Title search results
Showing 1 - 20 of 980 items
Ukrainian Portraits: Diaries from the Border (Essential Prose Series #214)
By Marina Sonkina. 2023
At the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, Canadian author Marina Sonkina flew to the Ukrainian-Polish border…
to volunteer in a refugee camp using her knowledge of Russian and some Ukrainian. The suffering on a massive scale was beyond what she could possibly expect. "Putin's destruction of Ukraine left me with dismay and utter helplessness. The world order as we knew it, after WWII, was unraveling in Europe in front of my eyes, and I could do nothing about it. Evil always shouts loud; goodness is quiet. But when I came as a volunteer to a transition refugees centre at the Polish-Ukrainian border, I saw an outpour of good will on an unprecedented scale. This book is a celebration of magnanimity that lives in the heart of each of us and comes forth when called upon. It is also a homage to the millions of destitute Ukrainian women, faced with the daunting task of rebuilding their lives and the lives of their children with patient courage, moral grace, and faith in the ultimate victory of goodness over evil."Unbroken: My Fight for Survival, Hope, and Justice for Indigenous Women and Girls
By Angela Sterritt. 2023
"A remarkable life story.... Angela Sterritt is a formidable storyteller and a passionate advocate." (Cherie Dimaline, author of The Marrow…
Thieves) "Sterritt's story is living proof of how courageous Indigenous women are." (Tanya Talaga, author of Seven Fallen Feathers and All Our Relations) In her memoir, Angela Sterritt shares her story from navigating life on the streets to becoming an award-winning journalist. As a teenager, she wrote in her notebook to survive. Now, she reports on cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada, showing how colonialism and racism create a society where Indigenous people are devalued. Unbroken is a story about courage and strength against all odds.Only say good things: Surviving playboy and finding myself
By Crystal Hefner. 2024
A JANUARY 2024 APPLE BOOKS STAFF PICK AND AUDIBLE EDITORS SELECT A raw and unflinching look at the objectification and…
misogyny of the Playboy mansion, a woman's stolen young adulthood and her journey to self-acceptance, and a rare look inside Hugh Hefner's final days. At just twenty-one years old, Crystal Harris' life changed forever when she attended a party at the notorious Playboy mansion. Picked out of the crowd by Hugh Hefner, she became one of his infamous "girlfriends," attending glamorous Hollywood parties and traveling the world. Yet this seemingly alluring lifestyle had a dark side. Hef controlled his girlfriends with strict rules regarding everything from their hair and makeup to their curfews, and Crystal was forced to compete with other women for her spot in the highly hierarchal system. Living at the mansion, she felt more like a fixture than a resident. She quickly rose to the top, but being Hef's number one girlfriend came at the cost of Crystal's identity outside her role in the Playboy universe. Her fate seemed sealed when Hef surprised her with a marriage proposal she could not imagine refusing. But as Crystal Hefner, she grew increasingly restless to understand who she truly was away from what she saw as Playboy's toxic culture. In ONLY SAY GOOD THINGS, Crystal offers a vulnerable and clear-eyed look at how her experience with Hugh Hefner catalyzed her transformative journey from someone who prized external validation over all else to a person who finally recognizes her true worth. This candid memoir provides a fascinating look behind the scenes at a powerful cultural icon and brand, and an equally empowering perspective on hard-won lessons about who we allow to determine our valueAnother ten writers offer original autobiographical stories. The authors in this volume are: Norma Fox Mazer, Rita Williams-Garcia, Paul Fleischman,…
Jane Yolen, E.L. Konigsburg, Howard Norman, Michael J. Rosen, Kyoko Mori, Karen Hesse, and Joseph Bruchac. For grades 5-8Biographical sketches of twelve men and women who enjoy exploring the world around them in such scientific careers as a…
rain forest ecologist, an anthropologist, or an underwater photographer. For grades 4-7Ten "grown-up writers who were once children" present stories based on their own childhood experiences. Authors are: Mary Pope Osborne,…
Laurence Yep, James Howe, Katherine Paterson, Walter Dean Myers, Susan Cooper, Nicholasa Mohr, Reeve Lindbergh, Avi, and Francesca Lia Block. For grades 5-8Going where I'm coming from: memoirs of American youth
By Anne Mazer. 1995
Fourteen multicultural autobiographical tales of young people growing up in America. Some tales explain what it was like to immigrate…
to the United States, and others describe the experience of growing up within two cultures. In "Sound-Shadows of the New World," Ved Mehta, a blind student from India, arrives in America to attend a school for the blind. For junior and senior high readersEighty-five interviews, chronologically arranged, conducted with noteworthy individuals by prominent journalists and writers. Pieces include biographical information about interviewer and…
interviewee. Features such figures as Karl Marx, Mark Twain, Leo Tolstoy, Sigmund Freud, Mahatma Gandhi, Mao Tse-tung, and Mae West. Some strong languageGoodbye christopher robin: A. a. milne and the making of winnie-the-pooh
By Ann Thwaite. 2023
Goodbye Christopher Robin: A.A. Milne and the Making of Winnie-the-Pooh is drawn from Ann Thwaite's Whitbread Award-winning biography of A.…
