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2013-2014
S www.commonreads.com
F a v o r i t e s
Michael D. Gentile Director, Academic Marketing Random House, LLC A Penguin Random House Company Tel. (212) 782-8387 ) mgentile@randomhouse.com www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldgentile
PS: We 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 often give away free books through these outlets so you will want to stay connected and check in often.
Daphne Rankin, Virginia Commonwealth University Jared Tippets, Purdue University Karen Weathermon, Washington State University
CONTENTS
Life StoriesMemoir, Biography, and Autobiography ....................................12 Fiction to Talk About ............................................................................................32 History and Society ..............................................................................................38 Life & College Guides ..........................................................................................54 Social Action ..........................................................................................................60 Index........................................................................................................................62 Order Form ............................................................................................................63 LEGEND
HC: Hardcover TR: Trade Paperback MM: Mass Market NCR: No Canadian Rights : Audio : Author Available : Discussion Guide : eBook
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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 Advertising Supplement. Examination copies must be prepaid with a check or money order made payable to Random House, LLC, or order online at www.randomhouse.com/acmart/requests. Offer only valid in the United States. All requests are subject to approval and availability. Please allow 24 weeks for delivery.
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smoothly and successfully, and that your needs and requests are handled in a thorough and efcient manner.
electing the right title is only the rst 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
AUTHOR APPEARANCES Well promptly channel your author requests to the appropriate speakers bureau or lecture agency to ensure they are attended to quickly.
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.
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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.
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MICHAEL D. GENTILE Director, Academic Marketing Random House, LLC A Penguin Random House Company 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019 Tel. (212) 782-8387 u commonreads@randomhouse.com www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldgentile
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
PROGRAMMING
How do students obtain the book? Contact your campus bookstore/distributor to order directly.
Will you need a custom version? We can print customized editions with your college logo and/or letter from your President.
No customization
What is the estimated length of time between order and delivery? Allow 34 weeks for delivery.
Who should the institution contact to obtain a price quote? Contact jlipman@randomhouse.com or 1.800.800.3246 for a price quote. Have available the book title, ISBN, quantity, delivery date and ship to information.
Author visit? Many of our authors are represented by the Random House Speakers Bureau. To request an author, contact 212.572.2013 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.
How much time does customization take? Normal delivery time for custom editions is 68 weeks from order to delivery.
What is the estimated length of time between order and delivery? Allow 24 weeks for delivery.
Other programming ideas (see our Best Practices and Programming Ideas on pages 6-7)
3 SELECTING A BOOK
Think 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? They 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 universitys strategic mission? Campus engagement and resources will be easier to secure if you make this relationship clear. If having the books 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 dont want to go through all the work to select a book, only to find out that the authors 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 universitys 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. This 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 authors visit. Essay collections are a great idea. You may also consider multimedia approachessuch as blogs, videos, or website. Students tend to share more on a personal level when they are not
PROGRAMMING IDEAS
Common Reading Advisory Board
in an open forum and the medium can be anonymous. Another idea is to have students autograph and annotate the authors 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 upperclass 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 Department 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 speakers bureau? Most authors will have an agent, and that will be the person to contact about speaking fees and availability. Often, the books 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, people 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. It is important to have someone who has the authority to assertively manage appearancesto 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 cosponsored so the author isnt 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. This makes the best use of both your programming time and the authors 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. The 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, its important to appoint a moderator to move the discussion along. The moderator can address basic factual questions upfront, to allow for a more in-depth exchange during the Q&A. The 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. Dont take it personally. When negotiating your authors visit to campus, there may be many requirements on the part of the agency for travel, lodging, and down time. These are based on the agencys 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 authors agent whether events or speaking engagements may be videotaped or recorded. They often have provisions for what is allowable.
Email us at commonreads@randomhouse.com
Charles Duhiggs journalistic accomplishments have made him an in-demand speaker for organizations from MIT to the UCLA School of Management and the National Association of Science Teachers. He is a prize-winning investigative reporter for the New York Times and is a frequent contributor to This American Life, NPR, PBS NewsHour, and Frontline. In lectures, he can discuss the science behind habits and willpower from his bestselling book, The Power of Habit (page 54). He is a graduate of the Harvard Business School and Yale College. Donovan Campbell is a decorated military officer and a young executive whose lessons about leadership and teamwork have inspired and motivated audiences at Harvard Business School, the Air Force Academy, and Wake Forest University, among others. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Joker One (page 60), which was named one of The Best Military Books of the Decade by Military Times. He teaches audiences how to apply principles learned in the militarya humble servant-leader mentality, a willingness to shoulder responsibility, and an understanding of personal sacrificein their own lives for positive change. Kristen Iversen, author of Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats (page 42) (a 2012 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick, and winner of the Reading the West Book Award for Non-Fiction and the Colorado Book Award for Non-Fiction), is the director of the MFA in Creative Writing Program at Memphis University. A seasoned speaker on the secret nuclear plant that was once designated, the most contaminated site in America, she has been selected to speak at Fort Lewis College, St. Bonaventure University, Michigan Technological University, Madisonville Community College, and California State University, Sacramento, among other venues. Jerry McGill is a writer, artist, activist, and inspiration speaker who 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 20) and was 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. Ta Obreht is a National Book Award Finalist for The Tigers Wife (page 36), Orange Prize-winner, and the youngest writer on The New Yorkers 20 under 40 list. She attended the University of Southern California and received her MFA from Cornell. She has spoken at Georgetown University and Villanova.
Contact Us
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8
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GUY P. HARRISON
Book Description: tiny.cc/mc2gyw GuyPHarrison.com
SAMPSON DAVIS
DrSampsonDavis.com Book Description: tiny.cc/ak6gyw
SHERI FINK
SheriFink.net
DAVID LEVITHAN
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COLUM MCCANN
ColumMcCann.com
To RSVP: Email commonreads@randomhouse.com with your name, title, and school. If reserving for others, please include their full name and school affiliation.
