Philip Herbst

Anarchist, freedom fighter, fundamentalist, terrorist. These words are thrown about today with seeming abandon. But each of these terms, and hundreds like them, have connotations and denotations charged with meanings which can be used strategically by politicians, journalists, and ordinary citizens. ^ITalking Terrorism^R defines, traces, and explains the loaded, controversial, confusing, and shifting language that surrounds terrorist activity. The dictionary comprises words used to characterize individuals, groups, or countries that commit or support acts of political violence. Also covered is the closely related language that conveys the justifications and agendas of those responding to violence, including these groups' self-characterizations, which might entail the masking of a multitude of sins. In addition, the ways terrorists use language to smear enemies, recruit and inspire group members, and communicate the righteousness of their causes are examined.

Following an A-to-Z format, ^ITalking Terrorism^R identifies and defines terms in dictionary style, then explores the charged meanings of the words, and often supplies examples of the words' usage. Cross-references will lead readers to related words and show the complicated web of words used in this verbal warfare. In the words and verbal maneuvers discussed in the dictionary, readers will see how enemies are manufactured through demonization, biased media coverage and government spin in action, and brutality legitimized as virtue, along with the besmirching of its victims. Much of what readers will find may not seem encouraging, yet ^ITalking Terrorism^R will open the eyes and ears of anyone who wants to come to grips with today's tumultuous political world.

Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

Texas

A Dictionary of the Loaded Language of Political Violence

Anarchist, freedom fighter, fundamentalist, terrorist. These words are thrown about today with seeming abandon. But each of these terms, and hundreds like them, have connotations and denotations charged with meanings which can be used strategically by politicians, journalists, and ordinary citizens. ^ITalking Terrorism^R defines, traces, and explains the loaded, controversial, confusing, and shifting language that surrounds terrorist activity. The dictionary comprises words used to characterize individuals, groups, or countries that commit or support acts of political violence. Also covered is the closely related language that conveys the justifications and agendas of those responding to violence, including these groups' self-characterizations, which might entail the masking of a multitude of sins. In addition, the ways terrorists use language to smear enemies, recruit and inspire group members, and communicate the righteousness of their causes are examined. Following an A-to-Z format, ^ITalking Terrorism^R identifies and defines terms in dictionary style, then explores the charged meanings of the words, and often supplies examples of the words' usage. Cross-references will lead readers to related words and show the complicated web of words used in this verbal warfare. In the words and verbal maneuvers discussed in the dictionary, readers will see how enemies are manufactured through demonization, biased media coverage and government spin in action, and brutality legitimized as virtue, along with the besmirching of its victims. Much of what readers will find may not seem encouraging, yet ^ITalking Terrorism^R will open the eyes and ears of anyone who wants to come to grips with today's tumultuous political world.

Talking Terrorism

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Henry ADAMS

This monumental work, the second of two Library of America volumes, culminated Henry Adams’s lifelong fascination with the American past. Writing at the height of his powers, Adams understood the true subject as the consolidation of the American nation and character, and his treatment has never been surpassed.

Covering the eight years spanning the presidency of James Madison, this volume chronicles “Mr. Madison’s War”—the most bungled war in American history. The President and Congress delay while the United States is bullied and insulted by both England and France; then they plunge the country into the War of 1812 without providing the troops, monies, or fleets to wage it. The incompetence of the commanders leads to a series of disasters—including the burning of the White House and Capitol while Madison and his cabinet, fleeing from an invading army, watch from the nearby hills of Maryland and Virginia.

The war has its heroes, too: William Henry Harrison at Tippecanoe and Andrew Jackson at New Orleans, Commodores Perry and Decatur and the officers and crew of the Constitution. As Adams tells it, though, disgrace, is averted by other means: the ineptitude of the British, the skill of the American artillerymen and privateers, and the diplomatic brilliance of Albert Gallatin and John Quincy Adams, who negotiated the peace treaty at Ghent. The history, full of reversals and paradoxes, ends with the largest irony of all: the United States, the apparent loser of the war, emerges as a great new world power destined to eclipse its European rivals.