A. Milne, one of England's most successful writers. After serving in the First World War, Milne wrote a number of well-received plays, but his greatest triumph came when he created Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, and, of course, Christopher Robin, the adventurous little boy based on his own son. Goodbye Christopher Robin inspired the film directed by Simon Curtis and starring Domhnall Gleeson, Margot Robbie, and Kelly Macdonald. It offers the listener a glimpse into the relationship between Milne and the real-life Christopher Robin, whose toys inspired the magical world of the Hundred Acre Wood. Goodbye Christopher Robin is a story of celebrity, a story of both the joys and pains of success, and, ultimately, the story of how one man created a series of enchanting tales that brought hope and comfort to an England ravaged by the First World WarPunished for dreaming: How school reform harms black children and how we heal
By Bettina L Love. 2023
This program features an introduction read by the author. "I am an eighties baby who grew to hate school. I…
never fully understood why. Until now. Until Bettina Love unapologetically and painstakingly chronicled the last forty years of education 'reform' in this landmark book. I hated school because it warred on me. I hated school because I loved to dream." —Ibram X. Kendi, New York Times bestselling author of How to be an Antiracist In the tradition of Michelle Alexander, an unflinching reckoning with the impact of 40 years of racist public school policy on generations of Black lives In Punished for Dreaming Dr. Bettina Love argues forcefully that Reagan's presidency ushered in a War on Black Children, pathologizing and penalizing them in concert with the War on Drugs. New policies punished schools with policing, closure, and loss of funding in the name of reform, as white savior, egalitarian efforts increasingly allowed private interests to infiltrate the system. These changes implicated children of color, and Black children in particular, as low performing, making it all too easy to turn a blind eye to their disproportionate conviction and incarceration. Today, there is little national conversation about a structural overhaul of American schools; cosmetic changes, rooted in anti-Blackness, are now passed off as justice. It is time to put a price tag on the miseducation of Black children. In this prequel to The New Jim Crow , Dr. Love serves up a blistering account of four decades of educational reform through the lens of the people who lived it. Punished for Dreaming lays bare the devastating effect on 25 Black Americans caught in the intersection of economic gain and racist ideology. Then, with input from leading U.S. economists , Dr. Love offers a road map for repair, arguing for reparations with transformation for all children at its core. A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's PressDiva 2.0: 12 life lessons from me for you
By Sheryl Lee Ralph. 2023
Emmy, Tony, and Spirit Award–winning actress Sheryl Lee Ralph knows a thing or two about staying power in the capricious…
world of Hollywood. A seasoned professional who has taken the best lessons learned and used them to move her stellar career forward, she now shares them with you. If you are an aspiring DIVA in training, regardless of your career choice, much of what she says in DIVA 2.0 you'll find invaluable. These 12 lessons could help elevate your journey to greater heights. You'll get to go behind the scenes of stage, screen, and media to discover what a true DIVA must know, and the first step is, respecting themselves. In these personal tales and recollections, Sheryl reveals the ups and downs of stardom, the heartbreaks and triumphs, the strength she found in her family and the kind of love that gives wings. Whether starring on the big screen with Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Eddie Murphy, Robert De Niro, Jon Voight, or Whoopi Goldberg or on the small screen in Moesha; Ray Donovan, Motherland: Fort Salem, or in Abbott Elementary, Sheryl Lee Ralph can be counted on to bring her DIVA, Divinely Inspired, Victoriously Awesome, self to every project. And those DIVA inspired qualities have earned her the respect of her peers and recognition from legions of fans. In DIVA 2.0 Sheryl Lee Ralph uses her life story to empower and encourage anyone seeking to find and live their best life with beauty, dignity and a grace that radiates from withinA NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF 2023 "A meticulously researched and briskly written account that deftly weaves the influences of…
racial injustice, economic disparity, incendiary social media, and guns." —Associated Press From the award-winning journalist Bob Woodward calls "one of the truly great reporters working today," a searing account of two linked and tragic deaths stemming from the 2020 George Floyd protests that explores the complex political and racial mistrust and division of today's America. "One of the most superb testaments about the confusion, despair, and—hopefully—humility that frames our century that one could ever hope to read." —Hilton Als On May 30, 2020, in Omaha, Nebraska, amid the protests that rocked our nation after George Floyd's death at the hands of police, thirty-eight-year-old white bar owner and Marine veteran Jake Gardner fatally shot James Scurlock, a twenty-two-year-old Black protestor and young father. What followed were two investigations of Scurlock's death, one conducted by the white county attorney Don Kleine, who concluded that Gardner had legally acted in