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U-M Heritage »
Chorus girls
The presence of chorus girls at a 1921 fraternity party revealed scandalous behavior by students and administrators alike.
Sports »
Bill Martin's legacy
As he approaches retirement, the athletic director will go down as one of U-M's most influential figures.
Most emailed stories
- Exactly how much housework does a husband create?
- U-M Heritage: How to date women, circa 1943
- University of Michigan 2008 Graduation (Story and Video)
Talking about science »
A world without ice
Geophysics professor Henry Pollack explains how scientists know that CO2 is at its highest level in 800,000 years, and what it means for the planet.
Alumni
Veterans Radio
U-M alumni and Vietnam veterans Dale Throneberry and Bob Gould found their calling in the stories of fellow vets.
Talking about movies »
Tarantino's film history
The director's latest film is brutally violent at the same time it joyfully recalls movies of the past.
Talking about words »
Canadian, eh
Native speakers are increasingly proud of the "fizzy Canadian cocktail" that is their language.
Alumni books and arts
Season of Water and Ice
The first work of fiction ever published by Northern Illinois University Press, "Season of Water and Ice" is the unforgettable story of two young people confronting life during a tumultuous few months of 1957. Danny DeWitt, fourteen, lives with his father in a rural area of northern Michigan following the family's abrupt move from the city and the unexplained departure of his mother. Bookish and friendless, Danny becomes acquainted with Amber Dwyer, a pregnant teenager abandoned by her boyfriend and rejected by her family and community. Both outsiders, Danny and Amber form an unusual, openhearted alliance which helps each to deal with their separate challenge. The friendship is tested when Amber's abusive boyfriend returns and Danny's mother draws further away, leading to a crisis which threatens Amber and her unborn child, as well as Danny's conception of love and manhood. Reflecting the political climate and gender stereotyping of the 1950s, "Season of Water and Ice" is underscored by themes of independence and obligation, love and sexuality, courage and surrender. It is a story that will stay with you.
Spirit and Form: an art exhibit at Meijer Gardens
The source of Michele Oka Doner's governing passion emanates from the spiritual nature that forms around us. Drawing inspiration from objects found both on and within land and water, she renders raw materials into strange and secret forms. She considers herself as a hunter/gatherer, seeking the inventiveness of nature and repurposing it into a one-of-a-kind sculpture. Since her early years in Michigan and her first exhibitions at UMMA and the DIA, Michele Oka Doner has become one of the most versatile artists working today—specializing in sculpture, jewelry, public installations and print making. An exhibition of her work, "Spirit and Form" will open January 29, 2010, exclusively at Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids. (Image: 'Colossus,' 2003; bronze. Photo: Doner studio. Click image for larger version)
The Insomnia Workbook
The Insomnia Workbook is a self-help sleep guide that can help you overcome insomnia in a natural way. The opening section helps readers understand normal sleep, sleep deprivation, and the different kinds of insomnia. Through exercises and self-administered questionnaires, readers can identify and address the causes of their insomnia. A chapter on sleep medications helps readers make informed decisions about over-the-counter sleep aids, herbal remedies used for sleep, and prescription sleeping pills—even advice on how to stop taking sleeping medications. The main component of the book is on overcoming insomnia through behavioral and cognitive techniques. Through cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), readers learn how to improve their sleep with sleep hygiene, relaxation techniques, stimulus control, sleep restriction, and managing stress and anxiety. What makes this book unique is its interactive approach, with readers taking an active part in improving their sleep through various questions and exercises. Lastly, the book contains a chapter on parasomnias (abnormal behaviors during sleep) and a chapter on women and sleep.
Boom Town: How Wal-Mart Transformed an All-American Town into an International Community
In 1950, Sam Walton, founder of the Wal-Mart empire, arrived in the Bible Belt town of Bentonville, Arkansas, and discovered that the nondescript Ozarks backwater—population 2,900 white Christians—suited him just fine. Today, six decades later, Walton's legacy has left its mark. The Bentonville area is headquarters to not only Wal-Mart but also Tyson Foods and J. B. Hunt. The town's population has grown to around 30,000, and the region is now home to blacks, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Marshall Islanders, and the fastest-growing Latino population in the country. In "Boom Town: How Wal-Mart Transformed an All-American Town into an International Community," veteran journalist Marjorie Rosen explores the ever-shifting social, political, and cultural character of the United States through the microcosm that is Northwest Arkansas and the personal stories of its people.
