Collection: Biography & Memoir

A former paramedic's "thrilling, captivating" (Booklist), and mordantly funny account of a decade spent as a first responder in Atlanta saving lives and connecting with the drama and occasional beauty that lies inside catastrophe.

In the aftermath of 9/11 Kevin Hazzard felt that something was missing from his life--his days were too safe, too routine. A failed salesman turned local reporter, he wanted to test himself, see how he might respond to pressure and danger. He signed up for emergency medical training and became, at age twenty-six, a newly minted EMT running calls in the worst sections of Atlanta. His life entered a different realm--one of blood, violence, and amazing grace.

Thoroughly intimidated at first and frequently terrified, he experienced on a nightly basis the adrenaline rush of walking into chaos. But in his downtime, Kevin reflected on how people's facades drop away when catastrophe strikes. As his hours on the job piled up, he realized he was beginning to see into the truth of things. There is no pretense five beats into a chest compression, or in an alley next to a crack den, or on a dimly lit highway where cars have collided. Eventually, what had at first seemed impossible happened: Kevin acquired mastery. And in the process he was able to discern the professional differences between his freewheeling peers, what marked each--as he termed them--as "a tourist," "true believer," or "killer."

Combining indelible scenes that remind us of life's fragile beauty with laugh-out-loud moments that keep us smiling through the worst, A Thousand Naked Strangers is an absorbing read about one man's journey of self-discovery--a trip that also teaches us about ourselves.

"I love everything about this hilarious book except the font size." --Jon Stewart

Although his career as a bestselling author and on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart was founded on fake news and invented facts, in 2016 that routine didn't seem as funny to John Hodgman anymore. Everyone is doing it now.

Disarmed of falsehood, he was left only with the awful truth: John Hodgman is an older white male monster with bad facial hair, wandering like a privileged Sasquatch through three wildernesses: the hills of Western Massachusetts where he spent much of his youth; the painful beaches of Maine that want to kill him (and some day will); and the metaphoric haunted forest of middle age that connects them.

Vacationland collects these real life wanderings, and through them you learn of the horror of freshwater clams, the evolutionary purpose of the mustache, and which animals to keep as pets and which to kill with traps and poison. There is also some advice on how to react when the people of coastal Maine try to sacrifice you to their strange god.

Though wildly, Hodgmaniacally funny as usual, it is also a poignant and sincere account of one human facing his forties, those years when men in particular must stop pretending to be the children of bright potential they were and settle into the failing bodies of the wiser, weird dads that they are.

Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch, the bestselling authors of The First Conspiracy, which covers the secret plot against George Washington, now turn their attention to a little-known, but true story about a failed assassination attempt on the sixteenth president in The Lincoln Conspiracy.

Everyone knows the story of Abraham Lincoln's assassination in 1865, but few are aware of the original conspiracy to kill him four years earlier in 1861, literally on his way to Washington, D.C., for his first inauguration.

The conspirators were part of a white supremacist secret society that didn't want an abolitionist in the White House. They planned an elaborate scheme to assassinate the President-elect in Baltimore as Lincoln's inauguration train passed through, en route to the nation's capital. The plot was investigated by famed detective Allan Pinkerton, who infiltrated the group with undercover agents, including Kate Warne, one of the first female private detectives in America.

Had the assassination succeeded, there would have been no Lincoln Presidency and the course of the Civil War and American history would have forever been altered.

ONE OF THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER'S 100 GREATEST FILM BOOKS OF ALL TIME - The definitive portrait of one of the most important cultural figures in American history: Walt Disney.

Walt Disney was a true visionary whose desire for escape, iron determination and obsessive perfectionism transformed animation from a novelty to an art form, first with Mickey Mouse and then with his feature films-most notably Snow White, Fantasia, and Bambi. In his superb biography, Neal Gabler shows us how, over the course of two decades, Disney revolutionized the entertainment industry. In a way that was unprecedented and later widely imitated, he built a synergistic empire that combined film, television, theme parks, music, book publishing, and merchandise. Walt Disney is a revelation of both the work and the man-of both the remarkable accomplishment and the hidden life.

Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography and USA Today Biography of the Year

The classic story of legendary American pioneer Johnny Appleseed.

John Chapman lived in the frontier in Massachusetts. But when he decided to travel west, wearing a cooking pot on his head and planting apple trees wherever he went, he became known by a new name: Johnny Appleseed. Experience the tale of this American legend through this beautifully illustrated picture book by Aliki.

Inspire kids with the glittering story of pop superstar Taylor Swift! This talented singer-songwriter started as a little country girl with a big dream to become a star.

Little Taylor grew up on her family's Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania. Then, at age six, she went to her first concert - she saw LeAnn Rimes, the country musician. At that moment, Taylor fell in love with country music! Some of the kids at school didn't understand but Taylor managed to shake it off!

She took her first steps towards stardom by recording a demo of cover songs and sent it to record labels in Nashville, the home of country music. However, while, she enjoyed singing others' songs, she knew all too well that she had to express herself in her own words. So, she started writing her own lyrics and melodies and her natural talent for putting her feelings into words shone through.