self-defense and released him without a trial, and a second grand jury inquiry conducted by Black special prosecutor Fred Franklin that indicted Gardner for manslaughter. Days after the indictment, Gardner killed himself with a single bullet to the head. The deaths of both Scurlock and Gardner gave rise to a toxic brew of misinformation, false claims, and competing political agendas. The two men, each with their own complicated backgrounds, were turned into caricatures. The twin tragedies amounted to an ugly and heartbreaking reflection of a painfully divided country. Here, Joe Sexton "elevates a made-for-social-media tragedy into a kaleidoscopic account of race, justice, and urban politics" ( The New York Times Book Review ) masterfully unpacking the whole twisted, nearly unbelievable chronicle and explaining which claims were true and which distorted or simply false. "A book of intense moral weight and integrity" ( The Washington Post ), The Lost Sons of Omaha involves some of the most pressing issues facing America today, including our country's broken criminal justice system, the failure to care for the men and women who fight our wars, the dangerous spread of misinformation, particularly on social media, and the urgent need to band together in the collective pursuit of truth, fairness, and healing"I saw many killed. I almost starved. But I escaped to refugee camps in Thailand and eventually made it to…
the U.S." Thus begins Leth Oun's poignant and vivid memoir. A survivor of the Cambodian Killing Fields-having spent a torturous three years, eight months, and ten days imprisoned by the Khmer Rouge-Oun thrived in America, learning English, becoming a citizen, and working as an officer in the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division. In A Refugee's American Dream, Oun shares hard memories of Cambodia, where his father was executed, and his family enslaved in labor camps. Following the fall of the Khmer Rouge, Oun survived a year of homelessness then nearly four years in refugee camps. Arriving in America, seventeen and penniless, Oun struggled, washing dishes at a Chinese restaurant for $3.15 an hour. Still, he persevered, graduating from Widener University and completing thousands of hours of training to pursue a career in the Secret Service. While on President Obama's protection team, he returns to Cambodia after thirty-two years, reunites with family, and bonds with Reik, the Secret Service dog he handles. Through his most difficult moments, Oun displays truly inspiring resilience that ultimately leads to great achievementsLa finca: Love, loss, and laundry on a tiny puerto rican island
By Corky Parker. 2022
At age forty, Parker surrendered to her Swept Away meets Swiss Family Robinson fantasy of owning an inn in Latin…
America, far from her home in the Pacific Northwest. For the next twenty-plus years Parker ran La Finca Caribe, an eco-lodge in Vieques, Puerto Rico. What started as a "half-baked duct-taped dream" grew into an acclaimed, rustic inn, frequented by guests from around the world. Sketchbook in hand, Parker chronicled her daily adventures in getting to know the land, culture and herself. La Finca is a lively memoir about a woman creating a new life amid countless challenges, including hurricanes that led her to reconsider everything. It is a story about trusting oneself, self-discovery, accepting disappointment and loss, and falling in love with a placestay up: racism, resistance, and reclaiming black freedom
By Khodi Dill. 2024
An incisive, innovative, and inviting take on fighting oppression and fighting for racial justice. Racism is a real and present…
danger. But how can you fight it if you don't know how it works or where it comes from? Using a compelling mix of memoir, cultural criticism, and anti-oppressive theory, Khodi Dill breaks down how white supremacy functions in North America and gives readers tools to understand how racism impacts their lives. From dismantling internalized racism, decolonizing schools, joining social justice movements and more, Dill lays out paths to personal liberation and social transformation. Vibrant, dramatic collages by stylo starr complement Dill's propulsive voice. Fueled by joy and hope as much as by rage and sorrow, this groundbreaking book empowers racialized young people to be confident in their identities and embrace the fullness of their futuresYou are fearless: A book for the littlest taylor swift fans
By Odd Dot. 2024
This audiobook features music and special effects. Listen along and enjoy the fun that is You Are Fearless: A Book…
for the Littlest Taylor Swift Fans . This uplifting read-aloud is a heartfelt wish for all children and a timeless introduction to the Grammy Award-winning and multi platinum singer and songwriter. YOU ARE FEARLESS presents Taylor Swift's inspirational journey, encouraging children to be fearless, defy limits, and follow their hearts. Perfect for Taylor Swift fans of all ages! A Macmillan Audio production from Odd Dot BooksBlack boys like me: Confrontations with race, identity, and belonging
By Matthew R Morris. 2024
*INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER* &“ Black Boys Like Me ignited parts of me I honestly didn't believe any book could ever…
