Delia is one of five children, growing up in a poor Italian village. She is 17, and dreams of marrying a rich man; she dreams of a grand apartment in the city and silk stockings. To escape her father's neglect and her mother's sadness, she begins to take the dusty road to the city every day, accompanied by Nini, her sweet and mysterious cousin. When Nini takes a job in a factory and moves in with a city woman, Delia sees another way of being. But when she discovers she's pregnant, she agrees to marry the father, seduced by the promise of wealth and comfort. Nothing, not even Nini's desperate declaration of love, can stop her - but her rejection will be his undoing. The Road to the City is a short, poignant novel about the dreams of youth, and the cruelty it takes to make them come true.

"In this humorous and moving memoir, Michael Rosen recalls the first twenty-three years of his life. Born in the North London suburbs, his parents, Harold and Connie, both teachers, first met as teenage Communists in the 1930s Jewish East End. The family home was filled with stories of relatives in London, the United States and France and of those who had disappeared in Europe. Unlike the children around them, Rosen and his brother Brian grew up dreaming of a socialist revolution; Party meetings were held in the front room, summers were for communist camping holidays, till it all changed after a trip to East Germany, when in 1957 his parents decided to leave "the Party." Michael followed his own journey of radical self-discovery: running away to the Aldermaston March to ban the bomb, writing and performing in experimental political theatre, getting arrested during the 1968 movements"--

"As child, Meryl Frank was the chosen inheritor of family remembrance. Her aunt Mollie, a formidable and cultured woman, insisted that Meryl never forget who they were, where they came from, and the hate that nearly destroyed them. Over long afternoons, Mollie told her about the city, the theater, and, above all else, Meryl's cousin, the radiant Franya Winter. Franya was the leading light of Vilna's Yiddish theater, a remarkable and precocious woman who cast off the restrictions of her Hasidic family and community to play roles as prostitutes and bellhops, lovers and nuns. Yet there was one thing her aunt Mollie would never tell Meryl: how Franya died. Before Mollie passed away, she gave Meryl a Yiddish book containing the terrible answer, but forbade her to read it. And for years, Meryl obeyed. Unearthed is the story of Meryl's search for Franya and a timely history of hatred and resistance. Through archives across four continents, by way of chance encounters and miraculous discoveries, and eventually, guided by the shocking truth recorded in the pages of the forbidden book, Meryl conjures the rogue spirit of her cousin-her beauty and her tragedy. Meryl's search reveals a lost world destroyed by hatred, illuminating the cultural haven of Vilna and its resistance during World War II. As she seeks to find her lost family legacy, Meryl looks for answers to the questions that have defined her life: what is our duty to the past? How do we honor such memories while keeping them from consuming us? And what do we teach our children about tragedy?"--

The third book by New York Times bestselling author Meg Wolitzer (originally published as This Is Your Life ), is a smart, witty and perceptive novel about the daughters of a female stand-up comic who watch as their mother struggles to balance her career with the needs of her children. Dottie Engels, comedienne extraordinaire, performs her act in Vegas and on late-night TV. Her two daughters, Opal and Erica, live on the periphery of her glittering life, seeing her on the television screen more often than they do at home. But when Dottie's ratings begin to slide, it takes both her daughters to save Dottie from herself. Displaying Wolitzer's signature style that combines keen observations, compassion for her characters, sharp humor, and a strong social hook, This Is My Life expertly captures the uncertainties of adolescence and the trials of growing up in the shadow of a mother who is caught between the conflicting pulls of fame and family

The present collection marks an attempt to bring together outstanding examples of the Short Story as it has been practiced by writers of almost every race, from the earliest days of civilization down to the present century. Its purpose is not to show, by a series of texts chosen on academic grounds, how the form developed, but to bring together the best examples of every form by which men have endeavoured to entertain and instruct their fellows. No art is more spontaneous than that of the short story, also it is certain that stories of some sort were told as soon as man became articulate. The period covered in the present collection embraces nearly five thousand years, but there can be no reasonable doubt that the Egyptian tales that open the volume, the first of their kind known to us, are the finished products of an art that was practised thousands of years before these were written. And since the beginning of civilization as we know it, there has been no break in the tradition of tale-telling: the demand for stories is as strong and insatiable in man today as it was before he discovered how to make stone weapons. The editors of this collection have approached their task of selection with open minds: they have not allowed themselves to be influenced by any theory of what a short story should be, except that which requires that it be interesting of its kind. So, without confining themselves to any theory of classification, the editors have chosen a wide variety of stories designed to appeal to the general reader and perhaps to the student as well, in the belief that what has delighted the Indians and Chinese from time immemorial, the ancient Egyptians, the Jewish shepherds and warriors of Biblical times, the Greeks of Homer`s days and the Romans of Caesar`s, will appeal with equal force to the inhabitants of the civilized world of today. These stories were written not for critics and historians, editors of anthologies and specialists, but for all mankind. They have tried to bear in mind that the Short Story is a tale which 'holdeth children from play and old men from the chimney corner.'