The Valley of Athletes
The Valley of Athletes is a look back at some of the great athletic accomplishments from one of the oldest high school associations in Michigan, the eleven-school Saginaw Valley Conference. This conference has graduated over 200 student athletes who have gone on to the NBA, the WNBA, the NFL and Major League Baseball. Many Hall of Fame coaches have developed some of the greatest student athletes and led some of the greatest high school sports teams ever witnessed in Michigan. And the University of Michigan is well represented—with 35 of the 191 athletes and coaches featured in the book, including outstanding student athletes such as Jim Abbott (Flint Central), Micki King (Pontiac), Rick Leach (Flint Southwestern), Glen Rice (Flint Northwestern) and LaMarr Woodley (Saginaw). More information at http://www.ricksigsby.com/
A Hairdresser's Experience in High Life
Potter was a freeborn black woman who, as a hairdresser, was in a unique position to hear about, receive confidences from, and observe wealthy white women--and she recorded it all in a revelatory book that delighted Cincinnati's gossip columnists at the time. But more important is Potter's portrait of herself as a wage-earning woman, proud of her work, who earned high pay and accumulated quite a bit of money as one of the nation's earliest "beauticians" at a time when most black women worked at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder.
Xiomara Santamarina is associate professor of English at the University of Michigan.
Double Entry
Double Entry is an inspirational romance about forgiveness, atonement and rebuilding a broken family. In Double Entry, Dana is a single mother and hotshot accountant hired by Melvin, her ex-boyfriend, to work at a company he owns in a desperate ploy to win her and their son Roy back. She has not forgiven Melvin for walking out on her and Roy twelve years prior, and now has an opportunity to make him pay for what he did to them. Melvin is afraid of being rejected by his son, so he introduces himself to Roy as merely a friend and mentor while he figures out the proper time to tell Roy the truth. However, Roy's bitterness and anger at being abandoned by his father discourages Melvin from doing the right thing. Can Melvin and Dana somehow reunite their family before an embezzlement scheme destroys everything they have worked for?
Five Steps to the Hollywood A-List Smile
What does it mean to have an A-list smile? Award-winning Manhattan "celebrity dentist to the stars" Dr. Catrise Lynette Austin reveals the magic behind the stars' pearly whites in her new book, "Five Steps to the Hollywood A-List Smile: How the Stars Get That Perfect Smile – And How You Can, Too!" Dr. Austin shows readers how to achieve their own unique A-list smile, which is not just about having a brighter smile, but also having more confidence and an overall brighter outlook on life. Austin's five-step system takes readers from an assessment of their smile, to products and procedures on the market, to how to pay for these procedures at a fraction of the cost.
The Magic Pencil
Young Malcolm Bakersfield has been making his way through life's pitfalls as best he can with the help of his family and friends. School's not a problem but Malc could do better. One day he tells his older brother and a friend about his latest dream. It is as fantastic as it is wonderful! But Malc has yet to learn that it, and a pencil, will forever change his world! We join him in his quest to find the truth to the power of the pencil.
Riverwalks Ann Arbor
This guide takes walkers through Ann Arbor's river valley and up and down the hills on either side. The walks wend through riverside parks, surrounding neighborhoods, and the several University of Michigan campuses. Each walk is drawn to a lovely destination, often with viewpoints along the way; each detailed walk map shows topography, paths, buildings, parking, and restaurants. Historical maps in full color show the city's progression over time. Rippling along with the river, the walks, and present-day photographs are vignettes of Ann Arbor's past, snippets of campus lore, and the story of how ice and water molded the local geography.
