Random House First Year & Common Reading Catalog by Random House

Includes: Best Practices & Adoption Timeline

220133 FFirst-Y -YYYeear e r Common Common ommon RRead Reading eeading ad ding g S www.commonreads.com N e w

F a v o r i t e s

Dear First-Year Reading Director, Believe it or not, this is our ninth First-Year Reading catalog. While the contents have changed from year to year, the cover of our catalog has generally remained the same. It is thus with great excitement that we present to you our new cover. With less clutter and more focus, this clean, eye-catching redesign comes to you courtesy of the Random House Common Reading Advisory Board. Announced in last year’s catalog, the Common Reading Advisory Board was founded in 2010 to help guide our engagement with you, the common-reading professional. Last autumn, we expanded the Board to include nine of your colleagues from large public universities, midsized religious institutions, and small liberal arts colleges across the nation. While their backgrounds are diverse, what they each have in common is a dedication to shaping what the future of shared reading looks like on campuses, and optimizing such experiences—especially as they pertain to first-year students. We had the pleasure of hosting the Board for an intensive, three-day summit at our New York City headquarters in October, posting photos to Facebook and Tweeting throughout. (Kudos to our brave travelers who weathered Hurricane Sandy on their trip home)! e conversations and exchange was amazing, and the work done during the summit continues to shape our outreach to programs such as yours, as well as the selection and cultivation of books and authors we consider ideal for a shared reading experience. Our Board members are listed below. Please feel free to connect with them directly or via our new email address: commonreads@randomhouse.com. ey are delighted to share their insight and experiences, especially with those getting new projects oﬀ the ground. Another idea to emerge from the summit may be found on page four of this catalog: the Post-Adoption Timeline. While this catalog is mainly focused on featuring books for you to consider for program adoption, this new, handy flowchart breaks down the steps you’ll need to pursue aer you’ve made that big decision. e chart is also posted at our blog: www.commonreads.com. And speaking of digital, we continue to invite you to stay connected with us by linking to any one of our social media channels or downloading our app (see bottom of facing page). We oen give away free books through these outlets—that’s worth the price of admission (free) alone! Speaking of books, I think you will find this year’s catalog has something for every program. Is your program considering fiction? If so, we have an interesting selection of novels for you to consider: embark on the classic hero’s journey set in an oddly familiar yet dystopian world in Ernest Cline’s novel Ready Player One (page 30); join the revealing and ethically provocative conversation around the dinner table in Herman Koch’s e Dinner (page 32); or challenge your sense of identity and notions of love when you experience each day of your life in a diﬀerent body—male or female, young or old, gay or straight—in David Levithan’s Every Day (page 39). For those programs looking for a great nonfiction read, in addition to our classic program favorites, we are delighted to present new books such as: Susan Cain’s Quiet (page 48), a book that demands a new conversation about the power and importance of the introverts among—and within—us; Charles Duhigg’s e Power of Habit (page 72), which helps us to create and foster better habits for success, and to break bad ones that keep us from realizing our true potential (what better book could there be to give to a first-year student?); and Kristen Iversen’s Full Body Burden (page 54), a meticulously researched yet harrowing personal account of a dirty—and deadly—little national secret that has students flipping the pages. We invite you to dig in and find the right books that will speak to your students. ank you for turning the page and for taking this journey with us, nine years and counting.

Photos from the 2012 First-Year Experience® Random House Author Luncheon

Here’s to another great year together,

Michael D. Gentile Director, Academic Marketing Random House Inc. • Tel. (212) 782-8387 ) mgentile@randomhouse.com www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldgentile

Featured SpeakerS (l. to r.): Peter Buﬀet, Life is What You Make It, (p. 42) • Darin Strauss, Half a Life, (p. 28) • Elizabeth Moon, The Speed of Dark, (p. 40) Blake Mycoskie, Start Something That Matters, (p. 90) • Sam Bracken, My Orange Duﬀel Bag, (p. 21)

random House Common reading advisory Board

l. to r., back row: Michael Gentile (RH), Jared Tippets (Purdue University), Jeanne Leep (Edgewood College), Elizabeth Bracher (Boston College), Steven Girardot (Georgia Institute of Technology), Tara Coleman (Kansas State University) Karen Weathermon (Washington State University) front row: Skip Dye (RH), Rebecca Campbell (Northern Arizona University), Jennifer Latino (Campbell University), Daphne Rankin (Virginia Commonwealth University)

Elizabeth Bracher, Boston College Rebecca Campbell, Northern Arizona University Tara Coleman, Kansas State University Steven Girardot, Georgia Institute of Technology Jennifer Latino, Campbell University Jeanne Leep, Edgewood College Daphne Rankin, Virginia Commonwealth University Jared Tippets, Purdue University Karen Weathermon, Washington State University

Contents Life Stories—Memoir, Biography, and Autobiography ......................................8 Fiction to Talk About ............................................................................................30 Inspiration and Guidance ....................................................................................42 History and Society ..............................................................................................46 Life & College Guides ..........................................................................................71 Go Green/Environmental Studies ......................................................................82 Social Action ..........................................................................................................86 Index........................................................................................................................92 Order Form ............................................................................................................95 LeGeNd HC: Hardcover • tr: Trade Paperback • MM: Mass Market • NCr: No Canadian Rights : Audio : Author Available : Discussion Guide : eBook

Available in Español

: Spanish Language Edition Available

exaMINatIoN CopIeS Examination copies are available to instructors seeking titles to review for adoption consideration. The exam copy prices are as follows: $3.00 for each paperback priced under $20.00, and 50% off the retail price for all hardcovers and paperbacks priced at or over $20.00. Examination copies are limited to ten per instructor per school year and can only be mailed to valid U.S. addresses. To order, use the order form at the back of this catalog. Examination copies must be prepaid with a check or money order made payable to Random House, Inc., or order online at www.randomhouse.com/academic/examcopy. Offer only valid in the United States. All requests are subject to approval and availability. Please allow 2–4 weeks for delivery.

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RANDOM HOUSE, INC.

SUPPORTS YOUR PROGRAM electing the right title is only the first step toward making your First-Year Reading

program a success; publisher support is also essential. The Random House, Inc. Academic Marketing Department is here to ensure that your program runs

smoothly and successfully, and that your needs and requests are handled in a thorough and efficient manner.

WE ARE PLEASED TO HELP YOU WITH THE FOLLOWING:

AUTHOR APPEARANCES We’ll promptly channel your author requests to the appropriate speaker’s bureau or lecture agency to ensure they are attended to quickly.

ANCILLARY MATERIALS Should you need author photos or additional content and materials, we will research the available options and assist you as best as we can.

DISCUSSION GUIDES We continue to develop and make available discussion guides, which may be used as tools by your discussion leaders. Many of these free guides are available in print, and all may be easily downloaded from our website.

DESK COPIES Depending upon the method of your order, you are entitled to one complimentary copy of a book per twenty student copies ordered. These complimentary copies are often allocated to group discussion leaders.

CUSTOMIZED COPIES Want to include a letter from your dean or college president? Imprint the cover with a specialized seal? Or modify the book in some other way? We will connect you to our Premium Sales Department to process your request (please note these orders are not for resale).

ORDERING Although Random House, Inc. does not sell directly to schools or libraries, we will assist you in placing your order, whether through your bookstore, a local wholesaler, or our in-house Premium Sales Department.

QUESTIONS? MICHAEL D. GENTILE Director, Academic Marketing

Random House, Inc., 1745 Broadway D[m Oeha" DO '&&'/ J[b$ ('( -.(#.).-

u commonreads@randomhouse.com www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldgentile

RANDOM HOUSE COMMON READING

Book Post-Adoption

TIMELINE

This timeline provides a helpful outline of the steps that compose a successful common reading program

BOOK IS SELECTED

BOOK PURCHASE

Students will purchase their own copy of book

How do students obtain the book? Contact your campus bookstore/distributor to order directly.

What is the estimated length of time between order and delivery? 7bbem )Å* m[[ai for delivery.

PROGRAMMING

University is purchasing books to gift to students (e.g., during Orientation)

Will you need a custom version? We can print customized editions with your college logo and/or letter from your President.

No customization

Who should the institution contact to obtain a price quote? Contact jlipman@randomhouse.com or '$.&&$.&&$)(*, \eh W fh_Y[ gkej[$ >Wl[ available the book title, ISBN, quantity, delivery date and “ship to” information.

How much time does customization take? Normal delivery time for custom [Z_j_edi _i ,Å. m[[ai from order to delivery.

What is the estimated length of time between order and delivery? 7bbem (Å* m[[ai for delivery.

Author visit? Many of our authors are represented by the Random House Speakers Bureau. To request an author, YedjWYj ('($+-($(&') or rhspeakers@ randomhouse.com. When contacting the RH Speakers Bureau, please know your available budget, desired date of visit, audience size and type, program description, and if there will be book signing opportunities.

Other programming ideas (see our Best Practices and Programming Ideas on pages 4-5)

Visit www.commonreads.com to access an online version of this timeline

BEST PRACTICES AND Tips from the Random House

3 LAUNCHING A PROGRAM Relax, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Take advantage of the many resources available to learn about other reading programs. A good starting point is a monograph published by the National Resource Center for e First-Year Experience® and Students in Transition, Common Reading Programs: Going Beyond the Book. In addition, there are a number of campuses with well-established and successful reading programs, and the professionals who run these programs are usually very happy to share advice and tips (as well as opinions on books they have used in the past.) When starting a program, it’s important to include various stakeholders on campus. When it is time to select a book, you will most likely want some type of campus selection committee. e committee should comprise members of a variety of constituencies, including faculty, student services and academic aﬀairs administrators, as well as students. ink carefully about the scope, mission, learning outcomes, and assessment of your program. For example, will the program be a first-year/new student reading program or a campus-wide (common) reading program? What will be the purpose of the program (this may influence the type of books you will be considering)? How will you inform students about the program and when will they be expected to read the book? Again, take advantage of the numerous resources available to help answer these questions.

3 SELECTING A BOOK ink about the following questions when considering eligible books for your program: Does the book tell a good story? Is the book accessible? Will a variety of students at diﬀerent reading levels and with diﬀerent interests be able to engage with the book? To this point, consider page count. A good rule of thumb is the “300 Rule”: if possible, choose a book with 300 pages or less. Does it feature a protagonist students can relate to? ey might be the same age or be dealing with similar life situations (change, challenge, adversity). Does the book touch on teachable themes, such as inclusiveness/diversity, global engagement, etc.? Do the themes of the book correspond to your university’s strategic mission? Campus engagement and resources will be easier to secure if you make this relationship clear. If having the book’s author speak is part of the plan for your reading program, it is important to consider author availability during the book selection process. Speaking fees and availability can vary considerably. You don’t want to go through all the work to select a book, only to find out that the author’s speaking fee will not work for your budget, or s/he is not available to speak on the dates you need!

3 ENGAGING STUDENTS Use digital and social media to your advantage. Use your university’s existing social media webpage or account (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) or create a dedicated page for your common reading program to create a community around the book selection, author visit, and other programming activities. Many authors, publishers, and lecture agencies have existing material that can be posted to your community page. Get students prepared. Consider introducing the book during the spring or summer prior to the next academic year. For example, if first-year students receive the book during Orientation, the Orientation Leaders and various speakers can advertise the program and build a feeling of community around the reading of the text. Also, think about having students turn in questions for the author as part of an assignment and have a moderator pose the questions to the author. is will incentivize students to come up with more original questions, will save on time during the Q&A, and will avoid dreaded “dead air.” Make the questions a contest, such as: “Can you stump the author?” Have students create materials in advance of the author’s visit. Essay collections are a great idea. You may also consider multimedia approaches—such as blogs, videos, or website. Students tend to share more on a personal level when they are not

H ave ques t ions for t he A dvis or y B oar d?

PROGRAMMING IDEAS First-Year Advisory Board

in an open forum and the medium can be anonymous. Another idea is to have students autograph and annotate the author’s book. In addition to brief messages to the author, annotations can call attention to the passages of the book students find most compelling or personally resonant. Authors appreciate diﬀerent perspectives on and reactions to their work, and they can take home the annotated book as a memento to commemorate the event! Organize campus-wide discussion groups. Some campuses use faculty, some use upper-class students, and some use a combination of faculty, staﬀ, and students to facilitate these discussions. Again, this is a good way for the first-year student to feel that they are a part of the university community. Link the book to as much existing campus programming as possible. Can the Film Studies Dept. co-sponsor a viewing of a film related to your book? Are there plays, arts exhibits, or other speakers coming to campus that you could tie into? Perhaps Student Activities can help as well? Reach out to faculty who teach courses relevant to your book selection, provide them with review copies of the book, invite them to events, and ask them to embed the book in their syllabi and courses. Your book selection committee will be a great resource in making these connections.

3 HOSTING AN AUTHOR Is the author represented by an agency or speaker’s bureau? Most authors will have an agent, and that will be the person to contact about speaking fees and availability. Oen, the book’s publisher will have this information. Encourage as many faculty and students as possible to read the book in advance of the author visit. In addition to having more enthusiastic readers on campus to help you spread the good word about the book and your program, folks who have already read the book will have more interesting questions for the author, making for a more intelligent and productive discussion. Assign a faculty member or administrator to host the author. While one of the benefits of an author visit is for students to engage with the author, it is important to have a faculty member or administrator act as the dedicated host, someone who has the authority to assertively manage appearances—to turn down requests or move an author to the next location, for example. Sharing is caring! Encourage university departments and divisions to coordinate in advance. Perhaps events may be co-sponsored so the author isn’t pulled in too many directions, and departments can share space, time, money, and other resources. Consider having one large campus talk that is required of all students. is makes the best use of both your programming time and the author’s time on campus. Many authors say that different departments and disciplines actually tend to have questions that are more similar in nature than they are different. Even if that is not the case, a diversity of questions is a good thing; it offers a richer conversation when different interests come together, and students learn more. Mix up the formats of events. e most successful visits offer the author and participants a variety of events to keep things fresh and engaging. Have the author speak at a podium for one event, do an on-stage sit-down Q&A at another, and participate in a group interview with faculty at a third. When hosting an author Q&A it’s important to appoint a moderator to move the discussion along. e moderator can address basic factual questions upfront, to allow for a more in-depth exchange during the Q&A. e moderator can also be the person who introduces the author. Following a large campus-wide talk, arrange for smaller, more intimate discussions with faculty and students, in which the author and participants can delve more deeply into topics mentioned in the campus-wide talk. All participants should have attended the larger campus talk so that they come to the breakout sessions with at least a basic knowledge of the book. Give authors “a break” (or two)! In order to provide your participants with the best experience possible, foster an environment that makes the author comfortable, and one that allows them to put their best foot forward. Schedule breaks in between sessions and offer some meals “off.” Arrange to have snacks, water, coffee, and meals available as appropriate. If the author is the key attraction at a meal, make sure he or she has ample time to eat. Don’t take it personally. When negotiating your author’s visit to campus, there may be many requirements on the part of the agency for travel, lodging, and “down time.” ese are based on the agency’s standard contractual obligations designed to cover a wide variety of celebrities, athletes, and other speakers. However, most agencies and authors understand that you have state and university policies that may constrain what you can offer, and will work with you to meet your needs. Schedule ample time for planning and negotiation. You should also verify with the author’s agent whether events or speaking engagements may be videotaped or recorded. ey oen have provisions for what is allowable.

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To RSVP: Email commonreads@randomhouse.com with your name, title, and school. If reserving for others, please include their full name and school aﬃliation.

Need a speaker for your next university event?

The Random House Speakers bureau can help! Who We Are The Random House Speakers Bureau is a full-service lecture agency whose primary focus is to help you find the best speaker for your event. Our dynamic roster includes Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, New York Times best-selling authors, business leaders, journalists, medical luminaries, and many others.

How We Can Help We work with universities year-round in helping them fulfill their lecture needs. We book authors for college common reads, panel discussions, lecture series, writing festivals, and a host of other university events. In addition, we help coordinate book signings for every event, from ordering direct through the signing itself. Here is a sample of three recent university events we have provided speakers for: n

Peter Buﬀett, emmy Award–winning musician, philanthropist, and best-selling author of Life Is What You Make It (page 42), was recently at UMAss Boston, Bellevue College, Washington, and the College of saint Rose, Albany, new York, performing his acclaimed “Concert & Conversation” event, which mixes music with an inspirational talk.

Writer, artist, activist, and inspirational speaker Jerry McGill engages audiences with his triumphant story of courage and perseverance, and “rebellious optimism,” filled with compassion and abundant humor. He has appeared at both high schools and universities to discuss his memoir Dear Marcus: A Letter to the Man Who Shot Me (page 12) and is a featured speaker at the 2013 Random House FYe® luncheon. He holds a BA in english literature from Fordham University and an MFA in education from Pacific University in oregon.

national Book Award Finalist for e Tiger’s Wife (page 34), orange Prize winner and the youngest writer on e New Yorker’s 20 under 40 list, Téa Obreht attended the University of southern California and received her MFA from Cornell. she has spoken at Georgetown University and Villanova.

John Prendergast, human rights activist and cofounder of the Anti-Genocide Group, e enough Project, and author of e Enough Moment (page 91) and Unlikely Brothers (page 27), has been a visiting professor at stanford, Pitt, eckerd, st. Johns, and the University of san Diego, where he regularly works with student groups and meets with students about human rights issues. In fall 2010, John delivered a lecture at Vanderbilt University on how to confront genocide.

Darin strauss, national Book Award winner for his memoir, Half a Life (page 28), has visited Arkansas state University, Marquette University, and Virginia Commonwealth, among others, and was a featured luncheon speaker at the 2012 FYe® conference in san Antonio. e recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in fiction writing, Darin is a clinical associate professor in new York University’s creative writing program

To book a speaker for your next event, please call us at 212-572-2013 or email us at rhspeakers@randomhouse.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

www.rhspeakers.com • ) rhspeakers@randomhouse.com 7

iMPERFECt

Website: www.JimAbbott.net Author video: http://tiny.cc/ghcpqw

An improbable Life By Jim Abbott and Tim Brown

Ballantine Books | HC | 978-0-345-52325-9 | 304pp. $26.00/$31.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $13.00 Do not order paperback before 3/26/2013. Ballantine | TR | 978-0-345-52326-6 | 320pp. $17.00/$20.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-307-99051-8 | $35.00/$41.00 Can. e-Book: 978-0-345-52327-3 | $13.99/$15.99 Can.

ADOPTIOn nOTES: Selected for Common Reading: Archbishop Ryan High School (Philadelphia, PA) Disciplines: Physical Education; Sports themes: Inspiration; Perseverance/Personal Strength

n an overcast September day in 1993, Jim Abbott took the mound at Yankee Stadium and threw one of the most dramatic no-hitters in major-league history. The game was the crowning achievement in an unlikely success story, unseen in the annals of professional sports. In Imperfect, the one-time big league ace retraces his remarkable journey. Born without a right hand, Jim Abbott as a boy dreamed of being a great athlete. Raised in Flint, Michigan, by parents who saw in his condition not a disability but an extraordinary opportunity, Jim became a two-sport standout in high school, then a star pitcher for the University of Michigan. But his journey was only beginning. As a nineteen-year-old, Jim beat the vaunted Cuban National Team. By twenty-one, he’d won the gold medal game at the 1988 Olympics and—without spending a day in the minor leagues—cracked the starting rotation of the California Angels. In 1991, he would finish third in the voting for the Cy Young Award. Two years later, he would don Yankee pinstripes and deliver a one-of-a-kind no-hitter. It wouldn’t always be so good. After a season full of difficult losses—some of them by football scores—Jim was released, cut off from the game he loved. Unable to say good-bye so soon, Jim tried to come back, pushing himself to the limit—and through one of the loneliest experiences an athlete can have. But always, even then, there were children and their parents waiting for him outside the clubhouse doors, many of them with disabilities like his, seeking consolation and advice. These obligations became Jim’s greatest honor. In this honest and insightful memoir, Jim Abbott reveals the insecurities of a life spent as the different one, how he habitually hid his disability in his right front pocket, and why he chose an occupation in which the uniform provided no front pockets. With a riveting pitch-by-pitch account of his no-hitter providing the ideal frame for his story, this unique athlete offers readers an extraordinary and unforgettable memoir.

Campus visits: Alternative Formats:

About the Author: Jim Abbott JIM aBBott was a major league pitcher with the Los Angeles Angels and the New York Yankees, among other teams. Born in 1967, he was an All-American at Michigan; won a gold medal with the 1988 Olympic baseball team; and threw a no-hitter at Yankee Stadium in 1993. He retired in 1999. Abbott has worked with the Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, has been a guest pitching instructor for the Los Angeles Angels, and has appeared as a motivational speaker. He lives with his wife and two children in Anaheim.

www.CommonReads.com

Excerpt from Imperfect They were shy and beautiful, and they were loud and funny, and they were, like me, somehow imperfectly built. And, like me, they had parents nearby, parents who willed themselves to believe that this accident of circumstance or nature was not a life sentence, and that the spirits inside these tiny bodies were greater than the sums of their hands and feet. The letters began in spring training, a couple at a time. Soon, there were requests from kids to come to camp, and we’d schedule 15 minutes a day. By the time we got to Anaheim, a couple letters would become dozens, and during the season, hundreds. [Angels executive] Tim Mead and I answered every one, because I knew how far a little boy or girl could run with 50 words of reassurance. The letters became lines of families at the doorways of clubhouses from Fenway to Comiskey to the Kingdome, and tiny, quiet tears in dugouts from Arlington Stadium to the SkyDome to Anaheim. So I would find my glove and go into the dugout, where another family was waiting with another story. The parents would be appreciative, and their little boy would stare with wide, yearning eyes, and he would be missing an arm, so one sleeve of his baseball jersey would flop all over, and it wouldn’t seem to bother him at all. “Hey,” I’d say, “you play baseball?” “Yeah.” “Show me how you do your glove.” And the little boy would hoist this massive glove head high, waiting for an imaginary throw, determination spread across his face. “What position do you play?” “Pitcher, like you.” “Aw, don’t be a pitcher,” I’d say. “Be a shortstop. They get to play every day. All right, now show me how you hold the bat.” The parents would laugh along. I know they wanted to know: How had I made it work? How could they? How would their boy grow up to be whatever he wanted to be? I would tell them about my parents. They’d made me feel special for what I was, and yet treated me like every other kid. I would tell them about my frustration, and my parents’ words: “This is something to be lived up to.” I would ask them to see that amazing things could happen. My parents had done that for me, and they could do the same for their boy. Some kids came with their own tales of achievement. They were playing baseball. They were playing hockey. They were getting straight A’s, or learning to drive, or playing in the band. They wanted me to know they were doing great, too. There was a boy I met, maybe 14. His arm was about to be amputated. He wanted to come see me pitch, but when he was healthy enough to visit the ballpark, I wasn’t healthy enough to pitch. I was on the disabled list. We just missed each other. He was a good kid, and scared. Tim Mead called on a Saturday morning. The boy had suffered a stroke. I drove to Anaheim and together we went to the hospital. The boy, ashamed that I would see him hurt and vulnerable, began to cry. His mother began to cry. I couldn’t help but cry. I sat on the bed and we talked about courage, about getting better, and about believing in himself. We left him in that room. Then, in silence, we drove back to Anaheim. Tim left me at my car, climbed the stairs to his office, and pulled the door closed. Then he began to cry. There were so many others out there like that boy. I was inspired. They pushed me back onto the field and into my own battles. I was going to be just like them. Excerpt from Imperfect by Jim Abbott and Tim Brown. Published by Ballantine, a division of Random House Inc. ©2012 by Jim Abbott. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Life Stories—Memoir, Biography, and Autobiography

HoW to LivE or A Life of Montaigne in one Question and twenty Attempts at an Answer

Website: www.SarahBakewell.com

By Sarah Bakewell Winner of the national Book Critics Circle Award for Biography named an outstanding Academic title by Choice Magazine

ow to get along with people, how to deal with violence, how to adjust to losing a loved one—such questions arise in most people’s lives. They are all versions of a bigger question: How does one live? This question obsessed Renaissance writers, none more than Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, considered by many to be the first truly modern individual. He wrote free-roaming explorations of his thoughts and experience, unlike anything written before. More than four hundred years later, Montaigne’s honesty and charm still draw people to him. Readers come to him in search of companionship, wisdom, and entertainment—and in search of themselves. An award-winning and inventive biography, How to Live will engage and inspire students to discuss the most essential questions, such as: Just what is—and how does one live— a good life?

other Press | TR | 978-1-59051-483-2 | 304pp. $16.95/NCR | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: e-Book: 978-1-59051-426-9 | $15.95/NCR

ADOPTIOn nOTES: Discipline: Philosophy themes: Ethics/Decision Making; Inspiration Alternative Formats:

“this charming biography shuffles incidents from Montaigne’s life and essays into twenty thematic chapters. . . . Bakewell clearly relishes the anthropological anecdotes that enliven Montaigne’s work, but she handles equally well both his philosophical influences and the readers and interpreters who have guided the reception of the essays.” —The New Yorker “Serious, engaging, and so infectiously in love with its subject that I found myself racing to finish so I could start rereading the Essays themselves. . . . It is hard to imagine a better introduction—or reintroduction—to Montaigne than Bakewell’s book.” —Lorin Stein, Harper’s Magazine “Ms. Bakewell’s new book, How to Live, is a biography, but in the form of a delightful conversation across the centuries.” —The New York Times “So artful is Bakewell’s account of [Montaigne] that even skeptical readers may well come to share her admiration.” —The New York Times Book Review “extraordinary . . . a miracle of complex, revelatory organization, for as Bakewell moves along she provides a brilliant demonstration of the alchemy of historical viewpoint.” —Boston Globe

SaraH BakeweLL was a curator of early printed books at the Wellcome Library before becoming a full-time writer, publishing her highly acclaimed biographies The Smart and The English Dane. She lives in London, where she teaches creative writing at City University and catalogues rare book collections for the National Trust.

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©Tundi Eugenia Haulik

About the Author: Sarah bakewell

A Message from the Author Why I Wrote How to Live Why did I write about Montaigne? Mostly because I wanted to keep on reading him. Ever since my early twenties, when I picked up his Essays by chance, wanting a good book for a long train journey, he has never really left me. My first response to his work on that train was one of astonishment. How could someone who wrote in the 1500s sound so familiar, so conversational, so like me? It was like having a friend or a traveling companion sitting opposite me as we whizzed through the landscape. For years after that, Montaigne was never far from my side. And I discovered that practically everything else I read had the power of leading me back to him in some way—for Montaigne is the first truly modern author, the great hidden presence behind four hundred years of literature, and indeed behind much of philosophy, politics, and social theory over those centuries. This is mainly for one simple reason: No one before Montaigne had written so honestly and minutely about the inner world of a human being. He followed every twist and turn of his psyche, believing that every individual is worth writing about at such length, for “each man bears the entire form of the human condition.” But he also paid plenty of attention to the world outside. He was interested in everything; he traveled widely, held offices as magistrate and mayor, ran diplomatic missions for kings and princes, and tried his best to end the religious civil wars that tore apart the France of his day. These experiences led him to a deep fascination with human variety and difference. We share our essential humanity, he knew, but each of us has a radically different cultural, historical, and personal perspective, and that is just as fundamental. Human variety is the great paradox in his work; it’s also the great paradox facing us today. How can a plural, democratic society accommodate difference, and even extremism, without sacrificing its deepest principles? How can we resist violence without becoming violent? How can we defend ourselves yet remain open? Montaigne gave us no simple answers, but he certainly taught us to ask the questions. I set out to write about Montaigne’s life, but I ended up wanting to write about much more—and especially about the experience of reading itself, that is, the experience of encountering a mind distant in time that opens itself to us, perhaps not entirely, but in part. What does it mean to pick up a book published in 1588 and recognize ourselves and our world in it? How can we engage critically with such a book and understand it on its own terms while also making it our own? What can be learned from someone who died more than four hundred years ago? Why is the past so strange and so familiar at the same time? To ask these questions is to investigate the very essence of what culture is—and it is why reading a book is such an exciting thing to do. Many people will ask these questions for the first time in their college years, and I envy your students this; it will happen while they are with you. Others experience it earlier, and some, later. Whenever it happens, it changes you. Afterward, the habit of questioning gets into your soul—and then the whole world opens up. Sarah Bakewell

Life Stories—Memoir, Biography, and Autobiography

DEAR MARCuS A Letter to the Man Who Shot Me

Author video: http://tiny.cc/tje4qw

By Jerry McGill

W Now in Paperback

Spiegel & Grau | TR | 978-0-8129-8316-6 | 192pp. $14.00/$17.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: e-Book: 978-0-679-64460-6 | $11.99/$13.99 Can.

ADOPTIOn nOTES: Disciplines: African American Studies; Peace Studies; Sociology themes: Social Justice; Identity; Perseverance/Personal Strength Campus visits: Alternative Formats:

hen Jerry McGill was growing up in the housing projects on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the 1980s, his future seemed bright: Though times were tough for a family led by a single mother, McGill was a charming, precocious teenager, already excelling as an athlete and a dancer. But everything changed one night when he was thirteen. Walking home from a New Year’s party with a friend, McGill was shot in the back by an unknown assailant, who was never caught. Soon after, he learned that he would be wheelchair-bound for life. Written as a letter to the man who shot him, whom he decides to call Marcus, Dear Marcus is a reflection on McGill’s childhood, the event that changed his life in an instant, the challenges of living with a disability, and the importance of optimism, forgiveness, and making the most of one’s gifts. In this direct and intimate attempt to explain to his attacker the repercussions of his deeds—how one man’s random decision radically altered the course of another’s life—McGill takes the reader to the streets of New York City in the 1980s, to the hospital where he spent six months recovering, and on his journey to make the most of his new life. He recounts the joys he has experienced traveling the globe and mentoring disabled children, the love and support he has received over the years, and the strengths he has been able to find within himself that he may never have discovered had his life turned out differently. By turns brutally honest and funny, both full of rage and full of heart, Dear Marcus is an inspiring book about the moments in life that shape people—the ones that catch them by surprise, that blindside them, but that present them with opportunities for growth, reflection, compassion, and forgiveness. At some point— to greater or lesser degrees—everyone will be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The challenge, though, as Dear Marcus shows, is not to wallow in despair or blame other people, but to rise up and find strengths within. “as I started reading Dear Marcus, I found I couldn’t put it down. this is a compelling marriage of remembrance and forgiveness, absolution and compassion, cynicism and understanding.” —Wes Moore, author of The Other Wes Moore

JerrY MCGILL is a writer, artist, activist, and inspirational speaker. He received a BA in English literature from Fordham University in the Bronx and a master’s degree in education from Pacific University in Oregon. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

www.CommonReads.com

©Jerry McGill

About the Author: Jerry McGill

A Message from the Author Last year I retired from a profession that was probably the most challenging, the most frustrating, and in many ways the most rewarding profession that I’ve ever had. When I rolled my wheelchair out of my high school English classroom for the last time, I had to take a moment to recognize and honor all that I had gained from the experience. My reasons for choosing not to return to the classroom are complex and varied, but one thing is without doubt: to watch a student read, process, and discuss a work of literature is a thing of beauty. I recall so well my freshman class’s heartfelt reactions to the suffering of young Elie Wiesel as we became immersed in the story of Night. Class discussions revolved around the cruelty of humankind and the necessity of hope, and their journals reflected just how engrossed they were in the journey. They experienced a similar reaction when the students (who were, like the school, about 92 percent Caucasian) dove into the life of Richard Wright and his shocking experience of growing up in the Jim Crow South in Black Boy. During our conversations we explored topics such as the use of the “N word,” poverty, racism, religion, and, of course, the cruelty of humanity. Those conversations fed me, and as we went on to read works by Maya Angelou, Frank McCourt, and Amy Tan, a small part of me couldn’t help but wonder: How would my students react to Dear Marcus, my self-published memoir about being shot in the back when I was thirteen? I had sworn never to bring up my book in class, believing it was best to maintain a “professional distance.” Despite my students’ constant prodding (“Are you married, Mr. McGill? Do you have kids? Were you in a car accident?”), I always respectfully declined discussions about my personal life. Then a funny thing happened. Students being students, many of them “googled” me and, lo and behold, discovered that the life story of their mysterious teacher was right there for the entire world to read. Many found ways to purchase my memoir, and soon word about it spread. Whether it was between classes, during lunch break, or in study hall, students would find me and, clutching their copy of my book, would then ask me questions about it. Their questions were soon followed by the inevitable demand that I autograph their copy. Not long after the first students read it, a fellow teacher doing a unit on the African American experience in America asked if I would come speak to two of her classes. When word got out that I had agreed to do it, the teacher had to move the event to an auditorium because so many other students wanted to join the discussion. At first I was apprehensive that disclosing so much about myself would be harmful to the studentteacher relationship, but much to my pleasure it had the opposite effect. Even students whom I knew clear well didn’t like me (I was a pretty demanding teacher and could be a harsh grader) came up to me after the talk to tell me how moved or fascinated they were by my story. In the weeks that followed, I had an untold number of healthy conversations with students about my life and about their own, and about the broader themes that my book touches on: poverty, class, faith, family, loyalty, trust, and destiny—topics that we may not have had a chance to explore in such depth otherwise. For the first time, I began to think, Well maybe, just maybe, someday there could be a place for Dear Marcus on a curriculum. . . . I am so pleased that Dear Marcus will now be available for a wider audience, and it is my sincere hope that educators will find it worthy of sharing with their students. Though it is my own story, it addresses issues of race, class, disability, inner-city violence, the importance of education, the repercussions of our actions on other people’s lives, and, most of all, the importance of hope and perseverance—issues that are relevant and that warrant classroom discussion. Ultimately, I hope that Dear Marcus will help young people see the beauty in their own lives while reminding them that even if things don’t go the way that they expect, they are in control of their futures. Jerry McGill

Life Stories—Memoir, Biography, and Autobiography

MuCK CitY Winning and Losing in Football’s Forgotten town

Website: www.BryanMealer.com

By Bryan Mealer

he loamy black “muck” that surrounds Belle Glade, Florida, once built an empire for Big Sugar and provided much of the nation’s vegetables, often on the backs of roving, destitute migrants. Many of these were children who honed their skills along the field rows and started one of the most legendary football programs in America. Belle Glade’s high school team, the Glades Central Raiders, has sent an extraordinary number of players to the National Football League—27 since 1985, with five of those drafted in the first round.