History of the United States Vol. 2 1809-1817 (LOA #32)

This monumental work, the second of two Library of America volumes, culminated Henry Adams’s lifelong fascination with the American past. Writing at the height of his powers, Adams understood the true subject as the consolidation of the American nation and character, and his treatment has never been surpassed. Covering the eight years spanning the presidency of James Madison, this volume chronicles “Mr. Madison’s War”—the most bungled war in American history. The President and Congress delay while the United States is bullied and insulted by both England and France; then they plunge the country into the War of 1812 without providing the troops, monies, or fleets to wage it. The incompetence of the commanders leads to a series of disasters—including the burning of the White House and Capitol while Madison and his cabinet, fleeing from an invading army, watch from the nearby hills of Maryland and Virginia. The war has its heroes, too: William Henry Harrison at Tippecanoe and Andrew Jackson at New Orleans, Commodores Perry and Decatur and the officers and crew of the Constitution. As Adams tells it, though, disgrace, is averted by other means: the ineptitude of the British, the skill of the American artillerymen and privateers, and the diplomatic brilliance of Albert Gallatin and John Quincy Adams, who negotiated the peace treaty at Ghent. The history, full of reversals and paradoxes, ends with the largest irony of all: the United States, the apparent loser of the war, emerges as a great new world power destined to eclipse its European rivals. LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation’s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America’s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.

Henry Adams

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Ann Napolitano

Heartbreakingly beautiful and inescapably human, ordinary and extraordinary people chart their own courses in life. In the aftermath of one tragic afternoon, they are all forced to look at themselves and face up to the observation that the truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.

Crippled by lupus at twenty-five, celebrated author Flannery O'Connor was forced to leave New York City and return home to Andalusia, her family farm in Milledgeville, Georgia. Years later, as Flannery is finishing a novel and tending to her menagerie of peacocks, her mother drags her to the wedding of a family friend.

Cookie Himmel embodies every facet of Southern womanhood that Flannery lacks: she is revered for her beauty and grace; she is at the helm of every ladies' organization in town; and she has returned from her time in Manhattan with a rich fiancé, Melvin Whiteson. Melvin has come to Milledgeville to begin a new chapter in his life, but it is not until he meets Flannery that he starts to take a good hard look at the choices he has made. Despite the limitations of her disease, Flannery seems to be more alive than other people, and Melvin is drawn to her like a moth to a candle flame.

Melvin is not the only person in Milledgeville who starts to feel that life is passing him by. Lona Waters, the dutiful wife of a local policeman, is hired by Cookie to help create a perfect home. As Lona spends her days sewing curtains, she is given an opportunity to remember what it feels like to be truly alive, and she seizes it with both hands.

Heartbreakingly beautiful and inescapably human, these ordinary and extraordinary people chart their own courses through life. In the aftermath of one tragic afternoon, they are all forced to look at themselves and face up to Flannery's observation that "the truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it."

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

A Novel

Years after poor health forces her to return to her family home, author Flannery O'Connor reluctantly attends the wedding of her cousin and inadvertently draws the attention of the groom, a wealthy Manhattan resident who fears life is passing him by.

A Good Hard Look

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Kevin J. Hayes

Thomas Jefferson was an avid book-collector, a voracious reader, and a gifted writer--a man who prided himself on his knowledge of classical and modern languages and whose marginal annotations include quotations from Euripides, Herodotus, and Milton. And yet there has never been a literary life of our most literary president.

In The Road to Monticello, Kevin J. Hayes fills this important gap by offering a lively account of Jefferson's spiritual and intellectual development, focusing on the books and ideas that exerted the most profound influence on him. Moving chronologically through Jefferson's life, Hayes reveals the full range and depth of Jefferson's literary passions, from the popular "small books" sold by traveling chapmen, such as The History of Tom Thumb, which enthralled him as a child; to his lifelong love of Aesop's Fables and Robinson Crusoe ; his engagement with Horace, Ovid, Virgil and other writers of classical antiquity; and his deep affinity with the melancholy verse of Ossian, the legendary third-century Gaelic warrior-poet. Drawing on Jefferson's letters, journals, and commonplace books, Hayes offers a wealth of new scholarship on the print culture of colonial America, reveals an intimate portrait of Jefferson's activities beyond the political chamber, and reconstructs the president's
investigations in such different fields of knowledge as law, history, philosophy and natural science. Most importantly, Hayes uncovers the ideas and exchanges which informed the thinking of America's first great intellectual and shows how his lifelong pursuit of knowledge culminated in the formation of a public offering, the "academic village" which became UVA, and his more private retreat at Monticello.

