Social Geography

When Azi’s grandfather leaves their small Mediterranean island, Azi waits every day for him to return. The arrival of a nesting turtle and a tall sandy dog convinces Azi that it must mean that Grandfather is on his way. As Azi digs deeper into the past, he begins to unravel hidden secrets and starts to find out just how alike he and his grandfather really are. And without him, Azi knows, he will never feel complete....

If you had to name a statue, any statue, odds are good you'd mention the Statue of Liberty. Have you seen her? She's in New York. She's holding a torch. And she's in mid-stride, moving forward. But why? In this fascinating and fun take on nonfiction, Dave Eggers investigates a seemingly small trait of America's most emblematic statue. What he finds is about more than history, more than art. What he finds in the Statue of Liberty's right foot is the powerful message of acceptance that is essential of an entire country's creation.

This book offers a much-needed new political theory of an old phenomenon. The last decade alone has marked the highest number of migrations in recorded history. Constrained by environmental, economic, and political instability, scores of people are on the move. But other sorts of changes - from global tourism to undocumented labor - have led to the fact that to some extent, we are all becoming migrants. The migrant has become the political figure of our time.

Crash tells the story of the Great Depression, from the sweeping fallout of the market collapse to the more personal stories of those caught up in the aftermath. Packed with photographs, primary documents, and firsthand accounts, Crash shines a spotlight on pivotal moments and figures across ethnic, gender, racial, social, and geographic divides, reflecting many different experiences of one of the most turbulent decades in American history.

Old Babushka, known throughout all of Moskva for her beautifully painted eggs, is preparing her eggs for the Easter Festival when she takes in an injured goose. She names the goose Rechenka, and they live happily together until one day when Rechenka accidentally overturns a basket, breaking all of Babushka's lovingly crafted eggs.

Sometimes, only a kid can save the day.... Star athlete Josh and computer prodigy Madison begin the adventure of a lifetime when they discover the Small World Global Protection Agency. The GPA is a secret organization dedicated to helping other kids and saving the day when adults can’t. In New Kids on the Rock, their first mission takes them to Australia, where they go from the Outback to the top of the Sydney Opera House!

Here, political scientist Jakub J. Grygiel brings to light the importance of incorporating geography into grand strategy. He argues that states can increase and maintain their position of power by pursuing a geostrategy that focuses on control of resources and lines of communication.

From Gold Star father and beloved Democratic National Convention speaker Khizr Khan comes a book for young people about the Constitution - what it says and why it matters for everyone. Our Founding Fathers created the US Constitution and Bill of Rights as a blueprint for American government and the rights of American citizens. This document is not merely a piece of parchment but a living, breathing promise of our deepest democratic values.

Jimmy lives in a small Caribbean town where there's not a whole lot to do. Fortunately though, there is a boxing gym, and one day the owner, Don Apolinar, suggests that Jimmy start training. He also gives Jimmy a cardboard box full of books and newspaper clippings all about Muhammad Ali. Jimmy reads and re-reads as he never has before. He is swept with admiration for Ali who said, "I am the greatest. I said that even before I knew I was."

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.

She's 17. She's been abused. She has a child. And she's HIV-positive. She is Ana, and this is her story. It begins the day she is born infected with HIV, transmitted from her young mother. Now she barely remembers her mama, who died when Ana was only three. From then on, Ana's childhood becomes a blur of faint memories and secrets: secrets about her illness and about the abuse she endures.

One couple's inspiring memoir of healing a Rwandan village, raising a family near the old killing fields, and building a restaurant named Heaven. Newlyweds Josh and Alissa were at a party and received a challenge that shook them to the core: Do you think you can really make a difference? Especially in a place like Rwanda, where the scars of genocide linger and poverty is rampant? While Josh worked hard bringing food and health care to the country's rural villages, Alissa was determined to put their foodie expertise to work. The couple opened Heaven, a gourmet restaurant overlooking Kigali, which became an instant success.

One day, villagers from Lacaune, in the mountains of southern France, returned from the woods with a startling story. They’d glimpsed a naked boy digging in the leaves. A year later - in 1798 - the strange, scarred boy appeared again, and this time woodsmen captured him and marched him down the mountain to the village square, where everyone crowded around to take in the spectacle. And so began the curious public life of the boy known as the Savage of Aveyron, whose journey took him all the way to Paris.

Jo-Jo is a very unhappy donkey who carries melons to the markets of Venice, Italy, every day, until his friendship with the daughter of the Doge leads him to become a hero.

The New York Times best-selling author of Jumanji and The Polar Express, Chris Van Allsburg has garnered the National Book Award, multiple Caldecott Medals, and the Regina Medal for lifetime achievement in children’s literature. Queen of the Falls highlights the death-defying attempt of 62-year-old former charm school teacher Annie Edson Taylor to be the first woman to survive the perilous plunge over Niagara Falls.

Grown-ups lie. That's one truth Beans knows for sure. He and his gang know how to spot a whopper a mile away, because they are the savviest bunch of barefoot conchs (that means "locals") in all of Key West. Not that Beans really minds. It's 1934, the middle of the Great Depression. With no jobs on the island and no money anywhere, who can really blame the grown-ups for telling a few tales? Besides, Beans isn't anyone's fool. In fact he has plans. Big plans. And the consequences might surprise even Beans himself.

Juana loves many things - drawing, eating Brussels sprouts, living in Bogotá, Colombia, and especially her dog, Lucas, the best amigo ever. She does not love wearing her itchy school uniform, solving math problems, or going to dance class. And she especially does not love learning the English. Why is it so important to learn a language that makes so little sense? But when Juana's abuelos tell her about a special trip they are planning - one that Juana will need to speak English to go on - Juana begins to wonder whether learning the English might be good.

When a strange creature appears after the big rains, Australian animals wonder what he could be! His fur, feet, tail, and ducklike bill remind each animal of something different. But with a "down-under" spirit, they all pitch in to help him discover where he belongs. Kersplatypus is the story of one creature's journey to find his place in the world and how he sometimes falls flat on the way there.

The town of Journey's End may not literally be at the end of the world, but it sure feels like it to Nolie Stanhope. Spending the summer with her scientist father in the tiny Scottish village isn't exactly Nolie's idea of a good time, but she soon finds a friend: Native Journey's Ender Bel McKissick. While Nolie's father came to Journey's End to study the Boundary - a mysterious fog bank offshore - Bel's family can't afford to consider it a threat.

Sarah has had her happy ending: She is at the party of the year with the most popular boy in school. But when that boy turns out to be a troublemaker who decided to throw a party at a cottage museum dedicated to renowned poet Rufus Baylor, everything changes. By the end of the party, the whole cottage is trashed - curtains up in flames, walls damaged, mementos smashed - and when the partygoers are caught, they're all sentenced to take a summer class studying Rufus Baylor's poetry...with Baylor as their teacher.