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Jen Dessinger
FIVE DAYS AT MEMORIAL: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital By Sheri Fink Author Sheri Fink reconstructs five days at Memorial Medical Center during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and draws students into the lives of those who struggled mightily to survive and to maintain life amidst chaos. In a voice both involving and fair, masterful and intimate, Fink exposes the hidden dilemmas of end-of-life care and reveals just how ill-prepared we are in the U.S. for the impact of large-scale disastersand how we can do better. SHERI FINKs reporting has won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Magazine Award, and the Overseas Press
Club Lowell Thomas Award, among other journalism prizes. Most recently, her coverage of Hurricanes Sandy and Isaac received the Mike Berger Award from Columbia University and the Beat Reporting Award from the Association of Healthcare Journalists. Fink, a former relief worker in disaster and conflict zones, received her MD and PhD from Stanford University. Her first book, War Hospital, is about medical professionals under siege during the genocide in Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina. www.SheriFink.net
Crown | HC | 978-0-307-71896-9 | 432pp. | $26.00/$30.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $13.00 Audio CD: 978-0-8041-2809-4 | $40.00/$46.00 Can. Audio DL: 978-0-8041-2810-0 | $20.00/$23.00 Can. e-Book: 978-0-307-71898-3 | $12.99/$14.99 Can.
EVERY DAY
By David Levithan Every morning, A wakes in a different persons body, a different persons life. A has made peace with that, or so he thought, until he finds himself in love with someone he wants to be with day in, day out, day after day. Award-winning author David Levithan has written a captivating story that grasps the complexities of life and love, asking if you can truly love someone who is destined to change every day. DAVID LEVITHAN is a childrens book editor in New York City, and the author of several books for young
adults, including Nick & Norahs Infinite Playlist and Dash & Lilys Book of Dares (co-authored with Rachel Cohn); Will Grayson, Will Grayson (co-authored with John Green); and Every You, Every Me (with photographs from Jonathan Farmer). www.DavidLevithan.com
Ember | TR | 978-0-307-93189-4 | 336pp. | $9.99/$10.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Audio CD: 978-0-449-01520-9 | $37.00/$44.00 Can. Audio DL: 978-0-449-01521-6 | $19.00/$22.00 Can. e-Book: 978-0-307-97563-8 | $9.99/$9.99 Can.
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Jen Dessinger
COCKTAILS & CONVERSATIONS THINK: Why You Should Question Everything By Guy P. Harrison Think shows students how to better navigate through the maze of biases and traps that are standard features of every human brain. These innate pitfalls threaten to trick us into seeing, hearing, thinking, remembering, and believing things that are not real or true. Guy Harrisons straightforward text will help them trim away the nonsense, deflect bad ideas, and keep both feet firmly planted in reality.
With an upbeat and friendly tone, Harrison shows how its in a students best interest to question everything. He brands skepticism as a constructive and optimistic attitudea way of life that anyone can embrace. This accessible guide to critical thinking is an antidote to nonsense and delusion. GUY P. HARRISON is an award-winning journalist and the author of 50 Simple Questions for Every
Christian, 50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True, 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God, and Race and Reality: What Everyone Should Know about Our Biological Diversity. www.GuyPHarrison.com
Do not order before 11/5/2013. Prometheus | TR | 978-1-61614-807-2 | 300pp. | $16.95/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 e-Book: 978-1-61614-808-9 | $11.99/$11.99 Can.
FINANCIALLY FEARLESS
The LearnVest Program for Taking Control of Your Money By Alexa Von Tobel In Financially Fearless, Alexa von Tobel, Founder and CEO of LearnVest, puts forth her 50/20/30 plan, which refers to the percentage breakdown of how to spend take-home pay each month: The 50 gets the essentials out of the way, the 20 sets a foundation for the future, and the 30 is left to spend on the things that bring happiness to our lives. Assured and empowering, Financially Fearless presents students with their own personal financial planner on the page and sets them up for a secure, worry-free future so they can start living their richest life. ALEXA VON TOBEL, CFP is the founder and CEO of www.LearnVest.com, an award-winning financial
planning site. A Certified Financial Planner who attended Harvard Business School, Alexa has been featured as a financial expert in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, BusinessWeek, Fast Company, Forbes, InStyle, Glamour and on the Today show, Good Morning America, Anderson, Katie, ABC News, Bloomberg News, and more. Her speaking engagements include Maria Shrivers Womens Conference, SXSW, Fortune Most Powerful Womens Conference, and TEDxWallStreet, and she is a columnist for Cosmopolitan, Inc. Magazine, and Ladies Home Journal. www.LearnVest.com
Crown Business | HC | 978-0-385-34761-7 | 256pp. | $19.99/$22.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $10.00 Audio CD: 978-0-8041-6404-7 | $40.00/$46.00 Can. Audio DL: 978-0-8041-2852-0 | $17.50/$20.50 Can. e-Book: 978-0-385-34762-4 | $11.99/$11.99 Can.
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IMPERFECT
An Improbable Life
By Jim Abbott and Tim Brown
Ballantine | TR | 978-0-345-52326-6 | 320pp. $14.00/$17.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: Audio CD: 978-0-307-99051-8 | $35.00/$41.00 Can. Audio DL: 978-0-307-99052-5 | $20.00/$24.00 Can. e-Book: 978-0-345-52327-3 | $9.99/$11.99 Can.
ADOPTION NOTES:
Selected for Common Reading: Archbishop Ryan High School (Philadelphia, PA) Disciplines: Physical Education; Sports Themes: Inspiration; Perseverance/Personal Strength Campus Visits: Alternative Formats:
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, as a boy Jim Abbott 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, hed won the gold medal game at the 1988 Olympics andwithout spending a day in the minor leaguescracked 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 wouldnt always be so good. After a season full of difficult lossessome of them by football scoresJim 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 limitand 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 Jims 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.