After signing with a record label, she started working on her first album. Called 'Taylor Swift', it became very popular, very quickly. She earned a number one single on the country music charts.

Then, she released her second album, 'Fearless', which was country-pop instead of just country and suddenly, everyone knew her name. She won a Grammy for her work and started to write more and more pop music for her albums. She wrote heartfelt lyrics loved by millions around the world.

Despite the obstacles in her way, Taylor has always stood up for what she believes in, and always believes in herself!

This powerful book will never go out of style. It features quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of Taylor's life.

Little People, BIG DREAMS is a best-selling biography series for kids that explores the lives of outstanding people, from designers and artists to scientists and activists. All of them achieved incredible things, yet each began life as a child with a dream.

This empowering series of books offers inspiring messages to children of all ages, in a range of formats. The board books are told in simple sentences, perfect for reading aloud to babies and toddlers. The hardcover and paperback versions present expanded stories for beginning readers. With rewritten text for older children, the treasuries each bring together a multitude of dreamers in a single volume. You can also collect a selection of the books by theme in boxed gift sets. Activity books and a journal provide even more ways to make the lives of these role models accessible to children.

What happened to the pets that were left behind in World War II Europe, when Jewish families were torn from their homes and taken to ghettos and concentration camps, forced to leave neighborhoods, livelihoods, possessions, and the animals that loved and depended on them? Dogs and cats often faced bleak and harsh conditions but faithfully guarded the house or farm. In the dangers and privations of war, they focused on comforting and protecting their people; and when the family was taken away, they waited and watched for their return.

Macedonian, the official language of the Republic of Macedonia, is spoken by two and a half million people in the Balkans, North America, Australia, and other émigré communities around the world. Christina E. Kramer's award-winning textbook provides a basic introduction to the language. Students will learn to speak, read, write, and understand Macedonian while discussing family, work, recreation, music, food, health, housing, travel, and other topics.
Intended to cover one year of intensive study, this third edition updates the vocabulary, adds material to help students appreciate the underlying structure of the language, and offers a wide variety of new, proficiency-based readings and exercises to boost knowledge of Macedonian history, culture, literature, folklore, and traditions.

Winner, Best Contribution to Language Pedagogy, American Association of Teachers of Slavic and Eastern European Languages

The wife of Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King was a civil rights leader in her own right, playing a prominent role in the African American struggle for racial equality in the 1960s.

Here's a gripping portrait of a smart, remarkable woman. Growing up in Alabama, Coretta Scott King graduated valedictorian from her high school before becoming one of the first African American students at Antioch College in Ohio. It was there that she became politically active, joining the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). After her marriage to Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta took part in the Civil Rights Movement. Following her husband's assassination in 1968, she assumed leadership of the movement. Later in life she was an advocate for the Women's Rights Movement, LGBT rights, and she worked to end apartheid in South Africa.

After years of biopsies, best-selling author Sarah Thornton made the difficult decision to have a double mastectomy. But, after her reconstructive surgery, she was perplexed: What had she lost? And gained? An experienced sleuth, she resolved to venture behind the scenes to uncover the social and cultural significance of breasts.

Riotous and galvanizing, Tits Up excavates the diverse truths of mammary glands from the strip club to the operating room, from the nation's oldest human milk bank to the fit rooms of bra designers. Thornton draws insights from plastic surgeons, lactation consultants, body-positive witches, lingerie models, and "free the nipple" activists to explore the status of breasts as emblems of femininity. She examines how women's chests have become a billion-dollar business, as well as a stage for debates about race, class, gender, and desire. Everywhere she turns, Thornton encounters chauvinist myths about this elemental body part that quietly justify deficits in women's bodily autonomy and endorse shortfalls in their political status. Blending sociology, reportage, and personal narrative with refreshing optimism and wit, Thornton has one overriding ambition--to liberate breasts from centuries of patriarchal prejudice.

In a hilariously charming domestic memoir, America's celebrated master of terror turns to a different kind of fright: raising children.

In her celebrated fiction, Shirley Jackson explored the darkness lurking beneath the surface of small-town America. But in Life Among the Savages, she takes on the lighter side of small-town life. In this witty and warm memoir of her family's life in rural Vermont, she delightfully exposes a domestic side in cheerful contrast to her quietly terrifying fiction. With a novelist's gift for character, an unfailing maternal instinct, and her signature humor, Jackson turns everyday family experiences into brilliant adventures.

The true story of the young immigrant who led the largest strike of women workers in U.S. history. This picture book biography about the plight of immigrants in America in the early 1900s and the timeless fight for equality and justice should not be missed.

When Clara arrived in America, she couldn't speak English. She didn't know that young women had to go to work, that they traded an education for long hours of labor, that she was expected to grow up fast.

But that didn't stop Clara. She went to night school, spent hours studying English, and helped support her family by sewing in a shirtwaist factory.

Clara never quit, and she never accepted that girls should be treated poorly and paid little. Fed up with the mistreatment of her fellow laborers, Clara led the largest walkout of women workers the country had seen.

From her short time in America, Clara learned that everyone deserved a fair chance. That you had to stand together and fight for what you wanted. And, most importantly, that you could do anything you put your mind to.