The Life and Mind of Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was an avid book-collector, a voracious reader, and a gifted writer--a man who prided himself on his knowledge of classical and modern languages and whose marginal annotations include quotations from Euripides, Herodotus, and Milton. And yet there has never been a literary life of our most literary president.In The Road to Monticello, Kevin J. Hayes fills this important gap by offering a lively account of Jefferson's spiritual and intellectual development, focusing on the books and ideas that exerted the most profound influence on him. Moving chronologically through Jefferson's life, Hayes reveals the full range and depth of Jefferson's literary passions, from the popular "small books" sold by traveling chapmen, such as The History of Tom Thumb, which enthralled him as a child; to his lifelong love of Aesop's Fables and Robinson Crusoe; his engagement with Horace, Ovid, Virgil and other writers of classical antiquity; and his deep affinity with the melancholy verse of Ossian, the legendary third-century Gaelic warrior-poet. Drawing on Jefferson's letters, journals, and commonplace books, Hayes offers a wealth of new scholarship on the print culture of colonial America, reveals an intimate portrait of Jefferson's activities beyond the political chamber, and reconstructs the president's investigations in such different fields of knowledge as law, history, philosophy and natural science. Most importantly, Hayes uncovers the ideas and exchanges which informed the thinking of America's first great intellectual and shows how his lifelong pursuit of knowledge culminated in the formation of a public offering, the "academic village" which became UVA, and his more private retreat at Monticello.Gracefully written and painstakingly researched, The Road to Monticello provides an invaluable look at Jefferson's intellectual and literary life, uncovering the roots of some of the most important--and influential--ideas that have informed American history.

The Road to Monticello

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Steven B. Frank

Student activism meets screwball comedy meets the American judicial system as a boy sets out to prove—to the U.S. Supreme Court—that homework is downright unconstitutional.

NO. MORE. HOMEWORK.



That's what sixth grader Sam Warren tells his teacher while standing on top of his desk. He's fed up with doing endless tasks from the time he gets home to the time he goes to sleep. Suspended for his protest, Sam decides to fight back. He recruits his elderly neighbor/retired attorney Mr. Kalman to help him file a class action lawsuit on behalf of all students in Los Angeles. Their argument? Homework is unconstitutional.

 

With a ragtag team--aspiring masterchef Alistair, numbers gal Catalina, sports whiz Jaesang, rebel big sister Sadie and her tech-savvy boyfriend Sean--Sam takes his case to federal court. He learns about the justice system, kids' rights, and constitutional law. And he learns that no matter how many times you get knocked down, there's always an appeal...until the nine justices have the last say.

 

Will Sam's quest end in an epic fail, or will he be the hero who saves childhood for all time?

Class Action

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Jack Andraka

Matthew Lysiak

In this acclaimed memoir, teen innovator and scientist Jack Andraka tells the story behind his revolutionary discovery.

When a dear family friend passed away from pancreatic cancer, Jack was inspired to create a better method of early detection. At the age of fifteen, he garnered international attention for his breakthrough: a four-cent strip of paper capable of detecting pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancers four hundred times more effectively than the previous standard.

Jack's story is not just a story of dizzying international success; it's a story of overcoming depression and homophobic bullying and finding the resilience to persevere and come out.

His account inspires young people, who he argues are the most innovative, to fight for the right to be taken seriously and to pursue our own dreams. Do-it-yourself science experiments are included in each chapter, making Breakthrough perfect for STEM curriculum.

But above all, Jack's memoir empowers his generation with the knowledge that we can each change the world if we only have the courage to try.

Featured in the 2018 movie Science Fair! A National Science Teachers Association Best STEM Book of 2017 In this acclaimed memoir, teen innovator and scientist Jack Andraka tells the story behind his revolutionary discovery. When a dear family friend passed away from pancreatic cancer, Jack was inspired to create a better method of early detection. At the age of fifteen, he garnered international attention for his breakthrough: a four-cent strip of paper capable of detecting pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancers four hundred times more effectively than the previous standard. Jack's story is not just a story of dizzying international success; it's a story of overcoming depression and homophobic bullying and finding the resilience to persevere and come out. His account inspires young people, who he argues are the most innovative, to fight for the right to be taken seriously and to pursue our own dreams. Do-it-yourself science experiments are included in each chapter, making Breakthrough perfect for STEM curriculum. But above all, Jack's memoir empowers his generation with the knowledge that we can each change the world if we only have the courage to try.

Breakthrough: How One Teen Innovator Is Changing the World

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Bettina Restrepo

Instead, Nora is on a desperate journey far away from home. When her father leaves their beloved Mexico in search of work, Nora stays behind. She fights to make sense of her loss while living in poverty—waiting for her father's return and a better day. When the letters and money stop coming, Nora decides that she and her mother must look for him in Texas. After a frightening experience crossing the border, the two are all alone in a strange place. Now, Nora must find the strength to survive while aching for small comforts: friends, a new school, and her precious quinceañera.