Crown Archetype | HC | 978-0-307-88862-4 | 336pp. $25.00/$29.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $12.50 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-307-88864-8 | $12.99/$14.99 Can.

ADOPTIOn nOTES: Disciplines: Physical Education/Sports; Sociology themes: Coming of Age; Leadership/Motivation; Perseverance/Personal Strength; Regional: Florida Campus visits: Alternative Formats:

The industry that gave rise to the town and its team also spawned the chronic poverty, teeming migrant ghettos, and violence that cripples futures before they can ever begin. Muck City tells the story of quarterback Mario Rowley, whose dream is to win a championship for his deceased parents and quiet the ghosts that haunt him; head coach Jessie Hester, the town’s first NFL star, who returns home to “win kids, not championships”; and Jonteria Willliams, who must build her dream of becoming a doctor in one of the poorest high schools in the nation. For boys like Mario, being a Raider is a one-shot window for escape and a college education. Without football, Jonteria and the rest must make it on brains and fortitude alone. For the coach, good intentions must battle a town’s obsession to win above all else. Beyond the Friday night lights, this book is an engrossing portrait of a community mired in a shameful past and uncertain future, but with the fierce will to survive, win, and escape to a better life. “this is another version of Buzz Bissinger’s Friday Night Lights (1990), and since both are less about football than they are about family, community, and the horrific struggle to rise above poverty, each boasts a unique set of characters who are well worth knowing. a heartbreaking look at poverty in america, with some football on the side.” —Booklist (starred review)

About the Author: bryan Mealer BrYaN MeaLer is the author of Muck City: Winning and Losing in Football’s Forgotten Town and the New York Times bestseller The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, which he wrote with William Kamkwamba, in addition to the children’s book of the same title. He’s also the author of All Things Must Fight to Live, which chronicled his years covering the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo for Harper’s and the Associated Press. His work has appeared in the anthology Best American Travel Writing and was chosen for an Overseas Press Club Award Citation. He and his family live in Austin, Texas.

www.CommonReads.com

Excerpt from Muck City The Man Who Came Home: The Rise and Fall of an Ordinary Star (A profile of Jessie Hester) A study conducted by Sports Illustrated revealed that 78 percent of all NFL players are either bankrupt, broke, or divorced two years after leaving the game. As we know, many of those same athletes suffer even greater calamities. Their broken lives have more or less come to define professional football’s post-retirement: the arrests, lawsuits, and court hearings, and more recently, the onslaught of concussion-related dementia, depression, and suicides. The other side of this story is Jessie Hester. For most of his life, Hester had managed to avoid becoming a statistic, first by surviving a brutal childhood as a migrant worker in one of the poorest, most violent corners of America. Nicknamed “Jet,” his speed made him a standout wide receiver in high school and accelerated his escape. He was All American at Florida State, then drafted in the first round by the LA Raiders in 1985. After a decade in the league, Hester managed to avoid the post-retirement traps. He started a business in Belle Glade, and spent the next ten years engrossed in the puttering routines of raising a family. All the while, Hester remained the town’s most beloved son, the man who first shone the light on the talent-heavy region and opened the door for hundreds of other young athletes. Thirty players from Belle Glade had followed Hester into the NFL, a staggering number in a high school of only a thousand students. But out of all those who’d left and achieved wealth and fame—Santonio Holmes, Fred Taylor, Louis Oliver, to name a few—only Jet had come home. In 2008, when he accepted the job to coach his old team, the Glades Central Raiders, his sainthood in the muck was complete. Much of Hester’s job involved buffering the team against Belle Glade’s myriad negative forces: the hopelessness and poverty, the gang violence that left two of his players shot, and the entitlement that had crippled the program after decades of success. In three seasons, he coached the Raiders to a stellar 36-4 record and helped send twenty-six players to Division I college programs. But days after losing their second back-to-back state championship game, Hester was fired. Despite his status as the town’s great survivor, the humble son whose allegiance had never swayed, Jessie the Jet was dethroned and rendered a pariah. In a town where football was more than “a religion,” but salvation itself, it seemed the only thing that mattered was winning. Chasing Rabbits Makes Them Fast (and Other Myths about Glades Football) While reporting Muck City, I’d often ask people in Belle Glade and Pahokee what made their kids so athletic. What made them so dominant at track? What explained the twelve football titles between the two schools, the hundreds of former players over the years who have gone to Division I college programs, and the more than sixty who have reached the NFL since the 1980s, including the Jets’ Santonio Holmes and Baltimore’s Anquan Boldin. More often than not, I’d get the same frustrating answer: “We get fast by chasing rabbits.” Excerpted from Muck City by Bryan Mealer Copyright © 2012 by Bryan Mealer. Excerpted by permission of Crown Archetype, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Life Stories—Memoir, Biography, and Autobiography

Spotlight on: John Elder Robison JoHN eLder roBISoN is the author of two previous books, Look Me in the Eye and Be Different, and he lectures widely on autism and neurological differences. An adjunct professor at Elms College, he also serves on committees and review boards for the CDC, the National Institutes of Health, and Autism Speaks. A machinery enthusiast and avid photographer, John lives in Amherst with his family, animals, and machines.

RAiSinG CuBBY A Father and Son’s Adventures with Asperger’s, trains, tractors, and High Explosives

ohn Elder Robison has openly and humorously engaged readers about his Asperger’s syndrome in his previous books (Look Me in the Eye, Be Different). In this memoir, he writes about parenting as an adult with Asperger’s—and coming to the realization that his son, Cubby, also has Asperger’s, as Robinson’s past experiences of rebellion against authority and resistance to school are acted out once again by Cubby. Together, father and son learn to navigate the world around them, despite how inscrutable it can seem to them at times. This is a unique perspective on Asperger’s syndrome across generations and within families. Do not order before 3/12/2013. Crown | HC | 978-0-307-88484-8 | 384pp. | $26.00/NCR | Exam Copy: $13.00 Also available: Audio: 978-0-307-88135-9 | $40.00/$46.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-307-88486-2 | $12.99/NCR discipline: psychology themes: discovering diﬀerences • Identity

LooK ME in tHE EYE: My Life with Asperger’s

ccording to author John Elder Robison, Look Me in the Eye is about “growing up with Asperger’s syndrome—a high-functioning form of autism—overcoming my limitations, and ultimately becoming a successful adult.” “John robison’s book is an immensely affecting account of a life lived according to his gifts rather than his limitations. His story provides ample evidence for my belief that individuals on the autistic spectrum are just as capable of rich and productive lives as anyone else.” —Daniel Tammet, author of Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant Selected for Common Reading at Defiance College; Moncalm Community College; SUNY Potsdam; and others. Broadway | TR | 978-0-307-39618-1 | 320pp. | $14.95/$16.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: Audio: 978-1-4159-4246-8 | $22.50/$29.95 • e-Book: 978-0-307-40572-2 | $11.99/$12.99 Can. discipline: psychology themes: Coming of age • discovering diﬀerences • Identity

Also by John Elder Robison

BE DiFFEREnt My Adventures with Asperger’s and My Advice for Fellow Aspergians, Misfits, Families, and teachers Broadway | TR | 978-0-307-88482-4 | 304pp. | $14.00/NCR | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: Audio: 978-0-307-88131-1 | $32.00/$37.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-307-88483-1 | $9.99/NCR discipline: psychology themes: discovering diﬀerences • Identity

Websites: www.JohnRobison.com • www.JERobison.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/JohnElderRobison • www.twitter.com/JohnRobison/John-Robison to view the author’s talk at the 2009 First-Year Experience® Conference, go to: http://tiny.cc/2k6kkw

www.CommonReads.com

A Message from the Author The Loch Ness Monster isn’t real. Dinosaurs are extinct. And no, kids can’t fly. That’s the sort of thing we all got from our parents. Every time we heard something fun and imaginative, it seemed like Mom or Dad was there to pop our balloon. What if that didn’t happen? What if Dad agreed with every childhood fantasy and offered to go hunt Nessie in a boat, with a harpoon? That’s exactly what I decided to do when I got a shot at parenthood with a six-pound tyke I named Cubby. When my little boy began asking questions, I kept my mind open to the possibilities and seized every fun and interesting opportunity that came our way. We hunted dinosaurs, talked to penguins, and drove freight trains and tugboats all over New England. I told him stories about nuclear horses, pine demons, and dragons. We even went cruising in Chairman Mao’s Mercedes-Benz limousine. As I showed Cubby time and again, things are not always as they seem. That moving speck in the sky . . . it might be an airplane. But it could also be a bird. It might even be a giant flying lizard, far, far away. Cubby and I talked about the world as it was, and as we imagined it. My son learned to question what he saw and what people told him. He became his own person—an independent thinker—at a very early age. Cubby and I both have Asperger’s syndrome—a form of autism. Some call autism a different way of being, and the way I raised Cubby might be the ultimate embodiment of that. We think differently, we act differently, and we raise kids differently. The proof is in my new book, Raising Cubby, which tells the story of how I went about being a dad. I’m willing to bet it’s very different from any other parenting memoirs you’ve read. Of course, the book tells Cubby’s story too. By the time he was seventeen my son had parlayed his thinking skills into what one scientist called “a post-doctoral understanding of the physics of explosives.” He dropped out of high school because the courses weren’t interesting, and enrolled in college where he could study chemistry. A few months later, Cubby’s love of science led to a visit from the ATF after video of his experiments attracted unfavorable attention online. As they were carrying chemicals out of his lab, the Federal agent in charge turned to me and said, “Mister Robison, the U.S. government has no criminal interest in your son. We just want to clean this up and make it safe. Somewhere in the U.S., every year, we find a Boy Scout genius with a chemistry set, and this is your year.” If only it had ended there. Unfortunately, a publicity-hungry prosecutor saw a chance to make a name for herself, saving the community from a so-called terrorist, even though the only terrorist was the one she’d dreamt up in her mind. Before long, Cubby had been charged with multiple felonies and faced up to sixty years in prison when, as far as I could see, his only “crimes” had been inquisitiveness and not thinking through how his actions might appear to others. The good news is that when Cubby’s case went to trial, the community rallied round him, and the courtroom overflowed with friends and supporters. Their support buoyed us through five long days of trial, after which my son walked out of the courthouse with his head held high and a bright future ahead. I hope Raising Cubby will inspire students to see that there are many paths to success, and that oddball traits or interests might in fact lead to our best opportunities. I also hope it will inspire communities to embrace their misfits and understand how much they have to offer. For a very long time, neither Cubby nor I ever quite fit in. We dealt with other people in odd ways, had interests that verged on obsession, and we often didn’t have a clue how others perceived us. This is the story of how each of us found his place in the world, how we came to see ourselves as different rather than defective, and of how we discovered that even those of us on the autism spectrum have something unique to offer. John Elder Robison

Life Stories—Memoir, Biography, and Autobiography

Do You DREAM in CoLoR? insights from a Girl Without Sight

Website: www.Laurie-Rubin.com

By Laurie Rubin

olors, Rubin notes, affect everyone through sound, smell, taste, and a vast array of emotions and atmospheres. She explains that although she has been blind since birth, she has experienced color all her life. In her memoir Do You Dream in Color?, Laurie Rubin looks back on her life as an international opera singer who happens to be blind. From her loneliness and isolation as a middle school student to her experiences skiing, Rubin offers her young readers a life story rich in detail and inspiration drawn from everyday challenges. Beginning with her childhood in California, Rubin tells the story of her life and the amazing experiences that led her to a career as an internationally celebrated mezzo-soprano.

Now in Paperback

Seven Stories Press | TR | 978-1-60980-424-4 | 400pp. $18.95/$18.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: e-Book: 978-1-60980-425-1 | $18.95/$18.95 Can.

ADOPTIOn nOTES: Discipline: Disability Studies; Literature

Rubin describes her past as a “journey towards identity,” one she hopes will resonate with young people struggling with two fundamental questions: “Who am I?” and “Where do I fit in?” Although most people aren’t blind, Rubin believes that many have traits that make them something other than “normal.” These differences, like blindness, may seem like barriers, but for the strong and the persistent, dreams can overcome barriers, no matter how large they may seem. This is what makes her story so unique yet universal and so important for young people.

“Laurie rubin shows that we need not be defined by what others may see as our limitations. with her remarkable approach to life and her extraordinary musical achievements, she is an inspiring example to all who are finding their way.”

themes: Discovering Diﬀerences; Identity; Perseverance/Personal Strength

—Katherine Damkohler, Executive Director, Education Through Music

Campus visits: Alternative Formats:

About the Author: Laurie Rubin Blind since birth, mezzo-soprano LaurIe ruBIN recently received high praise from New York Times chief classical music critic Anthony Tommasini, who wrote she possesses “compelling artistry,” “communicative power,” and that her voice displays “earthy, rich and poignant qualities.” She is cofounder and associate artistic director of Ohana Arts, a performing arts school and festival in Hawaii.

www.CommonReads.com

A Message from the Author At the beginning of my sophomore year at Oberlin College, I was asked to speak on a student panel to a packed auditorium of incoming freshmen. When it was my turn to speak, I knew from experience what the students wanted to hear. I was used to the questions: What is it like to be blind? How do you match your clothes? How do you get from Point A to Point B? Do you see just blackness? But what about all the questions that people are afraid to ask, the ones that dig even deeper? As a singer, I live for those moments when the music’s current electrifies the audience and the performer, bonding us in a unique and personal way. That night I learned that just as strong a bond can be formed merely by sharing my story! I spoke about feeling like an outcast in high school, how none of the boys would think of dating me, and how the girls avoided being friends with me. I spoke about my passion for music, how I had water- and snow-skied as a child, and how, in general, I had lived a very normal, rich, fulfilling life. I spoke about my time at Oberlin as being my first experience with people who thought my blindness was something to celebrate. The further I got into my stories and anecdotes, the more I felt the shy freshmen around me coming out of their shells. We laughed uproariously together, and we connected through the universal desire to be accepted. Most importantly, speaking to such a large audience of students got that white elephant of my blindness out into the open and at the same time allowed it to melt away magically like snow. Suddenly, I was Laurie Rubin the person, not the blind person. College is a time for self-discovery and self-expression, and my hope is that reading about my experiences will help pave the way for those of you who are grappling with differences people might be afraid of. Many of my closest friends in college were people I met after that panel discussion who said they would have been afraid to approach a blind person before hearing me speak. Though blindness is a low-incidence occurrence, the journey of finding one’s self is universal. It is so important to feel at home in your own skin. I would be delighted to visit your school to share my story with you. Laurie Rubin

Life Stories—Memoir, Biography, and Autobiography

LIFe StorIeS—MeMoIr, BIoGrapHY, aNd autoBIoGrapHY

i AM nuJooD, AGE 10 AnD DivoRCED By Nujood Ali with Delphine Minoui

Author Video: http://tiny.cc/pm4wqw

Nujood Ali was nine when her parents married her to a man in his thirties. At ten, she was the first child bride in Yemen to win a divorce, breaking with traditional practice. Written with childlike simplicity and penetrating honesty, this international bestselling memoir is at once shocking and inspiring, disturbing and redemptive. “A powerful new autobiography. . . . It’s hard to imagine that there have been many younger divorcées—or braver ones—than a pint-size third grader named Nujood Ali.” —Nicholas Kristof, New York Times Three Rivers Press | TR | 978-0-307-58967-5 | 192pp. | $12.00/$15.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-307-71256-1 | $10.00/$13.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-307-58968-2 | $9.99/$9.99 Can. themes: Coming of age • Gender Issues • Human rights • regional: Middle east

i KnoW WHY tHE CAGED BiRD SinGS

Website: www.MayaAngelou.com

By Maya Angelou “Students . . . find this book plunges them into a passionate, sensitive life in the midst of troubled and sometimes brutal realities. They found Maya Angelou’s spirit and strength a wellspring of pride in womanhood. Students also experienced the book as writers themselves and learned much about the memoir craft.” —Constance Berman, Director of Professional Studies, Southern Vermont College

Selected for Common Reading at Berry College; Green River Community College (Auburn, WA); Luther College; and others. Random House | TR | 978-0-8129-8002-8 | 304pp. | $17.00/$20.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Ballantine | MM | 978-0-345-51440-0 | 304pp. | $6.99/$8.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-679-45173-0 | $23.00/$27.95 Can. • e-Book: 978-1-58836-925-3 | $6.99/$6.99 Can. themes: Black Colleges • Coming of age • Gender Issues • Inclusiveness

MoM & ME & MoM By Maya Angelou April 2013

With Mom & Me & Mom, Maya Angelou (one of the U.S.’s most celebrated poets and the acclaimed author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings) presents her most personal story to date: that of her relationship with her own mother. Offering a vivid portrait of Vivian Baxter Johnson—nurse, real estate agent, card dealer, parent, and officer in the Merchant Marine— Angelou presents the most intimate and emotional details of her own life, reaching beyond the content of her previously published autobiographies to meditate on the causes and effects of her separation from her mother. Do not order before 4/2/2013. Random House | HC | 978-1-4000-6611-7 | 224pp. | $22.00/$26.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $11.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-449-80822-1 | $35.00/$41.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-679-64547-4 | $10.99/$12.99 Can. themes: Coming of age • Identity

tHEn tHEY CAME FoR ME A Family’s Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival

Website: www.MaziarBahari.com

By Maziar Bahari With Aimee Molloy Bahari left London for Iran in 2009 to cover the presidential elections. He was imprisoned for three months in Iran’s most notorious prison, and repeatedly tortured by an interrogator who remained a mystery to him. Bahari clung to memories of his pregnant wife, and drew inspiration from his father and sister, who had also been tortured by the shah in the 1950s and the Ayatollah Khomeini in the 1980s, respectively. Bahari’s account effectively balances political reportage with personal narrative. “Especially timely given recent events throughout the Middle East, this book is recommended for anyone wishing to better understand the workings of a police state.” —Kirkus Reviews Random House | HC | 978-1-4000-6946-0 | 384pp. | $27.00/$31.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $13.50 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-679-60419-8 | $13.99/$16.99 Can. themes: Human rights • perseverance/personal Strength • regional: Middle east

www.CommonReads.com

StuCK in tHE MiDDLE WitH You A Memoir of Parenting in three Genders

LIFe StorIeS—MeMoIr, BIoGrapHY, aNd autoBIoGrapHY

Pre-Publication Copy Available

Website: www.JenniferBoylan.net For author interview, go to: http://tiny.cc/gttpqw Author Video: http://tiny.cc/rjhbrw Publishes April 2013

By Jennifer Finney Boylan

Jennifer Finney Boylan, a professor at Colby College and author of She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders, has written a new memoir discussing her experience as first a father and then, as she transitioned from being male to female, motherhood. She offers thoughtful meditations on gender and how families are shaped, and includes her conversations on these subjects with Richard Russo, Edward Albee, Ann Beattie, Augusten Burroughs, Susan Minot, and others. To request a free pre-publication copy, e-mail commonreads@randomhouse.com Do not order before 4/23/2013. Crown | HC | 978-0-7679-2176-3 | 304pp. | $24.00/$28.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $12.00 Also available: e-Book: 978-0-307-95284-4 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Gender Studies • Identity

MY oRAnGE DuFFEL BAG A Journey to Radical Change By Sam Bracken With Echo Garrett

Website: www.MyorangeDuﬀelBag.com Author Video: http://tiny.cc/4cf4qw To view the author’s talk at the 2012 First-Year Experience® Conference, go to: http://tiny.cc/gympqw

Despite being abandoned at age fifteen and suffering unspeakable abuse, Sam Bracken overcame the odds to change his life and earn a full-ride football scholarship to the Georgia Institute of Technology. When he left for college, everything he owned fit in an orange duffel bag. In My Orange Duffel Bag, Sam tells his harrowing story of homelessness, poverty, and abuse and how he was able to reinvent himself. He also shows students how they can turn their lives around by sharing his rules for the road: everything he learned about radically changing his life and how anyone can create positive, lasting change. Selected for Common Reading at Louisburg College. Crown Archetype | HC | 978-0-307-98488-3 | 200pp. | $23.00/$26.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $11.50 Also available: Audio: 978-0-449-01000-6 | $12.00/$14.00 Can. themes: Inspiration • Leadership & Motivation • perseverance/personal Strength

Also by the Authors:

MY RoADMAP A Personal Guide to Balance, Power, and Purpose Crown Archetype | TR | 978-0-307-95586-9 | 144pp. | $9.99/$11.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00

JoKER onE A Marine Platoon’s Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood

To view the author’s talk at the 2009 First-Year Experience® Conference, go to: http://tiny.cc/1hf4qw

By Donovan Campbell After graduating from Princeton University, motivated by his unwavering patriotism and commitment, Campbell decided to join the service, realizing that becoming a Marine officer would allow him to give back to his country, engage in the world, and learn to lead. In this inspiring memoir, Campbell recounts a timeless and transcendent tale of brotherhood, courage, and sacrifice. “Campbell’s narrative humanized a war, and challenged me to critically examine the ideas of leadership and social responsibility; topics I thought I had a handle on prior to reading Joker One.” —Rachel Duﬀ Anderson, Director of First-Year Experience, Siena Heights University

Selected for Common Reading at Niagara University; Siena Heights University; and the T. Boone Pickens Leadership Institute. Random House | TR | 978-0-8129-7956-5 | 336pp. | $16.00/$19.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-58836-778-5 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: ethics/decision Making • Group dynamics • Leadership & Motivation

Life Stories—Memoir, Biography, and Autobiography

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FiSt StiCK KniFE Gun A Personal History of violence By Geoffrey Canada

To view trailer and oﬃcial website for the documentary Waiting for ‘Superman,’ featuring Geoﬀrey Canada, go to: www.WaitingForSuperman.com

Long before President Barack Obama praised his work as “an all-encompassing, all-hands-ondeck anti-poverty effort that is literally saving a generation of children” and First Lady Michelle Obama called him “one of my heroes,” Geoffrey Canada was a small, scared boy growing up in the South Bronx. His childhood world was one where “sidewalk boys” learned the codes of the block and were ranked through the rituals of fist, stick, knife, and, finally, gun. Fist Stick Knife Gun tells his story. Beacon Press | TR | 978-0-8070-4461-2 | 192pp. | $14.00/$16.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 themes: Coming of age • ethics • perseverance/personal Strength regional: New York/urban Interest

Also available as as Graphic novel Illustrated by Jamar Nicholas Beacon Press | TR | 978-0-8070-4449-0 | 144pp. | $14.00/$16.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00

FunnY in FARSi: A Memoir of Growing up iranian in America

Website: www.FiroozehDumas.com

By Firoozeh Dumas Winner of the Spirit of America Award (National Council for the Social Studies) and other awards

Funny in Farsi chronicles the American journey of Firoozeh Dumas’s wonderfully engaging family, who moved from Iran to Southern California in the 1970s, arriving with no firsthand knowledge of the U.S. “What’s charming beyond the humor of this memoir is that it remains aﬀectionate even in the weakest, most tenuous moments for the culture. It’s the brilliance of true sophistication at work.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review

Selected for Common Reading at more than 20 colleges including: Gallaudet University; University of Wisconsin, Madison; and Florida International University (Miami). To view the complete list, go to http://tiny.cc/7tpfrw. Random House | TR | 978-0-8129-6837-8 | 240pp. | $15.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-307-43099-1 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Coming of age • discovering diﬀerences • Global Citizenship • Identity

YouR voiCE in MY HEAD: A Memoir Now in Paperback

Website: www.EmmaForrest.com

By Emma Forrest Emma Forrest (British American journalist and author of the novels Namedropper, Thin Skin, and Cherries in the Snow) shares a captivating and honest account of her trials with depression, mental illness, and self-harm; the slow process of recovery in partnership with her psychiatrist; and the challenges of maintaining her health after the death of her dedicated doctor and an unexpected breakup with the well-known actor who had promised her a future and a family. Your Voice in My Head bravely documents the most intimate details of Forrest’s life. other Press | TR | 978-1-59051-540-2 | 224pp. | $14.95/NCR | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-59051-447-4 | $11.99/NCR themes: Identity • Inspiration • perseverance/personal Strength

FAtHERMotHERGoD: My Journey out of Christian Science By Lucia Greenhouse

Website: www.LuciaGreenhouse.com

Lucia Ewing had what looked like an all-American childhood. She lived with her mother, father, sister, and brother in an affluent suburb of Minneapolis. Yet in this house you could not be sick, because you were perfect. When it came to accidents and illnesses, Lucia’s parents didn’t take her to the doctor’s office; instead, the Ewings made calls to a Christian Science Now in Paperback practitioner. In December 1985, when Lucia and her siblings—by then young adults— discovered that their mother was sick, they came face-to-face with the reality that they had few, if any, options to save her. Fathermothergod is an essential American coming-of-age story with a heartbreaking glimpse into the practices of the Christian Science religion. “A courageous and finely crafted portrait of a young woman struggling with her family, her faith and that awkward space between being a child and growing into adulthood.” —The Minneapolis Star Tribune Broadway | TR | 978-0-307-72093-1 | 320pp. | $15.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-307-72094-8 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Coming of age • Identity • perseverance/personal Strength

www.CommonReads.com

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LA PEtitE

Now in Paperback

A Memoir of Childhood By Michèle Halberstadt Translated by Linda Coverdale Isolated from her emotionally estranged parents and unable to relate to others, Halberstadt’s grandfather was the center of her world. In La Petite (winner of the Ordre du Mérite and the Légion d’Honneur—France’s two highest awards), this accomplished French journalist, novelist, and film producer shares the story of her grief and eventual awakening following an attempt at suicide triggered by his devastating death. Her story is both a resolute memoir and a striking coming-of-age story. other Press | TR | 978-1-59051-531-0 | 128pp. | $14.95/$17.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-59051-532-7 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Coming of age • perseverance/personal Strength

tHE tRAnSLAtoR

Website: http://tiny.cc/lpf4qw

A Memoir By Daoud Hari

The Translator is a suspenseful, harrowing, and deeply moving story of how one person can make a difference in the world—an on-the-ground account of one of the greatest atrocities of our time, the genocide in Darfur. Having chosen language and storytelling as his weapons— while others around him were taking up arms—Hari gives a true and necessary portrait of a deeply troubled region. Selected for Common Reading at Colorado Mountain College and Mars Hill College. Random House | TR | 978-0-8129-7917-6 | 224pp. | $13.00/$15.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-7393-6859-6 | $15.00/$17.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-1-58836-737-2 | $9.99/$11.99 Can. themes: Genocide • Human rights • perseverance/personal Strength

unBRoKEn A World War ii Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption By Laura Hillenbrand

Website: www.LauraHillenbrandBooks.com

An ALA Notable Book for Adults (Nonfiction) Finalist, 2011 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Non-fiction Unbroken is author Laura Hillenbrand’s acclaimed biography of a World War II hero who survived for more than two and half years in several brutal Japanese internment camps as a prisoner of war. “From the 1936 Olympics to WWII Japan’s most brutal POW camps, Hillenbrand’s heartwrenching new book is thousands of miles and a world away from the racing circuit of her bestselling Seabiscuit. But it’s just as much a page-turner, and its hero, Louie Zamperini, is just as loveable. . . . It is impossible to condense the rich, granular detail of Hillenbrand’s narrative. . . . She restores to our collective memory this tale of heroism, cruelty, life, death, joy, suﬀering, remorselessness, and redemption.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

Selected for Common Reading at Avila University and Barton College. Random House | HC | 978-1-4000-6416-8 | 496pp. | $27.00/$31.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $13.50 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-7393-1969-7 | $45.00/$53.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-679-60375-7 | $12.99/$14.99 Can. themes: american History • perseverance/personal Strength

PRAiRiE SiLEnCE: A Memoir

Website: www.MelanieHoﬀert.com

By Melanie Hoffert Like so many others, Melanie Hoffert left the quiet country home of her childhood in the hopes of trying out a more urban existence. When she returns to North Dakota, the silent prairie that she once called home allows her to hear her own voice in the most unexpected of ways, illuminating her differences and setting her on a journey of self-realization, reconciliation, and acceptance. In this memoir, Hoffert reveals how places speak to and transform people. Beacon Press | HC | 978-0-8070-4473-5 | 248pp. | $24.95/$28.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $12.50 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-8070-4474-2 | $24.95/$28.95 Can. themes: discovering diﬀerences • Identity

Life Stories—Memoir, Biography, and Autobiography

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FRESH oFF tHE BoAt A Memoir By Eddie Huang Before Eddie Huang opened a popular East Village restaurant and became one of the biggest food personalities of his generation, he was the rebellious son of first-generation Taiwanese immigrants. Struggling to find himself amid football, fights, parties, and drugs, and trial-anderror careers as a comic, fashion designer, and lawyer, food was his anchor. In Fresh Off the Boat, Huang shares the story of his self-realization and a powerful message about the importance of finding one’s passion and becoming one’s true self. Spiegel & Grau | HC | 978-0-679-64488-0 | 288pp. | $26.00/$31.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $13.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-385-36365-5 | $35.00/$41.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-679-64489-7 | $12.99/$14.99 Can. themes: Coming of age • Identity • Immigration

DECoDED

Website: http://AtRandom.com/Jay-Z-Decoded

By Jay-Z For the millions who know him as the greatest rapper alive and an unparalleled cultural and business icon, Decoded is the story of the legendary Jay-Z, told through lyrics, images, and a powerful and surprising personal narrative. This is an intimate, first-person portrait of the life and art of Jay-Z, organized around a “decoding” of his most famous and provocative lyrics. “A riveting exploration of Jay-Z’s journey. . . . So thoroughly engrossing, it reads like a good piece of cultural journalism.” —The Boston Globe Spiegel & Grau | TR | 978-0-8129-8115-5 | 352pp. | $25.00/$28.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $12.50 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-58836-959-8 | $14.99/$15.99 Can. themes: Black Colleges • Coming of age • Identity

BLACK titAn A. G. Gaston and the Making of a Black American Millionaire

Website: www.CarolJenkinsMedia.com

By Carol Jenkins and Elizabeth Gardner Hines A. G. Gaston’s grandparents were slaves, yet he died one of the wealthiest black men in the United States, worth over $130 million. His niece and grandniece, the award-winning television journalist Carol Jenkins and her daughter Elizabeth Gardner Hines, have written the first biography of Gaston, setting personal family history against the backdrop of American social and economic history to illustrate the remarkable life of this man, whose business savvy helped him rise above the crushing confines of racism. Selected for Common Reading at Benedict College. Also selected by U.S. Navy for Recommended Reading for U.S. Naval Personnel: http://tiny.cc/fgxbrw. one World | TR | 978-0-345-45348-8 | 336pp. | $16.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-307-51454-7 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: american History • Black Colleges • Leadership & Motivation • perseverance

oRAnGE iS tHE nEW BLACK My Year in a Women’s Prison: A Memoir

Website: www.PiperKerman.com

By Piper Kerman A successful thirty-four-year-old executive with a loving family, Kerman was unexpectedly sentenced to fifteen months in prison, for her involvement ten years earlier in an illegal drug deal. Given her college degree, blonde hair, and blue eyes, Kerman was far from an average inmate at the minimum security prison in Danbury, Connecticut. She offers a glimpse into prison life, as she attempts to find ways to ease the boredom of long days, deal with daily humiliations, and navigate the complex social structures guiding inmate relationships. Spiegel & Grau | TR | 978-0-385-52339-4 | 352pp. | $16.00/$19.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-385-53026-2 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: ethics/decision Making • Gender Issues • Group dynamics • Identity • Social Justice

www.CommonReads.com

By Tracy Kidder

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MountAinS BEYonD MountAinS the Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World

Website: www.TracyKidder.com Author Video: http://tiny.cc/xflbrw To view the author’s talk at the 2009 First-Year Experience® Conference, go to: http://tiny.cc/etf4qw

An ALA Notable Book; A New York Times Notable Book Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy Kidder tells the true story of medical genius Paul Farmer and shows how one person can effect global progress against seemingly impossible problems—TB, AIDS, poverty—with creativity, knowledge, and determination. “Kidder, a Pulitzer Prize–winning author, writes clearly and engagingly. . . . This book is being widely used in freshman seminars at colleges across the United States, and it will likely stir debates on such wide-ranging issues as the politics of health care, the role of government funding, and ethics. Highly recommended.” —Choice (American Library Association)

Selected for Common Reading at more than 100 colleges including: Mount Holyoke College; University of Washington; and Virginia Tech. To view the complete list, go to http://tiny.cc/gbqfrw. Random House | TR | 978-0-8129-7301-3 | 352pp. | $16.00/$19.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-8041-2167-5 | $35.00/$41.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-1-58836-334-3 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Science & Society • Service • Social Justice

Also Available in Young Adult Edition: By Tracy Kidder and Michael French Do not order before 4/9/2013. Delacorte Books for Young Readers | HC | 978-0-385-74318-1 | 288pp. | $16.99/$18.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $8.50

StREnGtH in WHAt REMAinS By Tracy Kidder Finalist, National Book Critics Circle Award In Strength in What Remains, Kidder presents the story of one man’s inspiring American journey and of the ordinary people who helped him, providing brilliant testament to the power of second chances. Selected for Common Reading at more than 12 colleges including: Caldwell College; Stanford University; and Western Michigan University. To view the complete list, go to http://tiny.cc/dgqfrw. Random House | TR | 978-0-8129-7761-5 | 304pp. | $16.00/$19.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-7393-8338-4 | $20.00/$23.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-1-58836-851-5 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Genocide • Global Citizenship • Human rights • perseverance/personal Strength transition

A MiGHtY LonG WAY: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School By Carlotta Walls LaNier with Lisa Frazier Page Foreword by Bill Clinton

To view the author’s talk at the 2010 First-Year Experience® Conference, go to: http://tiny.cc/yuf4qw

“Carlotta Walls LaNier’s A Mighty Long Way is a riveting account of nine brave high school students and their families in a quest for quality desegregated public education. What happened in Little Rock in 1957 resulted in the U.S.’s greatest constitutional crisis since the Civil War. Carlotta’s account of events inside and outside Little Rock Central High School should be read and studied particularly by those who now walk through doors of opportunity which Carlotta and her schoolmates first opened over 50 years ago. When I started her book, I couldn’t put it down. It is a mustread.” —James L. “Skip” Rutherford III, Dean of The University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service

Selected for Common Reading at Defiance College; SUNY Potsdam; University of Illinois, Springfield; and others. one World | TR | 978-0-345-51101-0 | 336pp. | $16.00/$19.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-345-51724-1 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: american History • Black Colleges • Inclusiveness • regional: alabama/the South

ALL SouLS: A Family Story from Southie

Website: www.MichaelPatrickMacDonald.com

By Michael Patrick MacDonald Winner of the American Book Award; New England Literary Lights Award; Myers outstanding Book Award All Souls is activist and author Michael Patrick MacDonald’s gripping memoir about his life growing up amid poverty and crime in the Old Colony housing projects in South Boston, a predominantly white Irish Catholic neighborhood. Selected for Common Reading at Dean College; Northeastern University; Tufts University; and others. Beacon Press | TR | 978-0-8070-7213-4 | 296pp. | $14.95/$16.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-8070-7198-4 | $14.95/$16.95 Can. themes: Coming of age • Identity • regional: Boston

Life Stories—Memoir, Biography, and Autobiography

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into tHE FiRE: A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War By Dakota Meyer and Bing West

Website: www.DakotaMeyer.com In September of 2009, in the midst of the Afghan War, a group of Afghan soldiers and U.S. Marine advisers were besieged by hundreds of Taliban fighters. They were cornered, with all but a single road blocked. Here, Marine Corporal Dakota Meyer— recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor—recounts how he defied orders and battled his way down the exposed road not once but five times to rescue his fellow soldiers and save his company. Into the Fire is a story of extraordinary courage, loyalty, determination, and strength. Random House | HC | 978-0-8129-9340-0 | 256pp. | $27.00/$32.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $13.50 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-449-01209-3 | $35.00/$41.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-679-64544-3 | $13.99/$15.99 Can. themes: american History • Inspiration • Leadership/Motivation

tHE otHER WES MooRE: one name, two Fates By Wes Moore

Website: www.TheotherWesMoore.com Author Video: http://tiny.cc/y5f4qw

Winner of the Black Caucus of the ALA Literary Award for Nonfiction A Booklist Top 10 Black History Nonfiction Book Two kids named Wes Moore were born blocks apart within a year of each other. Both grew up fatherless in similar Baltimore neighborhoods and had difficult childhoods; both hung out on street corners with their crews; both ran into trouble with the police. How, then, did one grow up to be a Rhodes Scholar, decorated veteran, White House Fellow, and business leader, while the other ended up a convicted murderer serving a life sentence? Wes Moore, the author of this fascinating book, sets out to answer this profound question. Spiegel & Grau | TR | 978-0-385-52820-7 | 272pp. | $15.00/$17.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: Audio: 978-0-307-87713-0 | $35.00/$41.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-1-58836-969-7 | $11.99/$12.99 Can.

