Nice Big American Baby

A blazingly original, profoundly moving new work of fiction by a writer whose world–and imagination–knows no boundaries. “I don’t know what planet Judy Budnitz comes from,” said Newsweek on the publication of her fiction debut, Flying Leap, “but I’m happy to have her. Tremendous . . . funny, dark, adventurous, slanted, and enchanted.” These twelve astonishingly inventive stories–which take us into the heart of America and around the globe, from suburban backyards and swimming pools to war-torn streets and fallout shelters–are riveting, seductive, and impossible to forget. In “Flush,” a mammogram prompts a dark comedy of blurred identities between a mother and her two adult daughters. In “Elephant and Boy,” a surrogate mother-and-son bond, tinged with the erotic, is formed when a philanthropist attempts to “civilize” a young elephant handler. “Nadia” sounds the depths of a young woman’s complex feelings toward a friend’ s mail-order bride from Eastern Europe. “Preparedness”–an Orwellian tale in Technicolor–imagines rapture in the wake of imminent apocalypse. And in “Where We Come From,” a pregnant woman’s many failed attempts to cross the border do not lessen her resolve to give birth on U.S. soil to a “nice big American baby.” Magical, poignant, often transcendent, these are virtuoso modern fables that mine our stores of hidden urges, misunderstandings, and blind passions, inviting us on a voyage through places and times at once deeply familiar and wondrously strange.

An upbeat, empowering, important picture book from the team that created the award-winning Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut. A perfect gift for any special occasion! I am a nonstop ball of energy. Powerful and full of light. I am a go-getter. A difference maker. A leader. The confident Black narrator of this book is proud of everything that makes him who he is. He's got big plans, and no doubt he'll see them through--as he's creative, adventurous, smart, funny, and a good friend. Sometimes he falls, but he always gets back up. And other times he's afraid, because he's so often misunderstood and called what he is not. So slow down and really look and listen, when somebody tells you--and shows you--who they are. There are superheroes in our midst!

A New York Times Notable Book The shocking truth about postwar adoption in America, told through the bittersweet story of one teenager, the son she was forced to relinquish, and their search to find each other. “[T]his book about the past might foreshadow a coming shift in the future… ‘I don’t think any legislators in those states who are anti-abortion are actually thinking, “Oh, great, these single women are gonna raise more children.” No, their hope is that those children will be placed for adoption. But is that the reality? I doubt it.’”[says Glaser]” -Mother Jones During the Baby Boom in 1960s America, women were encouraged to stay home and raise large families, but sex and childbirth were taboo subjects. Premarital sex was common, but birth control was hard to get and abortion was illegal. In 1961, sixteen-year-old Margaret Erle fell in love and became pregnant. Her enraged family sent her to a maternity home, where social workers threatened her with jail until she signed away her parental rights. Her son vanished, his whereabouts and new identity known only to an adoption agency that would never share the slightest detail about his fate. The adoption business was founded on secrecy and lies. American Baby lays out how a lucrative and exploitative industry removed children from their birth mothers and placed them with hopeful families, fabricating stories about infants' origins and destinations, then closing the door firmly between the parties forever. Adoption agencies and other organizations that purported to help pregnant women struck unethical deals with doctors and researchers for pseudoscientific "assessments," and shamed millions of women into surrendering their children. The identities of many who were adopted or who surrendered a child in the postwar decades are still locked in sealed files. Gabrielle Glaser dramatically illustrates in Margaret and David’s tale--one they share with millions of Americans—a story of loss, love, and the search for identity.

A thoughtful picture book illustrating the power of small acts of kindness, from the award-winning author of Sophie's Squash.

Make every day a Fourth of July celebration with this adorable board book for babies and toddlers! Wake up, American Baby, and welcome to another fun day in the USA! Enjoy eating popcorn at a baseball game, munching on hot dogs at a backyard picnic, waving the flag, and so much more! From saying the pledge to watching fireworks, celebrate all the fun activities that you and your baby do together to honor America. Celebrate all the places where you and Baby learn, laugh, love, and play! From waking in the morning to saying Good Night, take a fun journey through all the places and activities you and Baby love to share. For babies and toddlers age 0-3, these sturdy board books are built for read-a-longs, family vacations, travel, and precious together time. Adorable baby animal illustrations and delightful rhyming text help build listening and memory skills. A sweet Independence Day or Memorial Day gift for boys and girls. Perfect for baby showers, new parents, birthdays, and Valentine's Day. Also a great Easter basket and Christmas stocking stuffer.

