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

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.

Bringing Chicago circa 1893 to vivid life, Erik Larson'sspellbinding bestseller intertwines the true tale of two men--thebrilliant architect behind the legendary 1893 World's Fair,striving to secure America’s place in the world; and the cunningserial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their death.Combining meticulous research with nail-biting storytelling, ErikLarson has crafted a narrative with all the wonder of newlydiscovered history and the thrills of the best fiction.

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.

The Man in Black is dead, and Roland is about to be hurled into 20th-century America, occupying the mind of a man running cocaine on the New York/Bermuda shuttle. A brilliant work of dark fantasy inspired by Browning's romantic poem, "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came". --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

In the first hours there was nothing, no fear or sadness, justa black and perfect silence. Nando Parrado was unconscious for three days before he woke todiscover that the plane carrying his rugby team, as well as theirfamily members and supporters, to an exhibition game in Chile hadcrashed somewhere deep in the Andes. He soon learned that many weredead or dying—among them his own mother and sister. Those whoremained were stranded on a lifeless glacier at nearly 12,000 feetabove sea level, with no supplies and no means of summoning help.They struggled to endure freezing temperatures, deadly avalanches,and then the devastating news that the search for them had beencalled off. As time passed and Nando’s thoughts turned increasingly to hisfather, who he knew must be consumed with grief, Nando resolvedthat he must get home or die trying. He would challenge the Andes,even though he was certain the effort would kill him, tellinghimself that even if he failed he would die that much closer to hi

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

The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine.The tragedy is that my story could have been his. Two kids named Wes Moore were born blocks apart within a year ofeach other. Both grew up fatherless in similar Baltimoreneighborhoods and had difficult childhoods; both hung out on streetcorners with their crews; both ran into trouble with the police.How, then, did one grow up to be a Rhodes Scholar, decoratedveteran, White House Fellow, and business leader, while the otherended up a convicted murderer serving a life sentence? Wes Moore,the author of this fascinating book, sets out to answer thisprofound question. In alternating narratives that take readers fromheart-wrenching losses to moments of surprising redemption, TheOther Wes Moore tells the story of a generation of boys tryingto find their way in a hostile world.