African Americans in Glencoe: The Little Migration
The village of Glencoe, Illinois, has a proud history of early African American settlement. In recent years, however, this once thriving African American community has begun to disperse. Robert Sideman, a thirty-year Glencoe resident, relates this North Shore suburb's African American history through fond remembrances of Glencoe communities such as the St. Paul AME Church, as well as recounting the lives of prominent African Americans. At the same time, Sideman poses a difficult question: how can the village maintain its diverse heritage throughout changing times? "African Americans in Glencoe" reveals an uplifting history while challenging residents to embrace a past in danger of being lost.
Children of Armenia: A Forgotten Genocide and the Century-Long Struggle for Justice
Starting in 1915, the Ottoman Empire drove two million Armenians from their ancestral homeland, slaughtering 1.5 million of them in the process. Despite an immediate groundswell of support for the "starving Armenians" led by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, the atrocities were wiped from public consciousness and the perpetrators were never held accountable. This groundbreaking work explains how and why the Armenian Genocide disappeared from memory and reveals, for the first time, the response to this enduring injustice. Kirkus Reviews called the book "Passionate, often grueling…important but frustrating revelation of an egregious wrong still not acknowledged, let alone righted."
Michael Bobelian (BBA 1995; JD 1998) is a lawyer, journalist, and grandson of Genocide survivors. He resides in New York City with his wife and daughter.
Thunder-Boomer!
From oppressive heat to the first fat raindrops and crashing roar of thunder, the drama of a summer thunderstorm is captured in "Thunder-Boomer!", a new picture book from author Shutta Crum and illustrator Carol Thompson. A family bundles together, cozy and dry inside their farmhouse, observing the wild weather. When the storm passes, it leaves behind a wet, deeply green world—and a surprise gift. Rich descriptions of the storm are accompanied by lots of playful sound effects—"Rumble-brum-brum. Splash! Sploosh!"—and the vibrant illustrations are full of movement, with bold lines and thick brush strokes. A storytime read-aloud, or a great book to curl up with on a hot summer afternoon. (Crum's website is shutta.com)
On the Margins of Citizenship: Intellectual Disability and Civil Rights in Twentieth Century America
On the Margins of Citizenship provides a comprehensive, sociological history of the fight for civil rights for people with intellectual disabilities. Allison Carey, who has been active in disability advocacy and politics her entire life, examines how and why parents, professionals, and self-advocates have fought for different visions of rights for this population throughout the twentieth century. Carey addresses controversies as far-ranging as the segregation of people with intellectual disabilities in schools and institutions, forced sterilization, marriage restrictions, protection from the death penalty, and pre-natal genetic screening.
The Jaweed Al Ghussein Story
The film tells the story of how Palestinian patriot and political moderate Jaweed Al Ghussein (Chairman of The Palestinian National Fund) was falsely accused by Yasser Arafat of embezzling $6 million from The Palestinian National Fund, abducted, held under house arrest in Gaza and subjected to a systematic smear campaign. The film focuses on providing a narrative history of Al-Ghussein's abduction, positioning the incident within a wider discussion of Human Rights abuse in the Middle East. See preview
Lucan
Their love is forbidden. Healer and high priestess, Lady Cael is fated to life without a mate. But a mysterious explorer named Lucan doesn't know her secrets, and his touch makes her crave a future that her extraordinary birthright has forbidden…
But danger is no match for desire. Lucan's mission to Pendragon is to find the mythical Holy Grail, Earth's only hope for survival. His powerful attraction to Cael is a distraction he can't afford. Yet working closely together only heightens their passion…even when the terrifying truth of Cael's heritage threatens to shatter Lucan's every belief—and the galaxy itself.
Buyout
One hundred years from now, with Americans hooked into an Internet far more expansive and intrusive than today's, the world has become a seamless market-driven experience. Entrepreneurs and politicians faced with rampant overcrowding in the nation's penal system turn to a controversial new method of cutting costs: life-term buyouts. In theory, buyouts offer convicted murderers the chance to atone for their crimes by voluntarily allowing themselves to be put to death by the state in exchange for a one-time cash payment shared among their heirs and victims. It's a win-win situation. At least that's what Martin Kindred believes. And Martin is a man who desperately needs something to believe in, especially with his marriage coming apart and the murder of his brother, an L.A. cop brutally gunned down in the line of duty, unsolved.