American workers and children are rebelling violently all around us. Going Postal explores the rage-murder phenomenon that has both plagued and baffled America for the last three decades, offering provocative answers to the oft-asked question, "Why?" By juxtaposing the historical place of rage in America with the social climate that has existed since the 1980s—when Reaganomics began to widen the gap between executive and average-worker earnings—Ames crafts a convincing argument that these schoolyard and office massacres can be seen as modern-day slave rebellions. He explores numerous fascinating and unexpected cases in detail, showing that as with slave rebellions, these massacres are doomed, gory, sometimes even inadvertently comic, and grossly misunderstood. Taking up where Bowling for Columbine left off, this book seeks to set these murders in their proper context, thereby revealing their true meaning. Ames updates this edition with an eye toward recent events, including several new essays taking on the violent episodes at Northern Illinois and Virginia Tech universities, as well as workplace outrages like that in Alabama in March 2009. With the economy slumping and shooting rampages seemingly on the rise, Ames’s wide-scoped explanations have never been more prudent.

Margaret Lowenfeld realized that play was the medium through which children worked out their emotional conflicts and that it was a cognitive process which could be analyzed, in a non-Freudian way, to understand and deal with behavior problems and also perhaps help children to develop. She developed the then new concept of non-verbal communication, and methods and tools for using play as therapy and as a therapeutic and analytical tool. This book follows on from her classic book "Play in Childhood," which was published in 1935.

Beloved author Louis Begley returns to the monied halls of the Upper East Side with a sharp new comedy of manners. Divorced after decades of comfortable marriage, retired journalist Hugo Gardner sets out to explore paths not travelled. After four decades of what he believes to be a happy, healthy partnership, Hugo Gardner's world is overturned when he learns that his wife, Valerie, is not only requesting a divorce but has left him for a younger, more vital man. Hugo, an octogenarian political writer and retired journalist for Time , must rethink the way he's lived, and reassess how he'd like to spend his remaining years. Reconsidering past relationships in his mind, with years of distance, Hugo begins to see things in a new light: Valerie, whose youth and ambition eventually came between them; his children, whose support might be more financially than emotionally motivated; and his friends, who, like him are rapidly aging before his very eyes. With an ominous oncologist's report hanging over his head, Hugo decides to get away for a bit, to a conference in Paris. There, a new romance blooms and Hugo finds himself wondering if growing old in Paris might be the perfect antidote to the drama he left behind in New York. Unflinching, witty, and urbane as ever, Louis Begley delivers a spot-on satire of the world of New York's aging elite, and uncovers the unexpected delights a late-in-life change can offer.

Illiteracy is expanding worldwide, despite sophisticated teaching methods, heightened awareness of the importance of literacy, and the spread of computers and Internet usage. The population of nonreaders includes adults who cannot decipher instructions, rent agreements, contracts, the warnings on medications, or even the simple books their children bring home from school. Proper instruction can not only help children still in school, but it can also help the school dropouts and adults who need and want help in breaking the barriers to literacy. The methods described in Teach Anyone to Read: the No-Nonsense Guide have been used successfully for more than five decades by thousands of instructors, working with many thousands of students. The instructors have included both experienced and novice teachers and other school personnel, persons in the helping professions, and dedicated volunteers.

Kids don't have to wait until they grow up to make the world a better place! This Kathie Lee Gifford book empowers children to find unique ways to make a difference in the lives of those around them. The Gift That I Can Give is a heartwarming story that shows how all children can do something today to make a positive impact on others. From simply being kind to giving a loved one an extra-big hug to cheering for a friend, this story will inspire children with countless ways to show God's love. They'll want to read it again and again. The Gift That I Can Give: highlights big gifts and points them back to God, like the ability to sing, play sports, and dance. encourages quieter gifts as well, like encouragement, empathy, gratitude, kindness, and sharing God's love. is a great bedtime story, grandparent story, or encouraging story to a child who is struggling. Kathie Lee is a trusted voice who feels like a friend for countless people. With her strong faith, enthusiasm, and playful writing, she appeals to young hearts and encourages them with the message that no one is too young or too small to share their gift with others. Additional praise for The Gift That I Can Give: "The pictures are adorable, and the message is so important: teaching kids to be generous with their hearts. I can't wait to read this to my little ones!" --Savannah Guthrie, co-anchor of the Today show and NBC News Chief Legal Correspondent "Kathie Lee has given us all a gift with the beautiful message in this book: to love and embrace your unique self. It's an important lesson for children and a refreshing reminder for the rest of us." --Siri Daly, author and Today food contributor

The moving story of a brother and a sister caught in the tide of the Cold War Käthe is a Jewish sculptor living in East Berlin. A survivor of the Nazi era, she is a fervent socialist who has been using her political connections to secure more significant commissions. Devoted entirely to success, she is a cruel and abrasive mother to her children. She barely acknowledges Ellaâe(tm)s vulnerable loneliness and Thomasâe(tm)s quiet aspirations, and her hard-nosed brutality forces her children to build an imaginary world as a shelter from the coldness that surrounds them. As the Berlin Wall goes up, dreams are shattered, lives fall apart and this dark fairytale of East Germany unfolds.