Selected for Common Reading at more than 30 colleges including: Florida State University; Gustavus Adolphus College; and University of Akron. To view the complete list, go to http://tiny.cc/s112nw. themes: Coming of age • Identity • Leadership & Motivation • perseverance/personal Strength regional: Baltimore/ the Northeast • Service

Also available in Young Adult Edition: DiSCovERinG WES MooRE Delacorte Books for Young Readers | HC | 978-0-385-74167-5 | 176pp. | $15.99/$18.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $8.00

READinG LoLitA in tEHRAn: A Memoir in Books By Azar Nafisi Website: www.AzarNafisi.com This is the moving story of how Nafisi and her students managed to escape the harsh constraints of their daily lives through the literature they read together every week. “Resonant and deeply affecting . . . an eloquent brief on the transformative powers of fiction, on the refuge from ideology that art can offer to those living under tyranny, and art’s affirmative and subversive faith in the voice of the individual.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

Selected for Common Reading at Ashland University; Case Western Reserve University; Ithaca College; Mount Holyoke College; Sweet Briar College (VA); and others. Random House | TR | 978-0-8129-7106-4 | 384pp. | $16.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-58836-079-3 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Gender Issues • Human rights • regional: Middle east

EnRiQuE’S JouRnEY: the Story of a Boy’s Dangerous odyssey to Reunite with His Mother By Sonia Nazario

Website: www.EnriquesJourney.com Author Video: http://tiny.cc/r8f4qw

When Enrique was just five years old, his mother, Lourdes, seeing no other way out of their poverty in Honduras, decided to make the hazardous trek north. Enrique and his siblings struggled without their mother, until he finally made his way from the rough streets of Tegucigalpa through Mexico and across the dangerous Texan border. Enrique’s Journey is an award-winning and timely account of one anguished family’s experience with an issue of international scope and urgency—illegal immigration—but it is also a timeless, mythic story of a dangerous journey undertaken to make a broken family whole. Selected for Common Reading at more than 100 colleges including: Texas A&M University; University of North Carolina, Charlotte; and University of Wisconsin, Madison. To view the complete list, go to http://tiny.cc/5212nw.

Available in Español

Random House | TR | 978-0-8129-7178-1 | 336pp. | $16.00/$19.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Spanish Language Edition: Random House | TR | 978-0-8129-7580-2 | 352pp. | $17.00/$21.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-58836-602-3 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Coming of age • Immigration • Social Justice

www.CommonReads.com

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tHE AuDACitY oF HoPE thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream By Barack Obama “[Barack Obama] is that rare politician who can actually write—and write movingly and genuinely about himself. . . . In these pages he often speaks to the reader as if he were an old friend from back in the day, salting policy recommendations with colorful asides about the absurdities of political life . . . . [He] strives in these pages to ground his policy thinking in simple common sense . . . while articulating these ideas in level-headed, nonpartisan prose. That, in itself, is something unusual, not only in these venomous pre-election days, but also in these increasingly polarized and polarizing times.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

Selected for Common Reading at Endicott College; New York Institute of Technology; and others.

Available in Español

Three Rivers Press | TR | 978-0-307-23770-5 | 384pp. | $14.95/$19.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Spanish Language Edition: Vintage | TR | 978-0-307-38711-0 | 400pp. | $17.00/$21.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-7393-6641-7 | $19.99/$22.95 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-307-38209-2 | $7.99/$9.99 Can. themes: ethics/decision Making • Group dynamics • Service

DREAMS FRoM MY FAtHER A Story of Race and inheritance By Barack Obama Dreams from My Father is a memoir by President Barack Obama, first published in July 1995 when he was preparing to launch his political career. “Provocative. . . . Persuasively describes the phenomenon of belonging to two diﬀerent worlds, and thus belonging to neither.” —The New York Times Book Review

Selected for Common Reading at Augustana College; Boston College; California State University–Eastbay; Elmhurst College; LaGuardia Community College; Quinnipiac University; Southern Methodist University; University of Illinois at Chicago; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; University of Washington; Xavier University of Louisiana; and others. Broadway | TR | 978-1-4000-8277-3 | 464pp. | $14.95/$16.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Spanish Language Edition: Vintage | TR | 978-0-307-47387-5 | 432pp. | $17.00/$21.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-7393-2100-3 | $25.95/$35.95 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-307-39412-5 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Coming of age • Identity • Inclusiveness

unLiKELY BRotHERS our Story of Adventure, Loss, and Redemption By John Prendergast and Michael Mattocks

Available in Español

Website: www.EnoughProject.org To view the author’s talk at the 2011 First-Year Experience® Conference, go to: http://tiny.cc/2ag4qw

An unlikely bond developed between Prendergast, an activist, and Mattocks, who met through the Big Brother program. As Prendergast increasingly devotes his efforts to seeking justice in Africa, and Mattocks falls into a life marked by drug dealing and street violence, the two cross paths intermittently. Their evolving relationship is documented in both their voices here. “Despite their contrasting perspectives, Prendergast and Mattocks illustrate that when it comes to the human condition, attitudes trump platitudes and actions outweigh promises.” —Booklist Broadway | TR | 978-0-307-46485-9 | 272pp. | $15.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-307-46486-6 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Coming of age • Identity • perseverance/personal Strength • Service

JoSEPH Anton A Memoir

Website: www.Salman-Rushdie.com

By Salman Rushdie On Valentine’s Day 1989, Salman Rushdie received notice that a fatwa (an order of death) had been declared against him by the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran for having written The Satanic Verses, a novel accused of insulting Islam. When instructed by police to choose an alias, he settled on a hybrid of Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekhov. In this candid account, the author shares the incredible details of his life under this new identity, describing how he and his family lived with the perpetual threat of murder. Random House | HC | 978-0-8129-9278-6 | 656pp. | $30.00/NCR | Exam Copy: $15.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-449-80781-1 | $60.00/$68.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-679-64388-3 | $14.99/NCR themes: Identity • Human rights • Inspiration

Life Stories—Memoir, Biography, and Autobiography

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WHEn SKAtEBoARDS WiLL BE FREE: A Memoir By Saïd Sayrafiezadeh

Website: www.Sayrafiezadeh.com Author Video: http://tiny.cc/qvhbrw

Winner of the Whiting Award for Nonfiction With a profound gift for capturing the absurd in life, and a deadpan wisdom that comes from having survived a bizarre childhood in the Socialist Worker’s Party, Saïd Sayrafiezadeh positions himself perfectly between farce and tragedy. His story is one of a struggle to make sense of oneself in the world and to find a place within a fractured family left behind by history. Dial Press | TR | 978-0-385-34069-4 | 320pp. | $15.00/$18.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-440-33839-0 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Coming of age • Human rights • Identity • Social Justice

outCAStS unitED An American town, A Refugee team, and one Woman’s Quest to Make a Difference By Warren St. John

Website: www.outcastsUnited.com Author Video: http://tiny.cc/4fg4qw To view the author’s talk at the 2010 First-Year Experience® Conference, go to: http://tiny.cc/khg4qw

Outcasts United is the story of a refugee soccer team, a remarkable woman coach, and a small Southern town turned upside down by the process of refugee resettlement. “Not merely about soccer, St. John’s book teaches readers about the social and economic difficulties of adapting to a new culture and the challenges facing a town with a new and disparate population. Despite their cultural and religious differences and the difficulty of adaptation, the Fugees came together to play soccer. This wonderful, poignant book is highly recommended.” —Library Journal, starred review

Selected for Common Reading at more than 50 colleges including: Georgia Institute of Technology; Springfield College; and University of Florida. To view the complete list, go to http://tiny.cc/barfrw. Spiegel & Grau | TR | 978-0-385-52204-5 | 336pp. | $15.00/$18.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-7393-6617-2 | $29.95/$34.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-385-52959-4 | $13.99/$13.99 Can. themes: discovering diﬀerences • Group dynamics • Immigration

Also Available in Young Adult Edition: Delacorte Books for Young Readers | HC | 978-0-385-74194-1 | 240pp. | $16.99/$19.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $8.50

A CEntuRY oF WiSDoM Author’s Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/AlicesFans

Lessons from the Life of Alice Herz-Sommer, the World’s oldest Living Holocaust Survivor By Caroline Stoessinger Foreword by Václav Havel

At 107 years old, Alice Herz-Sommer is the world’s oldest Holocaust survivor, as well as the world’s oldest concert pianist. Despite her years of imprisonment in the Theresienstadt concentration camp and the murders of her mother, husband, and friends at the hands of the Nazis, Herz-Sommer wasted no time on bitterness and instead lives every day as though it is a gift. A Century of Wisdom is the remarkable and inspiring story of one woman’s lifelong determination—in the face of some of the worst evils known to humankind—to bring good to the world, which has helped her to persevere and live a long and vital life. Spiegel & Grau | HC | 978-0-8129-9281-6 | 256pp. | $23.00/$26.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $11.50 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-307-96767-1 | $35.00/$41.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-679-64401-9 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Human rights • Identity • perseverance/personal Strength

HALF A LiFE A Memoir By Darin Strauss Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award (Autobiography)

Website: www.DarinStrauss.com To read an author Q&A, go to: http://tiny.cc/ijg4qw To view the author’s talk at the 2012 First-Year Experience® Conference, go to: http://tiny.cc/94mpqw

“Darin Strauss has spent a good part of his adult life reliving, regretting and reflecting on a single, split-second incident. Half a Life is a starkly honest account of that fateful moment and his life thereafter . . . penetrating, thought-provoking.” —The Washington Post

Selected for summer reading at Joliet Township High School (Joliet, IL). Random House | TR | 978-0-8129-8253-4 | 224pp. | $13.00/$15.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-307-98860-7 | $12.00/$13.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-679-64382-1 | $9.99/$11.99 Can. themes: Coming of age • ethics/decision Making • Identity

www.CommonReads.com

LIFe StorIeS—MeMoIr, BIoGrapHY, aNd autoBIoGrapHY

GRAnD CEntRAL WintER

Website: http://LeeStringer.us

Stories from the Street By Lee Stringer Foreword by Kurt Vonnegut

An inspiring book of essays, Grand Central Winter vividly describes the author Lee Stringer’s experiences of being homeless and drug-addicted in New York in the 1980s. “Stringer possesses a sharp eye for the street and the rich, sagacious talent of a storyteller.” —Publishers Weekly Seven Stories Press | TR | 978-1-58322-918-7 | 256pp. | $14.95/$14.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-60980-225-7 | $14.95/$16.95 Can. themes: Identity • perseverance/personal Strength • Social Justice

A HoPE in tHE unSEEn An American odyssey from the inner City to the ivy League

Website: www.RonSuskind.com

By Ron Suskind This is the story of Cedric Jennings, an African American teenager who is ferociously determined to study his way out of the inner city and capture a piece of the American Dream. Author Ron Suskind follows Jennings from his early years in high school through his first year at Brown University. This updated edition includes a new chapter on Cedric Jennings’s postgraduate professional career. Selected for Common Reading at more than 20 colleges including: Babson College; Marquette University; and University of Texas at San Antonio. To view the complete list, go to http://tiny.cc/nerfrw. Broadway | TR | 978-0-7679-0126-0 | 400pp. | $15.99/$19.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-307-76308-2 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Black Colleges • Identity • Inclusiveness

viEtnAMERiCA A Family’s Journey

Website: www.GBTran.com

By GB Tran A Time Magazine Top Ten Graphic Memoir of All Time A School Library Journal “Best Adult Book 4 Teens” Named Best Graphic Novel by Library Journal In this graphic novel, a second-generation Vietnamese immigrant travels to Vietnam to unearth the history of his family’s trials during the Vietnam War, and their harrowing escape to the U.S. “This will be called the Maus for the Vietnam War, and for good reason. Similar premise: clueless American-born son of immigrants confronts the legacy of family pain predating his birth. Similar outcome: a kick-in-the-gut graphic novel. . . . Engaging, challenging, and disturbing, Tran’s family memoir belongs in all public and academic libraries.” —Library Journal, starred review

Selected for Common Reading at Davidson College. Villard Books | HC | 978-0-345-50872-0 | 288pp. | $30.00/$34.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $15.00 themes: Coming of age • Identity • Immigration

tHE BoYS FRoM LittLE MExiCo A Season Chasing the American Dream

Website: www.BoysFromLittleMexico.com

By Steve Wilson The Boys from Little Mexico, written by journalist Steve Wilson, is about the fight for the future of the next generation—and a hard, true look at boys dismissed as gangbangers and told to “go home” by lily-white sideline crowds. Oregon’s only all-Hispanic boys’ soccer team from Woodburn High has made the playoffs for nineteen straight years—but they’ve never won a championship. As they prepare to make it twenty, one thing will become clear: Los Perros play the beautiful game with heart, pride, and their lives on the line. The wins and losses they notch along the way spin a striking tale about what it takes to capture the American dream. Beacon Press | TR | 978-0-8070-0152-3 | 240pp. | $16.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-8070-9550-8 | $21.95/$24.95 Can. themes: Identity • Immigration • perseverance/personal Strength • Social Justice

Life Stories—Memoir, Biography, and Autobiography

READY PLAYER onE

Website: www.ReadyPlayerone.com Author video: http://tiny.cc/2ng4qw

A novel By Ernest Cline

Now in Paperback

Winner of the ALA Alex Award A School Library Journal “Best Adult Book 4 teens”

t once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, Ready Player One is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut—part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese robots, entire planets are inspired by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve light speed. It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place. Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where one can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.

Broadway | TR | 978-0-307-88744-3 | 384pp. $14.00/$17.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: Audio: 978-0-307-91314-2 | $40.00/$45.00 Can. e-Book: 978-0-307-88745-0 | $9.99/$9.99 Can.

ADOPTIOn nOTES: Selected for Common Reading: Kansas State University; University of Massachusetts Amherst; and one Book one Middletown (Connecticut) Discipline: Literature themes: Fiction; Coming of Age Campus visits: Alternative Formats:

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune—and remarkable power—to whoever can unlock them. “an exuberantly realized, exciting, and sweet-natured cyber-quest. Cline’s imaginative and rollicking coming-of-age geek saga has a smash-hit vibe.” —Booklist (starred review) “ernie Cline emerged from a Back to the Future deLorean to the thunderous applause of over four thousand freshmen at uMass amherst’s Convocation this year. His address to the Class of 2016 was an entertaining combination of self-depreciating humor and personal reflection. Ready Player One, the chosen common read book for this year’s new students at uMass amherst, dealt with the allure of the virtual world of video games and its benefits but also the irreplaceable authenticity of human exchanges in reality. Later on, hundreds of freshmen engaged in common read discussions of this book in small groups with university faculty, discussing everything from the dystopian future to eco-sustainability. Ready Player One is more than a paperback adventure story; it unites the past and present under an overarching concern about technology’s place in our future.” —Jeanne Horrigan, Director of New Students Orientation, University of Massachusetts Amherst

About the Author: Ernest Cline erNeSt CLINe is a spoken-word artist, screenwriter, and unrepentant geek best known for creating the cult film Fanboys. Ready Player One is his first novel.

www.CommonReads.com

A Message from the Author The reception my novel Ready Player One has received has been, quite simply, beyond any debut author’s wildest dreams. Much to my amazement, the book spent several weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, showed up on several Best of 2011 lists, and is even in development as a big-budget movie with Warner Bros. But the facet of Ready Player One’s success I’ve found the most surprising—and gratifying—is how much younger readers love the book. More precisely, they seem to be enjoying it not just as a big dumb adventure story. They’re actually thinking about the chewier issues I was thinking about as I wrote it. You see, Ready Player One is in part a love letter to the books, video games, movies, TV shows, and music of my childhood. Although I knew these artifacts would resonate with readers of my generation, I was never sure how younger readers (with no memory of the Big Hair Decade) would respond to them, or if they would respond to them at all. But since last August, I’ve found dozens of wonderful messages in my inbox from teenage readers who tell me Ready Player One is their new favorite book. I’ve been equally thrilled to hear that Ready Player One was a 2012 Alex Award winner, and that it was been selected as the common read for the 2012 freshman class at the University of Massachusetts. For some of the teenage readers I’ve heard from, the eighties pop culture in the book seems to work a lot like the references to ancient mythology in an Indiana Jones movie—you don’t have to be familiar with them to enjoy the quest. But better still, many of them read the book with a Web browser open, looking up the references as they go. And it seems that for every teen who gets excited about the Atari 2600 or sticks Ladyhawke in her Netflix queue as a result, there’s another who comes across my loving references to authors like Kurt Vonnegut or Philip K. Dick and gets inspired to pick up a classic and, you know, actually read it. I have a confession to make here: while I never thought it would actually happen, I did always secretly hope that teenage readers would get Ready Player One. I wrote it as the kind of classic good-vsevil, underdog-triumphs-over-all adventure story that I loved reading as a teen. And—also in emulation of my favorite books—I tried to make it touch on some more serious themes too. In short, I tried to write the kind of book I wish I’d been assigned back when I was wearing pegged acid-washed jeans—a book that picks you up and grabs you with spaceships or wizards, with great action or an amazing love story, but sneakily manages to leave you with something more meaningful to chew on as well. Ready Player One takes place in a near future where all-too-plausible social horrors like poverty, disease, and energy crises have run rampant, and I think—or hope—there’s something thoughtprovoking about seeing our futures portrayed that way. Its hero is a loner who’s pretty much given up on the ugliness he sees in the real world and taken refuge in a virtual one—but by the end of the book, he learns that escapism isn’t the panacea he thinks it is, which is a lesson I figured out the hard way growing up. And at the very center of the story is the role technology plays in our modern lives and how it shapes modern identity. I think that subject in particular really resonates with readers who, in the course of growing up themselves, are finding their own identities increasingly defined by the virtual worlds of Facebook, Twitter, and the Web. If I had a time-traveling DeLorean, the first thing I’d do with it is head back to 1986 Ohio and give a copy of Ready Player One to my own teenage self, because the truth is, I really wrote it for him. Sadly, the flux capacitor on my DeLorean isn’t operational, so the closest I can come to fulfilling that dream is asking you to consider the book for your incoming freshman’s FYE. Ernest Cline

Fiction to talk About

tHE DinnER A novel By Herman Koch

ince its initial publication in Holland in 2009, Herman Koch’s psychologically astute and philosophically challenging The Dinner has become a much-discussed international best-seller. Two couples meet for dinner at a high-end restaurant in Amsterdam to address a tragic event: a terrible crime has been committed, and it seems the two fifteen-year-old sons of the two couples are implicated. A police investigation is under way, and the comfortable, insulated worlds of the families are coming apart at the seams. Over the course of the meal, and the novel, civility and friendship disintegrate, as the parents make clear what they are willing to do to protect their children from the consequences of their actions. This controversial tale of families struggling to make the hardest decision of their lives exposes philosophical and social hypocrisies in which we are all, to a degree, complicit. The popularity of the book speaks to the universal nature of the ethical dilemmas it examines: How far would you go to protect a loved one, even if he or she has committed an unspeakably horrible act?

ADOPTIOn nOTES: Discipline: Literature themes: Fiction; Literature; Philosophy (Ethics) Alternative Formats:

The Dinner is currently one of the most popular books among teenagers in Holland, perhaps because they can relate to the ethical dilemmas that result from the senseless crime committed by a member of their own peer group. The book is also relevant to adolescent readers in that it explores the dark side of connectivity, including YouTube and texting, as well as the generation gap between young people and their parents. The book ultimately forces the reader to confront his or her own deeply held convictions and moral values. “this chilling novel starts out as a witty look at contemporary manners . . . before turning into a take-no-prisoners psychological thriller. . . . with dark humor, koch dramatizes the lengths to which people will go to preserve a comfortable way of life . . . this is a cunningly crafted thriller that will never allow you to look at a serviette in the same way again.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

About the Author: Herman koch HerMaN koCH is the author of seven novels and three collections of short stories. The Dinner, his sixth novel, has been published in 25 countries, and was the winner of the Publieksprijs Prize in 2009. He currently lives in Amsterdam.

www.CommonReads.com

©Mark Kohn, Hollandse Hoogte

Hogarth | HC | 978-0-7704-3785-5 | 304pp. $24.00/$28.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $12.00 Also Available: e-Book: | 978-0-385-34684-9 | $11.99/$14.99 Can.

Excerpt from The Dinner

I looked at my wife. In my thoughts I egged her on, to deliver my brother the coup de grâce. He had set it up, and she could knock it in, as they say. It was just too ghastly, the way he tried to inject his own party platform into a normal discussion about people and the differences between them. Improvement . . . a word, nothing more: crap dished up for the constituency. “I’m not talking about improvement, Serge,” Claire said. “I’m talking about the way we—Dutch people, white people, Europeans— look at other cultures. The things we’re afraid of. If a group of dark-skinned men was coming toward you down the sidewalk, wouldn’t you feel a stronger urge to cross the street if they were wearing baseball caps, rather than neat clothing? Like yours and mine? Or like diplomats? Or office clerks?” “I never cross the street. I believe we should approach every one as equals. You mentioned the things we’re afraid of. I agree with you about that. If we would just stop being afraid, then we could go on to cultivate more understanding for each other.” “Serge, I’m not some debating partner you need to wow with hollow terms like improvement and understanding. I’m your sister-in-law, your brother’s wife. It’s just the four of us here now. As friends. As family.”

Fiction to talk About

tHE tiGER’S WiFE

Website: www.teaobreht.com Author video: http://tiny.cc/nthbrw

A novel By Téa Obreht

Winner of the orange Prize for Fiction Finalist for the national Book Award A New York Times notable Book (“10 Best”) A Library Journal Best Book (top ten) A School Library Journal ”Best Adult Book 4 teens” An ALA notable Book for Adults (Fiction)

Random House | TR | 978-0-385-34384-8 | 368pp. $15.00/$17.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: Audio: 978-0-307-87700-0 | $40.00/$45.00 Can. e-Book: 978-0-679-60436-5 | $11.99/$12.99 Can.

ADOPTIOn nOTES: Selected for Common Reading: Georgetown University and New York University Disciplines: History; Literature themes: Fiction; Identity; Regional: Balkans Campus visits:

eaving a brilliant latticework of family legend, loss, and love, Téa Obreht, the youngest of The New Yorker’s twenty best American fiction writers under forty, has spun a timeless novel that will establish her as one of the most vibrant, original authors of her generation. In a Balkan country mending from war, Natalia Stefanovi, a young doctor, is offering medical care to the children in an orphanage when she is informed of her grandfather’s sudden death. She is distraught, given that she had a particularly close relationship with her grandfather, and the circumstances surrounding his death are shrouded in mystery and uncertainty. She crosses the border to visit the place he died, and begins to think back on the tales he often told her of the village he grew up in. Some of these tales are of his encounters over the years with “the deathless man,” who never seems to age. But most extraordinary of all is the story her grandfather never told her—how, after being bombed by the Germans in 1941, the zoo of a nearby city was destroyed, and its resident tiger escaped, eventually befriending a deaf-mute woman trapped in an abusive marriage. This narrative, evolving and weaving its way across the novel, is the legend of the tiger’s wife. The Tiger’s Wife is a meditation on family, history, and how families bear the weight of myth, memory, and trauma across generations. “Ms. obreht creates an indelible sense of place, a world, like the Balkans, haunted by its past and struggling to sort out its future, its imagination shaped by stories handed down generation to generation; its people torn between ancient beliefs and the imperatives of what should be a more rational present. In doing so, Ms. obreht has not only made a precocious debut, but she has also written a richly textured and searing novel.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

Alternative Formats:

téa oBreHt was born in Belgrade in the former Yugoslavia in 1985 and has lived in the United States since the age of twelve. Her writing has been published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harper’s, and The Guardian, and has been anthologized in The Best American Short Stories and The Best American Nonrequired Reading. She has been named by The New Yorker as one of the twenty best American fiction writers under forty and included in the National Book Foundation’s list of 5 Under 35. Téa Obreht lives in New York.

www.CommonReads.com

©Beowulf Sheehan

About the Author: Téa Obreht

A Note from Georgetown University

In August, Téa Obreht was honored as this year’s Marino Family International Writers’ Academic Workshop author at Georgetown University. The Marino Family International Writers’ Academic Workshop has been taking place at Georgetown since 1995 and has featured authors such as Mario Vargas Llosa, Margaret Atwood, Dinaw Mengestu (a Georgetown alumnus), and Orhan Pamuk. The Workshop serves as students’ introduction to the academic life at Georgetown and is an integral part of the freshman experience. It affirms Georgetown’s commitment to the highest academic standards and adds a significant international cultural dimension to the academic formation of Georgetown students. Obreht’s talk with the Class of 2016 during New Student Orientation included thoughts about her writing process. Though her debut novel The Tiger’s Wife officially took her three years to write, she said, she realized that she had been writing the book her entire life. She discussed how her own stories, drawn from her childhood in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious household and from the many places she had lived, impacted her writing. Through her writing process, she came to understand that a narrative arc occurs in life as well as in writing, and that everything is connected, even if the connections aren’t immediately apparent. Her lecture was followed by a lively question and answer session with the students, who were interested in learning more about everything from the meaning of the symbols in the book, to the origin of the mythological characters, to how the story relates to Obreht’s own experiences. Many of the questions focused on the actual mechanics of writing The Tiger’s Wife: How do you separate your fiction from your own life? Why do even minor characters have such detailed histories? How do you write such a neutral novel about an area so rife with political and ethnic tensions? Obreht’s candid responses provided valuable insights to the class of young scholars, which surely included a few aspiring novelists. After the lecture, the students broke into small discussion groups led by faculty mentors to comment on and debate the novel’s premises, challenge one another’s interpretations, and discuss their questions. To the pleasure of a handful of lucky students and faculty members, Obreht attended a few of the discussion sections to meet the students and answer a few more questions. Students and mentors alike were thrilled with the selection of The Tiger’s Wife and Obreht’s presentation. Jennifer Smith, Lauinger Library, Georgetown University

Fiction to talk About

tHE DARKESt CHiLD A novel By Delores Phillips

hirteen-year-old Tangy Mae just wants to go to school. But in 1950s rural Georgia, being black and poor makes that next to

impossible. As it turns out, the racism and poverty that surrounds Tangy Mae are the least of her obstacles. First and foremost is her brutal mother, Rozelle, who commands complete obedience and loyalty from her ten children, and gains it through physical violence, verbal abuse, and emotional manipulation. Tangy Mae, the fifth and darkest-skinned of her siblings (Rozelle is extremely light-skinned), bears the brunt of her cruelty. Rozelle denies secondary education to all of her children, and instead forces them to work an array of jobs. She pushes her two eldest daughters into prostitution at the local whorehouse, one of the only businesses in the town where no one is turned away because of race. Tangy Mae is terrified, because she’s next in line. “evil’s regenerative powers and one girl’s fierce resistance. . . . a book that deserves a wide audience.” —The Cleveland Plain Dealer Soho Press | TR | 978-1-56947-378-8 | 462pp. $15.00/$17.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: e-Book: 978-1-56947-749-6 | $15.00/$17.00 Can.