Outbreak Investigations Around the World
"Outbreak Investigations Around the World" is a collection of 19 case studies—some never before published—that uncover the details of actual infectious disease outbreaks from within the U.S. and around the world. Each case study is retold by the investigator who recalls the critical issues considered along the way. Ideal as a primary or complementary text for courses in epidemiology, public health, infectious diseases, microbiology, or emergency preparedness, these case studies will bring to life the classic functions of field epidemiology and the application of epidemiological methods to unexpected health problems that require fast, on-site investigation and timely intervention.
Agenda for a Sustainable America
"Sustainability" is quickly becoming a household word in the United States. Public alarm over climate change has helped to make sustainable development a major public policy issue and a topic of growing importance in the daily lives of Americans. "Agenda for a Sustainable America" is a comprehensive assessment of U.S. progress toward sustainable development and a roadmap of necessary next steps toward achieving a sustainable America. Each of its 41 expert contributors provides an illuminating "snapshot" of sustainability in the US today and suggests specific actions that we should take during the next five to ten years.
The Student Prophet
Logue's debut novel is about a Penn State college freshman, Jeff Fitzpatrick, who struggles to understand his emerging gifts of prophecy even as he develops them as a force for good in the world. Working with the FBI, Jeff uses them to uncover terrorist cells and drug cartels. Because of his actions, Jeff is also caught in the middle of a longstanding rivalry between good and evil. The book blends classic adventure with a spiritual message that speaks to the here and now.
When Asia was the World
While European commercial life stagnated in the Middle Ages, Asia flourished as the wellspring of science, philosophy, and religion. It hummed with trade and travel, producing the invention of zero and algebra, sophisticated literatures, great libraries, new religions, astonishing art and architecture, and luxury goods from silks to pearls. Monks, warriors, scholars, and merchants traveled its caravan routes and seaways. Each chapter focuses on an actual memoir written by a traveler of the time: Chinese, Arab, Jewish, Mongol, and Portuguese. The networks they created became a literate, elegant, glittering world—the true riches of the East.
The Innovator's Prescription: A Disruptive Solution for Health Care
In "The Innovator's Prescription: A Disruptive Solution for Health Care," Jason Hwang (B.S. '96 and M.D. '99) and his co-authors, Harvard Business School professor Clayton M. Christensen and health care management expert Jerome H. Grossman, apply the lessons of twenty years of business innovation research toward examining the nation's crippled health care system. The theory of "disruptive innovation," first introduced in Christensen's bestselling seminal work, "The Innovator's Dilemma," explains how new technologies and innovative business models can simplify products and democratize access to services, thereby transforming entire industries. The authors contend that disruptive innovation can likewise revolutionize health care by reducing costs while improving the quality, accessibility, convenience, and safety of care.
The Funeral Planner goes to the White House
In the wake of natural and economic disasters, the country has become paralyzed with fear. The GNP is down and the sale of antidepressants is up. To combat inertia, the president has tapped "life-celebration entrepreneur" Madison "Maddy" Banks to create a new national holiday—complete with a celebrity-studded multimedia extravaganza—to honor those who have passed on, reinvigorate the populace and basically save the country. Just another day at the (Oval) office. Maddy soon discovers that being "America's Grief Czar" comes with challenges she didn't bank on.
Tim Takes a Tumble
"Tim Takes a Tumble" is the story of a friendly tennis ball named Tim and his fun-filled day through the beautiful City by the Bay. With a swing and a SMACK! Tim sets off on an amazing adventure. Along the way, he discovers purple palm trees, baby buffalos and a whole bunch of new friends. For all books purchased directly from anmarieabbutt.com at a special discounted price, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the USTA Serves Foundation and The San Francisco Parks Trust.
Who's Jim Hines?
