History's most fabulous, revered, and sassy women provide wise counsel about modern life's romantic complexities, from dating apps, to feminist conundrums, and how not to give a f*ck. In her punchy new book, bestselling author Jennifer Wright imagines how history's most powerful women would approach current-day dating anxieties, with agony-aunt-style questions, quirky illustrations, and more. Witty, intelligent, and charming, We Came First is the modern guide to seduction and dating for badass ladies.
If not you, who? If not now, when? This was the challenge answered by Stephen Foreman and his wife, Emily, when they traded in their American white picket fence for a giant, dusty sandbox as missionaries in the deserts of North Africa. Stephen had given Emily a well-read copy of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs on their first date, a telling foreshadowing of the ultimate cost he would pay when, at 39, he was shot and killed by al-Qaeda operatives. His life and death planted a seed of boldness and inspiration in the hearts of local believers. This seed would grow and multiply efforts to help reach the very goal that Stephen was willing to give his life for—glorifying God and seeing his Kingdom established among the nations. In this memoir, Emily, left with four kids and an undying calling to reach the Muslim world, recounts their heartrending yet uplifting story of sacrifice and love for a people held captive by the ultimate Enemy. Stephen did not die in vain. This promise echoes through the book’s pages and far beyond, in the minds and lives of countless individuals touched by a man who daily put his life in the hands of God. Because of security issues and the need to protect other workers and local believers in the country, the book employs pseudonyms for all major characters, including the authors.
Winner of the Hemingway Foundation / PEN Award, this debut novel is "as funny as The Office, as sad as an abandoned stapler . . . that rare comedy that feels blisteringly urgent." (TIME) No one knows us in quite the same way as the men and women who sit beside us in department meetings and crowd the office refrigerator with their labeled yogurts. Every office is a family of sorts, and the Chicago ad agency depicted in Joshua Ferris's exuberantly acclaimed first novel is family at its best and worst, coping with a business downturn in the time-honored way: through gossip, elaborate pranks, and increasingly frequent coffee breaks. With a demon's eye for the details that make life worth noticing, Joshua Ferris tells an emotionally true and funny story about survival in life's strangest environment—the one we pretend is normal five days a week. One of the Best Books of the Year Boston Globe * Christian Science Monitor * New York Magazine * New York Times Book Review * St. Louis Post-Dispatch * Time magazine * Salon
Acclaimed artist and Caldecott-winning picture book creator Faith Ringgold shares an inspiring look at America's lineage in this stunning ode to our country--past, present, and future. America is a land of diversity. Whether driven by dreams and hope, or escaping poverty or persecution, our ancestors--and the faces of America today--represent people from every reach of the globe. And each person brought with them a unique gift--of art and music; of determination and grit; of ideas and strength--that forever shaped the country we all call home. Vividly evoked in Faith Ringgold's sumptuous colors and patterns, WE CAME TO AMERICA is an ode to every American who came before us, and a tribute to the children who will carry its message into our future.
Before you came . . . This gentle, wonder-filled celebration is the perfect book for parents, children, and all those who have discovered the joy of sharing their world with someone new. Luminous artwork by Caldecott Medalist David Diaz brings vibrant life to this lyrical reflection by the mother-daughter writing team of Newbery Medalist Patricia MacLachlan and Emily MacLachlan Charest.
Jack McCabe, himself a Vietnam War veteran, shares his own homecoming story and those of other Vietnam veterans, assembled from McCabe's interviews with more than 150 veterans.