know. . . . Seldom do incredibly titled books earn their titles. Matthew R. Morris earns this classic title with a classic book about our insides.&” —Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy Startlingly honest, bracing personal essays from a perceptive educator that bring us into the world of Black masculinity, hip-hop culture, and learning. This is an examination of the parts that construct my Black character; from how public schooling shapes our ideas about ourselves to how hip-hop and sports are simultaneously the conduit for both Black abundance and Black boundaries. This book is a meditation on the influences that have shaped Black boys like me. What does it mean to be a young Black man with an immigrant father and a white mother, teaching in a school system that historically has held an exclusionary definition of success? In eight illuminating essays, Matthew R. Morris grapples with this question, and others related to identity and perception. After graduating high school in Scarborough, Morris spent four years in the U.S. on multiple football scholarships and, having spent that time in the States experiencing &“the Mecca of hip hop and Black culture,&” returned home with a newfound perspective. Now an elementary school teacher himself in Toronto, Morris explores the tension between his consumption of Black culture as a child, his teenage performances of the ideas and values of the culture that often betrayed his identity, and the ways society and the people guiding him—his parents, coaches, and teachers—received those performances. What emerges is a painful journey toward transcending performance altogether, toward true knowledge of the self. With the wide-reaching scope of Desmond Cole&’s The Skin We&’re In and the introspective snapshot of life in Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Black Boys Like Me is an unflinching debut that invites readers to create braver spaces and engage in crucial conversations around race and belongingWhat have we here?: Portraits of a life
By Billy Dee Williams. 2024
A film legend recalls his remarkable life of nearly eight decades—a heralded actor who's played the roles he wanted, from…
Brian&’s Song to Lando in the Star Wars universe—unchecked by the racism and typecasting so rife in the mostly all-white industry in which he triumphed. Billy Dee Williams was born in Harlem in 1937 and grew up in a household of love and sophistication. As a young boy, he made his stage debut working with Lotte Lenya in an Ira Gershwin/Kurt Weill production where Williams ended up feeding Lenya her lines. He studied painting, first at the High School of Music and Art, with fellow student Diahann Carroll, and then at the National Academy of Fine Art, before setting out to pursue acting with Herbert Berghoff, Stella Adler, and Sidney Poitier. His first film role was in The Last Angry Man , the great Paul Muni&’s final film. It was Muni who gave Billy the advice that sent him soaring as an actor, &“You can play any character you want to play no matter who you are, no matter the way you look or the color of your skin.&” And Williams writes, &“I wanted to be anyone I wanted to be.&” He writes of landing the role of a lifetime: co-starring alongside James Caan in Brian&’s Song , the made-for-television movie that was watched by an audience of more than fifty million people. Williams says it was &“the kind of interracial love story America needed.&” And when, as the first Black character in the Star Wars universe, he became a true pop culture icon, playing Lando Calrissian in George Lucas&’s The Empire Strikes Back (&“What I presented on the screen people didn&’t expect to see&”). It was a role he reprised in the final film of the original trilogy, The Return of the Jedi, and in the recent sequel The Rise of Skywalker. A legendary actor, in his own words, on all that has sustained and carried him through a lifetime of dreams and adventure. Cover Credits: Cover photograph: Courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC Cover design by Jenny Carrow COURTESY OF LUCASFILM LTD. LLC STAR WARS: The Empire Strikes Back (c) & TM Lucasfilm Ltd. LLCDinner on monster island: Essays
By Tania De Rozario. 2024
In this unusual, engaging, and intimate collection of personal essays, Lambda Literary Award finalist Tania De Rozario recalls growing up…
as a queer, brown, fat girl in Singapore, blending memoir with elements of history, pop culture, horror films, and current events to explore the nature of monsters and what it means to be different. Tania De Rozario was just twelve years old when she was gay-exorcised. Convinced that her boyish style and demeanor were a sign of something wicked, her mother and a pair of her church friends tried to "banish the evil" from Tania. That day, the young girl realized that monsters weren't just found in horror tales. They could lurk anywhere—including your own family and community—and look just like you. Dinner on Monster Island is Tania's memoir of her life and childhood in Singapore—where she discovered how difference is often perceived as deviant, damaged, disobedient, and sometimes, demonic. As she pulls back the veil on life on the small island, she reveals the sometimes kind, sometimes monstrous side of all of us. Intertwined with her experiences is an analysis of the role of women in horror. Tania looks at films and popular culture such as Carrie, The Witch, and The Ring to illuminate the ways in which women are often portrayed as monsters, and how in real life, monsters are not what we think. Moving and lyrical, written with earnest candor, and leavened with moments of humor and optimism, Dinner on Monster Island is a deeply personal examination of one woman's experience grappling with her identity and a fantastic analysis of monsters, monstrous women and the worlds in which they liveThe Trailblazing Life of Viola Desmond: A Civil Rights Icon (Orca Biography #1)
By Rachel Kehoe. 2023