Social Geography

Son al menos cinco clases de territorios extraños que trata Olivier Marchon en este peculiar libro sobre la geografía humana: los enclavados, los simbólicos, los que se encuentran en disputa, los especiales y los utópicos. Así podemos encontrar a Kowloon Walled City, una ciudad en la que de pronto, en medio de un conflicto ente China y Gran Bretaña, nada es técnicamente ilegal. Sí, nada.

Returning to the beach cottage, a cottage named Scallop, where she has always celebrated her birthday is a special occasion for Alice Rice. Who will see the first dolphin this time? The first pelican? What will have changed? Stayed the same? And will this be the year she finally finds a junonia shell?

Peoples are strange! The things they are doing and saying - sometimes they make no sense. Did their brains fall out of their heads? And why so much saying, so much talking all the time day and night, all those words spilling out of those mouths? Why so much? Why don't they be quiet? In the ancient stone tower of the Casa Rosa, in a tiny village high in the Swiss Alps, life for one angel has been the same, well, for as long as she (or he?) can remember.

It’s the start of a new year, and Holly-Mei Jones is determined to make the most of it. She has amazing friends, a great field hockey team, and Hong Kong at her doorstep. This semester is going to be perfect . . . right? Maybe not. Despite their closeness last year, Holly-Mei’s friend group seems to be splintering. Desperate to bring everyone together, she ropes her friends into competing as a team in an inter-school tournament across the city.

Researchers are now applying the lens of science to study heroism for the first time. How do biology, upbringing, and outside influences intersect to produce altruistic and heroic behavior? And how can we encourage this behavior in corporations, classrooms, and individuals? Elizabeth Svoboda explains how our genes compel us to do good for others, how going through suffering is linked to altruism, and how acting heroic can greatly improve your mental health.

When Clara arrived in America, she couldn't speak English. She didn't know that young women had to go to work, that they traded an education for long hours of labor, that she was expected to grow up fast. But that didn't stop Clara. She went to night school, spent hours studying English, and helped support her family by sewing in a shirtwaist factory. Clara never quit, and she never accepted that girls should be treated poorly and paid little.

This young readers’ edition from New York Times best-selling author and Fox News anchor Bret Baier dives into the first of the secret World War II meetings between President Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, which would shape the world for decades to come.

Mountains, meridians, rivers and borders; these are some of the features that carve up the world on our maps and in our minds. But geography is far less set in stone than we might believe and, over time, we have become experts at reshaping our surroundings. From the Qhapaq Ñan, South America's 'Great Road', and the Panama Canal to Mozambique's railways and Korea's sacred Baekdu-daegan mountain range, Samson explores how we mould the world around us. And how, as we etch our needs onto the natural landscape, we alter the course of history.

Long before they became famous writers, Truman Capote (In Cold Blood) and Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird) were childhood friends in Monroeville, Alabama. This fictionalized account of their time together opens at the beginning of the Great Depression, when Tru is seven and Nelle is six. They love playing pirates, but they like playing Sherlock and Watson-style detectives even more. It’s their pursuit of a case of drugstore theft that lands the daring duo in real trouble. Humor and heartache intermingle in this lively look at two budding writers in the 1930s South.

1776. The early days of the Revolutionary War. It supposedly began with Thomas Hickey, a private in the Continental Army, and New York governor William Tryon. In an astonishing power grab, they plotted to kill Hickey's boss: a man by the name of George Washington. In the end, Hickey was caught, brought to trial, and found guilty. It would seem he became the first person in the new nation to be executed for treason.

The Western world is undergoing a dramatic demographic shift. By 2020, for the first time in history, the number of people aged 65 and over will outnumber children aged five and under. But our systems are lagging woefully behind this new reality. In Extra Time, Camilla Cavendish embarks on a journey to understand how different countries are responding to these unprecedented challenges.

Sam Kerr is an Aussie Rules fan through and through. When she’s excluded from her team she doesn’t know what to do. Netball? No thanks. Chess? Bleugh. Her best friends Dylan and Indi think she should flip from Aussie Rules to soccer – and it doesn’t seem so bad at first. The coach is okay. The team seems nice enough.... But with Chelsea the school bully on her case and the pressure of learning new rules weighing her down, will it all be too much? Will Sam give up – or will she make the flip?

In the young readers’ edition of his New York Times best-selling book, Fox News anchor Bret Baier examines the historic transition and Eisenhower’s last chance to lead the country he loved through his legendary farewell address and his personal appeals to Kennedy. Baier paints a vivid picture of the contrasts between old and new at the beginning of a decisive decade in American history. Eisenhower and Kennedy were very different men.

Pablo is homesick. He's only 12 years old, but he's lived in more countries than he can count. After his parents divorced, he and his mother have moved from place to place for years, never settling anywhere long enough to call it home. And along the way, Pablo has collected more and more fears: of dirt, of germs, and most of all, of the ocean. Now they're living in the Philippines, and his mother, a zoologist who works at a local wildlife refuge, is too busy saving animals to notice that Pablo might need saving, too.

On the day of his birth, Prince Alexos is revealed to be the long-awaited champion of Athene. He grows up lonely, conscious of all that is expected of him. But Alexos discovers that being a champion isn't about fame and glory - it's about sacrifice and courage.

By turns exciting, provocative, and sincere, Hitching for Hope: A Journey into the Heart and Soul of Ireland is the tale of a pilgrimage both deeply personal and explicitly political. McKiernan embarks without an itinerary, not knowing with whom he may speak, what he may hear, or where he may sleep each night. As he reflects on his past, faces his fears, and listens to the struggles, hopes, and dreams of Ireland’s people, he excavates a human resilience often obscured by the media.

Peak Everything addresses many of the cultural, psychological and practical changes we will have to make as nature rapidly dictates our new limits. This latest book from Richard Heinberg, author of three of the most important books on Peak Oil, touches on the most important aspects of the human condition at this unique moment in time.

A combination of wry commentary and sober forecasting on subjects as diverse as farming and industrial design, this book tells how we might make the transition from The Age of Excess to the Era of Modesty with grace and satisfaction....

Rosa Parks, the woman known for refusing to give up her seat on the bus, triggered a great shift in the fight for civil rights. Raised in Alabama, Rosa Parks knew all about the racism of her society from an early age. Discover how she became the brilliant activist we know today in this book with real-life stories, timelines and facts to bring her extraordinary story to life. Extraordinary Lives is a bold, inclusive biography series shining a light on modern and historical figures.

Hands can wiggle, hands can clap. Hands can wrap and flap and tap. But hands can help—so raise yours, please! Can you guess? Whose hands are these? What if your hands reach, wrench, yank, and crank? The hands in this book—and the people attached to them—do all sorts of helpful work. And together, these helpers make their community a safe and fun place to live. As you listen, keep an eye out for community members who make repeat appearances! Can you guess all the jobs based on the actions of these busy hands?

Cities and the Creative Class gathers in one place for the first time the research leading up to Richard Florida's theory on how the growth of the creative economy shapes the development of cities and regions. In a new introduction, Florida updates this theory and responds to the critics of his 2002 best seller, The Rise of the Creative Class.