“Filled with grand plot events and clearly identifiable villains and victims . . . lush with detail and captivating with its story of racial tension and family violence.” —The Washington Post Book World “[an] exceptional debut novel. . . . [Has] a depth and dimension not often characteristic of a first novel.” —Library Journal (starred)

ADOPTIOn nOTES: Disciplines: African American Studies; Literature themes: Fiction; Gender Issues; Human Rights; Race Alternative Formats:

“phillips writes with a no-nonsense elegance. . . . as a vision of african-american life, The Darkest Child is one of the harshest novels to arrive in many years. . . . [phillips] buttresses those harsh episodes with a depth of characterization worthy of Chekhov, pitch-perfect dialogue, and a profound knowledge of the segregated South in the ’50s.” —The New Leader

About the Author: Delores Phillips deLoreS pHILLIpS was born in Bartow County, Georgia in 1950, the second of four children. She graduated from Cleveland State University with a bachelor of arts in English and works as a nurse at a state psychiatric hospital. Her work has appeared in Jean’s Journal, Black Times, and The Crisis. She has lived in Cleveland, Ohio, since 1964.

www.CommonReads.com

A Message from the Publisher of Soho Press

I’m very proud to publish The Darkest Child and am confident that, in addition to being a stirring narrative read, this book will inspire and provoke student discussions around topics such as race, gender, class, and our nation’s complicated history. Delores Phillips handles the charged issue of entrenched racism with a deft hand. Not only does she brilliantly highlight racism originating with whites—the “standard” narrative of race relations—she also writes stirringly about the complicated relationships within the black community, and the elements therein that proved just as destructive to the advancement of the next generation, sometimes more than the more highly visible outrages like segregation. We found this novel in the “slush pile” of unagented submissions in 2002, and it upsets me to think that this important novel might never have found its way into the world. Stories like Tangy Mae’s are vital to a full understanding of our spotty racial history, as well as the cultural and systemic legacy that lingers even today. I sincerely hope you will consider adopting this book as a vital, nuanced contribution to your curriculum. Bronwen Hruska, Publisher of Soho Press

Fiction to talk About

FICtIoN to taLk aBout

WoRLD WAR Z: An oral History of the Zombie War By Max Brooks

Soon to Be a Major Motion Picture

Website: www.MaxBrooks.com

At long last, here is the gripping, fictional history of the Zombie War, which came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Author Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched firsthand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-toface with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the imaginative, astonishing result. “Probably the most topical and literate scare since Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds radio broadcast.” —Dallas Morning News

Selected for Common Reading at Florida Southern College; St. Edward’s University; and University of Houston–Victoria. Three Rivers Press | TR | 978-0-307-34661-2 | 352pp. | $14.95/$21.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-7393-6640-0 | $14.99/$17.99 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-307-35193-7 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Fiction • ethics

oPEn CitY: A novel

Website: www.TejuCole.com

By Teju Cole Winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award; Finalist, National Book Critics Circle Award (Fiction) A New York Times notable book that has also appeared on over twenty best-of-the-year lists, Open City follows Julius, a young Nigerian doctor, as he meanders through Manhattan, encountering people from all walks of life, while meditating on his own profoundly personal relationships. The rich diaspora populating New York City is filtered through the unique perspective of this unforgettable character. Random Houses | TR | 978-0-8129-8009-7 | 272pp. | $15.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-679-60449-5 | $11.99/$12.99 Can. themes: Fiction • Coming of age • discovering diﬀerences • Identity

HoMER & LAnGLEY:

A novel

By E. L. Doctorow

Website: www.ELDoctorow.com For more books by E. L. Doctorow, go to: http://tiny.cc/nhxbrw

Homer & Langley is a brilliantly conceived, mesmerizing rendering of the lives of New York’s fabled Collyer brothers. One blind and deeply intuitive, the other damaged by mustard gas in the Great War, they live as recluses in their once grand mansion and are fraught with Odyssean peril as they struggle to survive and create meaning for themselves. “A beautiful and haunting novel. . . . [Homer & Langley is] one of literature’s most unlikely picaresques, a road novel in which the rogue heroes can’t seem to leave home.” —The Boston Globe

Selected for Common Reading at Cornell University. Random House | TR | 978-0-8129-7563-5 | 224pp. | $15.00/$17.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-7393-3416-4 | $32.00/$39.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-1-58836-897-3 | $11.99/$12.99 Can. themes: Fiction • american History • Identity

HotEL on tHE CoRnER oF BittER AnD SWEEt: A novel By Jamie Ford

Website: www.JamieFord.com

Winner of the Literature Award—Fiction, Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) “Jamie Ford’s first novel explores the age-old conflicts between father and son, the beauty and sadness of what happened to Japanese Americans in the Seattle area during World War II, and the depths and longing of deep-heart love. An impressive, bitter, and sweet debut.” —Lisa See, bestselling author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

“A timely debut that not only reminds readers of a shameful episode in American history, but cautions us to examine the present and take heed we don’t repeat those injustices.” —Kirkus Reviews

Selected for Common Reading at more than 25 colleges including: University of Montana-Western; Gustavus Adolphus University; and Villanova University. To view the complete list, go to http://tiny.cc/21rfrw. Ballantine | TR | 978-0-345-50534-7 | 320pp. | $15.00/$18.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-7393-8283-7 | $39.95/$45.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-345-51250-5 | $9.99/$9.99 Can. themes: Fiction • Coming of age • discovering diﬀerences • regional: Seattle/Northwest

www.CommonReads.com

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into tHE FoRESt: A novel

Website: www.JeanHegland.com

By Jean Hegland Set in the near future, Into the Forest follows two young sisters struggling to make sense of their world when both society and their family collapse. Hegland’s exploration of the sisters’ relationship reveals the full dimension of their bond and what it means to be human and alive in this new world. “The plot draws readers along at the same time that the details and vivid writing encourage rereading . . . a truly admirable addition to a genre defined by the very high standards of George Orwell’s 1984 and Russell Hoban’s Ridley Walker.” —Publishers Weekly

Selected for Common Reading at Bowling Green State University; Santa Rosa Junior College; and others. Dial Press | TR | 978-0-553-37961-7 | 256pp. | $15.00/$18.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-553-75361-5 | $10.95/$13.95 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-307-57356-8 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Fiction • Coming of age • Gender Issues • perseverance/personal Strength

EvERY DAY

Website: www.DavidLevithan.com

By David Levithan Every morning, A wakes in a different person’s body, a different person’s life. There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere. It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day. David Levithan, an award-winning author, has pushed himself to new creative heights. He has written a captivating story that will fascinate readers as they begin to comprehend the complexities of life and love in A’s world, as A and Rhiannon seek to discover if you can truly love someone who is destined to change every day. Knopf Books for Young Readers | HC | 978-0-307-93188-7 | 336pp. | $17.99/$19.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $9.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-449-01520-9 | $37.00/$44.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-307-97563-8 | $9.99/$9.99 Can. themes: Fiction • Coming of age • Identity • Morality

i AM FoRBiDDEn: A novel

Website: www.AnoukMarkovits.com

By Anouk Markovits Winner of the 2012 Sophie Brody Award for Jewish Literature (Honor Book) In her English-language debut, novelist Anouk Markovits presents an emotionally charged tale about a Satmar Hasidic Jewish family that spans four generations and crosses the globe. I Am Forbidden is the tale of two sisters joined by love but separated by their distinct beliefs. The adopted Mila’s religious faith grows while her sister Atara’s faith in books and education leads her on a different path. Powerful and remarkably balanced, I Am Forbidden is a story of those who choose to move on and those who choose to remain. Hogarth | TR | 978-0-307-98474-6 | 336pp. | $14.00/NCR | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-449-01052-5 | $17.50/$20.50 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-307-98475-3 | $12.99/NCR themes: Fiction • discovering diﬀerences • Gender Issues • Identity

Pre-Publication Copy Available

A ConStELLAtion oF vitAL PHEnoMEnA: A novel

Publishes May 2013

By Anthony Marra, Winner of the 2012 Whiting Award In a nearly abandoned hospital in Chechnya, eight-year-old Havaa, her neighbor Akhmed, who rescues her after her father’s disappearance, and Sonja, the doctor tending to her, ruminate on their pasts and confront the tragedy and hope that mark them and their war-ravaged land. “Remarkable and breathtaking, Anthony Marra’s A Constellation of Vital Phenomena is a spellbinding elegy for an overlooked land engulfed by an oft-forgotten war. Set in the all-too-real Chechen conflict, Marra conjures fragile and heartfelt characters whose fates interrogate the very underpinnings of love and sacrifice.” —Adam Johnson, author of The Orphan Master’s Son To request a free pre-publication copy, e-mail commonreads@randomhouse.com Hogarth | HC | 978-0-7704-3640-7 | 400pp. | $26.00/NCR | Exam Copy: $13.00 Also available: Audio: 978-0-385-36356-3 | $22.50/$26.50 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-7704-3641-4 | $12.99/NCR themes: Fiction • Human rights • Identity • perseverance/personal Strength regional: russia/Chechnya

Fiction to talk About

FICtIoN to taLk aBout

LEt tHE GREAt WoRLD SPin: A novel By Colum McCann

Website: www.ColumMcCann.com Author Video: http://tiny.cc/dphbrw

Winner of the National Book Award for Fiction In 1970s New York, against the backdrop of Philippe Petit’s tightrope walk between the Twin Towers, disparate characters seek solace and redemption. “In McCann’s wise and elegiac novel of origins and consequences, each of his finely drawn, unexpectedly connected characters balances above an abyss, evincing great courage with every step.” —Booklist (starred)

Selected for Common Reading at Boston College and New York University. Random House | TR | 978-0-8129-7399-0 | 400pp. | $15.00/NCR | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-58836-873-7 | $9.99/NCR themes: Fiction • american History • Immigration

LAY tHAt tRuMPEt in ouR HAnDS

Website: www.SusanCarolMcCarthy.com

By Susan Carol McCarthy Inspired by real events, Lay That Trumpet in Our Hands is a novel that tackles race politics in the South before the Civil Rights Movement unlike any other book in recent memory. “Reminiscent of To Kill a Mockingbird, McCarthy’s debut novel is an engrossing story of one girl’s coming-of-age during the early years of the Civil Rights Movement.” —Library Journal “The best fiction always bears a strong resemblance to real life. . . . McCarthy blends fact, memory, imagination and truth with admirable grace.” —The Washington Post

Selected for Common Reading at more than 30 schools and colleges including: Michigan Technological University; Finlandia University; and Michigan State University. To view the complete list, go to http://tiny.cc/28rfrw. Bantam | TR | 978-0-553-38103-0 | 288pp. | $15.00/$18.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-307-41819-7 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Fiction • Inclusiveness • regional: the american South • Social Justice

tHE SPEED oF DARK: A novel By Elizabeth Moon

Website: www.ElizabethMoon.com For more books by Elizabeth Moon, go to: http://tiny.cc/ayh4qw To view the author’s talk at the 2012 First-Year Experience® Conference, go to: http://tiny.cc/h2mpqw

Lou is a high-functioning autistic adult who has made a good life for himself and is, he thinks, content. But a new manager at the pharmaceutical firm for which he works decides to put pressure on the unit that employs autistic persons. Lou is urged to undergo an experimental treatment that might “cure” the autism he doesn't think needs curing, or risk losing his job— and certainly the accommodations the company has put in place for its autistic employees. “Every once in a while, you come across a book that is both an important literary achievement and a completely and utterly absorbing reading experience—a book with provocative ideas and an equally compelling story. Such a book is The Speed of Dark, by Elizabeth Moon. . . . In Lou Arrendale, Moon has created an unforgettable character. . . . ” —Florida Sun-Sentinel

Selected for Common Reading at Clemson University; ohio State University; and SUNY oswego. Ballantine | TR | 978-0-345-44754-8 | 384pp. | $13.95/$21.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Del Rey | MM | 978-0-345-48139-9 | 384pp. | $7.99/$9.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-345-47220-5 | $7.99/$9.99 Can. themes: Fiction • Identity • Science & Society

tHE LASt toWn on EARtH: A novel By Thomas Mullen

Website: www.ThomasMullen.net

Set against the backdrop of one of the most virulent epidemics that America ever experienced— the 1918 influenza pandemic—Thomas Mullen’s powerful first novel is a tale of morality in a time of upheaval. A chance encounter and the shots that are fired as a result have deafening reverberations throughout the town of Commonwealth, escalating until every human value— love, patriotism, community, family, friendship—not to mention the town’s very survival, is imperiled. Selected for Common Reading at more than 12 colleges including: Bowling Green State University; University of Arizona; and University of South Carolina. To view the complete list, go to http://tiny.cc/xdsfrw. Random House | TR | 978-0-8129-7592-5 | 432pp. | $15.00/$18.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-58836-564-4 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Fiction • ethics/decision Making • Group dynamics • Science & Society

www.CommonReads.com

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WonDER

Website: www.RJPalacio.com

By R. J. Palacio A New York Times bestseller, Wonder is narrated by August Pullman, who has a severe facial deformity. About to start fifth grade, he longs to fit in. The point of view gradually expands to include the perspectives of those around him, in this exploration of the meanings of empathy and community. “Few first novels pack more of a punch: it’s a rare story with the power to open eyes—and hearts —to what it’s like to be singled out for a diﬀerence you can’t control, when all you want is to be just another face in the crowd.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) Knopf Books for Young Readers | HC | 978-0-375-86902-0 | 320pp. | $15.99/$17.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $8.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-375-89988-1 | $9.99/$9.99 Can. themes: Fiction • Bullying • Coming of age • discovering diﬀerences • Family

tHE WAtCH A novel

Website: www.JoydeepRoyBhattacharya.com Now in Paperback

By Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya

Tensions reach a boiling point when an Afghan woman sets foot on an American military base in Kandahar, Afghanistan, demanding the return of the body of her deceased brother for burial. A poignant retelling of the tragic Greek myth of Antigone, Indian-born author RoyBhattacharya’s The Watch is a haunting look at the Afghan War and a contemporary meditation on war, humanity, tragedy, and the differences that continue to divide us. This is a masterful study of conflict—both personal and political—that awakens sympathy and reaches out for the reader’s deepest consideration. Hogarth | TR | 978-0-307-95591-3 | 336pp. | $15.00/NCR | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-449-01176-8 | $20.00/NCR • e-Book: 978-0-307-95590-6 | $12.99/NCR themes: Fiction • american History • Conflict Studies • discovering diﬀerences

tHE tin HoRSE A novel

Website: www.TheTinHorse.com

By Janice Steinberg Elaine Greenstein’s twin sister disappeared from her neighborhood in Boyle Heights, California, on the eve of World War II in 1939, when she was only eighteen years old. She was never found. Decades later, as Elaine packs her belongings to make the move from her childhood home to a retirement community, she finds a clue to her sister’s whereabouts, triggering memories of her own childhood and the heart-wrenching experiences of her Jewish immigrant family. Random House | HC | 978-0-679-64374-6 | 352pp. | $26.00/$31.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $13.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-385-35947-4 | $45.00/$52.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-345-54028-7 | $12.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Fiction • Identity • Immigration

tHE AGE oF MiRACLES A novel

Website: www.TheAgeofMiraclesBook.com

By Karen Thompson Walker “[A] gripping debut . . . Thompson’s Julia is the perfect narrator. . . . While the apocalypse looms large—has in fact already arrived—the narrative remains fiercely grounded in the surreal and horrifying day-to-day and the personal decisions that persist even though no one knows what to do. A triumph of vision, language, and terrifying momentum, the story also feels eerily plausible, as if the problems we’ve been worrying about all along pale in comparison to what might actually bring our end.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) Random House | TR | 978-0-8129-8294-7 | 304pp. | $15.00/NCR | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-307-97069-5 | $35.00/NCR • e-Book: 978-0-679-64438-5 | $11.99/NCR themes: Fiction • Coming of age • Family

Now in Paperback

Fiction to talk About

INSpIratIoN aNd GuIdaNCe

tuESDAYS WitH MoRRiE

Website: www.MitchAlbom.com

An old Man, A Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson By Mitch Albom After learning of his former professor’s terminal illness, Mitch Albom flew to Brandeis University, reunited with his old friend, and returned every Tuesday thereafter to visit with him. Morrie Schwartz turned these visits into one final “class:” a lesson in how to live. This book is a magical chronicle of Mitch and Morrie’s time together. Selected for Common Reading at Concordia University; SUNY New Paltz; University of Buﬀalo; University of North Dakota; and others. Broadway | TR | 978-0-7679-0592-3 | 224pp. | $13.99/$17.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-7393-1112-7 | $19.95/$25.95 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-307-41409-0 | $10.99/$12.99 Can. themes: Coming of age • ethics/decision Making • Identity

WHAt SHouLD i Do WitH MY LiFE? the true Story of People Who Answered the ultimate Question

Website: www.PoBronson.com

By Po Bronson “What should I do with my life?” Po Bronson was asking himself that very question when he decided to write this book—an inspiring exploration of how people successfully transform their lives, and a template for how anyone can answer this question for themselves. Filled with humor, empathy, and insight, this edition contains nine new stories not included in the hardcover edition. Selected for Common Reading at Rutgers College; Sam Houston State University; and others. Random House | TR | 978-0-375-75898-0 | 432pp. | $16.00/$19.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Ballantine | MM | 978-0-345-48592-2 | 464pp. | $7.99/$10.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-58836-048-9 | $7.99/$8.99 Can. themes: ethics/decision Making • Identity • Life Skills

LiFE iS WHAt You MAKE it Find Your own Path to Fulfillment

Website: www.PeterBuﬀett.com To view the author’s talk at the 2012 First-Year Experience® Conference, go to: http://tiny.cc/10mpqw

By Peter Buffett Buffet makes a case for valuing effort in itself over the end result, and thus embracing a true work ethic, rather than a wealth ethic. He suggests that personal fulfillment, rather than the accumulation of material goods, make for a successful career—something he learned from his father, Warren Buffet. “Peter Buﬀett has given us a wise and inspiring book that should be required reading for every young person seeking to find his or her place in the world, and for every family hoping to give its daughters and sons the best possible start in life.” —Bill Clinton Three Rivers Press | TR | 978-0-307-46472-9 | 272pp. | $15.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-307-73574-4 | $14.00/$17.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-307-46473-6 | $13.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Coming of age • Identity • Leadership & Motivation

FoLLoWinG tHE PAtH the Search for a Life of Passion, Purpose, and Joy By Joan Chittister Everyone wants to find happiness and enjoy meaningful, purpose-driven lives. Amid the hustle and bustle of modern times, however, the path to achieving this is not always clear. In Following the Path, internationally known lecturer and author of The Gift of Years Joan Chittister provides inspirational tips that reveal a new way to find passion, purpose, and joy. With an examination of spiritual calling, change, and fulfillment, this motivational spiritual guide will assist anyone in finding their path toward a life of purpose, and becoming their truest, best self. Image | HC | 978-0-307-95398-8 | 192pp. | $18.00/$21.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $9.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-307-95399-5 | $9.99/$10.99 Can. themes: Inspiration • Life Skills • Service

www.CommonReads.com

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tHE LittLE BooK oF tALEnt: 52 tips for improving Your Skills Website: www.TheTalentCode.com

By Daniel Coyle

The best-selling author of The Talent Code returns with a collection of smart, simple, field-tested tips for developing talent and improving skills. Inspired by his visit to Moscow’s Spartak Tennis Club, The Little Book of Talent provides sound advice for maximizing potential and making the most of time—and one’s talents and abilities. “The Little Book of Talent should be given to every graduate at commencement, every new parent in the delivery room, every executive on the first day of work. It is a guidebook . . . for nurturing excellence.” —Charles Duhigg, bestselling author of The Power of Habit Bantam | HC | 978-0-345-53025-7 | 160pp. | $18.00/$21.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $9.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-345-53669-3 | $9.99/$9.99 Can. themes: Life Skills • perseverance/personal Strength

tHE LEDGE: An inspirational Story of Friendship and Survival By Jim Davidson and Kevin Vaughan

Website: www.SpeakingofAdventure.com

On a summer day in 1992, best friends Jim Davidson and Mike Price stood together at the top of Mount Rainier, celebrating their arrival at its summit. But upon their descent, a snow bank collapsed, causing the men to plunge eighty feet into a glacial crevasse. Mike Price did not survive. Despite severe wounds, Davidson found the strength and the courage to climb an almost vertical ice wall and overcome his surroundings to avoid certain death. Told with the help of award-winning journalist Kevin Vaughan, this nationally bestselling adventure tale is a truly inspiring story of strength and survival. Ballantine | TR | 978-0-345-52320-4 | 304pp. | $16.00/$19.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-345-52321-1 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Inspiration • perseverance/personal Strength

Now in Paperback

BoBBY’S BooK By Emily Haas Davidson As a gang leader, drug dealer, and addict, Bobby Powers lost everything of value in his life: family, friends, and his own identity. After a moment of clarity about the dire state he was in, he set out on a path toward rehabilitation, recovery—and forgiveness. In Bobby’s Book, he shares— in his own words—his long and difficult journey of reformation, including his transformation into a nationally respected drug addiction counselor. His story, told with the help of Emily Davidson and accompanied by pictures from renowned photographer Bruce Davidson, is one of true hope and inspiration. Seven Stories Press | TR | 978-1-60980-448-0 | 176pp. | $21.00/$21.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $10.50 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-60980-449-7 | $21.00/$21.00 Can. themes: Inspiration • transition

RunninG WitH tHE KEnYAnS Passion, Adventure, and the Secrets of the Fastest People on Earth

Now in Paperback

Website: www.RunningWithKenyans.blogspot.com Author Video: http://tiny.cc/tfi4qw

By Adharanand Finn After years of watching Kenyan runners win the world’s biggest races, from the Olympics to the major international marathons, Runner’s World contributor Adharanand Finn set out to discover what it was that made them so fast. Packing up his family (and his running shoes), he moved from rural England to the small town of Iten, in Kenya, home to hundreds of the country’s best runners. Once there he laced up his shoes and set out on the dirt tracks, running side by side with Olympic champions, young hopefuls, and barefoot schoolchildren. “Equal parts cultural examination, cult-of-running treatise, and poignant memoir, Running with the Kenyans thrives on a variety of levels. Like the skilled distance runner he is, Finn paces this book marvelously and then saves the best for the final kick. This book packs all the pleasure and satisfaction—and none of the ancillary pain—of a long training run.” —L. Jon Wertheim, senior editor, Sports Illustrated, and co-author of the New York Times bestseller Scorecasting Ballantine | HC | 978-0-345-52879-7 | 288pp. | $26.00/NCR | Exam Copy: $13.00 Do not order paperback before 4/9/2013. Ballantine | TR | 978-0-345-52880-3 | 304pp. | $16.00/NCR | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-307-98973-4 | $20.00/NCR • e-Book: 978-0-345-53352-4 | $13.99/NCR themes: Inspiration • perseverance/personal Strength

inspiration and Guidance

INSpIratIoN aNd GuIdaNCe

tHE FREEDoM WRitERS DiARY How a teacher and 150 teens used Writing to Change themselves and the World Around them

Website: www.FreedomWritersFoundation.org

By The Freedom Writers With Erin Gruwell Straight from the front line of urban America, this is Erin Gruwell’s inspiring story of one fiercely determined teacher and her remarkable students. The “Freedom Writers” movement was born in 1994 from her simple notion: inspire young, underprivileged students to pick up pens instead of guns. Since then the Freedom Writers Foundation has evolved into a renowned charitable organization led by Gruwell, with the unwavering support of the original Freedom Writers. Selected for Common Reading at Austin Peay State University; Bloomsburg University; Indiana University Northwest; and Western New England College. Broadway | TR | 978-0-385-49422-9 | 336pp. | $14.99/$18.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 themes: Leadership & Motivation • Life Skills • Social Justice

Indiana University Northwest’s Reading Guide is available. Go to: http://tiny.cc/3ixbrw Also Available by The Freedom Writers and Erin Gruwell

tEACHinG HoPE Stories from the Freedom Writer teachers and Erin Gruwell Foreword by Anna Quindlen Broadway | TR | 978-0-7679-3172-4 | 384pp. | $14.99/$18.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-307-58921-7 | $13.99/$13.99 Can.

CHASinG PERFECt the Will to Win in Basketball and Life By Bob Hurley In Chasing Perfect, St. Anthony High School’s head coach Bob Hurley shares championship strategies he’s developed over forty seasons, helping his team win twenty-six state titles and four consensus championships despite the odds against them. The narrative focuses on each of St. Anthony’s seven undefeated seasons, with sketch profiles of the most memorable players and plays. Hurley also offers empowering insights to help coaches and players elevate their games, while empowering all students to walk a more purposeful path. Do not order before 3/19/2013. Crown Archetype | HC | 978-0-307-98687-0 | 336pp. | $26.00/$31.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $13.00 Also Available: e-Book | 978-0-307-98688-7 | $12.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Inspiration • perseverance/personal Strength

EnJoY EvERY SAnDWiCH Living Each Day as if it Were Your Last

Website: www.EnjoyEverySandwich.net

By Lee Lipsenthal, M.D. As medical director of the famed Preventive Medicine Research Institute, Lee Lipsenthal helped thousands of patients struggling with disease to overcome their fears of pain and death and to embrace a more joyful way of living. In his own life, happily married and the proud father of two remarkable children, Lee was similarly committed to living his life fully and gratefully each day. The power of those beliefs was tested in July 2009, when Lee was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. As Lee and his wife, Kathy, navigated his diagnosis, illness, and treatment, he discovered that he did not fear death, and that even as he was facing his own mortality, he felt more fully alive than ever before. In the bestselling tradition of Tuesdays with Morrie, told with humor and heart, and deeply inspiring, Enjoy Every Sandwich distills everything Lee learned about how to find meaning, purpose, and peace in life. Crown Archetype | HC | 978-0-307-95515-9 | 224pp. | $22.00/$25.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $11.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-307-96990-3 | $27.50/$31.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-307-95516-6 | $11.99/$12.99 Can. themes: ethics/decision Making • Life Skills

www.CommonReads.com

INSpIratIoN aNd GuIdaNCe

tHE BuDDHA WALKS into A BAR . . .

Website: www.LodroRinzler.com

A Guide to Life for a new Generation By Lodro Rinzler

Young meditation teacher and practitioner Lodro Rinzler presents an enjoyable, informative, and entertaining introduction to Buddhism for a new generation. Using everday language and examples to which readers can truly relate, he tenders guidance for anyone seeking spiritual awakening. The Buddha Walks Into a Bar offers wisdom without condescension, and instruction with humor and understanding. While young readers will gravitate toward Rinzler’s relatable, contemporary voice, anyone can benefit from this smart, approachable handbook. Shambhala | TR | 978-1-59030-937-7 | 208pp. | $14.95/$16.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 themes: Inspiration • transition

MAKE tHE iMPoSSiBLE PoSSiBLE one Man’s Crusade to inspire others to Dream Bigger and Achieve the Extraordinary

Website: www.Bill-Strickland.com To view the author’s talk at the 2010 First-Year Experience® Conference, go to: http://tiny.cc/2li4qw

By Bill Strickland With Vince Rause MacArthur Fellowship “genius” award winner Bill Strickland has spent the past thirty years transforming the lives of thousands of people through Manchester Bidwell, the jobs training center and community arts program he founded in Pittsburgh. Working with corporations, community leaders, and schools, he and his staff strive to give disadvantaged kids and adults the opportunities and tools they need to envision and build a better, brighter future. Make the Impossible Possible ultimately teaches us how to build on our passions and strengths, dream bigger and set the bar higher, achieve meaningful success, and inspire the lives of others. Selected for Common Reading at Frank Phillips College; Indiana University Pennsylvania; Juniata College; Kendall College; Mt. Union College; North Dakota State University; Penn State–New Kensington; Purdue University; University of New Haven; University of Southern Indiana; Voorhees College; Winthrop University; and others. Crown Business | TR | 978-0-385-52055-3 | 240pp. | $14.00/$17.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-7393-4163-6 | $29.95/$36.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-385-52424-7 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Leadership & Motivation • Service • Social Justice

LiFE WitHout LiMitS inspiration for a Ridiculously Good Life

Website: www.NickVujicic.com

By Nick Vujicic Life Without Limits is an inspiring book by an extraordinary man. Born without arms or legs, Nick Vujicic overcame his disability to live not just an independent, but a rich, fulfilling life, becoming a model for anyone seeking true happiness. Now an internationally successful motivational speaker, his central message is that the most important goal is to find one’s life’s purpose, despite whatever difficulties or seemingly impossible odds stand in the way. Doubleday Religion | HC | 978-0-307-58973-6 | 256pp. | $19.99/$22.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $10.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-307-74917-8 | $17.50/$19.50 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-307-58975-0 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: peer Group Skills • perseverance/personal Strength • Service

Also by Nick Vujicic

LiMitLESS Devotions for a Ridiculously Good Life Do not order before 4/13/2013. WaterBrook Press | HC | 978-0-307-73091-6 | 176pp. | $14.99/$17.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $7.50 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-307-73092-3 | $9.99/$9.99 Can.

unStoPPABLE the incredible Power of Faith in Action WaterBrook Press | HC | 978-0-307-73088-6 | 256pp. | $19.99/$23.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $10.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-449-01279-6 | $30.00/$35.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-307-73090-9 | $9.99/$9.99 Can.

inspiration and Guidance

BEHinD tHE BEAutiFuL FoREvERS Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai undercity By Katherine Boo

Website: www.BehindtheBeautifulForevers.com Author video: www.BehindtheBeautifulForevers.com/video

Winner of the 2012 national Book Award; Finalist, 2012 national Book Critics Circle Award; named one of the ten Best Books of the Year by the New York Times, The Washington Post, among others; and an ALA notable Book for 2012 n this brilliantly written, fast-paced book, based on three years of uncompromising reporting, a bewildering age of global change and inequality is made human. Annawadi is a makeshift settlement in the shadow of luxury hotels near the Mumbai airport, and as India starts to prosper, Annawadians are electric with hope. Abdul, a reflective and enterprising Muslim teenager, sees “a fortune beyond counting” in the recyclable garbage that richer people throw away. Asha, a woman of formidable wit and deep scars from a childhood in rural poverty, has identified an alternate route to the middle class: political corruption. With a little luck, her sensitive, beautiful daughter— Annawadi’s “most-everything girl”—will soon become its first female college graduate. And even the poorest Annawadians, like Kalu, a fifteen-year-old scrap-metal thief, believe themselves inching closer to the good lives and good times they call “the full enjoy.” But then Abdul the garbage sorter is falsely accused in a shocking tragedy; terror and a global recession rock the city; and suppressed tensions over religion, caste, sex, power, and economic envy turn brutal. As the tenderest individual hopes intersect with the greatest global truths, the true contours of a competitive age are revealed. And so, too, are the imaginations and courage of the people of Annawadi. With intelligence, humor, and deep insight into what connects human beings to one another in an era of tumultuous change, Behind the Beautiful Forevers carries the reader headlong into one of the twenty-first century’s hidden worlds, and into the lives of people impossible to forget.

Random House | HC | 978-1-4000-6755-8 | 288pp. $27.00/$33.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $13.50 Also available: e-Book: 978-0-679-64395-1 | $12.99/$14.99 Can.

ADOPTIOn nOTES: Selected for Common Reading: Michigan State University; Northeastern University; Skidmore College; and University of Delaware Disciplines: Journalism; Political Science; Sociology themes: Group Dynamics; Human Rights; Regional: India Campus visits: Discussion Guide Available: Alternative Formats:

“I couldn’t put Behind the Beautiful Forevers down even when I wanted to—when the misery, abuse and filth that Boo so elegantly and understatedly describes became almost overwhelming. Her book, situated in a slum on the edge of Mumbai’s international airport, is one of the most powerful indictments of economic inequality I’ve ever read.” —Barbara Ehrenreich “there is a lot to like about this book: the prodigious research that it is built on, distilled so expertly that we hardly notice how much we are being taught; the graceful and vivid prose that never calls attention to itself; and above all, the true and moving renderings of the people of the Mumbai slum called annawadi. Garbage pickers and petty thieves, victims of gruesome injustice—Ms. Boo draws us into their lives, and they do not let us go. this is a superb book.” —Tracy Kidder, author of Mountains Beyond Mountains and Strength in What Remains

katHerINe Boo is a staff writer at The New Yorker, and a former reporter and editor for The Washington Post. She is the winner of a MacArthur “genius” award, a National Magazine Award for Feature Writing, and the Pulitzer Prize. She has divided her time between the U.S. and India for 10 years. This is her first book.

www.CommonReads.com

©Helen Welvaart

About the Author: katherine boo

A Message from the Author As jobs and capital whip around the planet, college students will graduate into a world where economic instability and social inequality are increasing and geographic boundaries matter less and less. Unfortunately, globalization and social inequality remain two of the most over-theorized, under-reported issues of our age. My book is an intimate investigative account of how this volatile new reality affects the young people of an Indian slum called Annawadi. Like young people elsewhere, the Annawadians are trying to figure out their place in a world where temp jobs are becoming the norm, adaptability is everything, and bewildering change is the one abiding constant. Behind the Beautiful Forevers took me three hard years to report, and one thought that sustained me was that I had a unique opportunity to show American readers that the distance between themselves and, say, a teenaged boy in Mumbai who finds an entrepreneurial niche in other people’s garbage, is not nearly as great as they might think. In the two decades I’ve spent writing about poverty and how people get out of it, I’ve come to believe, viscerally, that there are deep connections among individuals that transcend specificities of geography, culture, religion, or class. The problem is that, in a time of high walls and security gates, it’s getting harder for people of means to grasp the struggles of less privileged people. Behind one such high wall, near the increasingly glamorous Mumbai airport, a sensitive girl is studying Othello in a makeshift hut by a vast sewage lake and dreading an arranged marriage that might send her to a rural village. A convention-defying disabled woman is longing to be acknowledged as a valid human being. A smart teenaged boy named Mirchi is resisting the garbage-recycling work that is his family trade. Instead he dreams of being a waiter at a fancy hotel, sticking toothpicks into cubes of cheese. “Watch me,” he snaps at his mother one day. “I’ll have a bathroom as big as this hut!” Over the course of time, as Mirchi and the other residents of the slum apply their imaginations to overcoming corruption and injustice and making better lives for themselves, the broader contours of the market-global age are gradually revealed. Although I’m elated when readers join me in thinking about how to build a fairer world for people, I don’t consider didactic lectures an effective way to engage people—particularly young people—in questions about fairness and justice. Nor do I think young people want mawkishly sentimental or sensationalized nonfiction. Stereotypes put them off, and they know when they’re being manipulated. What they want, in my experience, is good, concrete information from which they can work out what they think for themselves. With a combination of extensive observation and documents-based reporting, I try to pull the reader in close to the lives and dilemmas of the poor while unfolding a story that is powerful and honest enough to keep readers turning the pages. By the last page, I’d like to believe that some young readers will also find themselves wrestling with essential questions of our time: about how opportunity is distributed across the world; about what an individual should be willing to give up to get ahead; about the interconnections between, say, the collapse of investment banks in Manhattan and the price Mumbai waste-pickers receive for their empty plastic water bottles; about whether it is possible to be good and moral in a society that is not good and moral; and about the ultimate value of a human life. Katherine Boo

History and Society

QuiEt the Power of introverts in a World that Can’t Stop talking

Website: www.thePowerofintroverts.com Author video: http://tiny.cc/qpi4qw

By Susan Cain An ALA notable Book for 2012 named a “Best Book of 2012” by Kirkus Reviews and Library Journal

A Now in Paperback

Broadway | TR | 978-0-307-35215-6 | 368pp. $16.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: Audio: 978-0-7393-4124-7 | $40.00/$46.00 Can. e-Book: 978-0-307-45220-7 | $12.99/$14.99 Can.

ADOPTIOn nOTES: Selected for Common Reading: Case Western University Disciplines: Business; College Success Studies; Education; Psychology & Counseling; Sociology themes: Communication; Discovering Diﬀerences; Inclusion; Success Campus visits: Discussion Guide Available: Alternative Formats:

t least one-third of the people we encounter are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking, reading to partying; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over brainstorming in teams. Although they are often labeled “quiet,” it is to introverts we owe many of the great contributions to society—from Van Gogh’s Sunflowers to the invention of the personal computer. Passionately argued, impressively researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet shows how dramatically we undervalue introverts, and how much we lose in doing so. Susan Cain charts the rise of the Extrovert Ideal over the twentieth century and explores its far-reaching effects—how it influences everything from how parishioners worship to who excels at Harvard Business School. And she draws on cutting-edge research on the biology and psychology of temperament to reveal how introverts can modulate their personalities according to circumstance, how to empower an introverted child, and how companies can harness the natural talents of introverts. This extraordinary book has the power to permanently change how we see introverts, and, equally important, how they see themselves. “Cain’s intelligence, respect for research, and vibrant prose put Quiet in an elite class with the best books from Malcolm Gladwell, daniel pink, and other masters of psychological non-fiction.” —Teresa Amabile, Professor, Harvard Business School “Susan Cain’s Quiet is superb. Based on meticulous research, it is a compelling reflection on how the extrovert Ideal shapes our lives and why this is deeply unsettling. It will open up a new and different conversation on how the personal is political.” —Brian R. Little, Ph.D., Distinguished Scholar, Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Cambridge University “the talk Susan Cain gave at our school was the best that I have heard in my fifteen years as dean of two leading business schools. She also drew a record number of attendees. I have used Quiet in all the classes I teach, and one year, in my graduation remarks as well. It is also frequently referenced by nearly all the members of our administrative team.” —Mark Zupan, Dean of Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester

About the Author: Susan Cain SuSaN CaIN is a writer whose articles on introversion and shyness have appeared in the New York Times; The Atlantic; on Time.com; and on PsychologyToday.com. Her 2012 TED talk has been viewed more than three million times. Cain graduated with honors from Princeton University and Harvard Law School. For Cain’s TED talk, go to: tiny.cc/qpi4qw.

www.CommonReads.com

A Message from the Author I first thought about the powers and challenges of introversion some twenty-six years ago, when I began my freshman year at Princeton University. From the minute I set foot on campus, I saw that college could be an extraordinary place for introverts and extroverts alike. A place where you were expected to spend your time reading and writing. A place where it was cool to talk about ideas. A place where you could create your own brand of social life. If you were an introvert, you could find friends with common interests and enjoy their company one-on-one or in small groups; if you were an extrovert, the social possibilities were endless, just the way extroverts like them. I was an introvert, and I thrived. Not that it was always easy. At Princeton, as on many campuses, many social and academic structures seemed designed for extroverts. I wondered why the cafeteria was arranged so that the large circular tables, where the most gregarious students sat, were located near the sunny windows, while the booths for quieter chats were off in the shadowy margins of the room. I wondered whether any of my classmates longed to munch on a sandwich behind a newspaper as I did, instead of being expected to participate in a social free-for-all three times a day. I learned to participate in Princeton’s excellent seminars, but privately I preferred lectures where you could soak up knowledge and think your own thoughts instead of having to perform them out loud. Today, after interviewing hundreds of current and former college students, I know I wasn’t the only one who felt this way. Not by a long shot. Did you know that one-third to one-half of the population is introverted? That’s one out of every two or three students on campus. But most schools, workplaces, and religious institutions are organized with extroverts in mind—even though many of the achievements that have propelled society, from the theory of evolution to The Cat in the Hat, came from people who were quiet, cerebral, and sensitive. Even in less obviously introverted occupations, like finance, politics, and activism, some of the greatest leaps forward were made by introverts: Eleanor Roosevelt. Al Gore. Warren Buffett. Gandhi. This is no coincidence. There are specific physiological and psychological advantages to being an introvert and I’ll share them with your students through the lens of my book, Quiet. I’ll tell your students how we can all learn from the introverts among us, including how to be more creative, think more carefully, love more gently, and organize our schools and workplaces more productively. Quiet also challenges contemporary myths of human nature, including the belief that creativity is fundamentally collaborative, and our preference for charismatic leaders. But Quiet offers insights and advice for extroverts too, and it gives all students the license to talk about a social dynamic they’ve been living and breathing but have never given voice to. Introversion/extroversion is as fundamental a difference between people as gender, yet until now we’ve lacked the vocabulary—and the cultural permission—to talk about it. I’ve never presented the ideas in Quiet without getting people buzzing about whether they and their friends are introverts or extroverts, and what that means for their relationships, career choices, and life paths. Quiet is sure to spark animated discussions across campus, from the psychology and social-science classroom to the dorm room and dining hall.

