Collection: Biography & Memoir

Nearly every person in the United States is affected by adoption. Adoption practices are woven into the fabric of American society and reflect how our nation values human beings, particularly mothers. In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, the renewed debate over women's reproductive rights places an even greater emphasis on adoption. As a mother, historian, and adoptee, Rebecca C. Wellington is uniquely qualified to uncover the policies and practices of adoption. Wellington's timely--and deeply researched--account amplifies previously marginalized voices and exposes the social and racial biases embedded in the United States' adoption industry.

The history of adoption is rarely told from an adoptee's perspective. Wellington remedies this gap by framing the chronicle of adoption in America using her own life story. She describes growing up in a family with which she had no biological connection, giving birth to her own biological children, and then enduring the death of her sister, who was also adopted. As she reckons with the pain and unanswered questions of her own experience, she explores broader issues surrounding adoption in the United States, including changing legal policies, sterilization and compulsory relinquishment programs, forced assimilation of babies of color and Indigenous babies adopted into white families, and other liabilities affecting women, mothers, and children.

According to Wellington, US adoption practices in America are shrouded in secrecy, for they frequently cast shame on unmarried women, women struggling with fertility, and "illegitimate" babies and children. As the United States once again finds itself embroiled in heated disputes over women's bodily autonomy--disputes in which adoption plays a central role--Wellington's book offers a unique and much-needed frame of reference.

The exhilarating true story of Trudy Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel, and inspire a "wave of confidence and emancipation" for women in sports (Parade).

By age twenty, at the height of the Jazz Age, Trudy Ederle was the most accomplished swimmer in the world. She'd won Olympic gold and set a host of world records. But the greatest challenge remained: the English Channel. Only a few swimmers, none of them women, had ever made the treacherous twenty-one mile crossing. Trudy's failed first attempt seemed to confirm what many naysayers believed: No woman could possibly accomplish such a thing.

In 1926, Ederle proved them wrong. As her German immigrant parents cheered her, and her sister and fellow swimmer Meg helped fashion both her scandalous two-piece swimsuit and leak-proof goggles, Trudy was determined to succeed. "England or drown is my motto," she said, plunging into the frigid Channel for her second attempt at the crossing. Fourteen hours later, two hours faster than any man, and after weathering a gale and waves that approached six-feet, she stepped onto Kingsdowne Beach as the most famous woman in the world.

Based on years of archival research that unearthed Ederle's memory from obscurity, Young Woman and the Sea brings to life the real Trudy Ederle, the challenges that came with her fame, and the historic mark her achievement made for all women athletes who followed.

When J. P. Morgan called a meeting of New York's financial leaders after the stock market crash of 1907, Hetty Green was the only woman in the room. The Guinness Book of World Records memorialized her as the World's Greatest Miser, and, indeed, this unlikely robber baron -- who parlayed a comfortable inheritance into a fortune that was worth about 1.6 billion in today's dollars -- was frugal to a fault. But in an age when women weren't even allowed to vote, never mind concern themselves with interest rates, she lived by her own rules. In Hetty, Charles Slack reexamines her life and legacy, giving us, at long last, a splendidly "nuanced portrait" (Newsweek) of one of the greatest -- and most eccentric -- financiers in American history.

This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

What is spirituality for the ones who find God on the dance floor? What does ascension look like when you're the kind of person who knows more about pasta than meditation? And how are you supposed to love yourself, when you can't even figure out who you're supposed to be?

In Messy Bitch Magic, we join Ani Ferlise on a quest to find the answers to these questions and more, as she navigates the decade-long dark-night-of-the-soul leading to her Saturn Return. Intimate, candid, and darkly hilarious, we're cringing right along with Ferlise as she turns to modern spirituality in an attempt to quiet the personal demons that have been trailing her since college.

There's the weeks-long apprenticeship with a (literal) sadistic witch, where the nights typically end with Ferlise doom-scrolling social media and snot-crying into her blankie. There's her first priestess weekend, where stray pubes and toxic BO threaten to expose her lack of hot Goddess credentials. There's the journey to the fabled Mt. Shasta, where she finally (sort of?) gets to speak to God. And through it all, there's the nasty little voice in her head reminding her what a narcissistic loser she is.