Bettina Restrepo's gripping, deeply hopeful debut novel captures the challenges of one girl's unique yet universal immigrant experience.





A promise.

Quinceañera.

A promise that we would be together on my fifteenth birthday . . .

Instead, Nora is on a desperate journey far away from home. When her father leaves their beloved Mexico in search of work, Nora stays behind. She fights to make sense of her loss while living in poverty--waiting for her father's return and a better day. When the letters and money stop coming, Nora decides that she and her mother must look for him in Texas. After a frightening experience crossing the border, the two are all alone in a strange place. Now, Nora must find the strength to survive while aching for small comforts: friends, a new school, and her precious quinceañera.

Bettina Restrepo's gripping, deeply hopeful debut novel captures the challenges of one girl's unique yet universal immigrant experience.

Illegal

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Julie Crabtree

Ariel is the head chef in her family kitchen. Cucumber salads, fettuccine carbonara, fish tacos, and peanut butter pie are just a few of the dishes she crafts when she’s feeling frustrated by the world. And it’s turning into a frustrating year. Ariel, Nicki, and Mattie have been inseparable friends since they were little kids, but now Mattie’s mom has decided to move away. It’s the girls’ last year in middle school, and they can’t fathom being separated. The friends concoct a plan that will keep Mattie in the Bay area — she’ll move in with Ariel and her family. But before you can say "bff," the party is over. Everything Mattie does gets on Ariel’s nerves, and it’s not long before the girls are avoiding each other. This was supposed to be their best year ever, but some painful lessons are threatening to tear their friendship apart. Can the girls scramble to make things right before the bond crumbles?

Fourteen-year-old Ariel uses cooking to work through problems, but none of her recipes are likely to help when she and Nicki learn that M may be moving away from Alameda soon after they begin eighth grade. Includes recipes and cooking tips.

The Crepe Makers' Bond

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Sidney Sheldon

Lara Cameron is a famous powerful wealthy New York building developer who struggled from brutal poverty in Glace Bay, a banker who took her body as part of her first deal, to Chicago, banker Keller whose love she takes lightly for granted. As her skyscrapers and boutique hotels tower on earth, she is at the top of a male dominated field. She lies and cheats to close a deal, making cruel enemies. She is forty, beautiful, glamorous, insecure, ruthless, vulnerable, secretly generous, rich - and still wants more. She marries an international concert pianist, the Lochinvar of her childhood dreams, but someone puts him in the hospital and threatens to take down her empire.

The Stars Shine Down

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Andreas Kluth

A dynamic and exciting way to understand success and failure, through the life of Hannibal, one of history's greatest generals. The life of Hannibal, the Carthaginian general who crossed the Alps with his army in 218 B.C.E., is the stuff of legend. And the epic choices he and his opponents made-on the battlefield and elsewhere in life-offer lessons about responding to our victories and our defeats that are as relevant today as they were more than 2,000 years ago. A big new idea book inspired by ancient history, Hannibal and Me explores the truths behind triumph and disaster in our lives by examining the decisions made by Hannibal and others, including Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Steve Jobs, Ernest Shackleton, and Paul Cézanne-men and women who learned from their mistakes. By showing why some people overcome failure and others succumb to it, and why some fall victim to success while others thrive on it, Hannibal and Me demonstrates how to recognize the seeds of success within our own failures and the threats of failure hidden in our successes. The result is a page-turning adventure tale, a compelling human drama, and an insightful guide to understanding behavior. This is essential reading for anyone who seeks to transform misfortune into success at work, at home, and in life.

What History's Greatest Military Strategist Can Teach Us about Success and Failure

A dynamic and exciting way to understand success and failure, through the life of Hannibal, one of history's greatest generals.

The life of Hannibal, the Carthaginian general who crossed the Alps with his army in 218 B.C.E., is the stuff of legend. And the epic choices he and his opponents made-on the battlefield and elsewhere in life-offer lessons about responding to our victories and our defeats that are as relevant today as they were more than 2,000 years ago. A big new idea book inspired by ancient history, Hannibal and Me explores the truths behind triumph and disaster in our lives by examining the decisions made by Hannibal and others, including Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Steve Jobs, Ernest Shackleton, and Paul Cézanne-men and women who learned from their mistakes.