"Who's Jim Hines?" is a story based on real events about Douglas Ford, Jr., a twelve-year-old African American boy growing up in Detroit in the 1930s. Doug's father owns the Douglas Ford Wood Company, and Doug usually helps his dad around the scrap wood yard located in the side lot next to their house. But after Doug loses his school textbooks one day he is faced with the prospect of paying for new books and must join his father in the backbreaking work of delivering wood throughout the city and suburbs. Doug, who knows all of his father's delivery drivers, takes this opportunity to unravel the mystery of a man named Jim Hines whom he always hears about but has never seen. In discovering Hines's identity, Doug also learns much about the realities of racism in Depression-era Detroit.
Since My Last Confession
"Since My Last Confession" is a funny, irreverent faith journey by a practicing gay Catholic pursuing his Archbishop during the Massachusetts same-sex civil marriage debate in the style of Michael Moore's "Roger & Me." Federal prosecutor and gay romance writer Scott Pomfret (Mich Law '98) struggles to reconcile faith with the Church's opposition to gay marriage, gay adoption, gay seminarians, Capri pants, innate style, and anything else remotely homosexual. Along the way, he confronts a pack of flaming friars, stouthearted Womenpriests, would-be Opus Dei homosexual monks, three "Hale" Marys, and the inimical Father McSlutty. "Confession" wrestles with faith, doubt, sex, love, and priestly undergarments.
The Book of Lies
In this riveting thriller, Brad Meltzer fuses the stories of Cain, the world's first murderer, and Superman, the world's first superhero, into a heart-pounding and heart-breaking story that is among his best. "The Book of Lies" follows Cal Harper, a disgraced government agent, who comes across his long-lost father, Lloyd, lying for dead in a park. Together they end up in a dangerous race to find the world's first murder weapon—that used by Cain to kill Abel, which ended up in the hands of Mitchell Siegel, the father of Superman creator Jerry Seigel. Their quest takes Cal and Lloyd—and the evil Ellis—to the Cleveland home where Jerry Siegel lived and created the first Superman comics. Here they hope to solve both the mystery of Cain's murder weapon and who killed Jerry's father. After all, explains Meltzer, it was the murder of his father in a store robbery that led the young Jerry to create a bullet-proof man called Superman.
I'm An English Major—Now What?
Tim Lemire (MFA '96) offers a career guide for English majors in "I'm An English Major—Now What? How English Majors Can Find Happiness, Success, and a Real Job" (Writer's Digest Books, 2006). The book covers a wide spectrum of vocational possibilities, and each chapter includes interviews with English majors who have achieved success in their field. Nancy Strauss (MFA '96) is among the many professionals offering advice, guidance, and survival tips. Slate.com rated the book #1 among all available career guides, calling it "by far the most useful, as well as the most fun to read."
New World Order
In this collection of richly varied stories, Derek Green takes readers on a tour of the world as America's military-industrial complex reels into a new century. Written with grace, masterful precision and brutal honesty, "New World Order" shows us characters stripped of the familiar and forced to face the world on its own terms. In Iraq a young man in search of a fortune makes a bargain he never imagined. An adventure journalist on assignment in Australia finds himself at the center of his own harrowing story. In charge of an American company in Mexico, a powerful woman leads a risky double life. By turns frightening and comical, fierce and suspenseful, these eleven stories turn our attention outward, to a world where our role as Americans is no longer as clear and secure as it once seemed. With exotic settings, sharply rendered characters and quick-moving plots, "New World Order" announces the arrival of a powerful literary voice, and places Derek Green in the tradition of such worldly writers as Graham Greene, Paul Bowles and Robert Stone.
Her Daughter the Engineer: The Life of Elsie Gregory MacGill
University of Michigan graduate Elsie MacGill, the world's first female aeronautical engineer and professional aircraft designer, influenced early bush planes and guided production of famous aircraft in World War Two. "Elsie the Engineer" was also the driving force on Canada's Royal Commission of the Status of Women and every inch the daughter of the suffragist judge Helen MacGill. Affected by muscle paralysis at 24, Elsie often struggled to walk as she pursued her amazing career.
