My Hitch in Hell: The Bataan Death March, New Edition (Memories of War)
by Lester I. TenneyCaptured by the Japanese after the fall of Bataan, Lester I. Tenney was one of the very few who would survive the legendary Death March and three and a half years in Japanese prison camps. With an understanding of human nature, a sense of humor, sharp thinking, and fierce determination, Tenney endured the rest of the war as a slave laborer in Japanese prison camps. My Hitch in Hell is an inspiring survivor’s epic about the triumph of human will despite unimaginable suffering. This edition features a new introduction and epilogue by the author.
Kid Presidents: True Tales of Childhood from America's Presidents (Kid Legends #1)
by Doogie Horner David StablerThe kids who grew up to be president were like a lot of other children. Some struggled with schoolwork and got into fights; others pranked their teachers and infuriated their parents. William Howard Taft was forced to take dance lessons. Gerald Ford struggled with dyslexia. Teddy Roosevelt had a bedroom "museum" full of dead animals. Kid Presidents features 20 captivating true stories from the childhoods of American presidents, complete with lively text and more than 200 cartoon illustrations. Laugh-out-loud funny and packed with cool facts, it's the perfect read for all young future leaders of the free world.
Liferider: Heart, Body, Soul, and Life Beyond the Ocean
by Julian Borra Laird HamiltonInternational fitness icon, nutrition expert, and professional big-wave surfer, Laird Hamilton, offers his take on human resilience, relationships, business, technology, risk-taking, and the importance of respecting the natural world, all through the lens of his life both in and beyond the ocean. This inspirational book is perfect for anyone looking to elevate their ordinary, landlocked life to do extraordinary things. While the world increasingly seeks happiness in fads and self-help books—millions of us reaching upward every day toward some enlightened being that we wish to be—surfing icon Laird Hamilton is more intent on looking inward and appreciating the brilliant creature we already are. In LIFERIDER, Laird uses five key pillars – Death & Fear, Heart, Body, Soul, and Everything is Connected – to illustrate his unique worldview and life practices, offering inspiration to anyone who wants to elevate their ordinary, landlocked life to do extraordinary things. This is Laird Hamilton in his own words—raw, honest, and unvarnished--on topics he has rarely explored before. Based on extensive interviews and conversations between Laird and his cowriter, Julian Borra, with additional insights from Laird’s wife, pro-volleyball player Gabby Reece, LIFERIDER takes on human resilience, relationships, business, technology, risk-taking, and the importance of respecting the natural world, all through the lens of Laird’s extraordinary life both in and beyond the ocean.
Morelos: Revelaciones y enigmas
by Carlos HerrejónPiense en un joven estudiante, inteligente, disciplinado, con madera de líder y sentido del humor. Póngale nombre: José María. Póngale rostro: rasgos duros, cruce de etnias y mirada penetrante. Ese muchacho escucha a su rector, Miguel Hidalgo. Juntos entrarán en la historia. Esta biografía de Morelos -la más acuciosa hasta ahora- revela el camino que siguió ese arriero, ese estudiante y cura. Lo aleja del bronce, del mármol y de los mitos. Y nos entrega una de las vidas más fascinantes, más humanas y enternecedoras que puedan imaginarse. Entre la ilustración y la pobreza, entre el ansia de libertad y el afán por reordenar la insurgencia, entre la genialidad militar y la ingenuidad seria y socarrona a la vez, ahí se ubica José María Morelos. Justo entre lo sublime de los Sentimientos de la Nación y la brutalidad de la guerra sin cuartel. Con esta obra, el investigador Carlos Herrejón ha pintado el mejor retrato de uno de los héroes más mencionados y poco conocidos en algunas de sus facetas: revelaciones y enigmas.
Black Boy (P. S. Series)
by Richard Wright<P>Richard Wright grew up in the woods of Mississippi, with poverty, hunger, fear, and hatred. He lied, stole, and raged at those around him; at six he was a "drunkard," hanging about taverns. <P>Surly, brutal, cold, suspicious, and self-pitying, he was surrounded on one side by whites who were either indifferent to him, pitying, or cruel, and on the other by blacks who resented anyone trying to rise above the common lot. <P>Black Boy is Richard Wright's powerful account of his journey from innocence to experience in the Jim Crow South. <P>It is at once an unashamed confession and a profound indictment-a poignant and disturbing record of social injustice and human suffering. <P>[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts in grades 11-12 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
The Day the Revolution Began: Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus's Crucifixion
by N. T. WrightThe renowned scholar, Anglican bishop, and bestselling author widely considered to be the heir to C. S. Lewis contemplates the central event at the heart of the Christian faith--Jesus' crucifixion--arguing that the Protestant Reformation did not go far enough in transforming our understanding of its meaning.In The Day the Revolution Began, N. T. Wright once again challenges commonly held Christian beliefs as he did in his acclaimed Surprised by Hope. Demonstrating the rigorous intellect and breathtaking knowledge that have long defined his work, Wright argues that Jesus' death on the cross was not only to absolve us of our sins; it was actually the beginning of a revolution commissioning the Christian faithful to a new vocation--a royal priesthood responsible for restoring and reconciling all of God's creation. Wright argues that Jesus' crucifixion must be understood within the much larger story of God's purposes to bring heaven and earth together. The Day the Revolution Began offers a grand picture of Jesus' sacrifice and its full significance for the Christian faith, inspiring believers with a renewed sense of mission, purpose, and hope, and reminding them of the crucial role the Christian faith must play in protecting and shaping the future of the world.
The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son On Life, Love, and Loss
by Gloria Vanderbilt Anderson Cooper<P>A touching and intimate correspondence between Anderson Cooper and his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, offering timeless wisdom and a revealing glimpse into their lives <P>Though Anderson Cooper has always considered himself close to his mother, his intensely busy career as a journalist for CNN and CBS affords him little time to spend with her. After she suffers a brief but serious illness at the age of ninety-one, they resolve to change their relationship by beginning a year-long conversation unlike any they had ever had before. The result is a correspondence of surprising honesty and depth in which they discuss their lives, the things that matter to them, and what they still want to learn about each other. <P>Both a son's love letter to his mother and an unconventional mom's life lessons for her grown son, The Rainbow Comes and Goes offers a rare window into their close relationship and fascinating life stories, including their tragedies and triumphs. In these often humorous and moving exchanges, they share their most private thoughts and the hard-earned truths they've learned along the way. In their words their distinctive personalities shine through--Anderson's journalistic outlook on the world is a sharp contrast to his mother's idealism and unwavering optimism. <P>An appealing memoir with inspirational advice, The Rainbow Comes and Goes is a beautiful and affectionate celebration of the universal bond between a parent and a child, and a thoughtful reflection on life, reminding us of the precious insight that remains to be shared, no matter our age. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>