By showing why some people overcome failure and others succumb to it, and why some fall victim to success while others thrive on it, Hannibal and Me demonstrates how to recognize the seeds of success within our own failures and the threats of failure hidden in our successes. The result is a page-turning adventure tale, a compelling human drama, and an insightful guide to understanding behavior. This is essential reading for anyone who seeks to transform misfortune into success at work, at home, and in life.

Hannibal and Me

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William J. McGee

A Fast Food Nation for the airline industry, Attention All Passengers is a shocking and important exposé revealing the real state of the “friendly skies” in which we fly. Award-winning Consumer Reports travel journalist William McGee, a former editor of the Consumer Reports Travel Letter, spent nearly seven years in airline flight operations management, and what he learned was less than uplifting. From TSA power grabs and an endemic lack of oversight to legislative battles and lobbying boondoggles to antiquated flight patterns and outsourced maintenance workers, the airlines and the government are in cahoots, conspiring to turn a profit any way they can, no matter who has to pay the price. A provocative and hard-hitting call to action, Attention All Passengers will explode all our previous misconceptions about the airline industry.

The Airlines' Dangerous Descent---And How to Reclaim Our Skies

Award-winning journalist and leading consumer advocate William J. McGee offers a shocking, essential exposÉ that reveals the real state of the "friendly skies." From outsourced call centers in India to the Alabama location where all lost baggage ends up, William J. McGee crisscrossed the country and traveled around the globe immersing himself deep into the world of commercial airlines. And what he found was shocking. McGee interviewed countless industry insiders—pilots, TSA security screeners, FAA inspectors, legislators, the CEOs of the major carriers, and even Ralph Nader and Steven Slater, the disgruntled flight attendant who famously jettisoned a JetBlue flight. Here he reveals how airline executives are cutting costs in "a mad race to the bottom" by delegating flights to second-tier regional airlines and outsourcing critical aircraft maintenance and repairs to unlicensed "mechanics" in China, Singapore, Mexico, and El Salvador. And while the U.S. airlines have raked in tens of billions of dollars for checked baggage alone in recent years, our skies (and our airports) are not getting any safer. What's more, McGee explains how both political parties and all branches of the U.S. government have conspired to place corporate interests above the interests of consumers, workers, the nation's economy, and even the planet itself. Attention All Passengers will change the way you view the airline industry and make you think twice the next time you see the fasten seat belts sign.

Attention All Passengers

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Michael R. Gordon

Bernard E. Trainor

Written by the chief military correspondent of the New York Times and a prominent retired Marine general, this is the definitive account of the invasion of Iraq.A stunning work of investigative journalism, Cobra II describes in riveting detail how the American rush to Baghdad provided the opportunity for the virulent insurgency that followed. As Gordon and Trainor show, the brutal aftermath was not inevitable and was a surprise to the generals on both sides. Based on access to unseen documents and exclusive interviews with the men and women at the heart of the war, Cobra II provides firsthand accounts of the fighting on the ground and the high-level planning behind the scenes. Now with a new afterword that addresses what transpired after the fateful events of the summer of 2003, this is a peerless re-creation and analysis of the central event of our times.

The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq

Informed by unparalleled access to still–secret documents, interviews with top field commanders, and a review of the military’s own internal after–action reports,Cobra IIis the definitive chronicle of America’s invasion and occupation of Iraq—a conflict that could not be lost but one that the United States failed to win decisively. From the Pentagon to the White House to the American command centers in the field, the book reveals the inside story of how the war was actually planned and fought. Drawing on classified United States government intelligence, it also provides a unique account of how Saddam Hussein and his high command developed and prosecuted their war strategy. Written by Michael R. Gordon, the chief military correspondent forThe New York Times, who spent the war with the Allied land command, and Bernard E. Trainor, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant general and former director of the National Security Program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government,Cobra IItraces the interactions among the generals, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and President George W. Bush. It dramatically reconstructs the principal battles from interviews with those who fought them, providing reliable accounts of the clashes waged by conventional and Special Operations forces. It documents with precision the failures of American intelligence and the mistakes in administering postwar Iraq. Unimpeachably sourced,Cobra IIdescribes how the American rush to Baghdad provided the opportunity for the virulent insurgency that followed. The brutal aftermath in Iraq was not inevitable and was a surprise to the generals on both sides;Cobra IIprovides the first authoritative account as to why. It is a book of enduring importance and incisive analysis—a comprehensive account of the most reported yet least understood war in American history.

