Looking Back

Two-time Newbery Medalist Lois Lowry offers an intimate look at pivotal moments that affected her life, inspired her writing, and often evolved into her rich novels.

A memoir of what it was like to be a teenager in a tumultuous era, from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Best of Us. Joyce Maynard was eighteen years old when her 1972 New York Times Magazine cover story catapulted her to national prominence. Published one year later, Looking Back is her remarkable follow-up—part memoir, part cultural history, and part social critique. She wrote about diving under her desk for air-raid practice during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Beatles’ first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, and catching the first glimpse (on the cover of Life magazine) of a human fetus in utero. Extraordinarily frank, sincere, and opinionated, Maynard seemed unafraid to take on any subject—including herself. But as she reveals in a poignant and candid new foreword, she carefully kept her inner life off the page. She didn’t write about her difficult relationship with her mother, or her father’s alcoholism, or the fact that her best friend at college had struggled with the knowledge that he was gay. And she did not mention the most important part of her life at the time she was writing this book: her relationship with reclusive author J. D. Salinger, who read and corrected every page, even as he condemned her for writing it. In this special anniversary edition, Maynard’s candid introductory reflections on the girl behind the girl who wrote Looking Back lend a new dimension to this iconic analysis of a generation. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Joyce Maynard including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

Mania Salinger was born in Radom, Poland and enjoyed a childhood blessed with love, friends, and good luck until horrors unleashed by Nazi invasion changed her life forever. Many of her friends and family perished during the Holocaust, but Mania survived those horrific years working in multiple Nazi camps, including Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen. Her optimistic spirit, shrewd instincts, and fierce determination to believe that life, and humanity, must prevail over evil helped her to endure.

Using family photographs and quotes from her books, the author provides glimpses into her life.

Revealing, entertaining window on the music of the ’50s and ’60s

Born in 1905, Webb began keeping a journal in 1946, the same year he moved to New York and took up photography in earnest. These memoirs document not only Webb's struggles as a young photographer, but also the heady atmosphere of New York in the forties and fifties. The many photographs, all in bandw, are simply magnificent. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Judge Queenan tells a very human story of his life, family and travels, withholding no family secrets. Included is an account of his diverse and evolving career as a lawyer who handled business transactions, drafted estate plans, tried cases and, at the end, found greatest satisfaction in representing corporations reorganizing under chapter 11. He tells of the losing party in one case sending a bomb in the mail to his client. We also learn of the disastrous results of a Ponzi scheme that used ruses similar to those of Bernard Madoff. Judge Queenans high values and commitment to due process of law are apparent throughout. He is still troubled by the prejudicial effect of the press conferences held by the district attorney in the Brinks armed robbery case, which came before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts when he was a young law clerk with the court. In giving an account of his years on the bench, a time when he was also teaching in law school, Judge Queenan makes law and trials understandable to the layman. He rejects the notion that bankruptcy is a refuge for the dishonest and lazy, and he decries the countrys toxic fascination with debt, taking special aim at abusive leveraged buy-outs of corporations. He recalls memorable witnesses and lawyers, tells how he determined who was lying and explains what he did to reduce the length of trials. Perhaps most informative of all, he describes how a judge makes law rather than just grabbing a rule off the shelf. A former campaign worker for Robert Kennedy, Judge Queenan shows his passion for politics. He gives a critique of the Supreme Courts 2000 decision in Bush v. Gore, which handed the presidency to George W. Bush. As one who demonstrated against the war in Iraq before the war began, he examines the wars terrible consequences and traces its long political fallout that contributed to the election of Barack Obama, for whom the judge delivers a unique panegyric.

Twenty-two-year-old Shivani had thrown a party one evening-and awoken the next morning in hospital, her spine and her dreams shattered by a car crash. Paralysed and then wheelchair-bound, it took Shivani years of pain, struggle and determination to regain control of her life and her body; to demand and receive respect from the world; to gain acceptance from within and without; to find love and happiness. Then tragedy struck again. As the newly married Shivani drove to Manali with her family, an oil tanker collided head-on with the car; bedridden once again, she watched helplessly as first her father-in-law and then Vikas, her husband, succumbed to their injuries. And, yet, Shivani refused to surrender-she would not let her inability to walk keep her from achieving her ambitions. No Looking Back is a deeply moving and inspiring narrative about surviving the challenges of disability in a country that takes little account of the daily difficulties and indignities faced by approximately fifteen per cent of the world's population, whether in terms of infrastructure, legislation or awareness-a country that appears to believe that disability equals invisibility from the public discourse. Undeterred by the hand fate had dealt her, Shivani Gupta has chosen to champion the cause of the disabled everywhere and is today one of India's best-known accessibility consultants. Her life is an extraordinary testament to true courage and the indomitability of the human spirit in the face of overwhelming odds.

Short Stories of Our Time Tantra Bensko - california, usa White Arms Papa's Song Mama Carly Berg - texas, usa Bringing Back Beulah Fat Pat The Last Supper Shattered Risen The Horse Head Earrings Turquoise Dreams Ute Carson - texas, usa The Old Should Be Explorers Tony Concannon - massachusetts, usa The Book Rudy Ch. Garcia - colorado, usa Class Epiphany Margaret Karmazin - pennsylvania, usa He'll Do James D. Reed - ohio, usa Just One More Thing (To Go Wrong) W. Jack Savage - california, usa Veterans at the Post Office Tom Sheehan - massachusetts, usa Lover, not Yet Lover The Storekeeper The Rig Runner Bhadauria Manish Singh - gujarat, india The Lunatic Hollis Whitlock - british columbia, canada The Search for Eternal Life Samuel K. Wilkes - alabama, usa Leaving the Nest Abigail Wyatt - england, uk The Long March Home Al Claro de Luna

Catastrophes are on the rise due to climate change, as is their toll in terms of lives and livelihoods as world populations rise and people settle into hazardous places. While disaster response and management are traditionally seen as the domain of the natural and technical sciences, awareness of the importance and role of cultural adaptation is essential. This book catalogues a wide and diverse range of case studies of such disasters and human responses. This serves as inspiration for building culturally sensitive adaptations to present and future calamities, to mitigate their impact, and facilitate recoveries.