“Stunning . . . A beautiful, sprawling, and generous book. Jansma is a brilliantly talented writer, but he also has a unique insight into what friends mean to one another, and what it means to be part of a city in which you never quite belong, but can’t quite bring yourself to leave. It’s a heartfelt novel, tender and painful and cathartic all at once, and even if the characters belong to New York, the story belongs to us all.” —NPR December, 2008. A heavy snowstorm is blowing through Manhattan and the economy is on the brink of collapse, but none of that matters to a handful of guests at a posh holiday party. Five years after their college graduation, the fiercely devoted friends at the heart of this richly absorbing novel remain as inseparable as ever: editor and social butterfly Sara Sherman, her troubled astronomer boyfriend George Murphy, loudmouth poet Jacob Blaumann, classics major turned investment banker William Cho, and Irene Richmond, an enchanting artist with an inscrutable past. Amid cheerful revelry and free-flowing champagne, the friends toast themselves and the new year ahead—a year that holds many surprises in store. They must navigate ever-shifting relationships with the city and with one another, determined to push onward in pursuit of their precarious dreams. And when a devastating blow brings their momentum to a halt, the group is forced to reexamine their aspirations and chart new paths through unexpected losses. Kristopher Jansma’s award-winning debut novel, The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards, was praised for its “wry humor” and “charmingly unreliable narrator” in The New Yorker and hailed as “F. Scott Fitzgerald meets Wes Anderson” by The Village Voice. In Why We Came to the City, Jansma offers an unforgettable exploration of friendships forged in the fires of ambition, passion, hope, and love. This glittering story of a generation coming of age is a sweeping, poignant triumph.
In this “remarkable novel,” two young women face towering adversity amid the historic spectacle of the 1939 New York World’s Fair (Lynda Cohen Loigman, author of The Two-Family House). Vivi Holden is closer than ever to becoming a lead Hollywood actress—until an unfair turn of events sends her back to New York. Desperate for a chance to return to L.A., she sets out to perform at the upcoming World’s Fair. It won’t be easy, but her summer in New York will help her finally find her own way, on her own terms . . . Maxine Roth dreams of becoming a serious journalist at the iconic New York Times. But instead, she’s landed a post at the pop-up publication dedicated to covering the World’s Fair. Once again, she finds her big ideas are continually overlooked by her male counterparts. But she’s worked far too hard to sit on the sidelines. When Max and Vivi’s worlds collide, they forge an enduring friendship. One that shows them to be the daring, bold women they are. In the most meaningful summer of their lives, they will learn to never stop holding on to what matters most.
Sabrina J. Ellis is a prepared pastor, a discerning teacher, a powerful preacher, and a scholar par excellence. The insights that she shares in her maiden publication demonstrate her keen intellect and prophetic vision. Women will be blessed and men will be enlightened by her transparency and clarity of vision. Indeed, all who read this book will experience the joy of the empty tomb! Bishop Johnathan E. Alvarado, DMin., Th.M. Senior Pastor, Total Grace Christian Center Professor of Theology and Dean of the Chapel Beulah Heights University Dr. Sabrina Ellis has been ministering to women for years, and this book will help women discover their uniqueness before God while enabling men to find and feel the strength they have to offer. It is a must read for everyone! Bishop Walter S. Thomas, DMin. Senior Pastor, New Psalmist Baptist Church Past President of Hampton Minister's Conference (1999-2002) Dr. Sabrina J. Ellis is the Executive Pastor of the Pentecostal Church of Christ. She received a Master of Divinity degree and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Ashland Theological Seminary in Ashland, Ohio. Dr. Ellis is married to Bishop J. Delano Ellis, II and together they have 6 children and 23 grandchildren.
Fifty-year-old Karen Anders, a high school English teacher and the adoptive mother of Tiffany, comes to terms with being a single-parent and a clumsy drunk in the multicultural melting pot of Houston, Texas, as she forges an unlikely friendship with Leona Supak, a WWII Hungarian refugee, who inspires Karen to change her views on motherhood, drinking, and men. Karen’s teaching job provides an ongoing challenge with low scoring students and a lack of support from school administrators. Meanwhile, Tiffany moves to Austin to attend the University of Texas, but soon neglects her academic life when she meets a gamer boyfriend and begins a job at the Ink & Juice, a tattoo parlor-juicing bar. Tiffany hides the truth of her new life from Karen through a text-only relationship. Feeling rejected, Karen explores the paradox of romance for the middle-aged. Despite the challenges, a family unit comes together inspired by strangers and second chances in How We Came to Be.
