Does assigning fifty math problems accomplish any more thanassigning five? Is memorizing word lists the best way to increasevocabulary—especially when it takes away from reading time? Andwhat is the real purpose behind those devilish dioramas? The time our children spend doing homework has skyrocketed inrecent years. Parents spend countless hours cajoling their kids tocomplete such assignments—often without considering whether or notthey serve any worthwhile purpose. Even many teachers are in thedark: Only one of the hundreds the authors interviewed and surveyedhad ever taken a course specifically on homework duringtraining. The truth, according to Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish, is thatthere is almost no evidence that homework helps elementary schoolstudents achieve academic success and little evidence that it helpsolder students. Yet the nightly burden is taking a serious toll onAmerica’s families. It robs children of the sleep, play, andexercise time they need for prop

All those baby boomers who have embarked on the journey ofraising their second and third children have found themselves leftin the lurch by existing child care literature. Now child careexpert Nancy Samalin, who has earned a reputation for her forgivingand empowering approach to parenting, brings her inspiring outlookto this guide to the pitfalls and rewards of parenting two or morechildren. Parents who consider themselves pros after the first child are infor a surprise when the encounter life after the second child isborn and beyond. Suddenly their world is an exhausting haze ofcompeting demands, perpetual squabbling, sibling rivalry,complaints of unfairness and "you love him more" (and sometimes youdo), unrelenting stress, and a pervasive sense of guilt andinadequacy. Culled from her years of workshops with hundreds ofparents, Nancy Samalin shares the trials and joys of parenthood andprovides specific advice on steering your way through the parentingrapids. This is a must-read for today's harri

"Dr. Gundry has crafted a wise program with a powerful trackrecord.” –Mehmet Oz, M.D., professor and vice chair of surgery, NYPresbyterian/Columbia Medical Center Does losing weight and staying healthy feel like a battle? Well,it’s really a war. Your enemies are your own genes, backed bymillions of years of evolution, and the only way to win is tooutsmart them. Dr. Steven Gundry’s revolutionary book shares thehealth secrets other doctors won’t tell you: ? Why plants are “good” for you because they’re “bad” for you,and meat is “bad” because it’s “good” for you ? Why plateauing on this diet is actually a sign that you’re onthe right track ? Why artificial sweeteners have the same effects as sugar onyour health and your waistline ? Why taking antacids, statins, and drugs for high blood pressureand arthritis masks health issues instead of addressing them Along with the meal planner, 70 delicious recipes, andinspirational stories, Dr.

“I like the surprise of the curtain going up, revealing what’sbehind it.” –John Schlesinger The British director John Schlesinger was one of the cinema’smost dynamic and influential artists. Now, in Conversations withJohn Schlesinger, acclaimed writer Ian Buruma, Schlesinger’snephew, reveals the director’s private world in a series ofin-depth interviews conducted in the later years of the director’slife. Here they discuss the impact of Schlesinger’s personal life on hisart. As his films so readily demonstrate, Schlesinger is awonderful storyteller, and he serves up fascinating and provocativerecollections of growing up in a Jewish family during World War II,his sexual coming-of-age as a gay man in conformist 1950s England,his emergence as an artist in the “Swinging 60s,” and theroller-coaster ride of his career as one of the most prominentHollywood directors of his time. Schlesinger also discusses his artistic philosophy and approach tofilmmaking, recounting stories from the sets of hi

An electrifying memoir from the acclaimed Nicaraguan writer(“A wonderfully free and original talent”—Harold Pinter) andcentral figure in the Sandinista Revolution. Until her early twenties, Gioconda Belli inhabited an upper-classcocoon: sheltered from the poverty in Managua in a world of countryclubs and debutante balls; educated abroad; early marriage andmotherhood. But in 1970, everything changed. Her growingdissatisfaction with domestic life, and a blossoming awareness ofthe social inequities in Nicaragua, led her to join theSandinistas, then a burgeoning but still hidden organization. Shewould be involved with them over the next twenty years at thehighest, and often most dangerous, levels. Her memoir is both a revelatory insider’s account of the Revolutionand a vivid, intensely felt story about coming of age underextraordinary circumstances. Belli writes with both strikinglyricism and candor about her personal and political lives: abouther family, her children, the men in her life; about her po

One day in Ventura, California, Jonell McLain saw a beautifuldiamond necklace in a jewelry store window and wondered: Why arepersonal luxuries so plentiful yet accessible to so few? What if weshared what we desired? Several weeks, dozens of phone calls, andone great leap of faith later, Jonell and twelve other women boughtthe necklace together–to be passed along among them all. The dazzling treasure weaves in and out of each woman’s life,reflecting her past, defining her present, making promises for herfuture. Lending sparkle in surprising and unexpected ways, thenecklace comes to mean something dramatically different to each ofthe thirteen women. With vastly dissimilar histories and lives,they transcend their individual personalities and politics to jointogether in an uncommon journey–and what started as a quirky socialexperiment becomes something far richer and deeper.