Si buscas un descubrimiento, aquí lo tienes: se llama Judy Budnitz. Sus historias son impactantes, y combinan la extravagancia y la cercanía de un modo magistral: tan pronto nos sentimos cerca de sus personajes como notamos una jarra de agua helada cayendo sobre nuestras ideas. Estos doce relatos son imposibles de olvidar. Nos llevan del corazón de América a una ciudad en guerra del Este de Europa; conocemos a una madre que quiere a toda costa que el bebé que espera nazca en Estados Unidos, o cómo una mamografía puede desatar una oscura comedia de identidades; bucea, por ejemplo, en los sentimientos que genera la esposa «por catálogo» de un amigo o en la reacción de unos padres ante un hijo que es muy diferente de cómo lo esperaban... American Baby es la obra de un talento sin límites. Mágicas, certeras, trascendentes, estas fábulas contemporáneas nos invitan a viajar a lugares y momentos que son a la vez profundamente familiares y maravillosamente extraños. «Esta colección es original, inolvidable y completamente conmovedora. Te lo crees todo, y no puedes pasar las páginas lo suficientemente deprisa. Es una de las más sólidas y valientes jóvenes escritoras que tenemos.» Dave Eggers, editor de McSweeneys «Excelente... Joven y con un talento precoz, Budnitz escribe relatos que hacen pensar con una imaginación salvaje... El choque entre el sentido político de Budnitz con su subversiva imaginación da a estos cuentos su particular atmósfera.» Tom Perrotta, New York Times Book Review «Estas historias magistrales emocionarán a los lectores de ficción literaria que tengan sed de una innovadora voz americana.» Publishers Weekly «American Baby te llevará al otro lado del espejo (al lado de Judy Budnitz) donde siempre ocurre algo emocionante. Todo el mundo debería leer esto.» Hannah Tinti, autora de Animales sueltos «Poderosa... Elegante y original...» Lydia Millet, Washington Post Book World «No tiene igual entre los jóvenes escritores literarios de hoy. Algún día una generación deberá pensar un nuevo nombre para este tipo especial de narración; hasta entonces, agradezcamos haberlo leído los primeros.» Matthew Pearl, autor de El club Dante

"También de este lado hay sueños. On this side, too, there are dreams. Lydia Quixano Perez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable. Even though she knows they'll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with four books he would like to buy--two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. When Lydia's husband's tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same. Forced to flee, Lydia and eight-year-old Luca soon find themselves miles and worlds away from their comfortable middle-class existence. Instantly transformed into migrants, Lydia and Luca ride la bestia--trains that make their way north toward the United States, which is the only place Javier's reach doesn't extend. As they join the countless people trying to reach el norte, Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. But what exactly are they running to? American Dirt will leave readers utterly changed when they finish reading it. A page-turner filled with poignancy, drama, and humanity on every page, it is a literary achievement."--

Come travel back to a different but vaguely familiar world. Journey to a time when inflation barely existed, gasoline was cheap, cars had big gas-guzzling engines, and people almost never locked their front doors. Written in the first person, An Innocent Man follows the life and time of Edgar Rice Baker from his childhood as he encounters all of the trappings, joys, and nuances of the Baby Boomer years. It was an age of innocence, when kids walked to school, when beer and liquor were the worst things your kids could get in to, and when getting a drivers license and a set of wheels (where the heater worked and the engine ran) were the most important first steps in transitioning to adulthood. If you are over fifty, do you remember the good old days? Those were happy days of wine and roses, when life was simpler, and we all were more innocent. An Innocent Man transports us back to the fifties and sixtiesfor a nostalgic walk down the primrose lane.

Now updated for 2015! The best, most comprehensive guide for writers is now revised and updated, with new sections on ebooks, self-publishing, crowd-funding through Kickstarter, blogging, increasing visibility via online marketing, micropublishing, the power of social media and author websites, and more—making The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published more vital than ever for anyone who wants to mine that great idea and turn it into a successfully published book. Written by experts with twenty-five books between them as well as many years’ experience as a literary agent (Eckstut) and a book doctor (Sterry), this nuts-and-bolts guide demystifies every step of the publishing process: how to come up with a blockbuster title, create a selling proposal, find the right agent, understand a book contract, and develop marketing and publicity savvy. Includes interviews with hundreds of publishing insiders and authors, including Seth Godin, Neil Gaiman, Amy Bloom, Margaret Atwood, Leonard Lopate, plus agents, editors, and booksellers; sidebars featuring real-life publishing success stories; sample proposals, query letters, and an entirely updated resources and publishers directory.