©George Wang

I look forward to continuing these discussions around campuses nationwide, as part of your Freshman Experience Programs. Please contact me through my blog, ThePowerofIntroverts.com, to discuss opportunities. Susan Cain with university of waterloo students.

Susan Cain

History and Society

tHE SPRinGS oF nAMJE A ten-Year Journey from the villages of nepal to the Halls of Congress

Website: www.RajeevGoyal.com

By Rajeev Goyal

Beacon Press | HC | 978-0-8070-0175-2 | 232pp. $24.95/$28.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $12.50 Also available: e-Book: 978-0-8070-0176-9 | $24.95/$28.95 Can.

ADOPTIOn nOTES: Disciplines: Environmental Studies; Political Science themes: Global Citizenship; Human Rights; Service Campus visits: Alternative Formats:

n 2001, Peace Corps volunteer Rajeev Goyal was sent to Namje, a remote village in the eastern hills of Nepal. Brimming with idealism, he expected to find people living in conditions of misery and suffering; instead, he discovered a village full of happy, compassionate people. After organizing the villagers to build a water-pumping system in the midst of the dangerous Maoist war that had gripped the country, Goyal learned how complex rural development truly is. He also witnessed how the seemingly lowliest villager can hold profound power to influence not only his or her own village, but also the highest rungs of government. Years after this experience, Goyal applied the lessons he learned in Namje to his work on Capitol Hill. Approaching Congress as if it were a Nepalese caste system, Goyal led a grassroots campaign to double the size of the Peace Corps. His unique approach to advocacy included strategically positioning himself outside the men’s room of the Capitol building, waiting for lawmakers to walk out. As a result of his determined bird-dogging, Goyal managed to make allies of more than a hundred members of Congress and in the process, he ruffled the feathers of some of the most powerful figures in Washington. But due to his efforts, the Peace Corps was granted a $60 million increase in funding, the largest dollaramount increase in the organization’s history. On this path to victory Goyal endured a number of missteps along the way, and, as he reveals, his idealism at times faded into fear, anger, and frustration. In this honest and inspirational account of his life as an activist, Goyal offers daring ideas for how the Peace Corps and other organizations can be even more relevant to our rapidly changing world. He urges environmentalists, educators, farmers, artists, and designers to come together and contribute their talents. Filled with history, international politics, personal anecdotes, and colorful characters, The Springs of Namje is a unique and inspiring book about the power of small change.

“The Springs of Namje tells many stories, including, very movingly, how to try and effect real change in washington d.C.—it’s about idealism and savvy, and it shows how they can mix powerfully.” —Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet

raJeev GoYaL, a graduate of Brown University and the New York University School of Law, is a lawyer, activist, rural-development worker, and former Peace Corp volunteer. Since 2008, he has served as the national coordinator for the Push for Peace Corps Campaign. He leads environmental and sustainable agriculture initiatives in eastern Nepal through www.LearningGrounds.org.

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©Priyash Bista

About the Author: Rajeev Goyal

A Message from the Author I almost didn’t write this book. I didn’t want to write another hero story about someone privileged from the first world saving people in the third world, and I worried that the very act of writing a book about my experiences in Nepal would contribute to the idea I so desperately wanted to refute: that rural villages lack the agency, political savvy, and resources to shape their own futures. But in March of 2011, when I started writing The Springs of Namje, I realized that my book was a celebration of this extraordinary little village in Nepal, Namje, which was at least indirectly responsible for the Peace Corps gaining a $60 million increase in funding in 2010 (the largest in the agency’s fifty-year history). The story was about the incredible villagers, and especially a carpenter with a ninth-grade education, who, despite a Maoist war ravaging the countryside, built a pumping system that solved a decades-old water crisis. There were no engineers in the village and no one had built such a system in the entire eastern region of the country. I realized my own story as a naive Peace Corps volunteer was an anti-hero story, one wrought with painful lessons about rural development and village politics. I also found myself writing a foil to books like Three Cups of Tea, which, at least in my view, depict rural development in overly simplistic, top-down terms. This is why I wrote candidly about my own experience building schools and how sometimes good intentions do not necessarily translate into positive results. As Dambisa Moyo has pointed out in Dead Aid, an honest discussion about the purpose and efficacy of international aid is lacking. Fifty years after its founding, does the Peace Corps still matter? What kinds of aid programs should governments, foundations, and NGOs be supporting? I examine these questions in Part III of The Springs of Namje, which is more prescriptive. I contend that communities need novel bottom-up demonstrations of sustainable development bringing together agriculturalists, artists, environmentalists, designers, policy makers, and educators. I write about how the multifaceted problems I discovered in Namje, namely degradation of natural habitats and loss of agricultural land, can only be solved through integrated approaches. I’ve told the inspiring story of the Namje water project probably more than two or three hundred times, usually in front of live audiences, to raise more than $350,000 for village projects. But writing it out made me see that the unadulterated passion and idealism I discovered in the Peace Corps was something the world needs far more of. What this book will communicate to students is the idea that one person can make a huge difference and that the world is a lot more moldable than we commonly think. Over and over again, whether it was in the hills of Namje or the halls of Washington, I was reminded of something I once read in the I’Ching: “The mountain rests on the earth.” With The Springs of Namje, I wanted to tell young people that this incredible opportunity to join the Peace Corps is still out there. However, I wrote in detail about a hard-nosed campaign I led in Washington to make the point that service learning programs we take for granted like Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Teach for America, and Fulbright are greatly under threat and that they can disappear at any moment if there is no grassroots constituency to keep them alive and thriving. Rajeev Goyal

History and Society

THE PATH TO HOPE By Stéphane Hessel and Edgar Morin Translated by Antony Shugaar

short, incisive political tract that criticizes the culture of finance capitalism and calls for a return to the

humanist values of the Enlightenment: equality, liberty, freedom as defined in the Declaration of the Rights of Man, a return to community, mutual respect, freedom from poverty, and an end to theocracy and fundamentalism. The authors argue that a return to these values constitutes “a path to hope,” leading the way out of the present worldwide malaise brought on by economic collapse, moral failure, and an ignorance of history. For the authors, twentieth-century fascism was no mere abstraction—it was a brutal system brought on by a similar malaise, a system they fought against.

Other Press | HC | 978-1-59051-560-0 | 112pp. $8.00/$10.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $4.00 Also available: e-Book: 978-1-59051-561-7 | $5.99/$5.99 Can.

The Path to Hope is written by two esteemed French thinkers—94-year-old Stéphane Hessel and 90-year-old Edgar Morin, following on the heels of Hessel’s Indignez-vous! (Time for Outrage!). Both books have

Adoption notes: Disciplines: Philosophy; Political Science Themes: Global Citizenship; Human Rights; Leadership & Motivation

become bestsellers in France and throughout Europe. Both have also become foundational documents underpinning the worldwide protest movement, of which Occupy Wall Street is the American subset.

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About the Authors: stéphane Hessel and edgar Morin Stéphane heSSel was a member of the French Resistance during World War II, a concentration camp survivor, a diplomat, and editor of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. His book Indignez-vous! has sold 3,500,000 copies. edgar Morin is a renowned French philosopher and sociologist who fought in the French Resistance.

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A Message from Jeff Madrick, senior fellow of the Roosevelt Institute and author of Age of Greed I do not necessarily believe in pluralism for its own sake. It always makes sense for students to understand opposing viewpoints, of course. But reading the many opposing views on key intellectual issues is not always an adequate path to knowledge. Should young students be required to read the works in support of creationism, for example, to understand the pros and cons of evolutionary theory? Or all the efforts to undermine global warming theories? At some point, one has to separate the theories that move beyond superstition, that are grounded in adequate deductive thought, and that are based on available empirical knowledge from those that do not and are not. The social sciences clothe themselves in the virtues of being grounded in deductive thought and empirical knowledge, of course, and that is the problem. How can students broaden their perspectives constructively? Economics in most academic institutions has become especially uniform, if also well-disguised in scientific methodology, and has failed in so many ways that a search for broader views about economic life and how it affects social life, aspirations, true freedom, and for many outright survival, is necessary for college students. The Path to Hope is one of those educated and passionate alternatives to prevailing economic thought, and one of such sweep and urgency that I believe it is extremely useful for students to read it. I would recommend a glance at my own foreword to the book by the eminent ninety-somethings whose experience of modern society began with the French Resistance during World War II. In essence, Stephane Hessel and Edgar Morin are calling for a new communitarianism. They are also saying traditional economics has failed. How do they justify the claim? As I write in the foreword, they implicitly say just look around you: extreme poverty and inequality, ever more power to the wealthy, advanced economies brought down by dubious financial speculation, and all the tensions that poor economic performance conjure up, including rising ethnic bigotry. Isn’t such bigotry also behind the euro crisis? Look at the slurs that the Greeks have been subjected to. It won’t take long to read Path to Hope, but it will inspire us all. It will open vistas for young people too entrenched in the narrow and often self-serving conventional wisdom of today’s media and the shallow values of much of today’s popular entertainment. Above all, it should lead to more reading—of history, political philosophy, good fiction, and, let us hope, unorthodox social scientists like Hessel and Morin. Jeff Madrick

History and Society

FULL BODY BURDEN Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats By Kristen Iversen

Website: www.KristenIversen.com Author Interview: http://tiny.cc/pp4wqw Author Video: http://tiny.cc/5nhbrw

An ALA Notable Book for 2012 Named one of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Nonfiction Books of 2012 Named one of The Atlantic’s Best Books about Justice in 2012 ull Body Burden is a haunting work of narrative nonfiction about a young woman, Kristen Iversen, growing up in a small Colorado town close to Rocky Flats, a secret nuclear weapons plant once designated “the most contaminated site in America.” It’s the story of growing up in the shadow of the Cold War, in a landscape at once startlingly beautiful and—unknown to those who lived there— tainted with invisible yet deadly particles of plutonium. It’s also a book about the destructive power of secrets—both family and government. Her father’s hidden liquor bottles, the strange cancers in children in the neighborhood, the truth about what they made at Rocky Flats—best not to inquire too deeply into any of it. But as Iversen grew older, she began to ask questions. And as this memoir unfolds, it also reveals itself as a brilliant work of investigative journalism—a shocking account of the government’s sustained attempt to conceal the effects of the toxic and radioactive waste released by Rocky Flats, and of local residents’ vain attempts to seek justice in court.

Crown | HC | 978-0-307-95563-0 | 416pp. $25.00/$29.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $12.50 Do not order paperback before 6/4/2013. Broadway | TR | 978-0-307-95565-4 | 416pp. $15.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: Audio: 978-0-449-00966-6 | $45.00/$52.00 Can. e-Book: 978-0-307-95564-7 | $12.99/$15.99 Can.

Adoption notes: Selected for Common Reading: Fort Lewis College; Virginia Commonwealth University Disciplines: Environmental Studies; Sociology Themes: Coming of Age; Environment; Regional: Colorado; Science & Society Campus Visits: Alternative Formats:

“Full Body Burden is a page-turner, a beautifully lucid intertwining of memoir and careful research. Who knew that the way that america waged the Cold War would produce such severe domestic casualties: the corruption of our own government and the radioactive poisoning of so many of our own citizens? Full Body Burden is a courageous life work.” —Hank Lazer, Professor of English, University of Alabama “Full Body Burden reads like a mystery thriller.Yet its stark reality makes it all the more frightening because of secrets within and outside the home: alcoholism, nuclear fallout, mysterious illnesses. iversen’s nimble prose and smart structure creates a powerful memoir. this is a must read for journalism, creative writing, and ecocritical students.” —Amelia María de la Luz Montes, associate professor of English, University of Nebraska-Lincoln “dazzles with its literary versatility and astounds with its revelations about the nexus of greed, fear, and indifference that created, and continue to create, a culture of silence surrounding rocky Flats. painstakingly researched for over ten years— but arguably a lifetime in the making—Full Body Burden subverts expectations of genre by combining elements of memoir, journalism, physics, environmentalism, history, social activism, and politics—all artfully fused in iversen’s fluid and beautiful prose. With potential appeal to so many varied disciplines, this book is an ideal text for Freshman Year experience or one Book programs. readers are sure to be informed, outraged, moved.” —Joshua McKinney, Professor of English, CSU Sacramento

KriSten iVerSen grew up in Arvada, Colorado and received a Ph.D. in English from the University of Denver. She is Director of the MFA program in creative writing at the University of Memphis and also Editor-in-Chief of The Pinch, an award-winning literary journal. She is also the author of Molly Brown: Unraveling the Myth, winner of the Colorado Book Award for Biography and the Barbara Sudler Award for Nonfiction. Iversen has two sons and currently lives in Memphis.

www.CommonReads.com

©Jay Adkins

About the Author: Kristen iversen

A Message from the Author I grew up in Arvada, Colorado, just a few miles from the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant, which secretly produced more than seventy thousand plutonium triggers for bombs. Of course, I didn’t know about plutonium then. I didn’t know that a single microgram—a dot on the head of a pin, a flea in a cathedral—is considered a potentially lethal dose. Our house was next to a lake, with a backdrop of the Rocky Mountains. My siblings and I played in the backyard, swam in the lake, and rode our horses in the fields around the plant. No one knew the land had been seriously contaminated, and none of us understood what was happening at the factory down the road. Cold War secrecy was the rule. For decades, Rocky Flats had been releasing toxic and radioactive elements into the air, water, and soil, but it had been covered up. The government, Dow Chemical, and later Rockwell International, one of the nation’s largest industrial corporations, assured Coloradans that Rocky Flats was safe, despite constant leaks and fires. There were strange childhood cancers and livestock deformities in my neighborhood, and we all wondered if it was related to what went on at the plant. But no one talked openly about Rocky Flats. In 1995, when I was a single parent with two young sons, working my way through graduate school, I went to work at Rocky Flats. Many of the kids I grew up with had ended up working there because the pay and benefits were so good. I needed the job, and I was keen to learn what actually happened at the plant. The weekly reports that I typed as part of my job described problems with toxic and radioactive waste storage, leaking drums, fires, and other environmental problems. I learned strange acronyms like MUF, meaning “material unaccounted for,,” a bland way of saying that thousands of pounds of plutonium had been lost. I became familiar with the history and problems of the plant, including some of the details of the 1989 FBI raid after which plutonium operations ceased, and I felt stunned by what I had not known all those years— and what the public did not know. The day I learned that I was literally working next to 14.2 metric tons of plutonium—much of it unsafely stored—was the day I knew I had to quit, and that someday I would write a book about Rocky Flats. More than ten years of research went into the writing of Full Body Burden. I read hundreds of pages of documentation; conducted extensive interviews; pored over newspaper articles, photographs, and previously classified information; and reconnected with many of the people I grew up with. Some of the people I interviewed suffered from illnesses that were likely the result of exposure to toxic substances; several have died within the last year or two. And yet, with a half-life of 24,000 years, plutonium on and near the Rocky Flats site will persist long after we—and our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren, and the many generations beyond—are gone. Kristen Iversen

History and Society

THE NIGHT WANDERERS Uganda’s Children and the Lord’s Resistance Army By Wojciech Jagielski Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones

Shortlisted for the Nike Prize

n an average night in northern Uganda, tens of thousands of children head for the city centers to avoid capture by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). They find refuge on the floors of aid agencies or in the streets. In recent years, the civil society was almost completely destroyed by the LRA, itself made up almost entirely of kidnapped children. Piecing together what has been broken is proving to be a nearly impossible task. Polish journalist Wojciech Jagielski inserts himself into this hellish landscape and finds a way to speak of these children and their wounded world. In The Night Wanderers, Jagielski shows his readers the horror of children who have been abducted from their homes and forced to kill their own family members; children who, even after they have escaped the LRA, carry the weight of their own acts of murder on their young shoulders. Jagielski portrays Uganda through their eyes as well as his own.

Seven Stories Press | TR | 978-1-60980-350-6 | 288pp. $18.95/$18.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: e-Book: 978-1-60980-361-2 | $18.95/$18.95 Can.

Adoption notes: Disciplines: History; Peace Studies; Political Science Themes: Human Rights; Regional: Uganda; Social Justice

Carrying on the rich tradition of Ryszard Kapuściński, Jagielski digs himself deep into the Ugandan landscape and emerges with a compassionate, incisive, painful, magisterial account of a world that is just starting to pull itself out of the horrors of war. The original Polish edition of The Night Wanderers is shortlisted for the Nike Prize, considered to be the most prestigious literary award in Poland.

“Wojciech Jagielski’s Night Wanderers in not only a bitter story about a forgotten civil war in Uganda, but it is also a literary masterpiece, a reportage in every sense of the word.” —Wiadomosci24 (Poland)

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WoJCieCh JagielSKi has been a reporter at Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland’s first and biggest independent daily, where he specializes in Africa, Central Asia, the Trans-Caucasus, and the Caucasus. Jagielski is the recipient of the Dariusz Fikus Award and the Letterature dal Fronte Award (Italy) for his book Towers of Stone: The Battle of Wills in Chechnya, which Seven Stories published in English in 2009. In 2010, Jagielski decided to devote himself full-time to writing books. He is arguably Poland’s best known contemporary nonfiction writer.

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©Mikolaj Dlugosz

About the Author: Wojciech Jagielski

A Message from the Author

My book started with my long fascination with Uganda, one that led me to visit that country on several occasions and to think a lot about its recent history. The reign of Idi Amin and then the bloody civil wars destroying the country afterwards became, in my mind, the symbol of the “Heart of Darkness” of our time, where one can observe, or maybe even understand, the essence of evil that under certain circumstances becomes a part of human nature. Initially, my idea was to tell the story of the child soldiers of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a macabre rebel group commanded by Joseph Kony, a person who, by his own description, was possessed by ghosts. I always perceived him more as a leader of some gloomy religious sect than a guerilla leader. My last two research journeys, dedicated exclusively to interviewing child soldiers, made me realize how hard it is to communicate with them. All the more difficult, then, to attempt to understand their life experiences. Night Wanderers tells a story about Uganda and how its ghosts are interfering in the lives of people, about children forced to play adults, and adults seeing children as their worst threat, as monsters bringing death and pain. It tells a story about the limits of our understanding when it comes to learning about a world far different from the one we know. As adults who are still fairly young—who are relatively free of the heavy experiences of past decades, who don’t yet know the measure of evil or the depths of human tragedy, who enter a world of extreme ideologies, in many cases ones that may seem totally alien—my hope is that this book can help students to understand the ways in which this foreign-seeming world is only apparently remote. I hope the book will help them understand many different kinds of occurrences, including ones for which 9/11 was a warning sign. Maybe by seeing children as murderers as well as victims students will be more willing to reflect on the complexity of human nature. I wanted to show the dangers of easy categorization, of condemning certain people as criminals, and also how difficult the path to becoming human again can be for such people. Finally, Night Wanderers is my search for hope and humanity for all participants in the drama that is Africa today. I want the book to serve as a warning against indifference toward evil in the world, especially the evil that takes place out of our sight. The evil might be closer than we think. Wojciech Jagielski

History and Society

Spotlight on: Jonathan Kozol Jonathan KoZol is the National Book Award–winning author of Savage Inequalities, Death at an Early Age, The Shame of the Nation, and Amazing Grace. He has been working with children in inner-city schools for nearly fifty years.

FIRE IN THE ASHES Twenty-Five Years Among the Poorest Children in America

Website: www.JonathanKozol.com For more books by Jonathan Kozol, go to: http://tiny.cc/zp5kkw

ire in the Ashes is the culmination of the decades that teacher and author Jonathan Kozol (Amazing Grace, Savage Inequalities) has spent studying and interacting with a group of low-income children, who have come of age in one of the poorest communities in the nation, and who are now well on their way to adulthood. Some of them have not been able to overcome the incredibly high odds stacked against them; others have managed to achieve victories and successes that offer a glimmer of hope not only for these individuals, but also for our society as a whole.

“an engaging look at the broader social implications of ignoring poverty as well as a very personal look at individuals struggling to overcome it.” —Booklist (starred) Crown | HC | 978-1-4000-5246-2 | 368pp. | $27.00/$32.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $13.50 Also available: Audio: 978-0-449-01259-8 | $40.00/$46.00 Can. e-Book: 978-0-7704-3595-0 | $13.99/$15.99/Can. themes: Coming of age • perseverance/personal Strength • Social Justice discipline: Sociology

Also available by Jonathan Kozol

AMAZING GRACE

ORDINARY RESURRECTIONS

SAVAGE INEQUALITIES

The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation

Children in the Years of Hope

Children in America’s Schools

www.CommonReads.com

A Message from the Author Over the past five years, I’ve returned to the New York neighborhood in which I met the children whom I first described in Savage Inequalities, Amazing Grace, and other books I published in the 1990s. The neighborhood is called Mott Haven. It’s the poorest section in all of the South Bronx, which is the poorest Congressional district in America. I wanted to answer the questions many readers ask: What happened to these children? How many were unable to prevail against the obstacles they faced? How many have survived? And, among the ones who did survive, what were the ingredients of character—and what were the opportunities provided by their schools—that made it possible for them to win some glorious and unexpected victories? Not surprisingly, easy access to good books—and, more to the point, a plentitude of books to satisfy the curiosities and stir the latent interests of the very wide variety of children that I met—turned out to be decisive. And this, of course, is where libraries come in. In my new book, Fire in the Ashes, I catch up with all those kids, many of whom I came to know when they were only six or eight years old. They talked to me about the struggles they went through, which were often hardest in their adolescent years. Most are in their twenties now. As they look back on their formative years, they speak repeatedly of books that first awakened their appetite for reading—by which I mean real books, books that children read for pleasure, as opposed to the mind-dulling textbooks and those dreadful pit-pat phonics books, “aligned,” as the experts compulsively remind us, with state examinations. Most of the kids found those books immaculately boring. No matter their level of education, the most successful of these children had, I think, much better taste than those adults who set the rigid standards that have been imposed upon our public schools (and with the most severity, upon our inner-city schools)—standards that require emotionless and robotic modes of learning but don’t open children’s minds to our culture’s treasures. These kids instinctively rebelled against the narrow test-prep regimen that, even before No Child Left Behind, had started crowding out a love of learning for its own sake. Few of them did well on state-imposed exams, but many read voraciously, and became proficient writers as a consequence; the books they loved, however, weren’t the ones mandated by the number crunchers who were caught up in the labyrinth of the testing mania. This is my answer: No matter what the economic ups and downs may be at any given moment, public school libraries in destitute communities need not just sufficient but extravagant funding. If there’s a single thing our state and federal governments could do to stir up a love of learning in our poorest children, it would be to take a good big chunk of the massive sum of money that’s now being wasted on the testing industry and use it, instead, to flood our students’ lives with the joys and mysteries of authentic culture— and not only Western culture but, in the case of, for instance, Hispanic children, their culture, too. “Well, of course,” the bureaucrats will say (they’ve said this of me many times before), “Jonathan’s a dreamer. He thinks that poor kids ought to get what the sons of presidents and daughters of important business leaders get when they go to private schools like Andover and Exeter. He thinks that inner-city kids deserve that kind of money. He thinks they’ll dig into those books and be excited by the opportunity to read them.” It’s true. That’s exactly what I feel. I don’t think this nation plans to give that kind of opportunity to more than a handful of the children of poor people at any time in the near future. It would take a sweeping change of attitude about potential, and too easily unobserved precocity, among the children who are viewed today as outcasts of American society. It’s just a dream, and I frankly doubt that I will see it realized in my lifetime. Still, I like to fantasize that someday we will turn that dream into reality. Jonathan Kozol This article, condensed from the original article, is reproduced, with permission from School Library Journal © Copyright 2012 Library Journals LLC a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. the entire article can be found at: http://tiny.cc/bt7kkw

History and Society

IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin

Website: www.ErikLarsonBooks.com

By Erik Larson A New York Times Notable Book

n 1933 William E. Dodd, a mild-mannered history professor from Chicago, was chosen by Roosevelt to be the U.S.’s first ambassador to Nazi Germany. At first he and his family are entranced by the “New Germany,” and Dodd’s daughter Martha has several affairs, including with the first chief of the Gestapo, Rudolf Diels. But as evidence of Jewish persecution mounts, her father telegraphs his concerns to a largely indifferent State Department back home. Dodd watches with alarm as Jews are attacked, the press is censored, and drafts of frightening new laws begin to circulate. The Dodds’ experience of excitement and romance morphs into horror when a climactic spasm of violence and murder reveals Hitler’s true character and ruthless ambition. Suffused with the tense atmosphere of the period, In the Garden of Beasts lends a stunning, eyewitness view of events as they unfold in real time, revealing what it was like for those living there, without the perspective of history neatly delineating their judgments. The result is a compelling tale that explores why the world did not recognize the grave threat posed by Hitler until Berlin, and Europe, were awash in blood and terror.

Broadway | TR | 978-0-307-40885-3 | 480pp. $16.00/$19.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: Audio: 978-0-307-91457-6 | $45.00/$51.00 Can. e-Book: 978-0-307-88795-5 | $11.99/$13.99 Can.

Adoption notes:

“larson captivated our community when he came here to speak about his book, the creative process, and how to weave history and fiction into one brilliant and bone-chilling masterpiece. he answered the many questions our students had about his work, and provided them with valuable and insightful information into the writing process.” —Sanford J. Ungar, President, Goucher College “By far his best and most enthralling work of novelistic history. . . . powerful, poignant . . . a transportingly true story.” —The New York Times

Campus Visits:

“larson has meticulously researched the dodds’ intimate witness to hitler’s ascendancy and created an edifying narrative of this historical byway that has all the pleasures of a political thriller . . . a fresh picture of these terrible events.” —The New York Times Book Review Also by Erik Larson

Discussion Guide Available:

Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America

Disciplines: History; Literature Themes: Ethics; Genocide; Perseverance/Personal Strength

THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY Finalist, National Book Awards

Alternative Formats:

Vintage | TR | 978-0-375-72560-9 | 464pp. | $15.95/$17.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00

THUNDERSTRUCK Broadway | TR | 978-1-4000-8067-0 | 480pp. |$16.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00

About the Author: erik Larson eriK larSon is the bestselling author of Isaac’s Storm, Thunderstruck, and The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, which won the 2004 Edgar Award in the Best Fact Crime category and was a finalist for the National Book Award. He is a former writer for The Wall Street Journal and Time magazine. Larson has taught nonfiction writing at San Francisco State, the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, and the University of Oregon. He lives in Seattle.

www.CommonReads.com

Excerpt from in the Garden of Beasts Once, at the dawn of a very dark time, an American father and daughter found themselves suddenly transported from their snug home in Chicago to the heart of Hitler’s Berlin. They remained there for four and a half years, but it is their first year that is the subject of the story to follow, for it coincided with Hitler’s ascent from chancellor to absolute tyrant, when everything hung in the balance and nothing was certain. That first year formed a kind of prologue in which all the themes of the greater epic of war and murder soon to come were laid down. I have always wondered what it would have been like for an outsider to have witnessed firsthand the gathering dark of Hitler’s rule. How did the city look, what did one hear, see, and smell, and how did diplomats and other visitors interpret the events occurring around them? Hindsight tells us that during that fragile time the course of history could so easily have changed. Why, then, did no one change it? Why did it take so long to recognize the real danger posed by Hitler and his regime? Like most people, I acquired my initial sense of the era from books and photographs that left me with the impression that the world of then had no color, only gradients of gray and black. My two main protagonists, however, encountered the flesh-and-blood reality, while also managing the routine obligations of daily life. Every morning they moved through a city hung with immense banners of red, white, and black; they sat at the same outdoor cafés as did the lean, black-suited members of Hitler’s SS, and now and then they caught sight of Hitler himself, a smallish man in a large, open Mercedes. But they also walked each day past homes with balconies lush with red geraniums; they shopped in the city’s vast department stores, held tea parties, and breathed deep the spring fragrances of the Tiergarten, Berlin’s main park. They knew Goebbels and Göring as social acquaintances with whom they dined, danced, and joked—until, as their first year reached its end, an event occurred that proved to be one of the most significant in revealing the true character of Hitler and that laid the keystone for the decade to come. For both father and daughter it changed everything. This is a work of nonfiction. As always, any material between quotation marks comes from a letter, diary, memoir, or other historical document. I made no effort in these pages to write another grand history of the age. My objective was more intimate: to reveal that past world through the experience and perceptions of my two primary subjects, father and daughter, who upon arrival in Berlin embarked on a journey of discovery, transformation, and, ultimately, deepest heartbreak. There are no heroes here, at least not of the Schindler’s List variety, but there are glimmers of heroism and people who behave with unexpected grace. Always there is nuance, albeit sometimes of a disturbing nature. That’s the trouble with nonfiction. One has to put aside what we all know—now—to be true, and try instead to accompany my two innocents through the world as they experienced it. These were complicated people moving through a complicated time, before the monsters declared their true nature. Excerpted from In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson, copyright © 2011 by Erik Larson. Originally published in hardcover by Crown Publishers in 2011 and subsequently in trade paperback by Broadway Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., in 2012. All rights reserved.

History and Society

SACRED GROUND Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America

Author Interview: http://tiny.cc/8y9hh To view the author’s talk at the 2011 First-Year Experience® Conference, go to: http://tiny.cc/n3alkw

By Eboo Patel

Beacon Press | HC | 978-0-8070-7748-1 | 224pp. $24.95/$28.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $12.50 Also available: e-Book: 978-0-8070-7749-8 | $24.95/$28.95 Can.

Adoption notes: Disciplines: Religion; Sociology Themes: Discovering Diﬀerences; Inclusiveness; Youth Activism Campus Visits: Alternative Formats:

n the years following the attacks of 9/11, suspicion and animosity toward American Muslims has increased rather than subsided. Alarmist, hateful rhetoric once relegated to the fringes of political discourse has now become frighteningly mainstream, with pundits and politicians routinely invoking the specter of Islam as a menacing, deeply anti-American force. In this timely new book, author, activist, and presidential adviser Eboo Patel says this prejudice is not just a problem for Muslims, but also a challenge to the very idea of America. Sacred Ground shows us that Americans from George Washington to Martin Luther King, Jr. have been “interfaith leaders,” and it illustrates how the forces of pluralism in the U.S. have time and again defeated the forces of prejudice. Now a new generation needs to rise up and confront the anti-Muslim prejudice of our era. To this end, Patel offers a primer in the art and science of interfaith work, bringing to life the growing body of research on how faith can be a bridge of cooperation rather than a barrier of division, and sharing stories from the frontlines of interfaith activism. Pluralism, Patel boldly argues, is at the heart of the American project. It is a responsibility all must share, and Patel’s visionary book will inspire Americans of all faiths to make this country a place where diverse traditions can thrive side by side.