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Excerpt from Imperfect by Jim Abbott and Tim Brown. Published by Ballantine, a division of Random House, LLC, A Penguin Random House Company. 2012 by Jim Abbott. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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HOW TO LIVE
Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer
By Sarah Bakewell
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography Named an Outstanding Academic Title by Choice Magazine Website: www.SarahBakewell.com
ow to get along with people, how to deal with violence, how to adjust to losing a loved onesuch questions arise in most peoples 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, Montaignes honesty and charm still draw people to him. Readers come to him in search of companionship, wisdom, and entertainmentand 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 isand how does one live a good life?
This charming biography shuffles incidents from Montaignes life and essays into twenty thematic chapters. . . . Bakewell clearly relishes the anthropological anecdotes that enliven Montaignes 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 Other Press | TR | 978-1-59051-483-2 | 416pp. $16.95/NCR | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: e-Book: 978-1-59051-426-9 | $15.95/NCR 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 introductionor reintroductionto Montaigne than Bakewells book. Lorin Stein, Harpers Magazine Ms. Bakewells 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 Bakewells 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
ADOPTION NOTES:
Discipline: Philosophy Themes: Ethics/Decision Making; Inspiration Alternative Formats:
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Website: www.MyOrangeDuffelBag.com
espite 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.
I spent five years with Sam Bracken at a time of transformation for him. His is a stunning story of courage, resiliency, and servantleadership. He told a 1,000-page story in exactly 66 pages. The format, the sincerity, and yes, the agony that leaps off the pages is palpable and transforming. There are two pains in lifethe pain of discipline and the pain of regret . . . we all choose every day. The difference in Sam and those who are gobbled up by our sick society is that he usually chose wisely. He took our teams messages to heart in tangible ways. We would all do well to read, and heed, his powerful message. Bill Curry, NCAA football coach, and former NFL player Sam Brackens remarkable emergence from a life of poverty, mental illness, abuse and hardship is told with compelling honesty. It offers young people a set of accessible tools to support resilience and promote self-growth. Irene S. Levine, Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine
Harmony | HC | 978-0-307-98488-3 | 200pp. $23.00/$26.95 Can. | Exam Copy: $11.50 Also available: Audio DL: 978-0-449-01000-6 | $12.00/$14.00 Can.
ADOPTION NOTES:
Selected for Common Reading: Louisburg College Disciplines: Psychology; Physical Education/Sports Themes: Inspiration, Leadership & Motivation, Perseverance/Personal Strength Campus Visits: Alternative Formats: Also Available
MY ROADMAP
A Personal Guide to Balance, Power, and Purpose by the Authors of My Orange Duffel Bag
Crown Archetype | TR | 978-0-307-95586-9 | 128pp. $9.99/$11.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00
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Website: www.TracyKidder.com Author Video: tiny.cc/xflbrw To view the authors talk at the 2009 First-Year Experience Conference, go to: tiny.cc/etf4qw
An ALA Notable Book; A New York Times Notable Book A Popular College Common Reading Selection
Random House | TR | 978-0-8129-7301-3 | 352pp. $16.00/$19.00 | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: Audio DL: 978-1-4159-1801-2 | $20.00/$26.00 Can. e-Book: 978-1-58836-334-3 | $11.99/$13.99 Can.
n medical school, Paul Farmer found his lifes calling: to cure infectious diseases and bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy Kidders magnificent account shows how one person can make a difference in solving global health problems through a clear-eyed understanding of the interaction of politics, wealth, social systems, and disease. Kidder shows how one person can effect global progress against seemingly impossible problemsTB, AIDS, povertywith creativity, knowledge and determination. Mountains Beyond Mountains takes students from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia as Farmer changes minds and practices through his dedication to the philosophy that the only real nation is humanitya philosophy that is embodied in the small public charity he founded, Partners In Health. At the heart of this book is the example of a life based on hope, and on an understanding of the truth of the Haitian proverb, Beyond mountains there are mountains: as you solve one problem, another problem presents itself, and so you go on and try to solve that one too.
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) Also available in a Young Readers Edition:
ADOPTION NOTES:
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 tiny.cc/gbqfrw. Disciplines: Humanitarianism; Sociology Themes: Science & Society; Service; Social Justice Campus Visits: Discussion Guide Available: Alternative Formats:
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A Message from the First Year Seminar Director at the University of Delaware
Dear Colleagues, The University of Delaware chose Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidders Strength in What Remains as its First Year Common Reader in 2010. Strength in What Remains is the story of Deogratias (Deo), a young medical student from the Central African nation of Burundi, who fled the ethnic violence in Burundi and genocide in Rwanda and was transported to New York City. Deo succeeded against all odds, graduating from Columbia University, and subsequently returned to Africa. A truly remarkable story of survival, despair, determination, evil, and kindness, the book was chosen by an advisory committee comprised of faculty, students, advisors, and Student Life staff who believed that it would provide a unique opportunity for students to consider issues related to that part of the world and to begin addressing questions about personal meaning, transition, and passion. The committee also felt that the book would encourage our students to consider what it means to be a global citizen. The choice proved extremely popular among the first year students, and the entire University of Delaware community engaged in a number of events related to the book. Author Tracy Kidder and the books hero Deo visited our campus to share their vision of hope and renewal with our freshman class. Following their visit, a graduate of the University of Delaware Honors Program spoke to the freshman class via Skype from the Village Health Works Clinic in Burundi. Discussing how she had used her Delaware experience as a bridge to help others achieve a better life in places that the rest of the world seems to have overlooked, her talk complemented Kidder and Deos visit. Strength in What Remains proved not only to be a popular choice, but to provide a unique opportunity for our students to learn about another part of the world and to begin to understand the complexities and interrelationships of the global landscape. Sincerely, Avron Abraham, Ph.D. Faculty Director First Year Seminar and Common Reader Program
www.fys.udel.edu
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DEAR MARCUS
A Letter to the Man Who Shot Me
By Jerry McGill
Author Video: tiny.cc/tje4qw To view the authors talk at the 2013 First-Year Experience Conference, go to: tinyurl.com/knswuay
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 Years 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 McGills 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 ones gifts. In this direct and intimate attempt to explain to his attacker the repercussions of his deedshow one mans random decision radically altered the course of anothers lifeMcGill 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 peoplethe 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 degreeseveryone 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 couldnt 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
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 | $9.99/$11.99 Can.
