In the little colonial town of Salem Village, Massachusetts, two girls began to twitch, mumble, and contort their bodies into strange shapes. The doctor tried every remedy, but nothing cured the young Puritans. He grimly announced the dire diagnosis: the girls were bewitched! And then the accusations began.
 
The riveting, true story of the victims, accused witches, crooked officials, and mass hysteria that turned a mysterious illness affecting two children into a witch hunt that took over a dozen people's lives and ruined hundreds more unfolds in chilling detail in this young adult book by award-winning author and illustrator Rosalyn Schanzer.
 
With a powerful narrative, chilling primary source accounts, a design evoking the period, and stylized black-white-and-red scratchboard illustrations of young girls having wild fits in the courtroom, witches flying overhead, and the Devil and his servants terrorizing the Puritans 

 

Selected by the New York Times Book Review as one of the best books of 2011A Globe and Mail Best Books of the Year 2011 TitleOne of The Economist's 2011 Books of the Year One of The Wall Steet Journal's Best Nonfiction Books of the Year 2011Winner of the 2011 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest 

In the highly anticipated Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities--and also the faults and biases--of fast thinking, and reveals the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behavior. The impact of loss aversion and overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the challenges of properly framing risks at work and at home, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning the next vacation--each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems work together to shape our judgments and decisions.

 

 

This important and timely book delivers a startling analysis of the clash of faith and reason in today's world. Harris offers a vivid historical tour of mankind's willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs, even when those beliefs are used to justify harmful behavior and sometimes heinous crimes. He asserts that in the shadow of weapons of mass destruction, we can no longer tolerate views that pit one true god against another. Most controversially, he argues that we cannot afford moderate lip service to religion—an accommodation that only blinds us to the real perils of fundamentalism. While warning against the encroachment of organized religion into world politics, Harris also draws on new evidence from neuroscience and insights from philosophy to explore spirituality as a biological, brain-based need. He calls on us to invoke that need in taking a secular humanistic approach to solving the problems of this world.  

 

In The Rise and Fall of the Bible Beal offers a chance to rediscover a Bible, and a faith, that is truer to its own history--not a book of answers but a library of questions.

"Part autobiography, part social scientific research, part shrewd discernment, and part theological interpretation--Tim Beal has written a zinger of a book about the cultural history of the Bible. This welcome and important book will cause a pause before we make glib claims for 'the Word of the Lord.'" --Walter Brueggemann

"Beal . . . makes a compelling case against the idea of a fully consistent and unerring book, positing instead a very human volume with all the twists and foibles of the human experience, truly reflecting that human experience. He presents a convincing case for a radical rereading of the text, an honest appreciation of this sacred book. An engrossing and excellent work, highly recommended."--Publishers Weekly, starred review

 

 

Bullying among teens is epidemic. Many teens are harassed on a daily basis by mean text messages(cyber bullying), sexual harassment, teasing (verbal) , hitting or punching (physical) and some are guilty of harassment without knowing they are perpetrators of illegal acts. Now teens will understand that bullying can have serious long-term consequences on self-esteem and be the root of antisocial behaviors, dropping out of school, health problems and even suicide.

Hey, Back Off! by Withers and Hendrickson is the first comprehensive teen guide to harassment prevention. It uses narrative real life examples and stories that are relatable to teens, while incorporating strategies and coping tips for not only teens, but also parents and educators to help stem this growing epidemic that is affecting 60-80 percent of school children. 

 

Faced with the ceaseless stream of news about war, crime, and terrorism, one could easily think we live in the most violent age ever seen. Yet as New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker shows in this startling and engaging new work, just the opposite is true: violence has been diminishing for millennia and we may be living in the most peaceful time in our species's existence. For most of history, war, slavery, infanticide, child abuse, assassinations, pogroms, gruesome punishments, deadly quarrels, and genocide were ordinary features of life. But today, Pinker shows (with the help of more than a hundred graphs and maps) all these forms of violence have dwindled and are widely condemned. How has this happened?

This groundbreaking book continues Pinker's exploration of the essence of human nature, mixing psychology and history to provide a remarkable picture of an increasingly nonviolent world. The key, he explains, is to understand our intrinsic motives- the inner demons that incline us toward violence and the better angels that steer us away-and how changing circumstances have allowed our better angels to prevail. Exploding fatalist myths about humankind's inherent violence and the curse of modernity, this ambitious and provocative book is sure to be hotly debated in living rooms and the Pentagon alike, and will challenge and change the way we think about our society.

 

Pulitzer Prize-winner Boo offers a "deeply researched and brilliantly written account" (Publisher's Weekly) of a poverty-stricken, migrant settlement just outside the Mumbai airport and the hopeful but difficult journey the residents of 21st-century Annawadi must make to find a better life, known as "the full enjoy." There is Abdul, the Muslim teenager who finds treasure in the garbage that wealthy people throw away and sells it to recycling firms. Emotionally-scarred Asha does whatever she can to ensure a college education for her daughter. Fifteen-year-old Kalu sees for himself a promising future, but a tragedy sets a different course for his life. "Boo's rigorous inquiry and transcendent prose leave an indelible impression of human beings behind the shibboleths of the New India.

