4 non fiction the great expectations school dan brown a rookie year in the new blackboard jungle a memoir disturbing poignant and humorous this is the gut-wrenching account of one teacher s turbulent first year in the bronx at 22 dan brown came to p.s 85 as an eager fresh-faced teacher he had even been assigned his own class 4217 unbeknownst to him though 4-217 had been the designated dumping ground for all fourth-grade problem cases and its students would prove to be more challenging than he could ever anticipate intent on being a caring dedicated teacher but confronted with unruly children absent parents and a failing administration dan is pushed to the limit time and again he finds himself screaming with rage punching his fist through a blackboard out of sheer frustration often just wanting to give up and walk away yet in this seeming chaos he slowly learns from the more seasoned teachers at the school and from his own mistakes to discipline and teach and make a difference public
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7 non fiction palestine a history of the resistance movement by the sole survivor of black september abu daoud with gilles du jonchay a firsthand account of the rise of the palestinian resistance movement from its inception and the chilling detailed report of the massacre at the 1972 munich olympics by the sole survivor of black september from a 30-year silence abu daoud a founding member of fatah has emerged to offer this detailed anatomy of the palestinian resistance movement viewed from the inside including details of the black september assault at the munich olympics unique and essential to understanding the middle east this book gives us the first inside look at the history of the other side the palestinian side from the founding of israel to munich and beyond it also provides astute portraits of the palestinian leaders of abu daoud s generation from arafat to abu nidal an educated peaceful family man abu daoud was a dedicated schoolteacher who after witnessing the murder of his
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9 non fiction voyage to a stricken land sara daniel four years on the ground reporting from iraq a woman s inside story for four years star correspondent sara daniel has been one of the few women reporters covering iraq daring to venture where few have gone this is her revealing first-hand report starting in june 2002 when war clouds loomed but saddam hussein was still very much in power sara daniel has traveled the length and breadth of iraq following the fast-evolving events there with a keen eye and probing mind interviewing people from all walks of life and all religious and political affiliations from the kurds in the north to the rising new politicians in baghdad and beyond from the insurgents in sadr city and fallujah to the police chief in basra from the hospital doctors tending the maimed and wounded to the directors of museums whose collections have been ruthlessly pillaged from ordinary men and women in the streets to those vying to fill the void of power from american soldi
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11 fiction playback a graphic novel raymond chandler adapted by ted benoit and illustrated by françois ayroles a heart-pounding tale of betrayal blackmail and murder that will take you to the edge of your seat on a storyboard ride through raymond chandler s last thriller unearthed from the universal studios archives and adapted as a graphic novel the script for playback is classic chandler exposing the highs and lows of the human heart in the raw light of a hard-boiled crime story betty mayfield is blond and beautiful and has just been found guilty of the murder of her husband but the judge realizes the jury is terrified of her father-in-law the man who owns everything in this small north carolina town and overturns the verdict her father-in-law swears vengeance and betty flees seeking a new life she meets larry mitchell a brash but charming gigolo on the train to vancouver he brings her to the vancouver royal hotel where she stays in a room beneath the penthouse of a rich playboy clar
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13 fiction it might have been what he said a novel eden collinsworth a page-turning tale of tangled love and perfect summer reading isabel was able to remember the precise moment when she tried to kill her husband strangely enough she couldn t remember why a new yorker must read of 2006 a harper s bazaar hot list hot beach read a marie claire 10 best to do pick thus begins the powerful story of isabel who at the age of 28 has been granted early success as the head of a publishing house a woman of taste and discernment endowed with enviable wit and a razor-sharp mind yet as the novel opens we know that isabel is in great trouble and has possibly lost her mind elegantly yet sparely written hers is a tale of seduction vertiginous love and colossal betrayal when isabel meets james a handsome aristocratic highly talented writer known in equal parts for his entitlement drinking and gift for charming women she falls head over heels for him despite all her friends dire warnings breaking his
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15 fiction the good works of ayela linde a novel in stories charlotte forbes from an o henry prizewinner this dazzling novel in stories marks the arrival of a powerfully original and beguiling new voice in american fiction longlisted for the frank o connor prize the linked stories that make up this spare and beautifully written novel follow the life of ayela the illegitimate daughter of a mexican dressmaker born in 1933 in the texas border town of santa rosalia raised by her mother and superstitious grandmother thought to be a witch by the townsfolk ayela is breathtakingly striking aloof fearful flamboyant and headstrong and her stories are told by those who know her or think they do a girlhood friend her housekeeper the pork butcher members of the altar guild a travel agent her daughter-in-law and others the stories begin when ayela is 17 and move through her marriage to an idealistic bostonian held captive in town by her beauty and end with her last and most dubious good work at