This picture book biography about Ukrainian immigrant Clara Lemlich tackles topics like activism and the U.S. garment industry. The art, by Caldecott Honor winner Melissa Sweet, beautifully incorporates stitching and fabric. A bibliography and an author's note on the garment industry are included.

"An absorbing, perceptive biography...Deftly crafted history illuminates the nation's earliest days." --Kirkus Reviews

Sometime between 1610 and 1611, William Shakespeare wrote The Tempest. The idea for the play came from the real-life shipwreck in 1609 of the Sea Venture, which was caught in a hurricane and grounded on the coast of Bermuda during a voyage to resupply England's troubled colony at Jamestown, in present-day Virginia.

A lesser known passenger was Stephen Hopkins. During the ten months the Sea Venture passengers were marooned on Bermuda, Hopkins was charged with trying to incite a mutiny and condemned to die, only to have his sentence commuted moments before it was to be carried out. In 1620, Hopkins signed on to another colonial venture, joining a group of religious radicals on the Mayflower.

The Pilgrims encountered their own tempest, a furor that started when they anchored off Cape Cod and lasted for their first twelve months in the New World. Disease and sickness stole nearly half their number, and their first contacts with the Indigenous Americans were contentious.

The entire enterprise hung in the balance, and it was during these trials that Hopkins became one of the expedition's leaders, playing a vital role in bridging the divide of suspicion between the English immigrants and their Native neighbors.

GAIL LYNN was first exposed to sound and light healing while working in the film industry as an executive producer for a movie about Elvis Presley called Protecting the King. When Gail's doctor diagnosed her with severe cardiovascular stress at the young age of 37, caused by an accumulation of stress from two challenging relationships and three successive and extremely competitive careers in the automotive and telecommunications industries, and then as a Hollywood producer, she knew that she had to find a radical solution to her health issues. Extensive research led her into the world of frequency

medicine and light and sound technologies.

After just a weekend of sessions with a non-invasive sound and light chamber, her Heart Rate

Variability medical test showed the stress on her heart had significantly decreased. Unable to believe it could have been that easy, she continued sessions periodically for three years, during which a lifelong condition of

chronic asthma disappeared, along with severe migraines that had been plaguing her for 23 years.

Determined to help others and open her own healing Center in Denver, Colorado, Gail simultaneously set out to uncover the ancient history and the modern science behind light and sound as healing therapies. Following

a series of extraordinary synchronicities, which guided her to combine light and sound technologies with sacred geometry and Tesla mathematics, she developed a revolutionary immersive, resonance healing chamber called the Harmonic Egg, which is advancing frequency healing to an unimagined level. To find out more visit: www.harmonicegg.com

Discover the life of Misty Copeland--a story about changing the world through dance, for kids ages 6 to 9

Misty Copeland is the first Black female principal dancer for the American Ballet Theatre. Before she made history as a ballerina, she was a determined girl who loved watching gymnastics and dancing on the drill team. This book explores how Misty went from being a shy young girl growing up in California to a world-famous ballet dancer and a role model to many people.

• Independent reading--This Misty Copeland biography is broken down into short chapters and simple language so kids 6 to 9 can read and learn on their own.
• Critical thinking--Kids will learn the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How of Misty's life, find definitions of new words, discussion questions, and more.
• A lasting legacy--Celebrate Black History Month as you find out how Misty worked hard and overcame many obstacles to fulfill her dream of becoming a great ballerina.

How will Misty's dedication and positive outlook inspire you?

Discover activists, artists, and athletes, and more from all across history with the rest of The Story Of series, including famous figures like: Simone Biles, Jackie Robinson, Michelle Obama, Barack Obama, and Maya Angelou.

Betty Lowman was 22 years old in June 1937 when she climbed into her beloved red dugout canoe Bijaboji and set out on a journey from Puget Sound to Alaska. Traversing some of the most treacherous waters on earth, the journey would have been a risky act for an extreme adventurer in any era; for a young woman in the conservative 1930s, it was a venture of almost unimaginable daring. Betty pulled it off, and now, 67 years later, she accomplishes an equal feat--a book of pure adventure. Bijaboji is a classic of boating literature worthy of a place beside The Curve of Time by Muriel Wylie Blanchet, whose coastal narrative dates from the same period.

Betty slips through quiet water by moonlight, her oars dripping with phosphorescence. She goes deer hunting with a young Native man near Sechelt. She travels with a boat full of exuberant Boy Scouts for a few days and she visits lightkeepers, loggers, fishermen, doctors, missionaries and other coast dwellers who live in beautiful, isolated places and who speak openly about their lives, loves and politics. She also braves storms, rapids and blistering heat. In Douglas Channel Bijaboji capsizes and Betty loses her oars
and everything she owns, except her boat and her sleeping bag. She is trapped on a precarious rock ledge for three harrowing days until rescued by Native fishermen.

Through it all, she copes with her growing celebrity as people all along the coast watch for her, at the same time as they wait for news on the abdication of Edward VIII and on the disappearance of another female adventurer, Amelia Earhart. This is an amazing account written by a smart, strong, funny, independent woman with a glad heart and an abiding love of the BC coast.