The Soul of Creative Writing
"The Soul of Creative Writing" (Transaction, 2008) by Richard Goodman is a guide to understanding the tools and devices of great writing. It explores the elements of language, style, rhythm, sound, and choice. It has ten passion-fueled essays, including "In Search of the Exact Word," "The Music of Prose," and "The Nerve of Poetry." The poet and memoirist Molly Peacock has this to say about the book, "Richard Goodman's marvelous book, 'The Soul of Creative Writing,' will instruct, delight, edify, challenge, reassure, and guide any student of writing to a personal best. 'The Soul of Creative Writing' is a wonderbook of meditative instruction. Goodman's sympathy for the writer's dilemma, the warmth of his urging, the brightness of his enthusiasms all remind us that courage lies inside encouragement. We can find courage to write here, and support from all Goodman's tips and insights. Like the best teaching from the most inspired teachers, it's simply invaluable."
My Secret Life on the McJob: Lessons from Behind the Counter Guaranteed to Supersize Any Management Style
What really happens after you place an order for a Big Mac or a Whopper with Cheese? Jerry M. Newman, Ph.D., SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor in the University at Buffalo School of Management, knows because he worked undercover in seven fast food restaurants across the country, observing operations from the top down—from the biggest management whoppers to the smallest fries at the fry station. "My Secret Life on the McJob" takes readers behind the scenes at Burger King, Wendy's, Arby's, Krystal, and McDonald's, and serves up, with keen insights into management techniques, wise lessons that can be applied to companies with 6,000 locations, or just six employees.
Madapple
In "Madapple" the secrets of the past meet the shocks of the present. Aslaug is an unusual young woman. Her mother has brought her up in near isolation, teaching her about plants and nature and language—but not about life. Especially not how she came to have her own life, and who her father might be. When Aslaug's mother dies unexpectedly, everything changes. For Aslaug is a suspect in her mother’s death. And the more her story unravels, the more questions unfold. About the nature of Aslaug’s birth. About what she should do next. About whether divine miracles have truly happened. And whether, when all other explanations are impossible, they might still happen this very day. Addictive, thought-provoking, and shocking, Madapple is a page-turning exploration of human nature and divine intervention—and of the darkest corners of the human soul.
The Wednesday Sisters
Friendship, loyalty, and love lie at the heart of Meg Waite Clayton's beautifully written, poignant, and sweeping novel of five women who, over the course of four decades, come to redefine what it means to be family.
"This generous and inventive book is a delight to read, an evocation of the power of friendship to sustain, encourage, and embolden us. Join the sisterhood!" - Karen Joy Fowler, author of "The Jane Austen Book Club"
How (Not) To Have a Perfect Wedding
Library Journal says: "The skillful use of multiple narratives elevates this novel above the usual women's wedding fiction. It's Allison and Mead's wedding day, and the ceremony and reception will be held at a swanky mansion. Too bad the mansion's hostess received her divorce papers that morning; the bride's mother is still bitter about the divorce and her ex's new arm candy…the bridesmaids get wind of an indiscretion that could derail the marriage before the wedding; and no one's seen the flower girl in quite some time. Ryan...blends humor and poignancy with a light hand, taking a serious look at weddings and marriage, friendship and family, without taking it all too seriously."
All Bound Up Together: The Woman Question in African American Public Culture, 1830-1900
The place of women's rights in African American public culture has been an enduring question, one that has long engaged activists, commentators, and scholars. "All Bound Up Together" explores the roles black women played in their communities' social movements and the consequences of elevating women into positions of visibility and leadership. Martha Jones reveals how, through the nineteenth century, the "woman question" was at the core of movements against slavery and for civil rights.
Figured Dark
The voices in Greg Rappleye's "Figured Dark" call across a vast landscape of myth, memory, and horrific wreckage. He is a poet who refuses easy categories. These poems are by turns wise, elegiac, ironic, and wickedly funny. Here are dreamy raptors, dome-lighted Firebirds, flaming bodies, junk cars, deadly archangels, the musician Brian Wilson, and a young John Berryman. Poet Dan Gerber says that Rappleye's poems "come from an imagination without peer. There is nothing predictable about them."