ADOPTION NOTES:
Selected for Common Reading: Morgan State University Disciplines: African American Studies; Philosophy; Sociology Themes: Social Justice; Identity; Perseverance/Personal Strength Campus Visits: Alternative Formats:
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MUCK CITY
Winning and Losing in Footballs Forgotten Town
By Bryan Mealer
Website: www.BryanMealer.com
he loamy black muck that surrounds Belle Glade, Florida, once built an empire for Big Sugar and provided much of the nations 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 Glades high school team, the Glades Central Raiders, has sent an extraordinary number of players to the National Football League27 since 1985, with five of those drafted in the first round. 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 towns 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 towns 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 Bissingers 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)
Three Rivers Press | TR | 978-0-307-88863-1 | 336pp. $15.00/$17.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 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:
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Excerpted from Muck City by Bryan Mealer Copyright 2012 by Bryan Mealer. Excerpted by permission of Crown Archetype, a division of Random House, LLC, A Penguin Random House Company. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Winner, American Library Association Black Caucus Nonfiction Literary Award A Booklist Top 10 Black History Nonfiction Book n December 2000, The Baltimore Sun ran a short article about Wes Moore, a local student who had just received a Rhodes Scholarship. The same paper also ran a headline-grabbing story about four young men who had allegedly killed a police officer in a spectacularly botched armed robbery. The police were still hunting for two of the suspects who had gone on the lam, a pair of brothers. One of the brothers was also named Wes Moore. Rhodes scholar and The Other Wes Moore author, Wes just couldnt shake off the unsettling coincidence or his inkling that the two shared much more than space in the same newspaper. After following the story of the robbery, the manhunt, and the trial to its conclusion, he wrote a letter to the other Wes, a convicted murderer serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. His letter tentatively asked the questions that had been haunting him: Who are you? How did this happen? That letter led to a correspondence and relationship that lasted for several years. Over dozens of letters and prison visits, author Wes discovered that the other Wes had experienced a life not unlike his own. Both had grown up in similar neighborhoods and had difficult childhoods. Both were fatherless. Theyd hung out on similar corners with similar crews, and both had run into trouble with the police. At each stage of their young lives they had faced similar moments of decision, yet their choices would lead them to astonishingly different destinies. Told in dramatic alternating narratives that take readers from heartwrenching losses to moments of surprising redemption, The Other Wes Moore tells the story of a generation of boys trying to find their way in a hostile world.
Also available in a Young Readers Edition: Disciplines: African American Studies; Sociology Themes: Coming of Age; Identity, Leadership & Motivation; Perseverance/Personal Strength; Regional: Baltimore/ The Northeast; Service Campus Visits: Alternative Formats:
Spiegel & Grau | TR | 978-0-385-52820-7 | 272pp. $15.00/$17.00 | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: Audio CD: 978-0-307-87713-0 | $35.00/$41.00 Can. Audio DL: 978-0-307-73602-4 | $15.00/$17.50 Can. e-Book: 978-1-58836-969-7 | $11.99/$12.99 Can.
ADOPTION NOTES:
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 tiny.cc/s112nw
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ENRIQUES JOURNEY
The Story of a Boys Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother
By Sonia Nazario
A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age hen 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 Enrique finally made his way from the rough streets of Tegucigalpa, through Mexico, and across the dangerous Texan border. Journalist Sonia Nazarios expert reporting allows students to encounter each setback alongside Enrique, and the result is as suspenseful and harrowing as it is informative. Enriques Journey is a timely account of one anguished familys experience with an issue of international scope and urgency illegal immigrationbut it is also the timeless, mythic story of a dangerous journey undertaken to make a broken family whole.
This portrait of poverty and family ties has the potential to reshape American conversations about immigration. Kirkus Reviews, starred review A stirring and troubling book about a magnificent journey . . . Joseph Campbell would recognize Enriques Journey. Its the stuff of myth . . . [but] Enriques Journey is true. . . . A microcosm of the massive exodus pouring over the borders of our nations . . . Enriques suffering and bravery become universal, and one cannot fail to be moved by the desperation and sheer strength of spirit that guides these lonely wanderers. . . . Enriques Journey is about love. Its about family. Its about home. . . . The border will continue to trouble the dreams of anyone who is paying attention. . . . Enriques Journey is among the best border books yet written. The Washington Post Book World Gripping and harrowing . . . a story begging to be told . . . readers fed up with the ongoing turf wars between fact and fiction, take note: Here is fantastic stunt reporting that places this sometimes hard-to-believe story squarely in the realm of nonfiction. The Christian Science Monitor Also available in a Young Readers Edition:
Random House | TR | 978-0-8129-7178-1 | 336pp. $16.00/$19.95 | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: e-Book: 978-1-58836-602-3 | $11.99/$13.99 Can.
ADOPTION NOTES:
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 tiny.cc/5212nw Disciplines: Ethnic StudiesLatin American; Sociology Themes: Coming of Age; Immigration; Social Justice Campus Visits: Alternative Formats:
Available in Espaol
ENRIQUES JOURNEY
The True Story of a Boy Determined to Reunite with His Mother
By Sonia Nazario
Delacorte Books for Young Readers | HC | 978-0-385-74327-3 | 288pp. $16.99/$18.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $8.50 e-Book: 978-0-307-98315-2 | $10.99/$12.99 Can.