Syd, a breathtakingly beautiful supermodel on a photo shoot inHawaii, disappears. Fearing the worst, her parents travel to Hawaiito investigate for themselves, never expecting the horror thatawaits them. LA Times reporter Ben Hawkins is conducting his own researchinto the case, hoping to help the victim and get an idea for hisnext bestseller. With no leads and no closer to uncovering thekidnapper's identity than when he stepped off the plane, Ben gets ashocking visit that pushes him into an impossible-to-resist dealwith the devil. A heart-pounding story of fear and desire, SWIMSUIT transportsreaders to a chilling new territory where the collision of beautyand murder transforms paradise into a hell of unspeakablehorrors.

Tried diet after diet and still can’t lose weight? It’s timeto call the expert. In The Skinny, Dr. Louis Aronne, America’s topweight-loss specialist, shares the plan that has worked so well forhis many patients. Through his friendly guidance, you’ll finallylearn how to: stop the weight-loss, weight-gain cycle learn the strategy for feeling full with fewer calories teach your brain to stop craving food learn to put down your fork and automatically push away from thetable—without counting a single calorie learn what common medications and medical conditions can make yougain weight lose the weight—even if nothing else has worked Dr. Louis Aronne is the expert whom doctors refer their toughestcases to. For more than twenty years he’s worked on the front linesof obesity research and treatment. The founder and director of theComprehensive Weight Control Program at New York–PresbyterianHospital /Weill Cornell Medical Center, he has helped thousands ofp

Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the UnitedStates, tells his personal stories about more than thirty years offighting for social change, from teaching at Spelman College torecent protests against war. A former bombardier in WWII, Zinn emerged in the civil rightsmovement as a powerful voice for justice. Although he's a fiercecritic, he gives us reason to hope that by learning from historyand engaging politically, we can make a difference in theworld.

“There are lives lost in this book, and there are lives saved,too, if salvation means a young man or woman begins to feeldeserving of a place on the planet. . . . What could be moresoul-satisfying? These are the most influential professionals mostof us will ever meet. The effects of their work will lastforever.” –from the foreword by Anna Quindlen Now depicted in a bestselling book and a feature film, theFreedom Writers phenomenon came about in 1994 when Erin Gruwellstepped into Room 203 and began her first teaching job out ofcollege. Long Beach, California, was still reeling from the deadlyviolence that erupted during the Rodney King riots, and the kids inErin’s classroom reflected the anger, resentment, and hopelessnessof their community. Undaunted, Erin fostered an educationalphilosophy that valued and promoted diversity, tolerance, andcommunication, and in the process, she transformed her students’lives, as well as her own. Erin Gruwell and the Freedom Writerswent on to establish t

The story of the race to the North Pole is told throughmemoirs, letters, ships' logs, and diaries of Arctic explorers,documenting the motives, modes of travel, and remarkable men whoendured the extremes of physical hardship and grim competition,including Robert Peary, Richard Byrd, Fridtjof Nans

An analysis of the nature, causes, and significance of violencein the second half of the twentieth century. Arendt also reexaminesthe relationship between war, politics, violence, and power."Incisive, deeply probing, written with clarity and grace, itprovides an ideal framework for understanding the turbulence of ourtimes"(Nation). Index.

Following up on The Power of Nice, agent-attorney Shapiro andfellow negotiator Jankowski reiterate that book's tenets:Neutralize your emotions and stay rational; Identify the type ofdifficult person; Control the encounter; and Explore options. Usingexamples from their own lives as well as pop culture, they offeranecdotes and tips for analysis. The "situationally difficult"person may be temporarily overreacting, so empathy can be a sureroad to cordial defusion. The "strategically difficult" arecalculating (passive-aggressive, take it or leave it, etc.), butcan be countered if you pleasantly, even humorously make them awareyou're onto their game. The "simply difficult," using power as animperative (irrational, bullying, duplicitous, etc.) are thetoughest, but those facing them must recognize their ownpower—including the option to just walk away, a decision that mustbe approached carefully. While the title may be the best thingabout the book, its tips on steering toward win-win situations aremore than p

Cheap booze. Flying ?eshpots. Lack of sleep. Endless spin.Lying pols. Just a few of the snares lying in wait for the reporters whocovered the 1972 presidential election. Traveling with the presspack from the June primaries to the big night in November, RollingStone reporter Timothy Crouse hopscotched the country with both theNixon and McGovern campaigns and witnessed the birth of moderncampaign journalism. The Boys on the Bus is the raucous story ofhow American news got to be what it is today. With its verve, wit,and psychological acumen, it is a classic of Americanreporting.

In recent years, a key research project at the China Institutefor Re-form and Development where I work has been thetransformation of thegovernment. The Institute has hosted severalimportant international fo-rums focusing on this topic which haveproduced research achievementsand aroused an extensive response. Asa scholar of the Institute, I havedevoted much of my time andenergy to issues related to the study ofthe transformation of thegovernment. This book presents 37 articles Iwrote or speeches Igave on this topic between May 2003 and September2005.