Also by Eboo Patel

ACTS OF FAITH The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation Acts of Faith is a remarkable account of growing up Muslim in America and coming to believe in religious pluralism, from one of the most prominent faith leaders in the United States. Eboo Patel’s story is a hopeful and moving testament to the power and passion of young people—and of the world-changing potential of an interfaith youth movement. Selected for Common Reading at Amarillo College; Capital University; Colgate University; Franklin College; Loras College, Dubuque Iowa; Luther College; Marywood College; Saint Louis University; and others. Beacon Press | TR | 978-0-8070-0622-1 | 192pp. | $15.00/$17.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-8070-0631-3 | $15.00/$16.25 Can. themes: discovering diﬀerences • inclusiveness • Youth activism

About the Author: eboo patel eBoo patel is the founder and president of Interfaith Youth Core and the author of Acts of Faith. He was a member of President Obama’s inaugural faith council and is a regular contributor to the Washington Post, Huffington Post, CNN, and public radio.

www.CommonReads.com

A Message from the Author

College changed me, and it made me want to change the world—especially regarding diversity. I entered as a freshman embarrassed by my brown skin, my strange name, and my mother’s food. I exited with a vision of a nation where people from diverse backgrounds live in equal dignity and mutual loyalty. Sacred Ground is my Muslim eyes on the American project. The book highlights a dimension of America’s diversity that receives far too little attention: faith. America is the most religiously diverse nation in human history and the most religiously devout nation in the West at a time of global religious conflict. We see far too many examples of faith as a barrier of division or a bomb of destruction. Sacred Ground tells a different story—faith as a source of inspiration and a bridge of cooperation. I weave together narratives of historical giants like George Washington and Martin Luther King, Jr. with stories of contemporary figures like Mayor Michael Bloomberg, highlighting how their courageous actions in times of religious crisis makes them interfaith heroes. Throughout the book are tales of college students and recent graduates—the next George Washingtons and Martin Luther Kings—who are building bridges of cooperation on their campuses and in their communities. At a time when anti-Mormon, anti-Muslim, anti-gay, and anti-atheist messages are at a fever pitch, the message of Sacred Ground could not be more clear or urgent: Interfaith cooperation is an inspiring story throughout American history. We need a new generation of interfaith leaders to write the next chapter. College campuses are ideal ecologies to nurture this interfaith leadership; college students are ideal people to be these leaders. This is a book aimed at college students and campus communities. I visit about twentyfive campuses a year, giving keynotes on interfaith leadership, and helping campuses design high-quality interfaith programs through partnerships with my nonprofit, Interfaith Youth Core (www.ifyc.org). I’ve spoken everywhere from Yale and Stanford to Luther College and Loyola University. I love them all because of how they change young people, and how those young people go on to change the world. Eboo Patel

History and Society

STUFFED AND STARVED The Hidden Battle for the World Food System

Website: www.RajPatel.org Author Video: http://tiny.cc/8nharw

By Raj Patel

ompletely updated and revised edition of one of the most widely praised food books of recent years.

It’s a perverse fact of modern life: There are more starving people in the world than ever before, while there are also more people who are overweight. To find out how things got to this point and what can be done about it, Raj Patel launched a comprehensive investigation into the global food network. It took him from the colossal supermarkets of California to India’s wrecked paddy fields and Africa’s bankrupt coffee farms, while along the way he ate genetically engineered soy beans and dodged flying objects in the protestor-packed streets of South Korea.

Now in Paperback

Melville House | TR | 978-1-61219-127-0 | 432pp. $19.95/NCR | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: e-Book: 978-1-61219-128-7 | $19.95/NCR

Adoption notes: Disciplines: Business; Food Studies; Political Science Themes: Environment; Science & Society Campus Visits: Alternative Formats:

What he found was shocking, from the false choices given us by supermarkets to a global epidemic of farmer suicides, and the real reasons for famine in Asia and Africa. Yet he also found great cause for hope—in international resistance movements working to create a more democratic, sustainable, and joyful food system. Going beyond ethical consumerism, Patel explains, from seed to store to plate, the steps to regain control of the global food economy, stop the exploitation of both farmers and consumers, and rebalance global sustenance. “For anyone attempting to make sense of the world food crisis, or understand the links between U.S. farm policy and the ability of the world's poor to feed themselves, Stuffed and Starved is indispensable.” —Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and The Botany of Desire “a blistering indictment of the policies of multinational agribusiness conglomerates and charges that their drive for profit at any cost has left the developing world starving while wealthy countries like the United States are experiencing epidemic obesity rates and related health problems.” —Newsweek

About the Author: Raj patel raJ patel, a fellow at Food First, is a visiting scholar at the UC Berkeley Center for African Studies. He has worked for the World Bank, WTO, and the UN, and he’s also been tear-gassed on four continents protesting them. He is the author of The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy.

www.CommonReads.com

A Message from the Author Why did I write Stuffed and Starved? As first-year students just entering college, my friends and I were fired up by the big questions—questions of inequity, questions of basic fairness. Why do some people have so much, while others have so little? Why do some people go hungry, while others are obese? Is there really not enough food to feed the world? Trying to answer those questions has been driving my research, and my life, ever since. And finding real workable solutions seems more crucial now than ever. Globally, nearly a billion people are going hungry, while two billion are overweight. When I was growing up, my parents said “eat up—there are children starving in Africa.” So what do you think parents in Africa tell their children? “Eat up—there are children starving in India.” African parents have it right. India, the place where we imagine all the jobs have gone to people with Ph.D.s in computer science, is also a country with more hungry people than the entire continent of Africa, an epidemic of farmer suicides, and more people with type 2 diabetes than anywhere in the world. Back here in the U.S., we are the most overweight country on earth, facing our own foodrelated problems. One in three kids born today will develop diabetes—and one in every two kids of color will. Yet fifty million Americans don’t have enough to eat, and we had our own wave of farmer suicides in the 1980s. Trying to make sense out of these incongruities has taken me around the world—from the giant supermarkets of California to wrecked paddy fields in India and bankrupt coffee farms in Africa—and to some of the biggest issues of our day: the effects of climate change on food stability, a worldwide diabetes epidemic, dramatic new Chinese food policies, and something all governments fear: the return of the “food riot.” Food—its availability, cost, quality, and quantity—is one of the biggest issues we face today. And though the stories and the statistics may be bleak, as I researched further I also found great cause for hope. People are working to create a more equitable food economy. There are things to be done, and people are doing them. We can take real, profound steps to regain control over the global food system. We can go beyond small acts of ethical consumerism. Together, we can create a more democratic, sustainable, and joyful food system. I believe I have found some real answers to those early undergraduate questions, answers that go beyond the tired rhetoric of the news cycle, that have opened me up to worlds of science, letters, ideas, and action. If readers can take a fraction of the inspiration from Stuffed and Starved that I found in fields from Iowa to India, we’ll be well on our way to ending both hunger and obesity, forever. Raj Patel

History and Society

THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS

Website: www.RebeccaSkloot.com Author Video: http://tiny.cc/2jxbrw

By Rebecca Skloot Named by more than 60 critics as one of the best books of the year Winner of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine’s Communication Award for Best Book Winner of Wellcome Trust Book Prize Winner of the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for Nonfiction Winner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Young Adult Science Book Award

Broadway | TR | 978-1-4000-5218-9 | 400pp. $16.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: Audio: 978-0-307-71250-9 | $35.00/$43.00 Can. e-Book: 978-0-307-58938-5 | $9.99/$9.99 Can. Visit the author’s Website at www.RebeccaSkloot.com for the latest book-related special features, teaching guide, and other classroom resources.

Adoption notes: Selected for Common Reading at more than 125 colleges including: University of Arkansas; University of California–Santa Barbara; Spelman College; and Virginia Commonwealth University. To view the complete list, go to http://tiny.cc/fusfrw. Disciplines: African American; History; Journalism; Medical Ethics; Science Themes: Ethics/Decision Making; Human Rights; Science & Society; Social Justice Campus Visits: Discussion Guide Available:

er name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the effects of the atom bomb; helped lead to important advances in cloning, in vitro fertilization, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions, with devastating consequences for her family. Now Rebecca Skloot takes the reader on an extraordinary journey, from the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells; from Henrietta’s small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia—a land of wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodoo—to East Baltimore today, where Henrietta’s children, unable to afford health insurance, wrestle with feelings of pride, fear, and betrayal. “What is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks really about? Science, african american culture and religion, intellectual property of human tissues, southern history, medical ethics, civil rights, the overselling of medical advances? . . . the book’s broad scope would make it ideal for an institution-wide freshman year reading program.” —David J. Kroll, Professor and Chair, Pharmaceutical Sciences, North Carolina Central University “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was an excellent summer reading selection. over 2,100 first-year students as well as faculty members, research professionals, and university staff took part in over 80 discussion groups during VCU’s Welcome Week. her message inspired students to become passionate and engaged with both learning and inquiry. throughout their first semester, the book continued to serve as an excellent model of research writing for our newest students.” —Daphne L. Rankin, Ph.D., Associate Vice Provost for Instruction, Virginia Commonwealth University

Alternative Formats:

About the Author: Rebecca skloot reBeCCa SKloot has taught at the University of Memphis, New York University, and the University of Pittsburgh. She has worked as a correspondent for NPR’s RadioLab and PBS’s Nova ScienceNOW, and her writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine; O, The Oprah Magazine; Discover; Columbia Journalism Review; and elsewhere.

www.CommonReads.com

A Message from the Author I first learned about HeLa cells, and the woman behind them, as a teenager sitting in a freshman biology class. I knew only fragments of Henrietta’s story, but those fragments inspired me to start asking questions—about science and mortality, bioethics, and how I’d feel if my own cells were used in research. I didn’t yet know that her cells had launched a multibillion-dollar industry while her children lived in poverty, or that the cells had devastating consequences for the family. Henrietta’s story captures the imagination of students in any number of disciplines, including the sciences, medicine, African American studies, sociology, philosophy, law, bioethics, journalism, and creative writing. I’ve spoken about HeLa at schools around the country, where students are transfixed by the story. I tell them that if you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown on a scale they would weigh more than one hundred Empire State Buildings, and that HeLa has been fused with mouse cells to create Henrietta-mouse hybrid cells. It’s the stuff of science fiction, but it’s true, and students love it. Combine that with the story of Henrietta’s family—a tale about science, religion, race, and class—and students’ reactions are powerful. During Q&As, the first question is usually: “Wasn’t it illegal to take her cells and use them in research without asking?” The answer is no—not in 1951, and not in 2011. Today, most Americans have their tissue on file somewhere through routine blood tests or biopsies. And since the late sixties, when testing newborns for genetic diseases became required by law, each baby born in the United States has had blood taken, and those samples are often stored and used by scientists. This means that the majority of college students in this country have tissues of their own being used in research, and neither they nor their parents likely realize it. As a college professor, I always look for books that bring together the many disparate fields that students will study throughout their careers and that allow them to explore the real-world consequences of intellectual discoveries. Other professors tell me The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks does just that, bringing together health, community, family, ethics, religion, science, storytelling, history, business, law, and humanity. Since spring 2010, I have talked about my book at more than one hundred schools nationwide. As a regular guest lecturer who’s also worked as a correspondent for radio and television, I understand the importance of being an engaging speaker, and my talks have been called “moving and engaging of both the heart and mind.” You can visit the events page of my Website at RebeccaSkloot.com to see if I’ll be speaking at your school, and you can contact me through the site. I look forward to visiting even more schools as part of their Freshman Experience Programs. As a college biology major, I couldn’t have imagined that Henrietta’s story would lead me to become a writer, or that writing this book would be a ten-year journey. There’s no telling what effect this story could have on students. I can’t wait to find out.

©Rebecca Skloot

©DePauw University

Rebecca Skloot

rebecca Skloot talks with students and signs books at depauw University and University of alabama

History and Society

hiStorY and SoCietY

FREEDOM: Stories Celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights By Amnesty International USA

Website: www.AmnestyUSA.org In honor of its fiftieth anniversary, Amnesty International, the notable and noble human rights organization, has brought together several internationally acclaimed writers, asking them to contribute stories inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Empathetic and thought-provoking, but never didactic, Paulo Coehlo, Nadine Gordimer, Yann Martel, Joyce Carol Oates, and many more present ruminations and meditations on struggles for freedom and equality, and efforts against repression and injustice, encouraging an understanding of the victories that have been won and how much more still needs to be done to ensure that the basic rights of all are respected and protected. Broadway | TR | 978-0-307-58883-8 | 432pp. | $16.00/NCR | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-307-58884-5 | $10.99/NCR themes: ethics • human rights • Social Justice

FRATERNITY

Author Video: http://tiny.cc/vgj4qw

By Diane Brady Following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., the Reverend John Brooks searched for African American students to recruit to the College of the Holy Cross. Among the amazing young men he recruited, coached, mentored, and taught were a future Supreme Court justice, a future Pulitzer Prize winner, and a young man who would go on to become one of the country’s most successful attorneys. In this account of the college years of five of these men, Fraternity serves as a testament to the power of education and mentorship, confirming the difference that even a single person can make. “Diane Brady’s book brilliantly shows how the attention and concern of one man changed not only the course of these individual lives but the course of history. This book is a template of how we should all think about both our societal responsibility and the gift of mentorship.” —Wes Moore, author of The Other Wes Moore Spiegel & Grau | HC | 978-0-385-52474-2 | 256pp. | $25.00/$28.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $12.50 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-307-71219-6 | $17.50/$20.50 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-385-52962-4 | $12.99/$14.99 Can. themes: Black Colleges• inclusiveness • inspiration

ISAAC’S ARMY: A Story of Courage and Survival in Nazi-Occupied Poland By Matthew Brzezinski Finalist, 2012 National Jewish Book Award

Website: www.IsaacsArmyBook.com

In this narrative nonfiction account, Brzezinski tells the story of a small but courageous group of young Jews who formed one of the most daring underground resistance armies of WWII. From their early efforts in 1939 to the underground exodus to Palestine in 1946, their fight against the Gestapo and heroic efforts to protect their people are documented here, including their role in the worst battles of the Uprising and the most successful human-smuggling operations. Isaac’s Army is the story of these brave underground soldiers—a fierce reminder of their sacrifices, victories, and defeats. Random House | HC | 978-0-553-80727-1 | 496pp. | $30.00/$35.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $15.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-679-64530-6 | $14.99/$16.99 Can. themes: human rights • inspiration • perseverance/personal Strength

I DON'T WISH NOBODY TO HAVE A LIFE LIKE MINE Tales of Kids in Adult Lockup By David Chura

Blog: www.KidsInTheSystem.wordpress.com

Winner of the PASS Award from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency David Chura taught high school in a New York county penitentiary for ten years—five days a week, seven hours a day. In these pages, he gives a face to a population regularly demonized and reduced to statistics by the mainstream media. Through language marked by both the grit of the street and the expansiveness of poetry, the stories of these young people break down the divisions we so easily erect between us and them, the keepers and the kept—and call into question the increasing practice of sentencing juveniles as adults. “Riveting. . . . An indictment of the system.” —Sam Roberts, The New York Times Beacon Press | TR | 978-0-8070-0123-3 | 240pp. | $14.00/$16.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-8070-0065-6 | $24.95/$24.95 Can. themes: Coming of age • perseverance/personal Strength • Social Justice

www.CommonReads.com

hiStorY and SoCietY

LOGAVINA STREET: Life and Death in a Sarajevo Neighborhood By Barbara Demick In this “beautifully rendered portrait” (Mark Danner, New York Review of Books), Barbara Demick records what she saw and heard on one street as a modern city was held under siege. The neighbors of Logavina Street—Muslim, Serb, and Croat—tried to keep their society intact as their country was torn apart by ethnic warfare. “Brilliantly captures the sense of civilian Sarajevo heroism—its pluck, irony, stoicism. . . . Focusing on one Sarajevo street, Demick is able to evoke the reality of life in the city with accuracy and nuance.” —David Rieﬀ, Philadelphia Inquirer “A first-rate reporter. [Demick] has spared us the soggy history of old Balkan hates and geopolitical claptrap. . . . If you can read only one book about Bosnia, this should be the one.” —Mary McGrory, Washington Post columnist Spiegel & Grau | TR | 978-0-8129-8276-3 | 272pp. | $16.00/$19.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-679-64412-5 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: human rights • regional: Balkans

NOTHING TO ENVY: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

Website: www.NothingToEnvy.com

By Barbara Demick Winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize for Nonfiction; Finalist, National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction American journalist Barbara Demick interviewed six North Koreans who attempted to build careers, relationships, and lives in North Korea, only to defect when they realized the extent of the government’s deception and abuse of its own citizens. Never before has such a penetrating view of contemporary North Korea been published. Readers will be amazed by this insider’s account of the world’s most isolated state. “Demick’s potent blend of personal narratives and piercing journalism vividly and evocatively portrays courageous individuals and a tyrannized state within a saga of unfathomable suﬀering punctuated by faint glimmers of hope.” —Booklist (starred review) Spiegel & Grau | TR | 978-0-385-52391-2 | 336pp. | $16.00/$19.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-385-52961-7 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: discovering diﬀerences • human rights • regional: north Korea/asia

GATHER AT THE TABLE: The Healing Journey of a Daughter of Slavery and a Son of the Slave Trade

Website: www.GatherAtTheTable.net

By Thomas Norman DeWolf and Sharon Leslie Morgan In Gather at the Table, an African American woman and a white man come together to reflect on their journey to confront the painful past, reconcile, and heal. Presenting a candid look at two major issues that still haunt the U.S. today—slavery and racism—the story of the communion of Sharon Morgan (genealogist and pioneering African American multicultural marketing professional) and Thomas DeWolf (author of Inheriting the Trade: A Northern Family Confronts Its Legacy as the Largest Slave-Trading Dynasty in U.S. History) is a timely lesson in unity, justice, reconciliation, and healing. Beacon Press | HC | 978-0-8070-1441-7 | 240pp. | $25.95/$30.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $13.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-8070-1442-4 | $25.95/$30.00 Can. themes: american history • Communication • Social Justice

EIGHTY DAYS: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History-Making Race Around the World

Website: www.MatthewGoodmanBooks.com

By Matthew Goodman Matthew Goodman (author of The Sun and the Moon: The Remarkable True Account of Hoaxers, Showmen, Dueling Journalists, and Lunar Man-Bats in Nineteenth-Century New York and Jewish Food: The World at Table) shares the little-known story of two young American women sent around the world in 1889 in a competitive race to beat Jules Verne’s fictional eighty-day global voyage. Representing The World and The Cosmopolitan, respectively, Bly and Bisland find themselves alone on an incredible journey around a world transformed by new means of communication and transportation. Do not order before 2/26/2013. Ballantine | HC | 978-0-345-52726-4 | 480pp. | $28.00/$30.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $14.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-385-35971-9 | $25.00/$29.95 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-345-52728-8 | $13.99/$15.99 Can. themes: american history • inspiration

History and Society

hiStorY and SoCietY

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF DIXIE The Civil War and the Social Revolution that Transformed the South

Author Interview: http://tiny.cc/9qj4qw

By Bruce Levine In this major new history of the Civil War, Bruce Levine, Professor of History at the University of Illinois, tells the riveting story of how that conflict upended the economic, political, and social life of the old South, utterly destroying the Confederacy and the society it represented and defended. “This book limns the relationship between slavery and the rise and fall of the Confederacy more clearly and starkly than any other study. General readers and seasoned scholars alike will find new information and insights in this eye-opening account.” —James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom Random House | HC | 978-1-4000-6703-9 | 464pp. | $30.00/$35.00 Can. | Exam Copy $15.00 Also available: e-Book: 978-0-679-64535-1 | $14.99/$16.99 Can. themes: american history • regional: american South Now in Paperback

THE BOOK OF HAPPINESS: AFRICA

Website: www.JosephPeter.com

By Joseph Peter Shot over the course of seventy days during the African leg of the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour, Joseph Peter’s inspired collection of 150,000 portraits of beautiful, joyous, and spirited African citizens from fifty nations was first presented as an exclusive gift to Nelson Mandela and other heroes. Here, for the first time, these photographs are available to all in a collectible trade paperback edition. The Book of Happiness is a celebration and a tribute to a continent and its people. Spiegel & Grau | TR | 978-1-4000-6961-3 | 128pp. | $25.00/$29.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $12.50 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-679-64540-5 | $14.99/$16.99 Can. themes: global Citizenship • inspiration • regional: africa

BLOOD DONE SIGN MY NAME: A True Story By Timothy B. Tyson Winner of the Grawemeyer Award for Religion; Finalist, National Book Critics Circle Award A New York Public Library Book to Remember In the tradition of To Kill a Mockingbird, Blood Done Sign My Name is a classic work of conscience. Tim Tyson’s riveting narrative of a fiery summer of racial conflict and one family’s struggle to build bridges in a time of destruction is a complex rendering of a true story in which violence and faith, courage and evil, despair and hope all mingle to powerful effect. “Blood Done Sign My Name is a most important book and one of the most powerful meditations on race in America that I have ever read.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer

Selected for Common Reading at Furman University; Queens University of Charlotte; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; University of Wisconsin at Richland; University of Wisconsin’s College of Letters and Science; Villanova University; and others. Broadway | TR | 978-1-4000-8311-4 | 368pp. | $14.99/$16.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-1-4159-0441-1 | $19.95/$25.95 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-307-41993-4 | $11.99/$12.99 Can. themes: inclusiveness • Social Justice

COVERING The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights

Website: www.KenjiYoshino.com

By Kenji Yoshino Winner of the Myers Outstanding Book Award; Winner of the American Educational Studies Association Critics’ Choice Award In Covering, one of the country’s most brilliant young legal scholars fashions a new paradigm of civil rights. Drawing on his experiences as a gay Japanese American, Yale law professor Kenji Yoshino argues that the culturally sanctioned suppression of authentic selves is a harm from which the law should sometimes protect people. More profoundly, he also claims that law will be less important to the civil rights of the future than a common culture of authenticity. Selected for Common Reading at Pomona College; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Virginia Commonwealth University; Yale University; and others. Random House | TR | 978-0-375-76021-1 | 304pp. | $15.95/$19.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-58836-172-1 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: discovering diﬀerences • identity • inclusiveness • Social Justice

www.CommonReads.com

10 THINGS EMPLOYERS WANT YOU TO LEARN IN COLLEGE REVISED The Skills You Need to Succeed By Bill Coplin Students learn a lot of things in college, but there’s one thing the textbooks won’t teach them: how to acquire marketable job skills before graduation. Award-winning college professor and student adviser Bill Coplin has been developing skill-based liberal arts curricula for more than thirty years and has helped thousands of students get great jobs. Here, he offers the essential skills students need to survive and succeed in today’s job market, based on his extensive interviews with employers, recruiters, human resource specialists, and employed college grads. Coplin teaches students how to develop real-world skills and talents, including: · · · ·

Work Ethic Physical Performance Speaking Writing

· · · ·

Teamwork Influencing People Research Number Crunching

· Critical Thinking · Problem Solving

The book’s practical approach will help students to develop a personalized plan for boosting these and other critical skills during their college years and to get the most out of their professional lives.

Website: www.BillCoplin.org/blog

Adoption notes: Disciplines: Student Success & Readiness Themes: Identity; Life Skills

“Clear, concise, and complete. the ultimate playbook for college students.” —Pierre Mornell, author, Hiring Smart

Campus Visits:

Ten Speed Press | TR | 978-1-60774-145-9 | 304pp. | $14.99/$17.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: e-Book: 978-0-307-76849-0 | $11.99/$13.99 Can.

Alternative Formats:

MAJOR IN SUCCESS

Website:

5TH EDITION www.PatrickCombs.com Make College Easier, Fire Up Your Dreams, and Get a Great Job By Patrick Combs Foreword by Jack Canfield With so much at stake during college, students need smart and inspiring advice to help them excel. Now in its fifth edition, Major in Success reaches out to undecided freshmen and sophomores in search of a major that suits their interests and career ambitions; shows near-graduation students how to bolster their résumé and ace the interview to land their first real job; and presents innovative strategies for tackling the six biggest fears that hold students back.

Adoption notes:

Ten Speed Press | TR | 978-1-58008-865-7 | 208pp. | $14.99/$16.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00

Disciplines: Student Success & Readiness Themes: Life Skills; Peer Group Dynamics Campus Visits:

Life and College Guides

THE POWER OF HABIT Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business

Website: www.CharlesDuhigg.com Author Video: http://tiny.cc/3mhbrw

By Charles Duhigg

n The Power of Habit, behaviorist Charles Duhigg takes us to the forefront of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. With intelligence and an ability to distill vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives, Duhigg brings to life a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential for transformation. Along the way students will learn why some people and companies struggle to change, despite years of trying, while others seem to remake themselves overnight. At its core, The Power of Habit contains an intriguing argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, raising exceptional children, becoming more productive, building revolutionary companies and social movements, and achieving success is understanding how habits work. As Charles Duhigg shows, habits aren’t destiny, and by harnessing this new science, students can change their habits and transform businesses, communities, and lives.

Random House | HC | 978-1-4000-6928-6 | 400pp. $28.00/NCR | Exam Copy: $14.00 Also available: Audio: 978-0-307-96664-3 | $40.00/$46.00 Can. e-Book: 978-0-679-60385-6 | $12.99/NCR

Adoption notes: Selected for Common Reading: Babson College Disciplines: Business; Education; Psychology; Sociology Themes: Leadership & Motivation; Life Skills

“The Power of Habit is a fascinating read, and duhigg deftly pulls off exactly what one would expect of a polymath Times reporter: he effortlessly brings us from scene to scene, from finding to finding, from discipline to discipline, transforming a potentially dry subject into a series of peppy narratives—a very readable take on a subject that should matter to everyone.” —Newsweek Daily Beast

“a fascinating exploration of our pathologically habitual society— we smoke, we incessantly check our BlackBerrys, we chronically choose bad partners, we always (or never) make our beds. duhigg digs into why we are this way, and how we can change, both as individuals and institutionally.” —The Daily

Campus Visits: Discussion Guide Available: Alternative Formats:

CharleS dUhigg is an investigative reporter for The New York Times. A graduate of Yale College and Harvard Business School, he lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children.

www.CommonReads.com

©Liz Alter

About the Author: Charles duhigg

A Message from the Author College saved my life. Or, more accurately, the good and bad habits I learned there saved my life. And since then, nothing has been the same. In 1993, I left Albuquerque, New Mexico, for Yale. Here is what I did not know at the time: that sheets should be washed more than once a semester; that if you stand in the rain for 40 minutes, a shower might be a wise idea; that when a professor says you need to read the book, you need to read the book; that I would develop the best—and worst—habits of my life, and they would shape every major decision over my next two decades. At my freshman assembly, however, I had no idea that all of that was to come. The provost gave the assembled class three pieces of advice: if you are feeling tired, sleep. If you aren’t hungry, don’t eat. And if you are homesick, have a small piece of chocolate and remember that everyone else—no matter how confident they seem—feels the same way. It was great advice. It was—though I didn’t know it at the time—a tutorial in how to create habits by choosing cues (I’m exhausted), routines (go to bed!), and rewards (ahhhh!). And I, of course, ignored it all. Six months later, delirious with exhaustion and 10 pounds heavier, I was on the phone to my mother explaining that a transfer to the University of New Mexico—or maybe a year living in my old room—was a good idea. Luckily, my parents ignored me. And the school slowly, painfully, taught me how to be an adult. Most importantly, my professors and administrators showed me how to shape my urges and passions, and eventually to become a reporter at the New York Times and an author. Each lesson in The Power of Habit is embedded in a narrative—the story of how Tony Dungy led the Indianapolis Colts to the Super Bowl, how Starbucks teaches willpower habits, how Martin Luther King rallied Montgomery to the bus boycott—that seeks to help readers, including undergraduates, experience this same process of self-discovery. There are a few chapters that, I think, would particularly appeal to college students: How to create willpower habits. For decades, we’ve suspected that willpower is like a muscle. But how is willpower strengthened? By making it into a habit. Starbucks, for instance, developed a training program to encourage willpower habits by identifying inflection points when self-discipline is likely to fail. How people—and groups—create habits that change lives. A century ago, almost no Americans brushed their teeth. Then a canny advertising executive added a slight irritant to a toothpaste recipe, and Pepsodent launched a national habit. A 26-year-old clergyman named Martin Luther King, Jr. chose to nurture a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, by targeting the city’s social habits—and the contemporary civil rights movement was born. the importance of service to others, and investing in a community. As one Dartmouth psychologist told me, “change occurs among other people. It seems real when we can see it in others peoples’ eyes.” The Power of Habit explains why the friends we choose, the organizations we join, and the contributions we make to our communities matter. Through stories about the Olympian Michael Phelps and the Outkast song Hey Ya!, it explores how communities shape our habits, and we, in turn, shape out communities. organizational habits, and administrators, professors, and communities. Organizations—like individuals— develop habits that guide how work gets (or doesn’t get) done. The Power of Habit explores why some habits, known as keystone habits, matter more than others and how they shape cultures within universities and companies. I wish I had been exposed to these insights as a freshman. I would be honored if my book helps introduce your students to these ideas. To read the full text of this essay, go to: http://tiny.cc/s2fomw.

Charles Duhigg

Life and College Guides

THE START-UP OF YOU Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career

Website: www.TheStartupOfYou.com Author Video: http://tiny.cc/qxharw

By Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha

revolutionary new guide to thriving in today’s fractured world of work, The Start-Up of You provides strategies that will help individuals survive, thrive, and achieve the boldest professional ambitions and to take control of their future. Readers will learn how to: • Adapt career plans as they change, the people around them change, and industries change. • Develop a competitive advantage to win the best jobs and opportunities. • Strengthen their professional network by building powerful alliances and maintaining a diverse mix of relationships. • Find the unique breakout opportunities that massively accelerate career growth. • Take proactive risks to become more resilient to industry tsunamis. • Tap their network for information and intelligence that help readers make smarter decisions.

Crown Business | HC | 978-0-307-88890-7 | 272pp. $26.00/$31.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $13.00 Also available: Audio: 978-0-307-97143-2 | $35.00/$41.00 Can. e-Book: 978-0-307-88892-1 | $13.99/$14.99 Can.

Adoption notes: Discipline: Human/Career Development Themes: Leadership & Motivation; Life Skills; Transition Campus Visits: Discussion Guide Available:

“The Start-Up of You has resonated with me to such an extent that in addition to submitting a book request to my bookstore for my fall Career/life planning courses, i have touted this book to my fellow faculty members. i absolutely loved reading the book and view it as one of the most ‘on-the-mark’ and engaging narratives on how to best prepare/present oneself during a job/career/life search process. this book also served as my impetus to bring a project called road trip nation indie trip to fruition. i truly believe (after 31 years of college teaching) that The Start-Up of You offers students of all college levels a realistic and straightforward life handbook that can also be read and re-read at each ‘pivot’ point in one’s career path.” —Lavinia P. Zanassi, Faculty, Counseling Department, Skyline College “in times of change and uncertainty . . . adaptability creates stability. it is insights like this that make The Start-Up of You such a compelling new way to approach your life. hoffman and Casnocha have distilled the essence of entrepreneurship into a potion for personal success, regardless of your career plans.” —John Etchemendy, Provost, Stanford University

Alternative Formats:

About the Authors: Reid Hoﬀman and Ben Casnocha reid hoFFMan is a world-renowned entrepreneur and investor. He is cofounder and executive chairman of LinkedIn, the biggest professional network in the world with 100+ million members. Previously he was executive vice president and on the founding board of directors of PayPal. He is also a partner at Greylock, a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm. He is an early investor in over 100 technology companies, including Facebook and Zynga. Ben CaSnoCha is an award-winning entrepreneur and author. He has written for Newsweek and appeared on CNN, the CBS Early Show, and Fox News. BusinessWeek named him one of “America’s best young entrepreneurs.” He has spoken to more than ten thousand students and businesspeople in countries around the world.

www.CommonReads.com

A Message from the Authors College graduates are joining the workforce at a difficult time. Technology and globalization are changing traditional career paths and undoing age-old assumptions about the world of work. Some reports suggest that more than half of recent college graduates are unemployed or underemployed. As New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote in a column about The Start-Up of You, “This ain’t your parents’ job market anymore.” How will you prepare your new students to acquire the skills, establish the mindset, and build the network that will help them succeed once they enter the real world? Old premises that guided past generations have given way to new realities, and with new realities come new rules. We wrote The Start-Up of You to show young people how they can build a life and career in this global, competitive economy. To do so, we look to Silicon Valley and entrepreneurship for answers. Not because everyone can or should start a company. But because the uncertainty, competition, and constant reinvention that characterize the start-up process in Silicon Valley are the same forces everyone now faces when fashioning a career. Entrepreneurs are nimble. They invest in themselves. They build networks. They take risks. These are the same strategies every young person today needs to know to get ahead in his or her career. Your students, whether they aspire to be doctors, lawyers, teachers, or engineers, are at the same time always at the helm of at least one start-up: their career. Network-building is one of the key entrepreneurial strategies we discuss in the book. Life’s a team sport, and just as entrepreneurs build teams to grow their company, all students needs to learn how to build a team of allies to help them in their career. There’s no better time to start investing in your network than when you’re in school, surrounded by future colleagues and collaborators. The Start-Up of You is not a workbook. Rather, it’s a practical, narrative manifesto on a new way of approaching the world. The mayor of Newark, New Jersey, Cory Booker, called it a “profound book about self-determination and self-realization.” Nor is The Start-Up of You a job-hunting bible. Your students are probably not looking for full-time jobs, but they should absolutely be thinking about how they can start investing in themselves and establishing their professional competitive advantage. Today, every student needs to become the entrepreneur of his or her own life. This is the playbook that shows them how. Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha

Life and College Guides

Spotlight on: Chip Heath and dan Heath Chip heath is a professor of organizational behavior in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. dan heath, a former researcher at Harvard Business School, is now a Senior Fellow at Duke University’s CASE Center, which supports social entrepreneurs.

Website: www.HeathBrothers.com

Pre-Publication Copy Available

DECISIVE

Publishes March 2013

How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work

esearch in psychology has revealed that our decision-making suffers from consistent problems: We’re overconfident. We seek out information that supports us and downplay information that doesn’t. We get distracted by shortterm emotions. Unfortunately, merely being aware of these shortcomings doesn’t fix the problem. The question is: How can we do better? In Decisive, Chip and Dan Heath (bestselling authors of Made to Stick and Switch) reveal the four major principles that can be employed in order to make better, more informed, and more rational decisions in both the professional and personal realms.

To request a free pre-publication copy, e-mail commonreads@randomhouse.com

Crown Business | HC | 978-0-307-95639-2 | 336pp. | $26.00/NCR | Exam Copy: $13.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-449-01111-9 | $35.00/$41.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-307-95641-5 | $13.99/NCR themes: ethics/decision Making • life Skills

Also available by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

MADE TO STICK Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die Why do some ideas thrive while others die? And how do we improve the chances of worthy ideas? Chip and Dan Heath tackle these vexing questions head-on. In this indispensable guide, we discover that sticky messages of all kinds—from the infamous “kidney theft ring” hoax, to a coach’s lessons on sportsmanship, to a vision for a new product at Sony—draw their power from the same six traits. Provocative, eye-opening, and often surprisingly funny, Made to Stick reveals the vital components of winning ideas—and shows how everyone can make their own messages stick. Random House | HC | 978-1-4000-6428-1 | 336pp. | $26.00/$32.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $13.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-7393-4134-6 | $29.95/$37.95 Can. • e-Book: 978-1-58836-596-5 | $13.99/$15.99 Can. themes: group dynamics • leadership & Motivation • life Skills

SWITCH How to Change Things When Change Is Hard This compelling narrative about the difficulty of bringing about genuine, lasting change in ourselves and in others—especially when one has few resources and no title or authority—is a riveting read that will change lives. Combining psychology, sociology, management, and case studies from a host of different fields, the authors tell countless stories of people and organizations that have successfully created significant change. They succeed, against the odds, by following a common ‘pattern’ of change, one that often starts by finding and studying their “bright spots”—the early signs of success that can give hope to a change effort.