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RAISING CUBBY
A Father and Sons Adventures with Aspergers, Trains, Tractors, and High Explosives
ohn Elder Robison has openly and humorously engaged readers about his Aspergers syndrome in his previous books (Look Me in the Eye, Be Different). In this memoir, he writes about parenting as an adult with Aspergersand coming to the realization that his son, Cubby, also has Aspergers, as Robinsons 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 Aspergers syndrome across generations and within families.
Crown | HC | 978-0-307-88484-8 | 384pp. | $26.00/NCR | Exam Copy: $13.00 Also available: Audio CD: 978-0-307-88135-9 | $40.00/$46.00 Can. Audio DL: 978-0-307-88136-6 | $20.00/$24.00 Can. e-Book: 978-0-307-88486-2 | $12.99/NCR
Discipline: Psychology Themes: Discovering Differences Identity
ccording to author John Elder Robison, Look Me in the Eye is about growing up with Aspergers syndromea high-functioning form of autismovercoming my limitations, and ultimately becoming a successful adult.
John Robisons 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 DL: 978-1-4159-4246-8 | $22.50/$29.95 e-Book: 978-0-307-40572-2 | $11.99/$13.99 Can.
Discipline: Psychology Themes: Coming of Age Discovering Differences Identity
BE DIFFERENT
My Adventures with Aspergers 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 CD: 978-0-307-88131-1 | $32.00/$37.00 Can. Audio DL: 978-0-307-88132-8 | $17.50/$19.50 Can. e-Book: 978-0-307-88483-1 | $11.99/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 authors talk at the 2009 First-Year Experience Conference, go to: tiny.cc/2k6kkw
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OUTCASTS UNITED
An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Womans Quest to Make a Difference
By Warren St. John
Website: www.OutcastsUnited.com Author Video: tiny.cc/4fg4qw To view the authors talk at the 2010 First-Year Experience Conference, go to: tiny.cc/khg4qw
utcasts 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. In the 1990s, that town, Clarkston, Georgia, became a resettlement center for refugees and a modern-day Ellis Island for scores of families from war zones in Liberia, Congo, Sudan, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The town also became home to Luma Mufleh, an American-educated Jordanian woman who founded a youth soccer team to help keep Clarkstons boys off the streets. These boys named themselves the Fugeesshort for refugees. Outcasts United follows a pivotal season in the lives of the Fugees, their families, and their charismatic coach, as they struggle to build new lives in a fading town overwhelmed by change. Theirs is a story about resilience in the face of extraordinary hardship, the power of one person to make a difference, and the daunting challenge of creating community in a place where people seem to have so little in common.
I had several requests off-line to share my experiences using Outcasts United by Warren St. John with our freshman seminar course. As this book just came out this year, Georgia Tech was one of the first universities to use it, so I am happy to share my thoughts. . . . I would HIGHLY recommend this book for use in a first-year seminar or reading program. The response from our students and faculty was incredibly positive, and Warrens presentation to our students was outstanding. Steven P. Giradot, Director, Office of Success Programs, Georgia Institute of Technology Not merely about soccer, St. Johns 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 Also Available in a Young Readers Edition:
Spiegel & Grau | TR | 978-0-385-52204-5 | 336pp. $15.00/$18.95 | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: Audio CD: 978-0-7393-6617-2 | $29.95/$34.00 Can. Audio DL: 978-1-4159-4893-4 | $20.00/$23.00 Can. e-Book: 978-0-385-52959-4 | $13.99/$13.99 Can.
ADOPTION NOTES:
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 tiny.cc/barfrw Disciplines: Humanitarianism; Physical Education/Sports; Sociology Themes: Discovering Differences; Group Dynamics; Immigration Campus Visits: Discussion Guide Available: Alternative Formats:
OUTCASTS UNITED
The Story of a Refugee Soccer Team That Changed a Town
By Warren St. John
Delacorte Books for Young Readers | HC | 978-0-385-74194-1 240pp. | $16.99/$19.99 Can. | Exam Copy: $8.50 e-Book: 978-0-375-98880-6 | $10.99/$10.99 Can.
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Website: www.ReadyPlayerOne.com Author Video: tiny.cc/2ng4qw To view the authors talk at the 2013 First-Year Experience Conference, go to: tinyurl.com/mf5qowk
Winner of the ALA Alex Award A School Library Journal Best Adult Book 4 Teens
ts 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. 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 fortuneand remarkable powerto whoever can unlock them. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is part quest and part love story, and is filled with informative trivia on the trends and fashions of the 1980s. It is ideal for freshmen students as they, like Wade, begin their own college quests.
Broadway | TR | 978-0-307-88744-3 | 384pp. $14.00/$17.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: Audio CD: 978-0-307-91314-2 | $40.00/$45.00 Can. Audio DL: 978-0-307-91315-9 | $22.50/$25.50 Can. e-Book: 978-0-307-88745-0 | $9.99/$9.99 Can. An exuberantly realized, exciting, and sweet-natured cyber-quest. Clines 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 Amhersts 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 years 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 technologys place in our future. Jeanne Horrigan, Director of New Students Orientation, University of Massachusetts Amherst
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:
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THE DINNER
A Novel
By Herman Koch
ince its initial publication in Holland in 2009, Herman Kochs 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?
Hogarth | HC | 978-0-7704-3785-5 | 304pp. $24.00/$28.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $12.00 Do not order paperback before 11/5/2013. Hogarth | TR | 978-0-385-34685-6 | 304pp. $14.00/$16.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also Available: e-Book: | 978-0-385-34684-9 | $11.99/$12.99 Can.