Ludwig van Beethoven lay dying in 1827, a young musician namedFerdinand Hiller came to pay his respects to the great composer. Inthose days, it was customary to snip a lock of hair as a keepsake,and this Hiller did a day after Beethoven's death. By the time hewas buried, Beethoven's head had been nearly shorn by the manypeople who similarly had wanted a lasting memento of the great man.Such was his powerful effect on all those who had heard hismusic. For a century, the lock of hair was a treasured Hiller familyrelic, and perhaps was destined to end up sequestered in a bankvault, until it somehow found its way to the town of Gilleleje, inNazi-occupied Denmark, during the darkest days of the Second WorldWar. There, it was given to a local doctor, Kay Fremming, who wasdeeply involved in the effort to help save hundreds of hunted andfrightened Jews. Who gave him the hair, and why? And what was thefate of those refugees, holed up in the attic of Gilleleje'schurch? After Fremming's death, his d

A Step-by-Step Guide to Healing Your Heart and RebuildingYour Marriage Discovering that your husband has beenunfaithful can be emotionally devastating, leaving you reeling inpain and confusion. But take heart—this survival guide for womenoffers compassionate and practical solutions for coping with theaftermath of an affair. Drawing on their years of experience asprofessional therapists, authors Marcella Bakur Weiner and Armand DiMele explain how to heal the marriage bond andrestore trust between partners. Written with empathy andunderstanding, this book addresses such vital topics as: ·Coming to terms with the sense of loss and betrayal ·Coping with feelings of suspicion and the specter of "the otherwoman" ·Dealing with the children during and after the affair ·Understanding character traits of men who have affairs—and howdifferent women's personalities interact with them ·Finding the best sources of emotional support Also included are helpful exercises for self-healing andredeveloping mutual t

Americans are as safe, well fed, securely sheltered,long-lived, free, and healthy as any human beings who have everlived on the planet. But we are down on America. So why do we hateus? According to Dick Meyer, the following items on this (muchabbreviated) list are some of the contributors to our deepdisenchantment with our own culture: Cell-phone talkers broadcasting the intimate details of their livesin public spaces Worship of self-awareness, self-realization, andself-fulfillment T-shirts that read, “Eat Me” Facebook, MySpace, and kids being taught to market themselves High-level cheating in business and sports Reality television and the cosmetic surgery boom Multinational corporations that claim, “We care about you.” The decline of organic communities A line of cosmetics called “S.L.U.T.” The phony red state–blue state divide The penetration of OmniMarketing into OmniMedia and the insinuationof both into every facet of our lives You undoubtedly could add to the list with hardly a moment’

Finally, homeschoolers have a comprehensive guide to designinga homeschool curriculum, from one of the country's foremosthomeschooling experts. , Rebecca Rupp presents a structured plan toensure that your children will learn what they need to know whenthey need to know it, from preschool through high school. Based onthe traditional pre-K through 12th-grade structure, Home LearningYear by Year features: The integral subjects to be covered within each grade Standards for knowledge that should be acquired by your child ateach level Recommended books to use as texts for every subject Guidelines for the importance of each topic: which knowledge isessential and which is best for more expansive study based on yourchild's personal interests Suggestions for how to sensitively approach less academic subjects,such as sex education and physical fitness

A fascinating look at some fascinating people who show howdemocracy advances hand in hand with crime in Japan.--MarioPuzo In this unorthodox chronicle of the rise of Japan, Inc., RobertWhiting, author of You Gotta Have Wa, gives us a fresh perspectiveon the economic miracle and near disaster that is modernJapan. Through the eyes of Nick Zappetti, a former GI, former blackmarketer, failed professional wrestler, bungling diamond thief whoturned himself into "the Mafia boss of Tokyo and the king ofRappongi," we meet the players and the losers in the high-stakesgame of postwar finance, politics, and criminal corruption in whichhe thrived. Here's the story of the Imperial Hotel diamond robbers,who attempted (and may have accomplished) the biggest heist inTokyo's history. Here is Rikidozan, the professional wrestler whoalmost single-handedly revived Japanese pride, but whose ownethnicity had to be kept secret. And here is the story of theintimate relationships shared by Japan's ruling party, itsf

David Dornstein was twenty-five years old, with dreams ofbecoming a great writer, when he boarded Pan Am Flight 103 onDecember 21, 1988. Thirty-eight minutes after takeoff, a terroristbomb ripped the plane apart over Lockerbie, Scotland. Almost adecade later, Ken Dornstein set out to solve the riddle of hisolder brother’s life, using the notebooks and manu*s thatDavid left behind. In the process, he also began to create a newlife of his own. The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky is theunforgettable story of one man’s search for the truth about hisbrother--and himself.