Available in Español

Crown Business | HC | 978-0-385-52875-7 | 320pp. | $26.00/NCR | Exam Copy: $13.00 Spanish Language Edition: Vintage | TR | 978-0-307-74235-3 | $15.95/$17.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-7393-7696-6 | $35.00/$40.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-307-59016-9 | $14.99/NCR themes: group dynamics • life Skills • Social Justice

www.CommonReads.com

Excerpt from decisive

to read a full chapter, go to: http://tiny.cc/51korw

If you study the kinds of decisions people make, and the outcomes of those decisions, you’ll find that humanity does not have a particularly impressive track record. Career choices, for instance, are often abandoned or regretted. An American Bar Association survey found that 44% of lawyers would recommend that a young person not pursue a career in law. A study of 20,000 executive searches found that 40 percent of seniorlevel hires “are pushed out, fail or quit within 18 months.” More than half of teachers quit their jobs within four years. In fact, one study in Philadelphia schools found that a teacher was almost two times more likely to drop out as a student. Business decisions are frequently flawed. One study of corporate mergers and acquisitions—some of the highest-stakes decisions executives make—showed that 83 percent failed to create any value for shareholders. When another research team asked 2,207 executives to evaluate decisions in their organizations, 60% of executives reported that bad decisions were about as frequent as good ones. On the personal front, we’re not much better. People don’t save enough for retirement, and when they do save, they consistently erode their own stock portfolios by buying high and selling low. Young people start relationships with people who are bad for them. Middle-aged people let work interfere with their family lives. The elderly wonder why they didn’t take more time to smell the roses when they were younger. Why do we have such a hard time making good choices? In recent years, many fascinating books and articles have addressed this question, exploring the problems with our decisionmaking. The biases. The irrationality. When it comes to making decisions, it’s clear, our brains are flawed instruments. But less attention has been paid to another compelling question: Given that we’re wired to act foolishly sometimes, how can we do better? Sometimes we are given the advice to trust our guts when we make important decisions. Unfortunately, our guts are full of questionable advice. Consider the Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory, a truly delicious dessert, and one that clocks in at 1540 calories, which is the equivalent of three McDonald’s double cheeseburgers plus a pack of Skittles. This is something that you are supposed to eat after you are finished with your real meal. The Ultimate Red Velvet cheesecake is exactly the kind of thing that our guts get excited about. Yet no one would mistake this guidance for wisdom. Certainly no one has ever thoughtfully plotted out a meal plan and concluded, I gotta add more cheesecake.

Excerpted from Decisive by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. Copyright © 2013 by Chip Heath. Excerpted by permission of Crown Business, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Life and College Guides

liFe and College gUideS

THE ONE-WEEK JOB PROJECT Website: www.OneWeekJob.com

One Man, One Year, Fifty-Two Jobs By Sean Aiken

Like many others of his generation, Sean Aiken graduated from college and asked himself, “What should I do with my life?” Thus, he started the One-Week Job Project, whereby he transformed his uncertainty about his future and traveled around the world, working fifty-two jobs in fifty-two weeks. All of his wages were donated to charity. Inventive and empowering, witty and wise, The One-Week Job Project is a book that will give students the courage to follow their passions. Selected for Common Reading at The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. Villard Books | TR | 978-0-345-50803-4 | 320pp. | $15.00/NCR | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-345-51691-6 | $13.99/NCR themes: identity • leadership & Motivation • life Skills • peer group Skills

WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE? 2013 EDITION A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers

Website: www.JobHuntersBible.com

By Richard N. Bolles The latest edition of the most popular career guide in the world continues to offer immediately useful advice, unique ways to find the right job, and practical insights. The book is updated annually, to ensure that it always speaks to the current job market and job seeker. Ten Speed Press | TR | 978-1-60774-147-3 | 368pp. | $18.99/$21.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-60774-148-0 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: life Skills • transition

CLICK The Forces Behind How We Fully Engage with People, Work, and Everything We Do

Author Interview: http://tiny.cc/i3j4qw Author Video: http://tiny.cc/95j4qw

By Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman The Brafman brothers have written a thorough and lively exploration of the psychological processes underpinning why people “click” with other people, or certain projects or activities, drawing on current psychological and sociological research to highlight the mental and social processes that are occurring during such peak experiences. They delineate why people click in certain situations and with certain people, identify five “accelerators” that increase the likelihood of experiencing these kinds of connections in one’s work and relationships, and explain how these productive and happy moments can be consciously encouraged. Click is a fascinating exploration of how people connect with the world around them. Crown Business | TR | 978-0-385-52906-8 | 224pp. | $14.00/$16.00 Can.| Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-307-73509-6 | $35.00/$41.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-307-71584-5 | $9.99/$11.99 Can. themes: leadership & Motivation • life Skills • peer group Skills

SWAY The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior

Website: www.OriBrafman.com

By Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman Renowned organizational thinker Ori Brafman and his brother, psychologist Rom Brafman, present a thought-provoking overview of the irrational behaviors and poor decision-making that characterize so many of our actions. They balance anecdotes about typical financial, professional, and personal decisions with relevant research in the fields of social psychology, behavioral economics, and organizational behavior. The dynamic forces that influence every aspect of our lives are revealed, as are strategies to avoid succumbing to these psychological traps. “A provocative new book about the psychological forces that lead us to disregard facts or logic and behave in surprisingly irrational ways.” —New York Times Crown Business | TR | 978-0-385-53060-6 | 224pp. | $14.00/$16.50 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-385-52677-7 | $9.99/$12.99 Can. themes: ethics/decision-Making • life Skills • peer group Skills

www.CommonReads.com

liFe and College gUideS

SUCCEEDING WHEN YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO FAIL The 6 Enduring Principles of High Achievement By Rom Brafman Popular and academic psychology has long dictated that those who face arduous life circumstances—a difficult childhood, sudden job loss, poverty—will succumb to those forces that hinder them. But as Brafman points out, a third of all people beset by trying situations actually overcome them, to succeed and thrive in their chosen life paths. He draws on groundbreaking neurological and psychological research to highlight the key innate factors that support overcoming adversity—and how everyone, in all circumstances and walks of life, can locate these traits within themselves, and make the most of them in their own lives.

Now in Paperback

Three Rivers Press | TR | 978-0-307-88769-6 | 208pp. | $14.00/$17.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-307-94101-5 | $15.00/$17.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-307-88770-2 | $9.99/$12.99 Can. themes: leadership & Motivation • life Skills • perseverance/personal Strength

THE INVISIBLE GORILLA How Our Intuitions Deceive Us

Website: www.TheInvisibleGorilla.com

By Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons In The Invisible Gorilla, Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons, creators of one of psychology’s most famous experiments, use remarkable stories and counterintuitive scientific findings to demonstrate an important truth: Our minds don’t work the way we think they do. Most individuals tend to think they see themselves and the world around them accurately, but in fact, they are missing a lot. Chabris and Simons combine the work of other researchers with their own findings on attention, perception, memory, and reasoning to reveal how faulty intuitions often get us into trouble. Three Rivers Press | TR | 978-0-307-45966-4 | 320pp. | $15.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-307-73575-1 | $35.00/$41.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-307-45967-1 | $10.99/$13.99 Can. themes: identity • life Skills • peer group Skills

GETTING THE BEST OUT OF COLLEGE Revised and Updated Insider Advice for Success from a Professor, a Dean, and a Recent Grad By Peter Feaver, Sue Wasiolek, and Anne Crossman Going beyond basic study skills, this updated edition of Getting the Best Out of College explains everything freshman orientation might overlook, including topics such as how to develop rewarding relationships with professors, choose a major that will support long-term goals, use lesser-known campus resources to one’s advantage, manage relationships back home, and more. New chapters address contemporary issues such as how to transfer to international colleges and universities; if and when it’s a good idea to delay, transfer, or drop out of college; and how to make the most of a “gap year.” “Witty, wise, and down-to-earth. . . . A wonderful resource for students and their parents.” —Elizabeth Kiss, President of Agnes Scott College Ten Speed Press | TR | 978-1-60774-144-2 | 304pp. | $14.99/$16.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-307-78880-1 | $11.99/$12.99 Can. themes: life Skills • peer group Skills

GOOD PROSE The Art of Nonfiction: Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing and Editing

Website: http://TracyKidder.com

By Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd What is good prose? And how is it written? Pulitzer Prize–winning literary journalist Tracy Kidder and distinguished editor and cultural critic Richard Todd tackle these questions together, offering tips, stories, and valuable lessons from their more than four decades of work together as writer and editor at the Atlantic Monthly. Combining practical advice and discussion of mechanics and technique with engaging personal stories and examples of great nonfiction, Good Prose is a must-read for anyone interested in reading or writing nonfiction. Random House | HC | 978-1-4000-6975-0 | 224pp. | $26.00/$31.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $13.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-679-60472-3 | $13.99/$15.99 Can. themes: Communication • life Skills

Life and College Guides

liFe and College gUideS

COLLEGE RULES! 3rd Edition How to Study, Survive, and Succeed in College By Sherrie Nist-Olejnik, Ph.D., and Jodi Patrick Holschuh, Ph.D. This updated, expanded edition of a perennially popular guide offers students a crash course in how to succeed in college. It shares essential lessons, including how to study effectively, handle stress, manage course loads, prepare for and take tests, interact effectively with professors, and balance academics and social life. Selected for Common Reading at Tennessee Wesleyan College. Ten Speed Press | TR | 978-1-60774-001-8 | 352pp. | $14.99/$16.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-60774-017-9 | $11.99/$12.99 Can. themes: life Skills • peer group Skills • transition

THE TOOLS: Transform Your Problems into Courage, Confidence, and Creativity

Website: www.TheToolsBook.com Author Video: http://tiny.cc/9rhbrw

By Phil Stutz and Barry Michels Dissatisfied with the traditional therapy that left their patients waiting long, indefinite periods of time for the change they needed, psychotherapist Barry Michels and psychiatrist Phil Stutz joined forces to develop a more evolved therapy that would create positive, effective change more quickly. Using four steps that allow one to tap into the unconscious and turn problems into transformative tools, the duo (called an “open secret” by The New Yorker) explain how to feel better now—and for the long-term. The Tools is a breakthrough in self-improvement and empowerment. Spiegel & Grau | HC | 978-0-679-64444-6 | 288pp. | $25.00/NCR | Exam Copy: $12.50 Do not order paperback before 4/23/2013. Spiegel & Grau | TR | 978-0-8129-8304-3 | 288pp. | $16.00/NCR | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-307-98768-6 | $35.00/$41.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-679-64445-3 | $12.99/NCR themes: inspiration • leadership/Motivation • life Skills

THE HIDDEN BRAIN How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars, and Save Our Lives

Website: www.HiddenBrain.org Author Interview: http://tiny.cc/ur73qw

By Shankar Vedantam Called “[an] entertaining romp through covert influences on human behavior” by The New York Times Book Review, The Hidden Brain by NPR science correspondent Shankar Vedantam explains the effects of unconscious biases in everyday life, how culture influences the workplace, how teams come together and why they fail, and how professionals can use the hidden brain to communicate more effectively. “In The Hidden Brain, one of America’s best science journalists describes how our unconscious minds influence everything from criminal trials to charitable giving, from suicide bombers to presidential elections. The Hidden Brain is a smart and engaging exploration of the science behind the headlines—and of the little man behind the screen. Don’t miss it.” —Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness Spiegel & Grau | TR | 978-0-385-52522-0 | 288pp. | $16.00/$19.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-307-71561-6 | $20.00/$24.95 Can. • e-Book: 978-1-58836-939-0 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: decision Making • human Behavior • life Skills

HOW TO BE A PERSON The Stranger’s Guide to College, Sex, Intoxicants, Tacos, and Life Itself By Lindy West, Dan Savage, Christopher Frizzelle, Bethany Jean Clement, and The Staff of The Stranger Now in Paperback The wise—and hilarious—staff of alternative Seattle newspaper The Stranger have created what

very well may be the most honest, informative, and entertaining college orientation to have ever appeared on paper. Offering a panoply of useful tips, advice, and information not to be found anywhere else, How to Be a Person presents fun, sage advice on matters of education, entertainment, manners, personal hygiene, sex, love, and relationships. For anyone about to enter the strange, uncharted waters of college, this book is a lifesaver, a guide that truly covers it all. Sasquatch Books | TR | 978-1-57061-778-2 | 272pp. | $16.95/$19.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-57061-835-2 | $16.95/$19.95 Can. themes: life Skills • peer group Skills • transition

www.CommonReads.com

liFe and liFe StorieS—MeMoir, College gUideS BiographY, and aUtoBiographY

Books by Donald Asher Donald Asher is an internationally acclaimed author and speaker specializing in professional development and higher education. He is a featured speaker on university and corporate campuses around the country, with more than one hundred engagements per year. He is the author of eleven books, including:

CRACKING THE HIDDEN JOB MARKET How to Find Opportunity in Any Economy A groundbreaking career guide that gives job-seekers of all ages and at every level of experience (or inexperience) the tools for crafting an effective job-search strategy, regardless of the state of their chosen industry or the economy in general. Ten Speed Press | TR | 978-1-58008-494-9 | 208pp. | $14.99/$16.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-58008-639-4 | $11.99/$12.99 Can. themes: life Skills • transition

Website: www.DonaldAsher.com

HOW TO GET ANY JOB

THE OVERNIGHT RÉSUMÉ

Second Edition

3rd Edition

Life Launch and Re-Launch for Everyone Under 30 (or How to Avoid Living in Your Parents’ Basement)

The Fastest Way to Your Next Job

Combines the most innovative thinking on postcollege career launch with strategic guidelines for aligning life goals with job opportunities. Ten Speed Press | TR | 978-1-58008-947-0 | 240pp. $15.99/$19.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-307-79768-1 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: life Skills • transition

A step-by-step approach to résumé writing for all career stages and most educational backgrounds that shows job-seekers how to develop and craft a focused, successful résumé in one sitting. Ten Speed Press | TR | 978-1-58008-091-0 | 134pp. $12.99/$15.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 themes: life Skills • transition

Also Available: ALL WORK, NO PAY

LECTURE NOTES

Finding an Internship, Building Your Résumé, Making Connections, and Gaining Job Experience

A Professor’s Inside Guide to College Success

By Lauren Berger Ten Speed Press | TR | 978-1-60774-168-8 | 208pp. $12.99/$14.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 themes: life Skills • transition

THE JOB-HUNTER’S SURVIVAL GUIDE

By Philip Freeman, Ph.D. Ten Speed Press | TR | 978-1-58008-754-4 | 160pp. $14.99/$18.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 themes: life Skills • transition

THE NEW JOB SECURITY, REVISED The 5 Best Strategies for Taking Control of Your Career

By Richard N. Bolles Ten Speed Press | TR | 978-1-58008-026-2 | 112pp. $9.99/$12.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 themes: life Skills • transition

By Pam Lassiter Ten Speed Press | TR | 978-1-58008-377-5 | 224pp. $14.99/$16.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 themes: life Skills • transition

WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE? JOB-HUNTER'S WORKBOOK,

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL GUIDE TO BUILDING YOUR CAREER

Fourth Edition By Richard N. Bolles Ten Speed Press | TR | 978-1-60774-497-9 | 80pp. $12.99/$15.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 themes: life Skills • transition

THE CAREER GUIDE FOR CREATIVE AND UNCONVENTIONAL PEOPLE By Carol Eikleberry Ten Speed Press | TR | 978-1-58008-841-1 | 240pp. $14.99/$18.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 themes: life Skills • transition

By Jennifer Merritt Crown Business |TR | 978-0-307-71956-0 | 208pp. $15.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 themes: life Skills • transition

GENERATION EARN The Young Professional’s Guide to Spending, Investing, and Giving Back By Kimberly Palmer Ten Speed Press | TR | 978-1-58008-236-5 | 240pp. $14.99/$16.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 themes: life Skills • transition

THE CAREER COUNSELOR’S HANDBOOK

RÉSUMÉ 101

Second Edition

A Student and Recent Grad Guide to Crafting Résumés and Cover Letters that Land Jobs

By Howard Figler and Richard N. Bolles Ten Speed Press | TR | 978-1-58008-870-1 | 320pp. $19.99/$24.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 themes: life Skills • transition

By Quentin J. Schultze Foreword by Richard N. Bolles Ten Speed Press | TR | 978-1-60774-194-7 | 144pp. $12.99/$14.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 themes: life Skills • transition

Life and College Guides

go green / enVironMental StUdieS

BLUE REVOLUTION Unmaking America’s Water Crisis

Website: www.CynthiaBarnett.net/book.html

By Cynthia Barnett Award-winning journalist Cynthia Barnett trumpets a resounding call for the necessity of a national water ethic to not only stop, but also reverse, America’s growing water crisis. Recalling the positive effects of the green movement, Blue Revolution demonstrates how a similar “blue” Now in Paperback movement can help to increase awareness of the growing problem of water conservation and promote regular, active efforts to preserve our most important natural resource. Citing examples from the United States and abroad, Barnett shows how individuals, businesses, and governments have already begun working together to reduce the wasteful consumption of water that is at the root of this crisis. “Barnett takes us back to the origins of our water [with] the same vividness and compassion as Michael Pollan.” —Los Angeles Times Beacon Press | TR | 978-0-8070-0328-2 | 296pp. | $16.00/$19.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-8070-0318-3 | $26.95/$31.00 Can. themes: environment • global Citizenship • Science & Society

OUR WAY OUT First Principles for a Post-apocalyptic World By Marq De Villiers Pessimism and an apocalyptic sense of doom are common currents in the culture today, as the news is increasingly full of alarming stories about global warming, energy shortages, and overpopulation. Here, all of these seemingly disparate problems are cohesively examined as many aspects of a single, greater crisis of sustainability—and the many solutions that are available to us already are highlighted. McClelland & Stewart | TR | 978-0-7710-2649-2 | 416pp. | $21.00/$21.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $10.50 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-55199-358-4 | $13.99/$13.99 Can. themes: Science & Society • Social Justice

TOMS RIVER A Story of Science and Salvation

Website: www.DanFagin.com

By Dan Fagin In 1971, a trucker tossed drums of industrial waste onto the land of a New Jersey chicken farm. When an alarming number of childhood cancer cases cropped up in the town of Toms River, the inhabitants united in a quest to expose the connection between toxic waste and illness—a battle that culminated in the government’s stunning confirmation of the very real link between pollution and cancer. Prize-winning environmental writer and professor Dan Fagin combines careful, evidence-based research and reportage with engaging, empathetic storytelling. Do not order before 3/19/2013. Bantam | HC | 978-0-553-80653-3 | 560pp. | $28.00/$34.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $14.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-385-36031-9 | $24.00/$28.00 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-345-53861-1 | $13.99/$15.99 Can. themes: environment • Science & Society

FAREWELL, MY SUBARU An Epic Adventure in Local Living

Website: www.DougFine.com

By Doug Fine It takes more water to sustain a vegetable crop in New Mexico for a year than it would to sustain a Bangladeshi village of 500. All components of a solar-powered water pump are made in Japan or Denmark. It takes 16,000 gallons of jet fuel to fly an organic banana from Honduras to Silver City, New Mexico. Doug Fine didn’t know any of these facts, and when he learned them, he decided to live a more eco-conscious life. Farewell, My Subaru is the hilarious and inspirational account of a Long Island suburbanite’s attempt to go green—extreme green—in rural New Mexico. Selected for Common Reading at The University of Texas at San Antonio. Villard Books | TR | 978-0-8129-7789-9 | 224pp. | $15.00/$17.50 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-345-50460-9 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: environment • ethics/decision Making • global Citizenship

www.CommonReads.com

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THE END OF COUNTRY

Website: www.SeamusMcGraw.com

Dispatches from the Frack Zone By Seamus McGraw

Now in Paperback

The land in a remote northeastern corner of Pennsylvania happens to contain one of the richest known natural gas deposits in the world—the Marcellus Shale—worth more than one trillion dollars. A native of the region, award-winning American journalist Seamus McGraw shares a riveting account of the intense battle that ensues between the corporate developers who want to get their hands on this commodity, and a group of local crusaders who are determined to fight “the end of country” and get what they deserve, without sacrificing their homes or compromising their way of life. Random House | TR | 978-0-8129-8064-6 | 256pp. | $15.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-679-60431-0 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: environment • group dynamics • Social Justice

PLANETWALKER 22 Years of Walking. 17 Years of Silence.

Author Video: http://tiny.cc/0v4wqw

By John Francis, Ph.D. Gold Winner of the Nautilus Book Awards in the categories of Ecology/Environment and Independent Press After witnessing the devastating effects of the 1971 oil spill in San Francisco Bay, John Francis began a remarkable, solitary pilgrimage that would change his life irrevocably. An amazing human-interest story with a vital message about saving our environment, Planetwalker is also an engaging coming-of-age odyssey, full of the positive experiences, the challenging times, the characters encountered, and the learning gained along the way. Selected for Common Reading at Graceland University and University at South Carolina Upstate. National Geographic | TR | 978-1-4262-0405-0 | 288pp. | $16.95/$20.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-4262-0340-4 | $16.95/$20.00 Can. themes: Coming of age • environment • leadership & Motivation

THE RAGGED EDGE OF SILENCE

Author Video: http://tiny.cc/cfzjrw

Finding Peace in a Noisy World By John Francis, Ph.D.

By the author of Planetwalker, The Ragged Edge of Silence takes us to another level of appreciating, through silence, the beauty of the planet and our place in it. John Francis’s real and compelling prose forms a tapestry of questions and answers woven from interviews, stories, personal experience, science, and the power of silence through history, including practices from Native American, Hindu, and Buddhist cultures. Through their time-honored traditions and his own experience of communicating silently for seventeen years, Francis’s practical exercises lay the groundwork for the reader to build constructive silence into everyday life, to learn more about oneself, to set goals and accomplish dreams, to build strong relationships, and to appreciate and be a steward of the Earth. With its amazing human interest element and first-person expertise, this book is energizing and universally instructive. National Geographic | HC | 978-1-4262-0723-5 | 272pp. | $26.00/$30.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $13.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-4262-0738-9 | $26.00/$26.00 Can. themes: environment • leadership & Motivation • life Skills

ECOLOGICAL INTELLIGENCE The Hidden Impacts of What We Buy

Website: www.DanielGoleman.info

By Daniel Goleman “The theme of ecological awareness and environmental sustainability emerged as we considered a variety of books. The selection committee felt that such a theme would oﬀer many options for engagement and use of the book across all colleges and disciplines. It could connect with new university eﬀorts in the area of heightened environmental awareness and action and provide opportunities to facilitate community service options for students and faculty.” —Ron Daniel, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education, Virginia Tech

Selected for Common Reading at Virginia Tech. Crown Business | TR | 978-0-385-52783-5 | 288pp. | $16.00/$19.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-385-53040-8 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: environment • ethics/decision Making • Science & Society

Go Green / Environmental Studies

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THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES Lost Groves, Champion Trees, and an Urgent Plan to Save the Planet

Website: www.Jim-Robbins.net

By Jim Robbins New York Times reporter and freelance journalist Jim Robbins explains the importance of trees, including how they may help save the planet. At the heart of this timely and evocative nonfiction work is the incredible story of David Milarch, a Michigan nurseryman who embarked on a mission to locate “champion” trees, reproduce them, and spread their offspring around the world following a near-death experience. The Man Who Planted Trees is both a testament to one man’s successful efforts to save one of our most important natural resources and a resounding call to others to act. Spiegel & Grau | HC | 978-1-4000-6906-4 | 240pp. | $25.00/$29.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $12.50 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-58836-999-4 | $12.99/$15.99 Can. themes: environment • inspiration • Service

FINDING HIGHER GROUND: Adaptation in the Age of Warming By Amy Seidl

Website: www.AmySeidl.com

While much of the global warming conversation rightly focuses on reducing our carbon footprint, the reality is that even if we were to immediately cease emissions, we would still face climate change into the next millennium. In Finding Higher Ground, Amy Seidl takes the uniquely positive—yet realistic—position that humans and animals can adapt and persist despite these changes. Drawing on an emerging body of scientific research, Seidl brings us stories of adaptation from the natural world and from human communities. “Here’s the playbook for the years ahead: loving but savvy, with open eyes and with open heart, Amy Seidl talks us through the possibilities we have on the planet we’ve created. A landmark book.” —Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org and author of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet Beacon Press | TR | 978-0-8070-8499-1 | 216pp. | $18.00/$21.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-8070-8599-8 | $24.95/$27.95 Can. themes: environment • Science & Society

PLENTY: Eating Locally on the 100-Mile Diet

Website: www.AlisaSmith.ca

By Alisa Smith and J. B. MacKinnon Plenty relates the remarkable, amusing, and inspiring adventures of a Canadian couple who make a yearlong attempt to eat only foods grown and produced within a 100-mile radius of their apartment. This food-focused experiment offers a way to think about globalization, monoculture, the oil economy, environmental collapse, and community, as the authors reveal a meaningful way to relate to the very essence of human survival: the food we eat. “A funny, warm, and seductive account of how we might live better—better for this earth, better for the community, better for our bellies!” —Bill McKibben

Selected for Common Reading at College of the Redwoods and Humboldt State University. Clarkson Potter | TR | 978-0-307-34733-6 | 272pp. | $13.95/NCR | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-307-39478-1 | $9.99/NCR themes: environment • Science & Society • Social Justice

THE YOUNG ACTIVIST’S GUIDE TO BUILDING A GREEN MOVEMENT AND CHANGING THE WORLD By Sharon J. Smith Foreword by Julia Butterfly Hill

Website: http://tiny.cc/bal4qw

In The Young Activist’s Guide to Building a Green Movement and Changing the World, author and activist Sharon J. Smith shares proven strategies and lessons learned from the winners of Earth Island Institute’s Brower Youth Awards, America’s top honor for young green leaders. Here are all the tools environmental organizers need—from planning a campaign and recruiting supporters to raising money and attracting media attention. The Guide also has tips on how students can boost the sustainability of their college campuses, with contributions by Earth Day Network, and tips on how to launch a career in the environmental movement. Ten Speed Press | TR | 978-1-58008-561-8 | 224pp. | $14.99/$16.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-60774-016-2 | $11.99/$12.99 Can. themes: environment • global Citizenship • leadership & Motivation

www.CommonReads.com

go green / enVironMental StUdieS

GREEN TOWN, U.S.A. The Handbook for America’s Sustainable Future By Daniel Wallach In 2007, Greensburg, Kansas, was struck by a tornado, and lost 95 percent of its infrastructure. The people of Greensburg, with the guidance of Daniel Wallach, rebuilt their community as the first Green Town in the U.S. This book explains how any town can incorporate renewable energy, green construction, local food suppliers, and other sustainable approaches to become a green community, too.

Publishes June 2013

Do not order before 6/25/2013. Hatherleigh Press | TR | 978-1-57826-312-7 | 240pp. | $15.00/$17.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-57826-481-0 | $9.99/$11.99 Can. themes: environment • leadership & Motivation

HARVEST THE WIND America’s Journey to Jobs, Energy Independence, and Climate Stability

Website: www.PhilipWarburg.com

By Philip Warburg In Harvest the Wind, Philip Warburg brings us the people behind the green economy-powered resurgence in Cloud County and communities like it across the United States. This corner of Kansas is the first stop on an odyssey that introduces readers to farmers, factory workers, biologists, and high-tech entrepreneurs—all players in a transformative industry that is taking hold across the U.S. and around the globe. Harvest the Wind serves as an earthly antidote to the more abstract treatises on global warming and green energy. By showing how practical solutions are being implemented at the local level, Warburg offers an inspirational look at how everyone can pursue a saner and more sustainable energy future. Beacon Press | HC | 978-0-807-00107-3 | 256pp. | $27.95/$33.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $14.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-8070-0108-0 | $27.95/$33.00 Can. themes: environment • Science & Society

Also Available: GREEN VOLUNTEERS, 8TH EDITION

FULL BODY BURDEN

The World Guide to Voluntary Work in Nature Conservation

Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats

By Fabio Ausenda Universe | TR | 978-88-89060-19-3 | 256pp. $16.95/$18.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 themes: environment • Social Justice

GO GREEN, LIVE RICH 50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth (and Get Rich Trying) By David Bach with Hillary Rosner Broadway | TR | 978-0-7679-2973-8 | 192pp. $14.95/NCR | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-7393-6852-7 | $21.00/$23.00 Can. e-Book: 978-0-7679-3024-6 | $13.99/NCR themes: environment • leadership & Motivation • Social Justice

ED BEGLEY, JR.’S GUIDE TO SUSTAINABLE LIVING Learning to Conserve Resources and Manage an Eco-Conscious Life

THE WATER BOOK A Users Guide to Understanding, Protecting, and Preserving Earth’s Most Precious Resource By Elizabeth Pacheco and June Eding Preface by Alexandra Cousteau

Hatherleigh Press | TR | 978-1-57826-345-5 | 192pp. $11.00/$13.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 themes: ethics/decision Making global Citizenship

By Ed Begley, Jr. Clarkson Potter | TR | 978-0-307-40514-2 | 352pp. $22.50/$27.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $11.25 themes: environment • global Citizenship life Skills

Go Green / Environmental Studies

Pre-Publication Copy Available

THE LEADER’S CODE Mission, Character, Service, and Getting the Job Done

To view the author’s talk at the 2009 First-Year Experience® Conference, go to: http://tiny.cc/0el4qw

By Donovan Campbell

Publishes April 2013

To request a free pre-publication copy, e-mail commonreads@randomhouse.com Do not order before 4/9/2013. Random House | HC | 978-0-8129-9293-9 | 256pp. $27.00/$32.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $13.50 Also available: e-Book: 978-0-679-64420-0 | $13.99/$14.99 Can.

Adoption notes: Disciplines: Business; Leadership Studies; Military Studies Themes: Leadership & Motivation; Service Campus Visits: Alternative Formats:

rom the New York Times best-selling author of Joker One, Donovan Campbell, comes a unique book on character and leadership, inspired by the author’s training and experience in the United States Marine Corps. America suffers from a leadership crisis. In business, politics, and popular culture, our leaders are consistently disappointing their constituents with immoral, unethical, or corrupt behavior. But we do have one national institution with a strong, clear leadership model that commands widespread respect and admiration. This institution is the United States military. In The Leader’s Code, Donovan Campbell reveals how the training model of the U.S. Marine Corps can serve as a foundation for great leadership in business and beyond. Focusing on character as the most important quality in a leader, he identifies its six key attributes—humility, excellence, kindness, discipline, courage, and wisdom. Using military-inspired training techniques and stories from his own experience in the Corps, Campbell outlines how readers can develop these six qualities and utilize them to become great leaders. The Leader’s Code shows that success on both an individual and national level depends on the integrity of our future leaders in their pursuit of noble missions. Also by Donovan Campbell

JOKER ONE A Marine Platoon’s Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood By Donovan Campbell For full description, see page 21. Selected for Common Reading at Niagara University; Siena Heights University; and The T. Boone Pickens Leadership Institute. Random House | TR | 978-0-8129-7956-5 | 336pp. $16.00/$19.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-1-58836-778-5 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: ethics/decision Making group dynamics • leadership & Motivation

Website: www.Joker-One.com

donoVan CaMpBell is a Fortune 500 executive and the best-selling author of Joker One: A Marine Platoon’s Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood. He graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Business School, finished first in his class at the Marines’ Basic Officer Course, and served three combat deployments. He was awarded the Combat Action Ribbon and a Bronze Star for Valor for his time in Iraq. After his combat tours he returned to Dallas, where he is now Senior Vice President of IntegraColor, a leading commercial printing company. His lecture appearances include Harvard Business School, the Air Force Academy, PepsiCo, and the Barbara Bush Celebration of Reading.