 

Life-saving letters from a glittering wishlist of top authors.

If you received a letter from your older self, what do you think it would say? What do you wish it would say?

That the boy you were crushing on in History turns out to be gay too, and that you become boyfriends in college? That the bully who is making your life miserable will one day become so insignificant that you won't remember his name until he shows up at your book signing?

In this anthology, sixty-three award-winning authors such as Michael Cunningham, Amy Bloom, Jacqueline Woodson, Gregory Maguire, David Levithan, and Armistead Maupin make imaginative journeys into their pasts, telling their younger selves what they would have liked to know then about their lives as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgendered people. Through stories, in pictures, with bracing honesty, these are words of love and understanding, reasons to hold on for the better future ahead. They will tell you things about your favorite authors that you never knew before. And they will tell you about yourself.  

 

A variety of "coming-out stories, love stories, stories of heartbreak, and, ultimately, stories of survival" (Voice Of Youth Advocate) are collected in this photographic survey of gay men in America, making this "one of the most important gay books a library can offer teens" (VOYA). Author Pasfield provides readers with a glimpse of gay life in America, portraying the lives and experiences of 140 men -- from farmers and teachers to doctors and lawyers. Detailed narratives marry with powerful photos to capture each man's distinct personality -- helping readers to see the men as just people. Voice of Youth Advocates says, "The importance and power of this book cannot be overstated." 

 

When European immigration tapered off in the early 1900s, the demand for workers in the northern United States' factories prompted the migration of six million African-Americans from the southern states. Then, when the Jim Crow Laws were overturned, a return migration was prompted when many African-Americans went back to the South to reconnect with family and friends. This book provides an overview of the social, economic, and political factors behind the migrations, as well as biographical sketches of important African-American figures of the time, including W. E. B. DuBois, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. 

 Digital and Media Literacy: Connecting Culture and Classroom

 

Presents a guide to integrating media literacy into the secondary classroom in order to help students learn to analyze and understand modern media. Discusses how to improve students' critical thinking, collaboration, and communication skills and offers tips on selecting media to use in the classroom. 

 

In 2001, Fast Food Nation was published to critical acclaim and became an international bestseller. Eric Schlosser's exposé revealed how the fast food industry has altered the landscape of America, widened the gap between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and transformed food production throughout the world. The book changed the way millions of people think about what they eat and helped to launch today's food movement.

In a new afterword for this edition, Schlosser discusses the growing interest in local and organic food, the continued exploitation of poor workers by the food industry, and the need to ensure that every American has access to good, healthy, affordable food. Fast Food Nation is as relevant today as it was a decade ago. The book inspires readers to look beneath the surface of our food system, consider its impact on society and, most of all, think for themselves.
 

 

If you need to know it, it's in this book! Cracking the AP Spanish Exam, 2013 Edition, includes: 


   • An audio CD for realistic practice on the listening section of the test
   • Comprehensive AP Spanish scoring guidelines for free-response sections
   • A targeted grammar review with drills for each topic
   • Updated strategies that reflect the AP test scoring change
   • 2 full-length practice tests with detailed explanations  

 

A Perfect Plan for the Perfect Score

We want you to succeed on your AP* exam. That's why we've created this 5-step plan to help you study more effectively, use your preparation time wisely, and get your best score. This easy-to-follow guide offers you a complete review of your AP course, strategies to give you the edge on test day, and plenty of practice with AP-style test questions. You'll sharpen your subject knowledge, strengthen your thinking skills, and build your test-taking confidence with

• Full-length practice exams modeled on the real test
• All the terms and concepts you need to know to get your best score
• Your choice of three customized study schedules--so you can pick the one that meets your needs
• A complete audio program on MP3 disk

 

 

Our universe's "beginning" is at an end. What does this have to do with us, here on Earth? Everything. Our lives are about to be dramatically shaken--as altered as they were by the invention of the clock, the steam engine, the railroad, the radio and the Internet.

In About Time, astrophysicist Adam Frank allows us a peek into the cutting edge of cosmology, explaining how the texture of our lives changes along with our understanding of the universe's origin. Since we awoke to self-consciousness fifty thousand years ago, our lived experience of time, from hunting and gathering to the invention of cell phones and electronic calendars, has been transformed and rebuilt many times. But the latest theories in cosmology--time with no beginning, parallel universes, eternal inflation--are about to send us in a new direction.

Time is both our grandest and most intimate conception of the universe. Frank tells the story of humanity's deepest question--when and how did everything begin?--alongside the story of how human beings have experienced time, looking at the way our engagement with the world has allowed us to discover the nature of the universe and how those discoveries inform our daily experience. This astounding book will change the way we think about time and how it affects our lives.