Populated with a colorful cast of healers, heretics, hipster witches, and coked-up S.N.A.G.s (Spiritual New Age Guys), Messy Bitch Magic speaks to a generation of seekers for whom modern spirituality is often more self-pleasure rituals and online personality tests. A coming of age and coming out tale, Messy Bitch Magic is for anybody who has looked for enlightenment in all the wrong places, who has surrendered their dignity somewhere along the way, and are still waiting for their chance to just live, laugh, love.

From Vice President Kamala Harris comes a picture book with an empowering message: Superheroes are all around us--and if we try, we can all be heroes too. Now a #1 New York Times bestseller!

Before Kamala Harris was elected to the vice presidency, she was a little girl who loved superheroes. And when she looked around, she was amazed to find them everywhere! In her family, among her friends, even down the street--there were superheroes wherever she looked. And those superheroes showed her that all you need to do to be a superhero is to be the best that you can be.

In this empowering and joyful picture book that speaks directly to kids, Kamala Harris takes readers through her life and shows them that the power to make the world a better place is inside all of us. And with fun and engaging art by Mechal Renee Roe, as well as a guide to being a superhero at the end, this book is sure to have kids taking up the superhero mantle (cape and mask optional).

Praise for Superheroes Are Everywhere

"This [book] offers a solid message: a superhero could be anyone, including you." --Booklist

When former broadcast news reporter and motivational speaker Amelia Rose Earhart decided to honor her namesake, aviation pioneer Amelia Mary Earhart, she did it in the biggest way possible-by becoming the first pilot in command of a flight around the world in a single-engine Pilatus PC-12 NG.Her challenges, her obstacles, and her ultimate success taught her invaluable lessons about life. The most important one?

Learn to love the turbulence.

As Earhart chronicles her own journey, she invites you to explore, expand, and even redefine your own. She welcomes you aboard her adventure while she shares life lessons that include how to navigate the holding pattern, plan for emergency procedures, prepare for headwinds, brace for turbulence, and fearlessly explore and boldly embrace life.

Climb into the cockpit and strap in. You're about to gain permission to enter new airspace. Earhart's wisdom will uplift you as you make your own best decisions about life, and remind you that nothing binds you, not even gravity. The only plane that never experiences turbulence is one locked up in the hangar-and you were built to soar.

"Edward Wong's exquisite family chronicle achieves a level of humane illumination that only one of America's finest reporters on China could deliver. In tracing his father's journey--from Hong Kong to Xinjiang to America--Wong gives us a profound story of modern China itself. Anyone who once was absorbed by the power of Wild Swans will savor this meditation on memory, history, and belonging." --Evan Osnos, author of Age of Ambition, winner of the National Book Award

One of Foreign Policy's Most Anticipated Books of 2024

An epic narrative that tells the story of modern China by braiding an intimate family memoir with contemporary reporting by a New York Times diplomatic correspondent and former Beijing bureau chief

The son of Chinese immigrants, Edward Wong grew up around Washington, DC, with family secrets. His father worked in Chinese restaurants and rarely spoke about his native land or his time as a soldier in the People's Liberation Army under Mao. Yook Kearn Wong came of age during the Japanese occupation in World War II and the Chinese civil war, then fell under the spell of Mao's promise of a strong and modern China. He went on to spend harsh years with the army on a journey that took him from Manchuria in the remote northeast to Xinjiang, along the Central Asian frontier. In 1962, disillusioned with the rule of the Communist Party, he made plans for a desperate escape to Hong Kong.

When Edward Wong moved to Beijing for The New York Times during a pivotal period, he investigated his father's mysterious past while also assessing for himself the dream of a resurgent China. He had a front-row seat to the nation's economic boom and geopolitical expansion, as well as the darker currents of nationalistic rule under Xi Jinping, the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao. Following in his father's footsteps, he witnessed ethnic clashes in Xinjiang and pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. And he had an insider's view to the world's two superpowers meeting at a crossroads.