"This beautiful work of historical fiction was inspired by the diary of an actual 18th-century Roman Jewish girl, imprisoned by the Catholic Church because someone with a grudge offered her to the Church. Anything But Yes is the true story of a young woman's struggle to defend her identity in the face of relentless attempts to destroy it. In 1749, 18-year-old Anna del Monte was seized at gunpoint from her home in Rome's Jewish ghetto and thrown into a convent cell at the Casa dei Convertiti, the house of converts. With no access to the outside world, she withstood isolation, sleep deprivation, endless lectures, and threats and promises. If Anna were to utter the simple word "yes," she would risk forced baptism, which meant never returning to her home and losing contact with any Jew-including her own family-for the rest of her life. Even in Italy today, few people know the full story of Rome's Jewish ghetto, the abduction of Jews, or the popes who were intent on forcibly converting every non-Catholic living in the long shadow of the Vatican. Young girls and small children were the primary targets of these forced conversions, for they were most vulnerable. But Anna del Monte was different. She was strong, brilliant, and educated, and wrote a diary of her experiences. Her diary became lost for more than 200 years but was rediscovered in Israel in 1989. Anything But Yes is based on Anna's diary and Joie Davidow's extensive research on life in the 18th-century Roman Jewish ghetto and its personalities, traditions, foods, and dialect"--

On February 12, 1994, probably in her eighty-fourth year, the woman known as Anna Anderson died in Charlottesville, Virginia. Was she, as she claimed, the youngest daughter of the last Tsar, or was she a former Polish factory worker who, miraculously, had intimate knowledge of the royal family's activities? The fate of Anastasia and that of the entire Russian Imperial family is still shrouded in mystery, even after the confirmation in 1993 of the discovery of their remains in a pit near Ekaterinburg in the Urals. The many reports out of Russia concur that two of the royal children were missing from the grave, but do not agree on their identity. The cover-ups and contradictory statements by earlier Communist regimes have further clouded the Romanovs' untimely end. Even the house where the family was executed was destroyed on the orders of Boris Yeltsin. John Klier untangles the strands of the Romanov mysteries, separating unpalatable truths from tactical, political lies. Fluent in Russian and an expert in Russian history and archival materials, he has traveled to Russia, the United States, and Western Europe in search of the lost Romanovs.

While visiting relatives in Scotland, three children come to the aid of a refugee from the distant past, a young Pict girl escaping a massacre of her people.

In Erotic Innocence James R. Kincaid explores contemporary America's preoccupation with stories about the sexual abuse of children. Claiming that our culture has yet to come to terms with the bungled legacy of Victorian sexuality, Kincaid examines how children and images of youth are idealized, fetishized, and eroticized in everyday culture. Evoking the cyclic elements of Gothic narrative, he thoughtfully and convincingly concludes that the only way to break this cycle is to acknowledge--and confront--not only the sensuality of children but the eroticism loaded onto them. Drawing on a number of wide-ranging and well-publicized cases as well as scandals involving such celebrities as Michael Jackson and Woody Allen, Kincaid looks at issues surrounding children's testimonies, accusations against priests and day-care centers, and the horrifying yet persistently intriguing rumors of satanic cults and "kiddie porn" rings. In analyzing the particular form of popularity shared by such child stars such Shirley Temple and Macaulay Culkin, he exposes the strategies we have devised to deny our own role in the sexualization of children. Finally, Kincaid reminds us how other forms of abuse inflicted on children--neglect, abandonment, inadequate nutrition, poor education--are often overlooked in favor of the sensationalized sexual abuse coverage in the news, on daytime TV talk shows, and in the elevators and cafeterias of America each day. This bold and critically enlightened book will interest readers across a wide range of disciplines as well as a larger general audience interested in American culture.