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About the Author: donovan Campbell

A Message from the Author to Redeem Leadership, teach Virtue In 2009, I spent most of my time flying around America, visiting various geographies as a mid-level executive with a Fortune 500 company. Just one year beforehand, I had been flying around a very different country, Afghanistan, visiting various geographies as a mid-level officer supporting the Special Forces. As different as America and Afghanistan were, I noticed an even more profound difference when I came home. It wasn’t a difference between Americans and Afghans; rather, it was a difference between Americans and Americans. Watching junior military leaders make decisions overseas and watching senior business and political leaders make decisions back at home was like watching two different cultures in action. Overseas, I saw twenty-two-year-old squad leaders volunteer to walk point through bomb-laden streets in order to expose themselves to danger in advance of their teams. I watched nineteen-year-old team leaders shield their men with their own bodies, taking severe wounds so that their teams wouldn’t have to. Twenty-two-year-old lieutenants ran through fire while everyone else took cover, checking on their men to make certain they were safe. Back at home, I watched a different group of business and political leaders behave very differently—attempting to pin responsibility for failure on others, blaming circumstances for their mishaps, and trying all the while to extract as much personal gain as possible. I wondered, “Why the difference?” And then it hit me. The two groups had two very different views of leadership. The latter group, by and large, seemed to view leadership as a top-down extractive exercise in which a leader’s role was to take as much as possible from the organization and their team. The soldiers, by contrast, viewed leadership as a bottom-up service exercise in which a leader’s role was to give as much as possible to their teams and their common mission. From the moment that the soldiers entered basic training—usually at eighteen years old—they had been taught a servant-leadership framework grounded in clear, specific virtues that all members of their organization were expected to uphold. They were taught that real leadership means putting their teams and their shared mission first and their own personal welfare dead last. They were told that character underpins competence and that character is like anything else in life: it doesn’t just happen. If you want to be good at it, then you have to work at it. This basic training in virtue and service produced young leaders overseas who behaved markedly differently than their much older counterparts back home. For most servicewomen and men, this profound character and leadership development begins at the same life stage in which their peers are entering their freshman year of college. Thus, teachers, administrators, program coordinators, and everyone else involved in this seminal college experience have the same tremendous opportunity to effect lifetime character and leadership development in their young charges as do their military counterparts. Though the circumstances are different, the outcome can be the same—young people instilled with the desire to become their best moral selves, to make an impact by serving others and bringing out the best in them. For this outcome to happen, though, academic leaders must focus on instilling specific virtues, and a specific leadership model, rather than on vague concepts of character and leadership writ large. Most people believe that good character is a good thing—the problem is that the underpinnings of good character are rarely defined, and the ways in which to pursue it are rarely spelled out. Moreover, most young people are not given clear leadership frameworks that they can put into action in their own life. The Leader’s Code can help bridge this gap, for it defines the servant-leadership model in depth, lays out the virtues underpinning it, and provides clear ways in which to develop both virtue and leadership. In an age where economic calamity has hit the entire world, where leaders seem to have failed on a global scale, and where many people believe that life will be worse for the next generation than it was for them, colleges have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to instill hope, purpose, and meaning in the lives of their young charges. They can do so by teaching anxious students that their worth as individuals does not depend on what they do, what they earn, or who they know. Rather, it depends on who they become, and who they become is entirely under their control if they will pursue virtue with discipline and intentionality. I am excited to see the impact that universities make in the lives of the next generation of leaders. If possible, I hope that The Leader’s Code can help in its own small way. Donovan Campbell

Social Action

REIMAGINING EQUALITY Stories of Gender, Race, and Finding Home

Website: www.facebook.com/ProfAnitaHill

By Anita Hill

Now in Paperback

Beacon Press | TR | 978-0-8070-1443-1 | 224pp. $16.00/$19.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: e-Book: 978-0-8070-1438-7 | $25.95/$29.00 Can.

Adoption notes: Disciplines: African American; History; Political Science; Women’s Studies Themes: Gender Issues; Group Dynamics; Social Justice Campus Visits: Alternative Formats:

rom the heroic lawyer who spoke out against Clarence Thomas in the historic confirmation hearings twenty years ago, comes Anita Hill’s first book since the best-selling Speaking Truth to Power. On the twentieth anniversary of the historic Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings, where she spoke out so courageously about workplace sexual harassment, Anita Hill turns her attention to the topic of home. As our country reels from the subprime mortgage meltdown and the resulting devastation of so many families, so many communities, and even cities, Hill takes us inside the “crisis of home” we are confronting. Along the way she exposes its deep roots in race and gender inequities that continue to haunt the country and imperil every American’s ability to achieve the American Dream. Reaching back to the story of her slave ancestors, as well as narrating the stories of individuals who are now caught in the crossfire of the current housing collapse, she invites us into homes across the U.S., from her grandparent’s homestead in Arkansas to Baltimore’s toughest neighborhoods. Hill bridges the experiences of women and men struggling to make homes in our country and the world of high finance and mortgage lending. In this period of recovery and its aftermath, what is at stake is the inclusive democracy the Constitution promises. The achievement of that ideal, Hill argues, depends on each American’s ability to secure a place that provides access to every opportunity our country has to offer. Building on the great strides of the women’s rights and civil rights struggles, Hill presents concrete proposals, which encourage readers to broaden their thinking about home and to reimagine equality for America’s future. “in a book that is rigorous and heartfelt, sharply analytical and deeply moving, anita hill examines the idea of what ‘home’ means to americans. Bringing to bear her formidable skills as a scholar of american law, history, and culture, hill has produced a personal narrative that reaches across color and class to explore how our family homes and our national home are inextricably linked to how we understand achievement, opportunity, and equality.” —Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, Harvard University

About the Author: Anita Hill anita hill is a professor of social policy, law, and women’s studies at Brandeis University, where she teaches courses on Race and the Law and Gender Equality. After receiving her JD from Yale Law School in 1980, she worked as the attorney-advisor to Clarence Thomas at the U.S. Department of Education. In 1991, she testified at the Senate confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas. She gained national exposure when her allegations of sexual harassment were made public. She is the author of Speaking Truth to Power, in which she wrote about her experience as a witness in the Thomas hearings. Hill has written widely on issues of race and gender in publications such as the New York Times, Newsweek, the Boston Globe, Critical Race Feminism, and others. She has appeared on Today, 60 Minutes, Meet the Press, and Face the Nation.

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A Message from the Author

It’s hard to believe that almost two decades have passed since the dramatic Clarence Thomas Senate confirmation hearing that had such an impact on so many in our nation, including perhaps some of you. I’ve been very proud of the era of heightened awareness and concern about sexual harassment that followed that frankly grueling experience. I have had the privilege of meeting exceptional women and men in nearly every state in the country who seek nothing more than to end behavior, like sexual harassment, that keeps women from reaching their full potential. Some real good did emerge. And I wrote an autobiographical book that some of you may remember, Speaking Truth to Power, back in 1997. For me the positive developments of the recent past are just the beginning. Starting from the premise that a fair and just society is in everyone’s best interest, I have spent a great deal of time studying, researching, and lecturing about how important it is that we strive for full equality in our nation, no matter how difficult an achievement it may seem. I’ve been working on my new book, Reimagining Equality, which reflects my ideas about how we can begin to realize equality for women, for blacks, and, particularly, for black women. In it I look back at my ancestors, and forward, based on my experiences and discoveries since the hearing. I hope you will enjoy the stories and ideas presented here. I wanted to publish this new book on the twentieth anniversary of the hearing—when there will be a fresh round of media and other attention—not only to shine a bright light on the accomplishments of the past twenty years, but also to examine the issues that continue to trouble me and many of you. It’s my hope that this book will help a new generation to better understand and meet the challenges of remaking our society into one that might actually reach the goal of liberty and justice for all. Thank you for your support of my work, past and present, and all best wishes for a successful year.

Anita Hill

Social Action

SoCial aCtion

LIVING AND DYING IN BRICK CITY An E.R. Doctor Returns Home By Sampson Davis With Lisa Frazier Page

Website: ThreeDoctors.com/Sampson-Davis Author Video: http://tiny.cc/zlhbrw

Working as an emergency room physician in an impoverished section of his hometown of Newark, New Jersey, Sampson bears witness to the growing health care crisis plaguing innercity communities. Weaving a personal narrative that gives a voice to those most devastated by this medical crisis, Sampson offers a critical overview of urban health care, and issues a call to heal U.S. communities. Spiegel & Grau | HC | 978-1-4000-6994-1 | 256pp. | $25.00/$29.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $12.50 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-679-60518-8 | $12.99/$15.99 Can. themes: Social Justice • ethics/decision Making • leadership & Motivation

HEARTS ON FIRE Stories of Today’s Visionaries Igniting Idealism into Action By Jill W. Iscol with Peter W. Cookson, Jr. Foreword by Bill Clinton

Website: www.HeartsOnFireBook.com Author Video: http://tiny.cc/wxumrw

Philanthropist and activist Jill Iscol and educational sociologist and author Peter W. Cookson introduce some of the most trailblazing visionaries and activists of today—people using their wishful thinking to inspire productive, effective action. Presenting the inspiring stories of young leaders working to open and improve schools and healthcare centers, tackle poverty, and Now in Paperback eliminate violence, Hearts on Fire is an empowering and practical guide that shows how everyone can turn their ideas into powerful, valuable activism for a more meaningful life and a better world. Random House | TR | 978-0-8129-8430-9 | 176pp. | $15.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-8129-9390-5 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. themes: inspiration • leadership/Motivation • Youth activism

GRACE AND GRIT My Fight for Equal Pay and Fairness at Goodyear and Beyond By Lilly Ledbetter with Lanier Scott Isom

Website: www.LillyLedbetter.com Author Video: http://tiny.cc/pnzbrw

Many are familiar with Lilly Ledbetter, the woman behind the historic Ledbetter vs. Goodyear discrimination case and President Barack Obama’s Fair Pay Restoration Act. But here, for the first time, this civil rights crusader and American icon shares her complete story: her impoverished childhood, the bias and sexual harassment she experienced as an employee at Goodyear, and her long, determined fight for what is right: fairness and equal rights for all. Three Rivers Press | TR | 978-0-307-88794-8 | 288pp. | $15.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-307-88793-1 | $12.99/$15.99 Can. themes: gender issues • human rights • Social Justice

START SOMETHING THAT MATTERS By Blake Mycoskie

Website: www.StartSomethingThatMatters.com Author Video: http://tiny.cc/rlxbrw To view the author’s talk at the 2010 First-Year Experience® Conference, go to: http://tiny.cc/g7mpqw

TOMS Shoes melds profit-making with social action; for every pair of shoes purchased, the company donates a pair to a child. Although he had no prior fashion or retail experience, Mycoskie’s business is profitable, even while giving shoes away. He shares his innovative approach to business, and the business of doing good. “The TOMS story has already inspired many, and Start Something that Matters supplements that inspiration with wisdom and practical experience that will help to catalyze the next generation of social entrepreneurs. This is exactly the book that my students and I have been waiting for!” —Jim Schorr, Professor of Social Enterprise, Vanderbilt University Now in Paperback Selected for Common Reading at Missouri State University and Philadelphia University. Spiegel & Grau | TR | 978-0-8129-8144-5 | 224pp. | $14.00/$17.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio: 978-0-307-96715-2 | $17.50/$19.50 Can. • e-Book: 978-0-679-60352-8 | $9.99/$12.99 Can. themes: global Citizenship • leadership & Motivation • Service

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SoCial aCtion

DAMNED NATIONS

Website: www.SamanthaNutt.com Author Video: http://tiny.cc/dtl4qw

Greed, Guns, Armies, and Aid By Samantha Nutt, M.D.

Now in Paperback

Award-winning humanitarian and best-selling author Samantha Nutt recalls her experiences providing care for more than a decade in some of the most violence-ridden, war-torn parts of the world. The portrait presented in the best-selling and critically acclaimed Damned Nations sounds a call for reform in actions and thinking to help bring about a more respectful, peaceful, and compassionate worldview. An authority on the effects of war on civilians, Nutt pairs moving personal narrative and thoughtful research with powerful, indefatigable argument to tell us what needs to change—and how to change it. Signal | TR | 978-0-7710-5146-3 | 240pp. | $17.99/$19.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-7710-5147-0 | $13.99/$13.99 Can. themes: global Citizenship • Service • Social Justice

THE ENOUGH MOMENT

Website: www.EnoughProject.org

Fighting to End Africa’s Worst Human Rights Crimes By John Prendergast with Don Cheadle

In their follow-up to the bestselling Not on Our Watch, which brought awareness to the genocide in Sudan, human rights activist John Prendergast and Oscar-nominated actor and philanthropist Don Cheadle present The Enough Moment, an empowering look at how people’s movements and inspired policies can stop genocide, child soldier recruitment, and rape as a war weapon in Africa. Prendergast and Cheadle shed light on this burgeoning mass movement against human rights crimes, showing how it involves citizen activism, social networking, compassion, celebrities, and globalization. “An important, valuable toolkit that will inspire many.”

—Kirkus Reviews

Three Rivers Press | TR | 978-0-307-46482-8 | 304pp. | $14.99/$16.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-307-46483-5 | $11.99/$12.99 Can. themes: human rights • regional: africa • Social Justice

THE THIRD WAVE A Volunteer Story

Website: www.TheThirdWaveBook.com

By Alison Thompson With Meimei Fox Thompson left her life in New York behind when the tsunami struck southern Asia in 2004. In Sri Lanka, she cared for the injured and helped rebuild schools. She offers an insider’s account of what it is like to be present in the wake of a disaster, and explains how any individual can and should respond when others are in need. Spiegel & Grau | HC | 978-0-385-52916-7 | 240pp. | $25.00/$28.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $12.50 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-679-60492-1 | $12.99/$14.99 Can. themes: global Citizenship • human rights • regional: Southeast asia • Service • Social Justice

CITIZEN YOU How Social Entrepreneurs Are Changing the World

Website: http://tiny.cc/834wqw

By Jonathan M. Tisch With Karl Weber Foreword by Mayor Cory A. Booker This is a stirring call to “active citizenship,” which moves beyond charity and volunteerism, advocating instead a holistic, systemic approach to changing the world. This call to action will inspire readers to join this empowering and world-changing mission. “Tisch documents a shift from volunteerism to active citizenship, less about alleviating symptoms and more about addressing root causes in problems like poverty, hunger, homelessness, and disease. By the time a concluding list of 51 ways to ‘join the movement’ rolls around, it’s likely Tisch will have inspired readers to take him up on one of them.” —Publishers Weekly Crown | TR | 978-0-307-58849-4 | 288pp. | $13.00/$15.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: 978-0-307-58850-0 | $9.99/$11.99 Can. themes: leadership & Motivation • Service • Social Justice

Social Action

author/title index 10 THINGS EMPLOYERS WANT YOU TO LEARN IN COLLEGE, REVISED: The Skills You Need to Succeed..................................................................................71 Abbott, Jim and Tim Brown...............................................................................................8 ACTS OF FAITH: The Story of an American Muslim, in the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation..................................................................................................62 AGE OF MIRACLES, THE: A Novel ......................................................................................41 Aiken, Sean ....................................................................................................................78 Albom, Mitch ..................................................................................................................42 Ali, Nujood......................................................................................................................20 ALL SOULS: A Family Story from Southie ........................................................................25 ALL WORK, NO PAY: Finding an Internship, Building Your Resume, Making Connections, and Gaining Job Experience ....................................................81 AMAZING GRACE: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation ..........................58 Amnesty International USA ............................................................................................68 Angelou, Maya................................................................................................................20 Asher, Donald..................................................................................................................81 AUDACITY OF HOPE, THE: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream ........................27 Ausenda, Fabio ..............................................................................................................85 Bach, David ....................................................................................................................85 Bahari, Maziar ................................................................................................................20 Bakewell, Sarah ..............................................................................................................10 Barnett, Cynthia..............................................................................................................82 BE DIFFERENT: My Adventures with Asperger’s and My Advice for Fellow Aspergians, Misfits, Families, and Teachers ..................................................................................16 Begley, Ed Jr....................................................................................................................85 BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity ........46 Berger, Lauren ................................................................................................................81 BLACK TITAN: A.G. Gaston and the Making of a Black American Millionaire ....................24 BLOOD DONE SIGN MY NAME: A True Story ......................................................................70 BLUE REVOLUTION: Unmaking America’s Water Crisis......................................................82 BOBBY’S BOOK ................................................................................................................43 Bolles, Richard N. ......................................................................................................78, 81 Boo, Katherine ................................................................................................................46 BOOK OF HAPPINESS: AFRICA..........................................................................................70 Boylan, Jennifer Finney ..................................................................................................21 BOYS FROM LITTLE MEXICO, THE: A Season Chasing the American Dream ......................29 Bracken, Sam ..................................................................................................................21 Brady, Diane....................................................................................................................68 Brafman, Rom ................................................................................................................79 Brafman, Ori and Rom Brafman ......................................................................................78 Bronson, Po ....................................................................................................................42 Brooks, Max ....................................................................................................................38 Brzezinski, Matthew ......................................................................................................68 BUDDHA WALKS INTO A BAR: A Guide to Life for a New Generation ................................45 Buffett, Peter ..................................................................................................................42 Cain, Susan ....................................................................................................................48 Campbell, Donovan ..................................................................................................21, 86 Canada, Geoffrey ............................................................................................................22 CAREER COUNSELOR’S HANDBOOK, 2ND EDITION ............................................................81 CAREER GUIDE FOR CREATIVE AND UNCONVENTIONAL PEOPLE, THE ................................81 CENTURY OF WISDOM, A: Lessons from the Life of Alice Herz-Sommer, the World’s Oldest Living Holocaust Survivor ............................................................28 Chabris, Christopher and Daniel Simons..........................................................................79 CHASING PERFECT: The Will to Win in Basketball and Life................................................44 Chittister, Joan Sister ......................................................................................................42 Chura, David ..................................................................................................................68 CITIZEN YOU: How Social Entrepreneurs Are Changing the World ....................................91 CLICK: The Forces Behind How We Fully Engage with People, Work, and Everything We Do ..............................................................................................78 Cline, Ernest....................................................................................................................30 Cole, Teju ........................................................................................................................38

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COLLEGE RULES! 3RD EDITION: How to Study, Survive, and Succeed in College ..............80 Combs, Patrick ................................................................................................................71 CONSTELLATION OF VITAL PHENOMENON, A: A Novel ......................................................39 Coplin, Bill ......................................................................................................................71 COVERING: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights ..........................................................70 Coyle, Daniel ..................................................................................................................43 CRACKING THE HIDDEN JOB MARKET: How to Find Opportunity in Any Economy ............81 DAMNED NATIONS: Greed, Guns, Armies, and Aid............................................................91 DARKEST CHILD: A Novel ................................................................................................36 Davidson, Emily ..............................................................................................................43 Davidson, Jim and Kevin Vaughan ..................................................................................43 Davis, Sampson ..............................................................................................................90 De Villiers, Marq..............................................................................................................82 DEAR MARCUS: A Letter to the Man Who Shot Me ..........................................................12 DECISIVE: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work..................................................75 DECODED ........................................................................................................................24 Demick, Barbara ............................................................................................................69 DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY, THE: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America ..............................................................................................60 Dewolf, Thomas Norman and Sharon Leslie Morgan ......................................................69 DINNER, THE: A Novel......................................................................................................32 DISCOVERING WES MOORE ..............................................................................................26 DO YOU DREAM IN COLOR?: Insights from a Girl Without Sight ........................................18 Doctorow, E. L. ................................................................................................................38 DREAMS FROM MY FATHER: A Story of Race and Inheritance ..........................................27 Duhigg, Charles ..............................................................................................................72 Dumas, Firoozeh ............................................................................................................22 ECOLOGICAL INTELLIGENCE: The Hidden Impacts of What We Buy ..................................83 ED BEGLEY JR.’S GUIDE TO SUSTAINABLE LIVING: Learning to Conserve Resources and Manage an Eco-Conscious Life............................................................................85 EIGHTY DAYS: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History-Making Race Around the World......................................................................................................69 Eikleberry, Carol ..............................................................................................................81 END OF COUNTRY, THE: Dispatches from the Frack Zone ..................................................83 ENJOY EVERY SANDWICH: Living Each Day as If It Were Your Last ....................................44 ENOUGH MOMENT, THE: Fighting to End Africa’s Worst Human Rights Crimes ................91 ENRIQUE’S JOURNEY: The Story of a Boy’s Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother ........................................................................................................26 EVERY DAY ......................................................................................................................39 Fagin, Dan ......................................................................................................................82 FALL OF THE HOUSE OF DIXIE: The Civil War and the Social Revolution that Transformed the South ......................................................................................70 FAREWELL, MY SUBARU: An Epic Adventure in Local Living ............................................82 FATHERMOTHERGOD: My Journey Out of Christian Science..............................................22 Feaver, Peter, et. al. ........................................................................................................79 Figler, Howard and Richard. N. Bolles..............................................................................81 FINDING HIGHER GROUND: Adaptation in the Age of Warming ......................................84 Fine, Doug ......................................................................................................................82 Finn, Adharanand ..........................................................................................................43 FIRE IN THE ASHES: Twenty-Five Years Among the Poorest Children in America ..............58 FIST STICK KNIFE GUN: A Personal History of Violence ....................................................22 FIST STICK KNIFE GUN: A Personal History of Violence, Graphic Novel Edition..................22 FOLLOWING THE PATH: The Search for a Life of Passion, Purpose, and Joy ......................42 Ford, Jamie ....................................................................................................................38 Forrest, Emma ................................................................................................................22 Fox, Thomas J. ................................................................................................................85 Francis, John, Ph.D. .........................................................................................................83 FRATERNITY ....................................................................................................................68 FREEDOM WRITERS DIARY: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them ..................................................................44 FREEDOM: Stories Celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ....................68

author/title index Freeman, Philip Mitchell, Ph.D. ......................................................................................81 FRESH OFF THE BOAT: A Memoir ......................................................................................24 FULL BODY BURDEN: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats....................54, 85 FUNNY IN FARSI: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America ........................................22 GATHER AT THE TABLE: The Healing Journey of a Daughter of Slavery and a Son of the Slave Trade ..............................................................................................69 GENERATION EARN: The Young Professional’s Guide to Spending, Investing, and Giving Back ........................................................................................................81 GETTING THE BEST OUT OF COLLEGE: Insider Advice for Success from a Professor, a Dean, and a Recent Grad ........................................................................................79 GO GREEN, LIVE RICH: 50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth and Get Rich Trying..................85 Goleman, Daniel ............................................................................................................83 GOOD PROSE: The Art of Nonfiction ................................................................................79 Goodman, Matthew........................................................................................................69 Goyal, Rajeev ..................................................................................................................50 GRACE AND GRIT: My Fight for Equal Pay and Fairness at Goodyear and Beyond ............90 GRAND CENTRAL WINTER: Stories from the Street ..........................................................29 GREEN TOWN USA: The Handbook for America’s Sustainable Future................................85 GREEN VOLUNTEERS 8TH EDITION: The World Guide to Voluntary Work in Nature Conservation ............................................................................................................85 Greenhouse, Lucia ..........................................................................................................22 Halberstadt, Michèle ......................................................................................................23 HALF A LIFE: A Memoir....................................................................................................28 Hari, Daoud ....................................................................................................................23 HARVEST THE WIND: America’s Journey to Jobs, Energy Independence, and Climate Stability................................................................................................85 HEARTS ON FIRE: Stories of Today’s Visionaries Igniting Idealism into Action ..................90 Heath, Chip and Dan Heath ............................................................................................75 Hegland, Jean ................................................................................................................39 Hessel, Stéphane and Edgar Morin..................................................................................52 HIDDEN BRAIN, THE: How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars, and Save Our Lives ......................................................80 Hill, Anita........................................................................................................................88 Hillenbrand, Laura ..........................................................................................................23 Hoffert, Melanie..............................................................................................................23 Hoffman, Reid and Ben Casnocha ..................................................................................74 HOMER & LANGLEY: A Novel............................................................................................38 HOPE IN THE UNSEEN, A: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League ......................................................................................................29 HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET: A Novel ..................................................38 HOW TO BE A PERSON: The Stranger’s Guide to College, Sex, Intoxicants, Tacos, and Life Itself ..................................................................................................80 HOW TO GET ANY JOB: Career Launch and Re-Launch for Everyone Under 30 (or How to Avoid Living in Your Parents’ Basement) ..................................................81 HOW TO LIVE: Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer ............................................................................................................10 Huang, Eddie ..................................................................................................................24 Hurley, Bob ....................................................................................................................44 I AM FORBIDDEN: A Novel ..............................................................................................39 I AM NUJOOD, AGE 10 AND DIVORCED ............................................................................20 I DON’T WISH NOBODY TO HAVE A LIFE LIKE MINE: Tales of Kids in Adult Lockup..............68 I KNOW WHY CAGED BIRD SINGS ....................................................................................20 IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS, THE......................................................................66 IMPERFECT: An Improbable Life ........................................................................................8 IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin ........60 INTO THE FIRE: A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War ..............................................................................................................26 INTO THE FOREST: A Novel ..............................................................................................39 INVISIBLE GORILLA, THE: How Our Intuitions Deceive Us ................................................79 ISAAC’S ARMY: A Story of Courage and Survival in Nazi-Occupied Poland ......................68 Iscol, Jill ..........................................................................................................................90 Iversen, Kristen ........................................................................................................54, 85

Jagielski, Wojciech ..........................................................................................................56 Jay-Z ..............................................................................................................................24 Jenkins, Carol and Elizabeth Gardner Hines ....................................................................24 JOB HUNTERS SURVIVAL GUIDE, THE ..............................................................................81 JOKER ONE: A Marine Platoon’s Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood ......21, 86 JOSEPH ANTON: A Memoir ..............................................................................................27 Kerman, Piper ................................................................................................................24 Kidder, Tracy....................................................................................................................25 Kidder, Tracy and Richard Todd........................................................................................79 Koch, Herman ................................................................................................................32 Kozol, Jonathan ..............................................................................................................58 LA AUDACIA DE LA ESPERANZA ......................................................................................27 LA PETITE: A Memior of Childhood ..................................................................................23 LaNier, Carlotta Walls ......................................................................................................25 Larson, Erik ....................................................................................................................60 Lassiter, Pam ..................................................................................................................81 LAST TOWN ON EARTH, THE: A Novel ..............................................................................40 LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS: A Novel....................................................................40 LEADER’S CODE, THE: Mission, Character, Service, and Getting the Job Done ..................86 LECTURE NOTES: A Professor’s Inside Guide to College Success........................................81 Ledbetter, Lilly ................................................................................................................90 LEDGE, THE: An Inspirational Story of Friendship and Survival ........................................43 LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN: A Novel ..............................................................................40 Levine, Bruce ..................................................................................................................70 Levithan, David ..............................................................................................................39 LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT: Find Your Own Path to Fulfillment........................................42 LIFE WITHOUT LIMITS: Inspiration for a Ridiculously Good Life........................................45 LIMITLESS: Devotions for a Ridiculously Good Life ..........................................................45 Lipsenthal, Lee, M.D. ......................................................................................................44 LITTLE BOOK OF TALENT, THE: 52 Tips for Improving Your Skills........................................43 LIVING AND DYING IN BRICK CITY: An E.R. Doctor Returns Home ....................................90 LOGAVINA STREET: Life and Death in a Sarajevo Neighborhood ......................................69 LOOK ME IN THE EYE: My Life with Asperger’s..................................................................16 LOS SUENOS DE MI PADRE: Una historia de raza y herencia ............................................27 MacDonald, Michael Patrick............................................................................................25 MADE TO STICK: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die................................................75 MAJOR IN SUCCESS: Make College Easier, Fire up Your Dreams, and Get a Great Job........71 MAKE THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE: One Man’s Crusade to Inspire Others to Dream Bigger and Achieve the Extraordinary ......................................................................45 MAN WHO PLANTED TREES, THE: Lost Groves, Champion Trees, and an Urgent Plan to Save the Planet..................................................................................84 Markovits, Anouk............................................................................................................39 Marra, Anthony ..............................................................................................................39 MCcann, Colum ..............................................................................................................40 McCarthy, Susan Carol ....................................................................................................40 McGill, Jerry ....................................................................................................................12 McGraw, Seamus ............................................................................................................83 Mealer, Bryan..................................................................................................................14 Merritt, Jennifer..............................................................................................................81 Meyer, Dakota and Bing West..........................................................................................26 MIGHTY LONG WAY, A: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School..............25 MOM & ME & MOM ........................................................................................................20 Moon, Elizabeth..............................................................................................................40 Moore, Wes ....................................................................................................................26 MOUNTAINS BEYOND MOUNTAINS: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World ............................................................................25 MUCK CITY: Winning and Losing in Football’s Forgotten Town ........................................14 Mullen, Thomas ..............................................................................................................40 MY ORANGE DUFFEL BAG: A Journey to Radical Change ..................................................21 MY ROADMAP: A Personal Guide to Balance, Power, and Purpose ..................................21

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author/title index Mycoskie, Blake ..............................................................................................................90 Nafisi, Azar......................................................................................................................26 Nazario, Sonia ................................................................................................................26 NEW JOB SECURITY, THE, REVISED EDITION: The 5 Best Strategies for Taking Control of Your Career ....................................................................................81 NIGHT WANDERERS, THE: Uganda’s Children and the Lord’s Resistance Army ..................56 Nist-Olejnik, Sherrie, Ph.D. and Jodi Patrick Holschuh, Ph.D. ..........................................80 NOTHING TO ENVY: Ordinary Lives in North Korea............................................................69 Nutt, Samantha, M.D. ....................................................................................................91 Obama, Barack................................................................................................................27 Obreht, Téa......................................................................................................................34 ONE-WEEK JOB PROJECT, THE: One Man, One Year, 52 Jobs..............................................78 OPEN CITY: A Novel..........................................................................................................38 ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK: My Year in a Women’s Prison ..............................................24 ORDINARY RESURRECTIONS: Children in the Years of Hope..............................................58 OTHER WES MOORE, THE: One Name, Two Fates ..............................................................26 OUR WAY OUT: Principles for a Post-apocalyptic World....................................................82 OUTCASTS UNITED: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman’s Quest to Make a Difference ..........................................................28 OVERNIGHT RESUME, THE: The Fastest Way to Your Next Job ..........................................81 Pacheco, Elizabeth and June Eding..................................................................................85 Palacio, R. J. ....................................................................................................................41 Palmer, Kimberly ............................................................................................................81 Patel, Eboo......................................................................................................................62 Patel, Raj ........................................................................................................................64 PATH TO HOPE, THE..........................................................................................................52 Peter, Joseph ..................................................................................................................70 Phillips, Delores ..............................................................................................................36 PLANETWALKER: 22 Years of Walking. 17 Years of Silence. ..............................................83 PLENTY: Eating Locally on the 100-Mile Diet ..................................................................84 POWER OF HABIT, THE: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business..............................72 PRAIRIE SILENCE: A Memoir ............................................................................................23 Prendergast, John ..........................................................................................................91 Prendergast, John and Michael Mattocks........................................................................27 QUIET: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking ..................................48 RAGGED EDGE OF SILENCE: Finding Peace in a Noisy World..............................................83 RAISING CUBBY: A Father and Son’s Adventures with Asperger’s, Trains, Tractors, and High Explosives ........................................................................16 READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN: A Memoir in Books ............................................................26 READY PLAYER ONE: A Novel ..........................................................................................30 REIMAGINING EQUALITY: Stories of Gender, Race, and Finding Home..............................88 RESUME 101: A Student and Recent-Grad Guide to Crafting Resumes and Cover Letters that Land Jobs ..............................................................................81 Rinzler, Lodro..................................................................................................................45 Robbins, Jim ..................................................................................................................84 Robison, John Elder ........................................................................................................16 Roy-Bhattacharya, Joydeep ............................................................................................41 Rubin, Laurie ..................................................................................................................18 RUNNING WITH THE KENYANS: Discovering the Secrets of the Fastest People on Earth ........................................................................................................43 Rushdie, Salman ............................................................................................................27 SACRED GROUND: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America ..............................62 SAVAGE INEQUALITIES: Children in America’s Schools......................................................58 Sayrafiezadeh, Saïd ........................................................................................................28 Schultze, Quentin J. ........................................................................................................81 Seidl, Amy ......................................................................................................................84 Skloot, Rebecca ..............................................................................................................66 Smith, Alisa and J.B. MacKinnon ....................................................................................84 Smith, Sharon J...............................................................................................................84 SPEED OF DARK, THE: A Novel..........................................................................................40 St. John, Warren..............................................................................................................28

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START SOMETHING THAT MATTERS ..................................................................................90 START-UP OF YOU, THE: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career ........................................................................................74 Steinberg, Janice ............................................................................................................41 Stoessinger, Caroline ........................................................................................................8 Strauss, Darin....................................................................................................................8 STRENGTH IN WHAT REMAINS ........................................................................................25 Strickland, Bill ................................................................................................................45 Stringer, Lee....................................................................................................................29 STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU: A Memoir of Parenting in Three Genders ....................21 STUFFED & STARVED: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System ..............................64 Stutz, Phil and Barry Michels ..........................................................................................80 SUCCEEDING WHEN YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO FAIL: The 6 Enduring Principles of High Achievement ................................................................................................79 Suskind, Ron ..................................................................................................................29 SWAY: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior ............................................................78 SWITCH: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard....................................................75 TEACHING HOPE: Stories from the Freedom Writer Teachers and Erin Gruwell ................44 The Freedom Writers with Erin Gruwell ..........................................................................44 THE SPRINGS OF NAMJE: A Ten-Year Journey from the Villages of Nepal to the Halls of Congress ............................................................................................50 THEN THEY CAME FOR ME: A Family’s Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival ....................20 THIRD WAVE, THE: A Volunteer Story ..............................................................................91 Thompson Walker, Karen ................................................................................................41 Thompson, Alison ..........................................................................................................91 THUNDERSTRUCK ..........................................................................................................60 TIGER’S WIFE, THE: A Novel ............................................................................................34 TIN HORSE, THE: A Novel ................................................................................................41 Tisch, Jonathan ..............................................................................................................91 TOMS RIVER: A Story of Science and Salvation ................................................................82 TOOLS, THE: Transform Your Problems into Courage, Confidence, and Creativity..............80 Tran, GB ............................................................................................................................9 TRANSLATOR, THE: A Memoir ..........................................................................................23 TRAVESIA DE ENRIQUE, LA ..............................................................................................26 TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson ............42 Tyson, Timothy B.............................................................................................................70 UNBROKEN: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption......................23 UNLIKELY BROTHERS: Our Story of Adventure, Loss, and Redemption ............................27 UNSTOPPABLE: The Incredible Power of Faith in Action ..................................................45 Vedantam, Shankar ........................................................................................................80 VIETNAMERICA: A Family’s Journey ................................................................................29 Vujicic, Nick ....................................................................................................................45 WALL STREET JOURNAL GUIDE TO BUILDING YOUR CAREER, THE ......................................81 Warburg, Philip ..............................................................................................................85 WATCH, THE: A Novel ......................................................................................................41 WATER BOOK, THE: A Users Guide to Understanding, Protecting, and Preserving Earth’s Most Precious Resource ................................................................85 West, Lindy, et. al. ..........................................................................................................80 WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE? 2013: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers ................................................................................................78 WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE?: Job-Hunter’s Workbook, 4th Edition ......................81 WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH MY LIFE?: The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate Question ..............................................................................................42 WHEN SKATEBOARDS WILL BE FREE: A Memoir ..............................................................28 Wilson, Steve ..................................................................................................................29 WONDER ........................................................................................................................41 WORLD WAR Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War..........................................................38 Yoshino, Kenji..................................................................................................................70 YOUNG ACTIVIST’S GUIDE TO BUILDING A GREEN MOVEMENT AND CHANGING THE WORLD, THE ....................................................................................84 YOUR VOICE IN MY HEAD: A Memoir................................................................................22

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