The book is 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)
ADOPTION NOTES:
Disciplines: Literature; Psychology Themes: Fiction; Literature; Philosophy (Ethics) Alternative Formats:
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I looked at my wife. In my thoughts I egged her on, to deliver my brother the coup de grce. 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. Im not talking about improvement, Serge, Claire said. Im talking about the way weDutch people, white people, Europeans look at other cultures. The things were afraid of. If a group of dark-skinned men was coming toward you down the sidewalk, wouldnt 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 were 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, Im not some debating partner you need to wow with hollow terms like improvement and understanding. Im your sister-in-law, your brothers wife. Its just the four of us here now. As friends. As family.
Copyright 2012 by Herman Koch. From the book The Dinner published by Hogarth, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, LLC, A Penguin Random House Company. Reprinted with permission.
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Winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction National Book Award Finalist 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. Audio DL: 978-0-307-87701-7 | $22.50/$25.50 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: Alternative Formats:
eaving a brilliant latticework of family legend, loss, and love, Ta Obreht, the youngest of The New Yorkers 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 grandfathers 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 herhow, 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 tigers wife. The Tigers 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
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In August, Ta Obreht was honored as this years 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 Georgetowns commitment to the highest academic standards and adds a significant international cultural dimension to the academic formation of Georgetown students. Obrehts talk with the Class of 2016 during New Student Orientation included thoughts about her writing process. Though her debut novel The Tigers 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 arent 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 Obrehts own experiences. Many of the questions focused on the actual mechanics of writing The Tigers 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? Obrehts 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 novels premises, challenge one anothers 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 Tigers Wife and Obrehts presentation. Jennifer Smith, Lauinger Library, Georgetown University
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Random House | HC | 978-1-4000-6755-8 | 288pp. $27.00/$32.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $13.50 Do not order paperback before 1/28/2014. Random House | TR | 978-0-8129-7932-9 | 288pp. $16.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: Audio CD: 978-0-307-93405-5 | $35.00/$41.00 Can. Audio DL: 978-0-307-93406-2 | $17.50/$20.50 Can. e-Book: 978-0-679-64395-1 | $13.99/$15.99 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:
Winner of the National Book Award; National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist; 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 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 Annawadis most-everything girlwill 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 centurys hidden worlds, and into the lives of people impossible to forget.
I couldnt put Behind the Beautiful Forevers down even when I wanted towhen 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 Mumbais international airport, is one of the most powerful indictments of economic inequality Ive ever read. Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed 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 injusticeMs. 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.
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QUIET
The Power of Introverts in a World That Cant Stop Talking
By Susan Cain
Website: www.ThePowerOfIntroverts.com Author Video: tiny.cc/qpi4qw To view the authors talk at the 2013 First-Year Experience Conference, go to: tinyurl.com/mdsnajt
An ALA Notable Book for 2012 Named a Best Book of 2012 by Kirkus Reviews and Library Journal 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 societyfrom Van Goghs 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 effectshow 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.
Cains 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 Cains 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
Broadway | TR | 978-0-307-35215-6 | 368pp. $16.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: Audio CD: 978-0-7393-4124-7 | $40.00/$46.00 Can. Audio DL: 978-1-4159-5913-8 | $20.00/$24.00 Can. e-Book: 978-0-307-45220-7 | $11.99/$13.99 Can.
ADOPTION NOTES:
Selected for Common Reading: Case Western Reserve University and Rice University Disciplines: Business; College Success Studies; Education; Psychology & Counseling; Sociology Themes: Communication; Discovering Differences; Inclusion; Success Campus Visits: Discussion Guide Available: Alternative Formats:
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George Wang
Susan Cain
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Website: www.KristenIversen.com Author Interview: tiny.cc/pp4wqw Author Video: tiny.cc/5nhbrw To view the authors talk at the 2013 First-Year Experience Conference, go to: tinyurl.com/jww9ay9
An ALA Notable Book; Named one of Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Books of 2012; Named one of The Atlantics Best Books about Justice 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. Its the story of growing up in the shadow of the Cold War, in a landscape at once startlingly beautiful andunknown to those who lived there tainted with invisible yet deadly particles of plutonium. Its also a book about the destructive power of secretsboth family and government. Her fathers hidden liquor bottles, the strange cancers in children in the neighborhood, the truth about what they made at Rocky Flatsbest 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 journalisma shocking account of the governments 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.
Broadway | TR | 978-0-307-95565-4 | 432pp. $15.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: Audio CD: 978-0-449-00966-6 | $45.00/$52.00 Can. Audio DL: 978-0-449-00967-3 | $24.00/$28.00 Can. e-Book: 978-0-307-95564-7 | $11.99/$13.99 Can.
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. Iversens nimble prose and smart structure creates a powerful memoir. This is a must read for journalism, creative writing, and ecocritical students. Amelia Mara 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 makingFull Body Burden subverts expectations of genre by combining elements of memoir, journalism, physics, environmentalism, history, social activism, and politicsall artfully fused in Iversens 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
ADOPTION NOTES:
Selected for Common Reading: California State University at Sacramento; Fort Lewis College; Madison Community College; Michigan Tech University; St. Bonaventure University; Virginia Commonwealth University Disciplines: Environmental Studies; Sociology Themes: Coming of Age; Environment; Regional: Colorado; Science & Society Campus Visits: Alternative Formats:
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Jay Adkins
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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) Broadway | TR | 978-1-4000-5247-9 | 368pp. | $16.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: Audio: 978-0-449-01259-8 | $40.00/$46.00 Can. Audio DL: 978-0-449-01260-4 | $22.50/$26.50 Can. e-Book: 978-0-7704-3595-0 | $13.99/$15.99/Can.