As a son considering his father's life and his own time in China, Wong tells a moving chronicle of a family and a nation that spans more than eighty years and gives insight into a new authoritarian age transforming the world. At the Edge of Empire is the essential work for understanding China today.

INTRODUCING THE NEXT GENERATION OF YOUNG READERS TO ONE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY'S MOST COURAGEOUS FREEDOM FIGHTERS, YURI KOCHIYAMA (1921 -- 2014).

Debut children's picture book author Kai Naima Williams -- great-granddaughter of Yuri Kochiyama -- intimately chronicles the experiences and lessons, hardships and victories, and people and places that shaped Yuri's life and influenced her activism. From Yuri's incarceration in a Japanese-American concentration camp during World War II to her participation in movements organizing for better schools in Harlem to her close friendship with Malcolm X, Yuri never wavered in her belief in the power of the people -- especially young people -- to bring about social change.

Through imaginative writing and vibrant illustrations by Anastasia Magloire Williams, THE BRIDGES YURI BUILT is sure to inspire young readers to embrace Yuri's unwavering belief that together we can build a bridge to a better world.

"The legacy I would like to leave is that people try to build bridges and not walls." -- Yuri Kochiyama

First ever compendium of the Summer Olympic Games for children, charting the best achievements, records and stories from the annals of the largest international sporting tournament in the run-up to the 2024 Paris Games.

Comprehensive in scope, the book offers a lowdown on every event, including a breakdown of all track and field disciplines. The book makes a perfect companion guide for young fans during the Games.

Features more than 250 amazing colour photographs capturing the drama of the Games, complemented by a wealth of trivia.

Written by broadcaster Rob Walker, who is the lead athletics commentator on the official international TV coverage of the Games. Includes a foreword by US former 400m runner and Olympic gold medallist Sanya Richards-Ross.

One woman's hilarious and fascinating quest to expose the truth behind fraudulent Twitter profiles: romance scammers beware, you have met your match!

Online romance fraud is a problem across the globe. It causes financial and emotional devastation, yet many people refuse to take it seriously. This is the story of one middle-aged woman in a cardigan determined to understand this growing phenomenon.

No other woman has had so many online romances - from Keanu Reeves to Brad Pitt to Prince William - and Becky Holmes is a favourite among peacekeeping soldiers and oil rig workers who desperately need iTunes vouchers. By winding up scammers and investigating the truth behind their profiles, Becky shines a revealing, revolting and hilarious light on a very shady corner of the internet.

Featuring first-hand accounts of victims, examples of scripts used by fraudsters, a look into the psychology of fraud and of course plenty of Becky's hysterical interactions with scammers, this is a must-read for anyone who needs a reminder that Keanu Reeves is NOT in love with them.

New York Times bestselling author and America's top psychic, Matt Fraser presents an immersive guide to intentional living and discovering what life is really all about before reaching the pearly gates.

New York Times bestselling author Matt Fraser knows a lot about life... from the dead. We've all heard there is a mystical moment that occurs just before you die--or right after you get to Heaven--in which your life flashes before your eyes in vivid detail. The chronicle of your achievements, your failures, your loves, your losses, your daily rituals, your lifelong friendships invites a new perspective through which to view your life. But what if you did not need to wait until your death bed or the pearly gates to experience this phenomenon? What if you could examine your life right now, while there is time to make changes, heal relationships, manifest your goals and the life you truly want to live?

In Don't Wait Till Your Dead Matt distills the lessons, stories, and heavenly truths he's learned from his gift of connecting with souls on the other side. Readers will be able to learn lifetimes of secrets to happiness, fulfillment, and gratitude from loved ones that are no longer with us. Practical, inspirational, and downright heavenly, Don't Wait Till Your Dead will wake readers up to the joys of life, and assure us that those we love never truly leave us.

Rejected by the parents of the girl he loves for being poor, Ma Mon Luk strikes out from China and boards a steamship headed for the Philippines in 1918.

He vows to make a fortune and return for his beloved. Ma creates a chicken noddle soup he calls mami--"ma" for his name and "mi" for noodles--and peddles it as a street vendor. He eventually earns enough to open his own restaurant and wins the approval of the parents of his true love. Joyful illustrations from award-winning illustrator Kristin Sorra and heartwarming text from debut picture book author Jacqueline Chio-Lauri blend together to create a delicious story about creativity, perseverance, and the perfect bowl of soup. Satisfy your hunger with this Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection!