Cobra II

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Gordon S. Wood

The Oxford History of the United States is by far the most respected multi-volume history of our nation. The series includes three Pulitzer Prize winners, two New York Times bestsellers, and winners of the Bancroft and Parkman Prizes. Now, in the newest volume in the series, one of America's most esteemed historians, Gordon S. Wood, offers a brilliant account of the early American Republic, ranging from 1789 and the beginning of the national government to the end of the War of 1812.
As Wood reveals, the period was marked by tumultuous change in all aspects of American life--in politics, society, economy, and culture. The men who founded the new government had high hopes for the future, but few of their hopes and dreams worked out quite as they expected. They hated political parties but parties nonetheless emerged. Some wanted the United States to become a great fiscal-military state like those of Britain and France; others wanted the country to remain a rural agricultural state very different from the European states. Instead, by 1815 the United States became something neither group anticipated. Many leaders expected American culture to flourish and surpass that of Europe; instead it became popularized and vulgarized. The leaders also hope to see the end of slavery; instead, despite the release of many slaves and the end of slavery in the North, slavery was stronger in 1815 than it had been in 1789. Many wanted to avoid entanglements with Europe, but instead the country became involved in Europe's wars and ended up waging another war with the former mother country. Still, with a new generation emerging by 1815, most Americans were confident and optimistic about the future of their country.

A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815

The Oxford History of the United States is by far the most respected multi-volume history of our nation. The series includes three Pulitzer Prize winners, two New York Times bestsellers, and winners of the Bancroft and Parkman Prizes. Now, in the newest volume in the series, one of America's most esteemed historians, Gordon S. Wood, offers a brilliant account of the early American Republic, ranging from 1789 and the beginning of the national government to the end of the War of 1812.
As Wood reveals, the period was marked by tumultuous change in all aspects of American life--in politics, society, economy, and culture. The men who founded the new government had high hopes for the future, but few of their hopes and dreams worked out quite as they expected. They hated political parties but parties nonetheless emerged. Some wanted the United States to become a great fiscal-military state like those of Britain and France; others wanted the country to remain a rural agricultural state very different from the European states. Instead, by 1815 the United States became something neither group anticipated. Many leaders expected American culture to flourish and surpass that of Europe; instead it became popularized and vulgarized. The leaders also hope to see the end of slavery; instead, despite the release of many slaves and the end of slavery in the North, slavery was stronger in 1815 than it had been in 1789. Many wanted to avoid entanglements with Europe, but instead the
country became involved in Europe's wars and ended up waging another war with the former mother country. Still, with a new generation emerging by 1815, most Americans were confident and optimistic about the future of their country.
Named a New York Times Notable Book, Empire of Liberty offers a marvelous account of this pivotal era when America took its first unsteady steps as a new and rapidly expanding nation.


Empire of Liberty

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Alan Lightman

In this captivating and lucid book, the bestselling author of Einstein's Dreams chronicles twenty-four great discoveries of twentieth-century science--everything from the theory of relativity to mapping the structure of DNA.

Great Breakthroughs in 20th-Century Science, Including the Original Papers

The last century has seen an explosion of creativity and insight that led to breakthroughs in every field of science. Alan Lightman tells the stories of two dozen breakthroughs made by such brilliant scientists as Einstein, Bohr, McClintock, and Pauling, and their original papers.

The Discoveries

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Joe Scarborough

Adam Canfield has to be the most overprogrammed middle-school student in America. So when super-organized Jennifer coaxes him to be coeditor of their school newspaper, THE SLASH, he wonders if he’s made a big mistake. But when a third-grader’s article leads to a big scoop, Adam and his fellow junior journalists rise to the challenge of receiving their principal’s wrath to uncover some scandalous secrets.

From Ike to Reagan, How Republicans Once Mastered Politics--And Can Again

"Opening with the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 and ending with the disillusionment that characterized the final months of George W. Bush's presidency, Scarborough ultimately takes today's Republican party to task for squandering opportunities to attain and hold power. By revisiting Eisenhower's understated diplomacy, Barry Goldwater's fierce rhetoric, and Reagan's gift for channeling and connecting with voters, [this book] ... demonstrates how today's GOP has undermined its own cause and in doing so, fails the nation"--

The Right Path

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Michael Winerip

In this terrific debut, the Pulitzer Prize-winning "New York Times" columnist introduces a charming cast of middle-school newspaper reporters that stands up to authority to expose a school scandal.