Why do some artists use elephant dung, eggshells and crushed cars to make their art? Who created sculptures from fluorescent lightbulbs? Are two giant hamburgers better than one? Does Rachel Whiteread's bed look comfortable to you? And why is there a suit hanging on the wall of an art gallery? What is Contemporary Art? reveals all this and more. The perfect introduction to the world of contemporary art, it celebrates the work of around 70 artists from across the globe. Exploring subjects such as outer space, unusual materials and bizarre beasts, the book is packed with special features inkling pull-out information and ideas boxes, quotations by the artists and 'How Did They Do It?' prompts. Short biographies include fascinating facts on each of the artists, a glossary explains key art terms and a list of useful websites and art museums where to go next. A beguiling book for children and parents, as well as the perfect support for school topic work on art history themes, What is Contemporary Art? invites young readers to understand, enjoy and question some of the most dynamic and exciting art of our times.

"Every page, every paragraph, every sentence sparkles with captivating metaphors, delightful verbal concoctions, alchemical insights, philosophic whimsy, absurd illogicals, scientific comedy routines, relentless, non-stop waves of hilarity. The comparisons to James Joyce are undeniable. Wow! Whew! Wild! Wonderful!"" Timothy Leary The strangest memoir you will ever read. You or your parents lived it. I helped start it. And it was an accident. It was the era of myth, legend, sex, and extreme adventure called The Sixties. "I blasted through Howard Bloom's How I Accidentally Started The Sixties like the wildfire swallowing up my mountain in California. I loved it. The molecular amusement ride, the sexual Disneyland, the Chevy 350 Impala blasting down the freeway at 120 mph. The universal essence is its brilliant simplicity.....Reality is really a mind field seen through Bloom's neurotic Buddha-like mind resplendent with every major family issue mortal humans will ever come across in a life time: identity, parents, meaning, self, non-self, food, habitation, education, goals, marriage, family, children, God, sex, more sex----DRUGS. It slithers like a rattlesnake across the page, the way a story should. What I love most is the off the wall comedy. Howard Bloom as Harpo Marx riding a freight train like Buddha carrying his life in a sleeping bag. I mean it's priceless. Bloom's psychedelic journey across the American landscape, is deciphered through the irresistible minds of murderers, crackpots, Nobel Prize Playboy bunnies, scholars, waiters, hobo gurus, cops, professors, French majors, psychiatrists, cock suckers, recreational drug users, Mormons, Jews, nut jobs, laundry mat owners, demonic children, lizards...........Aldous Huxley with a pinch of Timothy Leary.............and every molecule in the universe. It separates Bloom from any scientist/global mind who ever lived. Richard Feynman, Albert Einstein, and Aldous Huxley would be proud. Each man strived to marry science, art, and poetry but never managed to pull it off. How I Accidentally Started the Sixties does. I salute Howard Bloom. His doctrine sparkles every page with his Promethean fire; distilled in Shakespeare's immortal words, 'From women's eyes this doctrine I derive'.....[women] are the books, the arts, the academies, that show, contain and nourish the world.' Love's Labour Lost, only in Bloom's case, found, lost, and then found again. God only knows what else this mastermind is hiding from the rest of us." Mark Lamonica, winner of the Southern California Booksellers Association Nonfiction Award, author of Junk Yard Dogs And William Shakespeare and Renaissance Porn Star: The Saga of Pietro Aretino, The World's Greatest Hustler

This volume is essentially the report of an elaborate ten-year study carried out by a team of experienced psychologists, under a variety of conditions The authors studied the relationship between perception and personality in widely differing young normal adults, a hospitalized phychiatric group, and children of different ages included. The authors discuss results for each of the tests used, the special scoring procedures devised for each, and the significance of this and similar studies for personality theory, for perceptual theory, and for research design in general. Implications for a possible rapprochement between clinically and experimentally oriented psychologists are also pointed out.

Nicole Gunther-Perrin is a modern young professional, proud of her legal skills but weary of the daily grind, of childcare, and of sexist coworkers and her deadbeat ex-husband. Then after one exceptionally awful day, she awakens to find herself in a different life, that of a widowed tavernkeeper on the Roman frontier around A.D. 170. Delighted at first, she quickly begins to realize that her new world is as complicated as her old one. Violence, dirt, adn pain are everywhere; slavery is commonplace, gladiators kill for sport, and drunkenness is taken for granted. Yet, somehow, people manage to face life everyday with humor and goodwill. No quitter, Nicole manages to adapt, despite endless worry about the fate of her children "back" in the twentieth century. Then plague sweeps through Carnuntum, followed by brutal war. Amidst pain and loss on a level she had never imagined, Nicole must find reserved of the sort of strength she had never known.

'A powerful, integrative, and insightful theory of society.'-Jack Meacham, State University of New York, Buffalo This provocative work presents a unified and scientifically grounded new theory on the development of society, namely, that the imaginary play of children reflects an endogenous orientation toward the construction of society. In twelve studies, Furth combines delightful observations of young children's spontaneous actions and interactions with lucid descriptions of complex psychological theories-including those of Piaget, Freud, Lacan, and Marxist scholars.