Time Leaves
Read about:
- the Jewish mailman who worked in Detroit's inner city
- a World Peace Tree growing in Massachusetts
- poets' jewelry, a silvery spiral
- the play of the soil as the play of the soul
This new chapbook collection of poetry by Detroit native and Newton, Mass., resident Barbara Bialick contains thought-provoking poems that are tied together by multiple levels of time and thyme
Defeating the 8 Demons of Distraction: Proven Strategies to Increase Productivity and Decrease Stress
Geraldine Markel exposes the distractions that plague everyone's efforts to get ahead in "Defeating the 8 Demons of Distraction: Proven Strategies to Increase Productivity and Decrease Stress" (Managing Your Mind, LLC, 2007). Dr. Markel identifies the lurking forces--labeled Demons--that zap one's focus and psychic energy. Readers will recognize the sources and insidious effects of Technology Demon, the Activities Demon, and the Unruly Mind Demon, among others. Markel provides a battle plan to arm workforce employees, independent professionals, and family managers with simple yet powerful strategies to fight back, reduce everyday distractions, and conquer needless mistakes.
Everyday Signs for the Newborn Baby
Numerous experts have documented the benefits of teaching basic American Sign Language (ASL) signs to hearing infants and toddlers to enhance early communication and language skills. A new series of children's books written by Tanya Kuza offers the solution. Ideal gifts for baby showers, new parents and daycare centers, each sturdy board book presents an entertaining story that children and caregivers love to read, while also enabling them to learn a few key ASL signs along the way.
The Secret Cardinal
Inspired by true events, masterful storyteller Tom Grace delivers his most provocative novel yet. In The Secret Cardinal, ex-Navy SEAL Nolan Kilkenny returns in an adventure that races from the grandeur of the Vatican across the vastness of Asia, ultimately involving China, the Mafia, and the conclave of cardinals that will elect the next pope.
The Animal Girl
The five heartbreaking and radiant stories in John Fulton's "The Animal Girl" explore the awkwardness of situations in which grief and erotic love collide. Here are people in extremis, struggling mightily, and often failing, to keep it together. In the Pushcart Prize–winning "Hunters," Fulton contrasts the humorous clumsiness of dating with the grim realities of death in the tale of a middle-aged woman who keeps her cancer a secret when she starts a relationship with an avid hunter. In the novella-length title story, a lonely adolescent girl deals with the recent loss of her mother and the alien presence of her father's new girlfriend by taking out her aggression on her boss and on the animals she cares for in her summer job at a research laboratory. The final story in the collection, "The Sleeping Woman," delves into the inner life of Evelyn, a divorced professional woman who falls in love with Russell, a man whose wife is permanently brain damaged and has been unresponsive for years. The ghostly presence of Russell's wife haunts Evelyn as she discovers how her lover has been scarred by his misfortune and searches for ways they might build a long-term relationship in the wake of personal tragedy.
Matrimony
It is 1987, and Julian Wainwright, aspiring writer and Waspy son of New York City old money, meets beautiful, Jewish Mia Mendelsohn in the laundry room at Graymont College. So begins a love affair that, spurred on by family tragedy, will take Julian and Mia across the country and back, through several college towns, spanning twenty years. Starting at the height of the Reagan era and ending in the new millennium, "Matrimony" is about love and friendship, about money and ambition, desire and tensions of faith. It asks what happens to a marriage when it is confronted by betrayal and the specter of mortality. What happens when people marry younger than they'd expected? Can love endure the passing of time? In its emotional honesty, its luminous prose, its generosity and wry wit, "Matrimony" is a beautifully detailed portrait of what it means to share a life with someone—to do so when you're young, and to try again, afresh, on the brink of middle age.