Adam Canfield of the Slash

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Judith Norling Carlson

Ashley Morgan and Candace Maguire, two nurses from Chicago in dire need of a well-deserved vacation, arrived in Maui, Hawaii with no idea of the chaos that awaited them. A young Hawaiian woman mysteriously goes missing. It was the same woman they had seen at the Whalebone Inn in Lahaina just three days before her body was discovered, washed up on the shore of Ma'alaea Bay. Who was the man Ashley saw coming up from the beach the night of the thunderstorm; the same night the girl went missing? The long awaited vacation began to take an ominous twist when they realized the significance of what they saw and heard and found out the girl had been murdered. From that point on, their world turned upside down when their curiosity propelled them into a web of suspense and the secret world of the drug cartel, lies and deceit. Who could they trust? Nothing was as it seemed and they became the hunted. Author Bio: Bio Judith Norling Carlson is a registered nurse who has worked in a variety of nursing positions. Her last twenty years was in drug research. She has visited Maui, Hawaii, several times and is well acquainted with the island, especially the towns of Kihei and Lahaina. She exchanged her technical writing skills for creative writing in a variety of genres. She divides her residency between Rhinelander, Wisconsin, and Spring Hill, Florida, where she lives with her husband Keith, and their dog Kasey. She has three grown sons. She has belonged to a writing group for eight years and puts writing at the top of her fun and creative list of things to do. keywords: Maui, Hawaii, Nurses, Chance Encounter, Mystery, Murder, Deception, Amateur Sleuths, Vacation, Drug Cartel

Enjoying their much needed vacation, Ashley and Candace are stunned to see a missing woman's picture in a local newspaper. It is the same young Hawaiian woman they saw days earlier at the Whalebone Inn in Lahaina arguing with a young man. Their vacation takes a more ominous twist when the young woman's body is found washed up on Ma'alaea Bay. When they learn that the woman was murdered, they are propelled into a web of suspense, lies, and deception. From that point on, their world is turned upside down when they realize the signifigance of what they saw and heard at the Whalebone Inn.

Thunder in the Tropics

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Gregory Curtis

In the spring of 1820, on the Aegean island of Melos, an unsuspecting farmer was digging for marble building blocks when he unearthed the statue that would come to be known as the Venus de Milo. From the moment of its discovery a battle for possession ensued and was won, eventually, by the French. Touted by her keepers in the Louvre as the great classical find of the era, the sculpture gained instant celebrity–and yet its origins had yet to be documented or verified.

From the flurry of excitement surrounding her discovery, to the raging disputes over her authenticity, to the politics and personalities that have given rise to her mystique, Gregory Curtis has given us a riveting look at the embattled legacy of a beloved icon and a remarkable tribute to one of the world’s great works of art.

The Story of the Venus de Milo

A rich tale of historical intrigue, this is the story of the Venus de Milo, one of the most famous works of art of all time. 21 illustrations.

Disarmed

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Barbara W. Tuchman

Presents a fresh view of the American Revolution, chronicling key events from 1776 to 1781 and assessing the repercussions for America, England, France, and other nations.

Presents a fresh view of the American Revolution, chronicling key events from 1776 to 1781 and assessing the repercussions for America, England, France, and other nations

The First Salute

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Megan Whalen Turner

A leprechaun is sighted in small–town New Hampshire. A city boy becomes a hero in prehistoric Sweden. An elf prince tries to reward a girl who wishes he'd just leave her alone. In these and other delightful stories, magical adventure appears in the most unexpected places!

Instead of Three Wishes is a captivating collection of witty and sparkling fantasy stories from the Newbery Honor author of The Thief.

Magical Short Stories

"An utterly delightful collection of short stories about enchantment in everyday life. They include 'The Nightmare,' in which a hooligan is forced to see himself through other people's eyes; 'Aunt Charlotte and the NGA Portraits,' about the search for treasure in a painting come to life; and the title story, about a girl who isn't interested in the wishes she is granted by an elf prince....Each story is a perfectly crafted little gem...in this auspicious debut."--Kirkus Reviews.

Instead of Three Wishes

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Horowitz Anthony

From Anthony Horowitz, a Groosham . . . make that gruesome . . . new adventure! Sent to Groosham Grange as a last resort by his frustrated parents, thirteen-year-old David Eliot quickly discovers that his new boarding school is very peculiar. New pupils are made to sign their names in blood . . . the French teacher cancels classes on days there's a full moon . . . there are chilling secrets hidden in the assistant headmaster's office. What's the meaning of the black rings everyone wears? Where do the other pupils vanish to at night? Suddenly, his biggest problem isn't staying in school it's getting out alive.For Anthony Horowitz's legion of fans, this fun thriller is a must have.