Discipline: Sociology Themes: Coming of Age Perseverance/Personal Strength Social Justice
AMAZING GRACE
The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation
Broadway | TR | 978-0-7704-3566-0 | 336pp. $15.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 e-Book: 978-0-7704-3665-0 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. Themes: Coming of Age Perseverance/Personal Strength Social Justice
ORDINARY RESURRECTIONS
Children in the Years of Hope
Broadway | TR | 978-0-7704-3567-7 | 416pp. $16.00/$19.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 e-Book: 978-0-307-81588-0 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. Themes: Coming of Age Perseverance/Personal Strength Social Justice
SAVAGE INEQUALITIES
Children in Americas Schools
Broadway | TR | 978-0-7704-3568-4 | 336pp. $15.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 e-Book: 978-0-7704-3666-7 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. Themes: Coming of Age Perseverance/Personal Strength Social Justice
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Website: www.ErikLarsonBooks.com
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 Dodds 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 Hitlers 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 CD: 978-0-307-91457-6 | $45.00/$51.00 Can. Audio DL: 978-0-307-91458-3 | $22.50/$25.50 Can. e-Book: 978-0-307-88795-5 | $11.99/$13.99 Can. 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 Larson has meticulously researched the Dodds intimate witness to Hitlers 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
ADOPTION NOTES:
Disciplines: History; Literature Themes: Ethics; Genocide; Perseverance/Personal Strength Campus Visits: Discussion Guide Available: Alternative Formats:
THUNDERSTRUCK
Broadway | TR | 978-1-4000-8067-0 | 480pp. |$16.00/$18.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00
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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, LLC, A Penguin Random House Company, in 2012. All rights reserved.
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SACRED GROUND
Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America
By Eboo Patel
Author Interview: tiny.cc/8y9hh To view the authors talk at the 2011 First-Year Experience Conference, go to: tiny.cc/n3alkw
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 Patels visionary book will inspire Americans of all faiths to make this country a place where diverse traditions can thrive side by side.
Beacon Press | TR | 978-0-8070-7752-8 | 224pp. $15.00/$17.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $3.00 Also available: e-Book: 978-0-8070-7749-8 | $24.95/$28.95 Can. 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 Patels story is a hopeful and moving testament to the power and passion of young peopleand 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; University of Saint Francis; 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
ADOPTION NOTES:
Disciplines: Religion; Sociology Themes: Discovering Differences; Inclusiveness; Youth Activism Campus Visits: Alternative Formats:
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College changed me, and it made me want to change the worldespecially regarding diversity. I entered as a freshman embarrassed by my brown skin, my strange name, and my mothers 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 Americas 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 storyfaith 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 graduatesthe next George Washingtons and Martin Luther Kingswho 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). Ive 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
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n this completely updated and revised edition, Stuffed and Starved by Raj Patel continues to be one of the most widely praised food books of recent years. Its 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 Indias wrecked paddy fields and Africas 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. 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 hopein 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 Omnivores 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
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:
Selected for Common Reading: Skagit Valley College Disciplines: Business; Food Studies; Political Science Themes: Environment; Science & Society Campus Visits: Alternative Formats:
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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 Medicines 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 Sciences 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 CD: 978-0-307-71250-9 | $35.00/$43.00 Can. Audio DL: 978-0-307-71251-6 | $20.00/$24.95 Can. e-Book: 978-0-307-58938-5 | $9.99/$9.99 Can.
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 cellstaken without her knowledgebecame 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 Henriettas small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginiaa land of wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodooto East Baltimore today, where Henriettas 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 books 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 VCUs 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
Visit the authors 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 150 colleges including: University of Arkansas; University of CaliforniaSanta Barbara; Spelman College; and Virginia Commonwealth University. To view the complete list, go to 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: Alternative Formats:
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DePauw University
DePauw University
Rebecca Skloot talks with students and signs books at DePauw University and University of Alabama
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Website: www.CharlesDuhigg.com Author Video: tiny.cc/3mhbrw To view the authors talk at the 2013 First-Year Experience Conference, go to: tinyurl.com/l55xttn
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 arent 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 CD: 978-0-307-96664-3 | $40.00/$46.00 Can. Audio DL: 978-0-307-96665-0 | $20.00/$24.00 Can. e-Book: 978-0-679-60385-6 | $14.99/NCR
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 narrativesa very readable take on a subject that should matter to everyone. Newsweek Daily Beast
ADOPTION NOTES:
Selected for Common Reading: Babson College Disciplines: Business; Education; Psychology; Sociology Themes: Leadership & Motivation; Life Skills Campus Visits: Discussion Guide Available: Alternative Formats: 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
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.
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Charles Duhigg
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Website: www.TheStartupOfYou.com Author Video: tiny.cc/qxharw To view Ben Casnochas talk at the 2013 First-Year Experience Conference, go to: tinyurl.com/kzcgdmb
revolutionary new guide to thriving in todays 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. 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 ones 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
Crown Business | HC | 978-0-307-88890-7 | 272pp. $26.00/$31.00 Can. | Exam Copy: $13.00 Also available: Audio CD: 978-0-307-97143-2 | $35.00/$41.00 Can. Audio DL: 978-0-307-97144-9 | $15.00/$18.00 Can. e-Book: 978-0-307-88892-1 | $13.99/$15.99 Can.
ADOPTION NOTES:
Selected for Common Reading: Bentley University Discipline: Human/Career Development Themes: Leadership & Motivation; Life Skills; Transition Campus Visits: Discussion Guide Available: Alternative Formats:
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Website: www.HeathBrothers.com
DECISIVE
How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work
esearch in psychology has revealed that our decision-making suffers from consistent problems: Were overconfident. We seek out information that supports us and downplay information that doesnt. We get distracted by shortterm emotions. Unfortunately, merely being aware of these shortcomings doesnt 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.
