Peter Jay Fernandez
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English
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"Old maps lead you to strange and unexpected places, and none does so more ineluctably than the subject of this book: the giant, beguiling WaldseemUller world map of 1507." So begins this remarkable story of the map that gave America its name. For millennia Europeans believed that the world consisted of three parts: Europe, Africa, and Asia. They drew the three continents in countless shapes and sizes on their maps, but occasionally they hinted at...
22) The Fall of the House of Dixie: The Civil War and the Social Revolution That Transformed the South
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English
Description
The J. G. Randall Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Illinois and associate editor of North and South magazine, Bruce Levine presents a gripping chronicle of the cultural and economic upheaval the South experienced during and after the Civil War. Drawing upon a treasure trove of diaries, letters, newspaper articles, and government documents, Levine offers a unique perspective on the old South's demise through the voices of those...
23) The Intuitionist
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English
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In a marvelous debut novel that has been compared to Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and Joseph Heller's Catch-22, Colson Whitehead has created a strangely skewed world of elevators and the people who control their ups and downs. Lila Mae Watson-the first black female inspector in the world's tallest city-has the highest performance rating of anyone in the Department of Elevator Inspectors. This upsets her superiors, because Lila is an Intuitionist:...
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The Dark Sun Rises is the first in a series of historical fiction by Denise Williamson. This novel begins the journey of faith for Joseph, a manservant of Abram Callcott. One of Abram's passions is teaching slaves about the Gospel. He is shocked, however, by the realization that Joseph has learned to read. Now everyone must adjust to the change and growth that is taking place in the antebellum south.
25) Hotel Alleluia
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English
Description
After her mother dies, Joan, an American artist, travels to Africa in search of her sister, a nun. But in the turmoil of African revolution and political corruption, the sisters are separated. The story of their reunion, and the world-worn people who help them, is one that is lyrical, earthy, and spellbinding. Lucinda Roy is a Distinguished Professor of English at Virginia Tech.
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Description
Sammy Davis Jr. lived a storied life. Adored by millions over a six-decade-long career, he was considered an entertainment icon and a national treasure. But despite lifetime earnings that topped $50 million, Sammy died in 1990 near bankruptcy. His estate was declared insolvent, and there was no possibility of it ever using Sammy's name or likeness again. It was as if Sammy had never existed. Years later his wife, Altovise, a once-vivacious woman and...
27) Red and Me
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English
Description
Red Auerbach, one of the greatest coaches in sports history, died on October 28, 2006. Bill Russell, the five-time MVP and star center on the Auerbach teams that won eleven championships in thirteen years, said little in public at the time. His relationship with his coach had been so deeply personal that he could not express it with a brief comment. In fact, little known to the public, Auerbach and Russell-one a short, brash Jew from Brooklyn, the...
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First printed in 1948, High John the Conqueror, John W. Wilson's only published book, was considered a breakthrough novel for its attention to racism, sexual politics, and the oppressive nature of agribusiness. It has since become a classic depiction of the arduous life and work of African American cotton farmers in southeast Texas.
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Description
Okey Ndibe's funny, charming, and penetrating memoir tells of his move from Nigeria to America, where he came to edit the influential-but forever teetering on the verge of insolvency-African Commentary magazine. It recounts stories of Ndibe's relationships with Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, and other literary figures; examines the differences between Nigerian and American etiquette and politics; recalls an incident of racial profiling just 13 days...
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Will in the World interweaves a searching account of Elizabethan England with a vivid narrative of the playwright's life. We see Shakespeare learning his craft, starting a family, and forging a career for himself in the wildly competitive London theater world, while at the same time grappling with dangerous religious and political forces that took less-agile figures to the scaffold. The basic biographical facts of Shakespeare's life have been known...
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New York Times best-selling investigative journalist Ron Suskind based this book on his Pulitzer Prize-winning articles about Cedric Jennings, a black youth struggling to survive one of D.C.'s toughest school districts. A moving portrait of inner city life, A Hope in the Unseen offers a view of life through the eyes of someone trying desperately to make his way up from the bottom.
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Editor and investigative reporter Jefferson Morley has been widely published in national periodicals and is the author of the critically acclaimed nonfiction work Our Man in Mexico. An eye-opening look at Washington's first race riot, Snow-Storm in August also offers revealing profiles of Arthur Bowen, the slave blamed for the riot, and ''Star Spangled Banner'' lyricist Francis Scott Key, a defender of slavery who sought capital punishment for Bowen....
33) Love is a Racket
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English
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Jeffty Kittredge is a small-time Hollywood con in deep debt to a shark with a need to collect. If he can just come up with a plan, or maybe even only a partner, Jefty is sure he'll be on his way to salvation. What he comes up with instead is Mona.
The best-selling author of Everybody Smokes in Hell leads you to a place where desire has a body count, trust can take you down from point-blank range, and love is the biggest racket in town.
34) You Can Do It!
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English
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Tony Dungy is a world champion NFL coach and a #1 New York Times best-selling author. In his first book for kids, he tells the heartwarming, fictionalized story of his younger brother. Linden is having troubles. He doesn't seem to have any dreams-big or small- about what he wants to do in the future, his "it." But with a little faith in God, and a trip to the dentist, Linden discovers something that sparks his interest.
35) Arrows of Rain
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English
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Originally published in Heineman's prestigious "African Writers Series," this is Arrows' first publication in the US. Coming only months after the whirlwind of publicity for Foreign Gods, Inc., we expect continued attention for Okey Ndibe as a major new voice in world literature. Set in a fictitious post-colonial African nation, the discovery of the body of a drowned prostitute leads to an exploration of the conflict between an individual and the...
36) Testimony
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English
Description
Award-winning, #1 Blackboard best-selling author Felicia Mason delivers a soul-stirring novel of faith, family, and friendship. For 18 years Roger McKenzie has led The Triumphant Voices of Praise, a gospel singing group. But The Voices have failed to win commercial or critical success, and their close bond is deteriorating. Only by confronting the demons of their past will the singers have a chance to reach new heights.
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With The Opposite of Art, three-time Christy Award winner Athol Dickson delivers a compelling tale of reconciliation and redemption. The discovery of a painting signed by a renowned artist-dead for 25 years-causes quite a stir when it seems to be recently completed. After the world's foremost expert pronounces it authentic, three lives are destined to collide: a circus sketch artist longing to paint God's face, the daughter he never knew, and the...
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Noted historian Marcus Rediker has earned numerous awards for his work, including the sought-after George Washington Book Prize. In The Amistad Rebellion, he turns his attention to the famed slave ship that set sail from Havana in 1839. Painstakingly researched, Rediker's account follows the slaves' point of view, from the joyous moments after they seized the ship through the harrowing court case that would become a touchstone in the struggle for...
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Alford L. McMichael served his country in the United States Marine Corps for more than 36 years and was the first sergeant major to serve as the sergeant major to the Allied Supreme Commander of NATO. In this indispensable guide, McMichael shares life lessons that may be employed by everyone from military personnel to corporate CEOs.