No Guns, No Knives, No Personal Checks
A witty and suspenseful tale of contrasting characters from the comical to the repulsive host this entertaining and poignant whirlwind tour exploring the underbelly of the most dangerous job in the United States. The narrator and reader explore the seldom experienced sounds, smells, and sights an otherwise sophisticated and beautiful city. The rich and the poor, the sorry and the psychotic; drug dealers, gang members, French tourists, hookers, derelicts, transvestites, muggers, and even other cab drivers share intimate snippets of their lives. Sometimes a snippet is too much. Twelve pen-and-ink illustrations, thirty-two chapters engage two-hundred colorful characters; one excellent read.
98 Miles High: The Ride of a Lifetime Chasing an Obscure Cycling Record
"98 Miles High" follows Durak's efforts to break an obscure road cycling world record. Over a one year time frame, he rode 291 days and climbed over 516,000 vertical feet (approx. 98 vertical miles) in over 1,200 miles of riding.
Durak has been involved in the health and wellness industry since graduating from U-M in 1986 (MS, Kinesiology), and has also completed a series of publications for the home healthcare market. The "Wellness @ Home" series is the first series of publication geared toward improving the well-being of persons at home in cooperation with their caregivers. The publications include fitness for cancer survivors, "Sensible Nutrition @ Home," and "Ergonomics and Safety." Durak has also produced an "at home" simple exercise program that can be completed by most seniors who require at home supervision.
Four books on hypnosis
"Handbook of Hypnotic Inductions" (2000) with Sonja Benson. Addressing the induction phase of clinical hypnosis, this book includes conversational, directive and confusional inductions for adults, along with inductions for children and adolescents.
"Hypnotic Techniques" (2002) with Sonja Benson. This book addresses a range of hypnotic applications and approaches for chronic pain, anger, anxiety and other disorders. It includes techniques for use within formal hypnosis and for conventional psychotherapy.
"Clinical Applications of Hypnosis"(2004). This book delves into unconsciously directed applications of hypnosis for irritable bowel syndrome, trauma and other problems commonly seen in a clinician's practice.
"More Hypnotic Inductions"(2006). Also addressing the induction phase of hypnosis, this book includes an array of inductions for adults, children and adolescents, and includes a comprehensive chapter on insomnia.
Everyday Herbs in Spiritual Life
Herbs have been essential to spiritual beliefs and practices throughout time and history. From Christian Scripture to Hindu observances, Jewish ritual to early Islamic literature, Native American traditions to Buddhist symbolism, plants are seen as a blessing from God and a way to remain in harmony with Spirit. "Everyday Herbs in Spiritual Life" is a hands-on guide to incorporating herbs into our spiritual life.
Michael J. Caduto is a renowned author, ecologist, educator and storyteller who has written and coauthored sixteen books, including "Native American Gardening", the "Keepers of the Earth" series, and "In the Beginning: The Story of Genesis and Earth Activities for Children."
The Culture of Collaboration: Maximizing Time, Talent, and Tools to Create Value in the Global Economy
Evan Rosen, communication and collaboration strategist, journalist and author of "Personal Videoconferencing" (Manning/Prentice Hall), now turns his attention to the most pressing question for business as society embraces social networking on the Web: How can organizations maximize time, talent and tools through collaboration?
In "The Culture of Collaboration," Rosen provides a timely and revealing look inside the world's most collaborative organizations including Toyota, Boeing, Procter & Gamble, DreamWorks, The Dow Chemical Company, Industrial Light and Magic, the Mayo Clinic and others. He explains how their methods can create value in almost every industry. Rosen also describes the trend towards real-time, spontaneous collaboration and the "deserialization" of interaction and work.
Rub Up: Musings of a Navy Corpsman
Mitchell J. Rycus, emeritus professor of urban planning at the University of Michigan, has written his first novel. Rycus's career has run the gamut from aerospace engineering to academia and he is now looking at a new calling in writing fiction. "Rub up: Musings of a Navy Corpsman" tells the story of Mike Rabin, a young U.S. Navy Corpsman who is deployed abroad during the Korean War. The book is published in trade paperback format.