Surviving and thriving in the real world-the complete guide to adulting

You might be an adult now, but sometimes you want a little help figuring the whole thing out. How to Adult, A Practical Guide provides you with easy-to-understand strategies for figuring out, well, everything-or at least the stuff you need to pay your bills and not annoy the IRS.

Whether it's handling the challenges of maintaining adult relationships or managing (and hopefully excelling) in the workplace, How to Adult, A Practical Guide offers funny, actionable, and step-by-step guidance that makes maturity more manageable. There are even short activities and opportunities for reflection throughout.

How to Adult, A Practical Guide includes:

• Everyday adulting-Learn how to take care of adulthood's biggest challenges-like careers, finances, and relationships-through practical advice and guidance.
• Skill tests-Examine your abilities with a pair of how to adult quizzes designed to help you measure your knowledge and maturity-before and after you finish the book.
• Fun and funny insight-Make it easier to tackle credit cards, debt, and more with help from lighthearted advice that teaches you how to adult while entertaining you.

Enjoy preparing yourself for the next chapter of life with How to Adult, A Practical Guide.

Featuring a new introduction from renowned activist and writer Cherrié Moraga, Waiting in the Wings (25th Anniversary Edition) is a thoughtfully tender memoir of lesbian motherhood.

The story of one man's journey to go beyond self awareness and the science of how to actually change your mind.

In his groundbreaking, seminal book, visionary leader and transformational teacher David Bayer offers a revolutionary approach to personal growth and spiritual evolution, taking complex concepts from the fields of behavioral psychology, neurophysiology, quantum field theory, and spiritual tradition and distilling them into a powerful, practical, integrative framework for reclaiming personal and emotional sovereignty and having what Bayer calls "a powerful living experience."

Through the authentic and vulnerable sharing of his own story of struggle, childhood trauma, addiction, and burnout, Bayer takes the reader on a journey of going beyond self awareness and self help to learn how to actually rewire your brain, downregulate your nervous system, and consciously create an extraordinary life.

A Changed Mind is an instruction manual for understanding the human being operating system and how to reclaim control over your thoughts, emotions, and life at a time when emotional intelligence, self awareness, and spiritual connection are essential skills for navigating the increasingly complex and uncertain external dynamics of modern-day life.

Whether you are new to personal growth or have been on a journey of growth for decades, wanting to overcome depression and anxiety or perform at a higher level, connect more deeply with a power greater than yourself or free yourself from the incessant negative chatter of the mind--A Changed Mind is the missing piece every growth-oriented and spiritually minded individual needs in order to achieve sustainable health, happiness, joy, and prosperity, and ultimately realize their full potential.

Lush and evocative, this treasury of Walt Whitman's classic poetry will be a household favorite for generations. Bound and curated, this full-color collage illustrated beauty will educate young readers while delighting the senses.

Whitman is considered one of the most influential poets in American history. Incorporating both transendentalism and realism earned him the much lauded title of father of free verse, a form beloved among poets and students today. Whitman's influence remains strong in modern day poetry. Art historian Mary Berenson wrote, "You cannot really understand America without Walt Whitman." And modernist poet Ezra Pound called Whitman "America's poet...he is America."

Hand selected classics included in this collection include "O Captain! My Captain!," "I Hear America Singing," and many other essentials. Brief commentary and helpful definitions accompany each poem, making The Illustrated Walt Whitman among the most accessible--and beautiful--introductions to Walt Whitman available.

Excerpts from the Introduction:

1: Enjoy the poems. This seems far more important than trying to puzzle out what the author meant (or what other people believe the author meant).

2: Engage with the poems by asking questions....

3: Be your own boss. Read the poems in order or jump around as you see fit. Share them or savor them all by yourself. Say them aloud or whisper their words in your heart.

Poetry makes life better. There is NO wrong way to experience a poem. So, read on, dear friend. And thank you for choosing poetry.