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

After being expelled from school, thirteen-year-old David Eliot is sent to Groosham Grange, a spooky and sinister boarding school where nothing seems quite right.

Groosham Grange

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Sandra Carey Cody

Jennifer Connors, activities director of Riverview Manor, is working late one night when she hears resident Nathaniel Pynchon pleading, “put out the light.” Following Nate down a darkened corridor, Jennie discovers the body of Rosalie Cardamon. Everyone at Riverview assumes the former actor has finally tumbled over the line separating fantasy from reality and committed murder, yet Jennie refuses to accept this. But if not Nate, then who? When she learns that wounds left by a thirty-year-old accident are still festering at Riverview Manor, Jennie wonders if Rosalie’s death could be related. Unfortunately, the police are too busy investigating Nate to care. To further complicate matters, Jennie has problems of her own. Her estranged husband Tom is demanding she pay less attention to the murder investigation and more to the safety of their children, a demand she is forced to take seriously when a bullet whizzes past her. Starring Nathaniel Pynchon in the role of a lifetime, and welcoming newcomer Jennifer Connors, this murder mystery will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final curtain call.

Murder on the stage, or is it? This intriguing mystery stars Nathaniel Pynchon in the role of a lifetime, and welcomes newcomer Jennifer Connors. It will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final curtain call.

Put Out the Light

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J. Adams Oaks

Wyatt Reaves takes the seat next to you, bloodied and soaking wet, and he is a big-fisted beast. Tell him to stretch out like an X across asphalt and you've got a parking space. But Wyatt's been taking it lying down for too long, and he is NOT happy.

Wyatt Reaves takes the seat next to you, bloodied and soaking wet, and he is a big-fisted beast. Tell him to stretch out like an X across asphalt and you've got a parking space. But Wyatt's been taking it lying down for too long, and he is NOT happy.

Since he turned twelve and a half, he's been living with his uncle, a traveling salesman of mysterious agenda and questionable intent. Soon, Uncle Spade sees the potential in "kiddo" to earn cash. And that's enough to keep the boy around for nearly six years.

But what life does Wyatt deserve? Alcohol? Drugs? Bare-fisted fights? Tattoos? No friends? No role models? Living in a car?
If you're brave enough to stay and listen, you'll hear an astounding story. It's not a pretty road Wyatt has traveled, but growing up rarely is.

Why I Fight

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Chelsea Cain

He captured the Beauty Killer, one of the most deranged serial killers in the country. Now, Portland police detective Archie Sheridan faces a different kind of killer - a brutal rain season that has flooded the Willamette River, claiming several lives. As water levels rise, so does the fear. Because some of the victims didn't drown;they were murdered.

The first body contains a rare poison. Three others prove to be murders as well. And with each gruesome discovery the medical examiner uncovers, Archie begins to realize he has not escaped his nightmares, even with his deadliest enemy behind bars. The flood has washed up old skeletons from the past. And a ruthless new serial killer rules the night...

With the Beauty Killer Gretchen Lowell locked away behind bars once again, Archie Sheridan—a Portland police detective and nearly one of her victims—can finally rest a little easier. Meanwhile, the rest of the city of Portland is in crisis. Heavy rains have flooded the Willamette River, and several people have drowned in the quickly rising waters. Or at least that’s what they thought until the medical examiner discovers that the latest victim didn’t drown: She was poisoned before she went into the water. Soon after, three of those drownings are also proven to be murders. Portland has a new serial killer on its hands, and Archie and his task force have a new case. Reporter Susan Ward is chasing this story of a new serial killer with gusto, but she’s also got another lead to follow for an entirely separate mystery: The flooding has unearthed a skeleton, a man who might have died more than sixty years ago, the last time Portland flooded this badly, when the water washed away an entire neighborhood and killed at least fifteen people. With Archie following the bizarre trail of evidence and evil deeds to catch a killer and possibly regain his life, and Susan Ward close behind, Chelsea Cain—one of today’s most talented suspense writers—launches the next installment of her bestselling series with an electric thriller.

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Philip Herbst

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Thunder in the Tropics

Gregory Curtis

Disarmed

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Instead of Three Wishes

Horowitz Anthony

Groosham Grange

Sandra Carey Cody

Put Out the Light

J. Adams Oaks

Why I Fight

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The Night Season

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