The Weather of the Future: Heat Waves, Extreme Storms and other Scenes from a Climate-Changed Planet     Heidi Cullen

 

From individual grains to desert dunes, from the bottom of the sea to the landscapes of Mars, and from billions of years in the past to the future, this is the extraordinary story of one of nature's humblest, most powerful, and most ubiquitous materials. Told by a geologist with a novelist's sense of language and narrative, Sand examines the science--sand forensics, the physics of granular materials, sedimentology, paleontology and archaeology, planetary exploration--and at the same time explores the rich human context of sand. Interwoven with tales of artists, mathematicians, explorers, and even a vampire, the story of sand is an epic of environmental construction and destruction, an adventure in staggering scales of time and distance, yet a tale that encompasses the ordinary and everyday. Sand, in fact, is all around us--it has made possible our computers, buildings and windows, toothpaste, cosmetics, and paper, and it has played dramatic roles in human history, commerce, and imagination. In this luminous, kinetic, revelatory account, we do indeed find the world in a grain of sand.  

 

What is the biological reason for gossip?
For laughter? For the creation of art?
Why do dogs have curly tails?
What can microbes tell us about morality?

These and many other questions are tackled by renowned evolutionist David Sloan Wilson in this witty and groundbreaking new book. With stories that entertain as much as they inform, Wilson outlines the basic principles of evolution and shows how, properly understood, they can illuminate the length and breadth of creation, from the origin of life to the nature of religion. Now everyone can move beyond the sterile debates about creationism and intelligent design to share Darwin's panoramic view of animal and human life, seamlessly connected to each other.

Evolution, as Wilson explains, is not just about dinosaurs and human origins, but about why all species behave as they do--from beetles that devour their own young, to bees that function as a collective brain, to dogs that are smarter in some respects than our closest ape relatives. And basic evolutionary principles are also the foundation for humanity's capacity for symbolic thought, culture, and morality.

In example after example, Wilson sheds new light on Darwin's grand theory and how it can be applied to daily life. By turns thoughtful, provocative, and daringly funny, Evolution for Everyone addresses some of the deepest philosophical and social issues of this or any age. In helping us come to a deeper understanding of human beings and our place in the world, it might also help us to improve that world.

 

In The Fragile Edge, the documentary filmmaker and deep-sea diver Julia Whitty paints a mesmerizing, scientifically rich portrait of teeming coral reefs and sea life in the South Pacific. She takes us literally beneath the surface of the usual travel narrative, in an underwater equivalent of an African big-game safari. Hammerhead sharks rule a cascading chain of extraordinary creatures, from eagle rays to reef sharks, as the sound of courting humpback whales reverberates through the deep.

 

Inspiring for both armchair and expert divers, The Fragile Edge reveals how science can extend our understanding of unfathomable waters, opening our eyes to the threats facing coral reefs and explaining why these fragile oases are vital to human survival. In this passionate, spiritual narrative of her adventures in the big blue, Julia Whitty emerges as one of our finest writers on the mystery, beauty, and fragility of the undersea world.
 

 

Sound of a Wild Snail Eating     Elisabeth Bailey

In a work that beautifully demonstrates the rewards of closely observing nature, Elisabeth Bailey shares an inspiring and intimate story of her uncommon encounter with a Neohelix albolabris —a common woodland snail.

While an illness keeps her bedridden, Bailey watches a wild snail that has taken up residence on her nightstand. As a result, she discovers the solace and sense of wonder that this mysterious creature brings and comes to a greater under standing of her own confined place in the world.

Intrigued by the snail’s molluscan anatomy, cryptic defenses, clear decision making, hydraulic locomotion, and mysterious courtship activities, Bailey becomes an astute and amused observer, providing a candid and engaging look into the curious life of this underappreciated small animal. 

Told with wit and grace, The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating is a remarkable journey of survival and resilience, showing us how a small part of the natural world illuminates our own human existence and provides an appreciation of what it means to be fully alive. 

Bento's Sketchbook     John Berger

“Bento’s Sketchbook is delightful and yet reaches a depth of thought somewhat surprising in a book of its size—with pictures, nonetheless. If you are an artist, read this. If you have ever wondered what it’s like to see through the eyes of an artist or what it’s like to think like an artist, read this. If you want an escape, if you want to learn, if you want to be entertained, read this. But most of all, if you want to be inspired—read this.” –Everyday eBook

From a State Department insider, the first account of our blundering efforts to rebuild Iraq--a shocking and rollicking true-life tale of Americans abroad

Charged with rebuilding Iraq, would you spend taxpayer money on a sports mural in Baghdad's most dangerous neighborhood to promote reconciliation through art? How about an isolated milk factory that cannot get its milk to market? Or a pastry class training women to open cafés on bombed-out streets without water or electricity?

According to Peter Van Buren, we bought all these projects and more in the most expensive hearts-and-minds campaign since the Marshall Plan. We Meant Well is his eyewitness account of the civilian side of the surge--that surreal and bollixed attempt to defeat terrorism and win over Iraqis by reconstructing the world we had just destroyed. Leading a State Department Provincial Reconstruction Team on its quixotic mission, Van Buren details, with laser-like irony, his yearlong encounter with pointless projects, bureaucratic fumbling, overwhelmed soldiers, and oblivious administrators secluded in the world's largest embassy, who fail to realize that you can't rebuild a country without first picking up the trash.

Darkly funny while deadly serious, We Meant Well is a tragicomic voyage of ineptitude and corruption that leaves its writer--and readers--appalled and disillusioned but wiser.