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18 non fiction wise thoughts for every day on god love spirit and living a good life leo tolstoy selected and translated by peter sekirin a treasury of timeless wisdom that the great author of war and peace considered to be his most important and lasting contribution to humanity during the last years of his life leo tolstoy kept one book invariably on his desk read and reread it to his family and recommended it to all his friends this was his compendium of wise thoughts gathered over the course of a decade from his wide-ranging readings in philosophy and religion and from his own spiritual meditations it was banned under the communists and only one volume a calendar of wisdom drawn largely from the writings of other famous thinkers has been published before in english now for the first time arcade will publish tolstoy s wise thoughts for every day the volume comprising his own most essential ideas about spirituality and what it is to live a good life designed by tolstoy to be a cycle o
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20 fiction strange times my dear the pen anthology of contemporary iranian literature edited by nahid mozaffari poetry editor ahmad karimi hakkak a rich and varied collection of short stories extracts from novels and poetry that showcases the latest developments in iranian literature from which we have been virtually cut off since the islamic revolution of 1979 despite war repression and censorship a renaissance has taken place in iran over the past 25 years not only in literature but in music art and film since the 1979 revolution however we have been virtually cut off from that country now for the first time we have in translation selections from the work of over forty writers from three generations both men and women which displays the progress and development of iranian literature for thousands of years multiple ethnicities languages and religions have coexisted in iran and continue to do so despite traumatic events and transient ideologies this collection or to use the persian ter
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22 children s a boy and his bunny a picture book sean bryan illustrations by tom murphy how would you feel if one morning you woke up with a big-eared wet-nosed bunny on your head would you be surprised and what would you do if you learned the bunny s name was fred and he liked it there on top of your head you d be different from your friends who have nothing on their heads but hey that s okay too this charming fun-filled book about a boy and his special friend will delight young readers and enchant their parents as well a borders national storytime program selection a bulletin of the center for children s books blue ribbon winner the rhymes and simple pictures with strong witty lines keep it burbling along until a nice surprise ending chicago tribune charming a delightful addition to traditional easter basket fare it might remind both young and older readers of another favorite bunny book pat the bunny salt lake tribune a picture book to be enjoyed again and again richm
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24 non fiction long way back to the river kwai memories of world war ii loet velmans a searing memoir of a man who survived brutality sickness and war but refused to give up hope a history book club selection loet velmans was seventeen when germany invaded his native holland in 1940 he and his family escaped to london aboard the only refugee boat to leave from their local harbor before the dutch army surrendered and german u-boats began their deadly patrol of the north sea deciding they would be safer in the far east the velmans family sailed to the dutch east indies now indonesia where loet joined the dutch army in march 1942 the japanese invaded the archipelago conquered it without a shot in a week and imprisoned the dutch soldiers for the next three and a half years loet and his fellow pows toiled in slave-labor camps building the infamous bangkok-to-burma railway the railway at the heart of the bridge on the river kwai meant to supply the impending japanese invasion of india some 2
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26 non fiction black dahlia avenger a genius for murder steve hodel foreword by james ellroy the most sensational notorious grisly homicide in los angeles history the black dahlia murder solved in this international bestseller on the morning of january 15 1947 the badly mutilated body of 22-year-old elizabeth short dubbed the black dahlia because of her jet-black hair and pale beauty was found in a vacant lot in los angeles her killer who taunted the police like jack the ripper became the object of one of the most massive and frustrating manhunts in l.a history 55 years later former lapd homicide detective steve hodel has finally solved the crime with explosive and shocking results hodel provides overwhelming evidence that the black dahlia murder was not an isolated case and that the killer was a respected member of l.a society his own father · film rights just optioned by new line cinema · in paperback #2 on the l.a times bestseller list in hardcover #2 on the l.a times bestseller lis
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