Crown Business | HC | 978-0-307-95639-2 | 336pp. | $26.00/NCR | Exam Copy: $13.00 Also Available: Audio CD: 978-0-449-01111-9 | $40.00/$46.00 Can. Audio DL: 978-0-449-01112-6 | $20.00/$24.00 Can. e-Book: 978-0-307-95641-5 | $13.99/NCR
Themes: Ethics/Decision Making Life Skills
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 kindsfrom the infamous kidney theft ring hoax, to a coachs lessons on sportsmanship, to a vision for a new product at Sonydraw their power from the same six traits. Provocative, eye-opening, and often surprisingly funny, Made to Stick reveals the vital components of winning ideasand 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 CD: 978-0-7393-4134-6 | $29.95/$37.95 Can. Audio DL: 978-0-7393-4135-3 | $15.00/$19.95 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 othersespecially when one has few resources and no title or authorityis 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 spotsthe early signs of success that can give hope to a change effort.
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 CD: 978-0-7393-7696-6 | $35.00/$40.00 Can. Audio DL: 978-0-7393-7697-3 | $17.50/$19.50 Can. e-Book: 978-0-307-59016-9 | $14.99/NCR Themes: Group Dynamics Life Skills Social Justice
Available in Espaol
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If you study the kinds of decisions people make, and the outcomes of those decisions, youll 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 acquisitionssome of the highest-stakes decisions executives makeshowed that 83% 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, were not much better. People dont 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 didnt 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, its clear, our brains are flawed instruments. But less attention has been paid to another compelling question: Given that were 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 McDonalds 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, LLC, A Penguin Random House Company. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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SOCIAL ACTION
Website: www.TheLeadersCode.com To view the authors talk at the 2009 First-Year Experience Conference, go to: tiny.cc/0el4qw To view the authors talk at the 2013 First-Year Experience Conference, go to: tinyurl.com/mzxhl7r
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/$15.99 Can.
rom the New York Times bestselling author of Joker One, Donovan Campbell, comes a unique book on character and leadership, inspired by the authors 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 Leaders 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 attributeshumility, 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 use them to become great leaders. The Leaders 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.
JOKER ONE
A Marine Platoons Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood
By Donovan Campbell
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
ADOPTION NOTES:
Disciplines: Business; Leadership Studies; Military Studies Themes: Leadership & Motivation; Service Campus Visits: Alternative Formats:
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SOCIAL ACTION
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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT Abbott, Jim and Tim Brown ...............................................................12 ACTS OF FAITH: The Story of an American Muslim, in the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation ..........................................................48 AMAZING GRACE: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation ........................................................................................44 Bakewell, Sarah..................................................................................14 BE DIFFERENT: My Adventures with Aspergers and My Advice for Fellow Aspergians, Misfits, Families, and Teachers ........................28 BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity ........................................................................38 Bracken, Sam......................................................................................16 Boo, Katherine....................................................................................38 Cain, Susan ........................................................................................40 Campbell, Donovan ............................................................................60 Cline, Ernest ......................................................................................32 DEAR MARCUS: A Letter to the Man Who Shot Me ..............................20 DECISIVE: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work ....................58 DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY, THE: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America ......................................................46 DINNER, THE: A Novel ........................................................................34 DISCOVERING WES MOORE..................................................................24 Duhigg, Charles ..................................................................................54 ENRIQUES JOURNEY: A Boys Dangerous Journey to Reunite with His Mother ............................................................................26 FIRE IN THE ASHES: Twenty-Five Years Among the Poorest Children in America ......................................................................44 FULL BODY BURDEN: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats ....................................................................................42 Heath, Chip and Dan Heath ................................................................58 Hoffman, Reid and Ben Casnocha ......................................................56 HOW TO LIVE: Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer......................................................14 IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS, THE ........................................52 IMPERFECT: An Improbable Life..........................................................12 IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitlers Berlin ............................................................................46 Iversen, Kristen ..................................................................................42 JOKER ONE: A Marine Platoons Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood ..........................................................................60 Kidder, Tracy ......................................................................................18 Koch, Herman ....................................................................................34 Kozol, Jonathan ..................................................................................44 Larson, Erik ........................................................................................46 LEADERS CODE, THE: Mission, Character, Service, and Getting the Job Done..................................................................................60 LOOK ME IN THE EYE: My Life with Aspergers ....................................28 MADE TO STICK: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die ..................58 McGill, Jerry........................................................................................20 Mealer, Bryan ....................................................................................22 Moore, Wes ........................................................................................24 MOUNTAINS BEYOND MOUNTAINS: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World..................................................18 MUCK CITY: Winning and Losing in Footballs Forgotten Town ............22 MY ORANGE DUFFEL BAG: A Journey to Radical Change....................16 MY ROADMAP: A Personal Guide to Balance, Power, and Purpose ......16 Nazario, Sonia ....................................................................................26 Obreht, Ta ........................................................................................36 ORDINARY RESURRECTIONS: Children in the Years of Hope ................44 OTHER WES MOORE, THE: One Name, Two Fates................................24 OUTCASTS UNITED: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Womans Quest to Make a Difference ......................................30 Patel, Eboo ........................................................................................48 Patel, Raj ............................................................................................50 POWER OF HABIT, THE: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business..................................................................................54 QUIET: The Power of Introverts in a World That Cant Stop Talking ......40 RAISING CUBBY: A Father and Sons Adventures with Aspergers, Trains, Tractors, and High Explosives ..............................................28 READY PLAYER ONE: A Novel ..............................................................32 Robison, John Elder ............................................................................28 SACRED GROUND: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America ....................................................................................48 SAVAGE INEQUALITIES: Children in Americas Schools ........................44 Skloot, Rebecca ..................................................................................52 St. John, Warren ................................................................................30 START-UP OF YOU, THE: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career ............................................................56 STRENGTH IN WHAT REMAINS ..........................................................19 STUFFED & STARVED: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System ..................................................................................50 SWITCH: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard ......................58 THUNDERSTRUCK ..............................................................................46 TIGERS WIFE, THE: A Novel ................................................................36
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