Collection: Biography & Memoir

Widely acknowledged as the best hockey book ever written and lauded by Sports Illustrated as one of the Top 10 Sports Books of All Time, The Game is a reflective and thought-provoking look at a life in hockey. Ken Dryden, the former Montreal Canadiens goalie and former president of the Toronto Maple Leafs, captures the essence of the sport and what it means to all hockey fans. He gives vivid and affectionate portraits of the characters--Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, Guy Lapointe, Serge Savard, and coach Scotty Bowman among them--who made the Canadiens of the 1970s one of the greatest hockey teams in history. But beyond that, Dryden reflects on life on the road, in the spotlight, and on the ice, offering a rare inside look at the game of hockey and an incredible personal memoir. This commemorative edition marks the 30th anniversary of the book's original publication, and it includes a new foreword by Bill Simmons, new photography, and a new chapter, "The Game Goes On." Take a journey to the heart and soul of the game with this timeless hockey classic.

A personal and hilarious gift for graduates.

Michael J. Fox abandoned high school to pursue an acting career, but went on to receive honorary degrees from several universities and garner the highest accolades for his acting, as well as for his writing. In his new book, he inspires and motivates graduates to recognize opportunities, maximize their abilities, and roll with the punches--all with his trademark optimism, warmth, and humor.

In A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future, Michael draws on his own life experiences to make a case that real learning happens when "life goes skidding sideways." He writes of coming to Los Angeles from Canada at age eighteen and attempting to make his way as an actor. Fox offers up a comically skewed take on how, in his own way, he fulfilled the requirements of a college syllabus. He learned Economics as a starving artist; an unexpected turn as a neophyte activist schooled him in Political Science; and his approach to Comparative Literature involved stacking books up against their movie versions.

EVENINGS WITH CARY GRANT: RECOLLECTIONS IN HIS OWN WORDS AND BY THOSE WHO KNEW HIM BEST

NATIONAL BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

In this groundbreaking biography, T.J. Stiles tells the dramatic story of Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt, the combative man and American icon who, through his genius and force of will, did more than perhaps any other individual to create modern capitalism. Meticulously researched and elegantly written, The First Tycoon describes an improbable life, from Vanderbilt's humble birth during the presidency of George Washington to his death as one of the richest men in American history. In between we see how the Commodore helped to launch the transportation revolution, propel the Gold Rush, reshape Manhattan, and invent the modern corporation. Epic in its scope and success, the life of Vanderbilt is also the story of the rise of America itself.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Winner of the 2018 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing Winner of The Times Sports Biography of the Year The definitive biography of an American icon, from a best-selling author with unique access to Ali's inner circle.

"As Muhammad Ali's life was an epic of a life so Ali: A Life is an epic of a biography . . . for pages in succession its narrative reads like a novel--a suspenseful novel with a cast of vivid characters." -- Joyce Carol Oates, New York Times Book Review

Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Clay in racially segregated Louisville, Kentucky, the son of a sign painter and a housekeeper. He went on to become a heavyweight boxer with a dazzling mix of power and speed, a warrior for racial pride, a comedian, a preacher, a poet, a draft resister, an actor, and a lover. Millions hated him when he changed his religion, changed his name, and refused to fight in the Vietnam War. He fought his way back, winning hearts, but at great cost.

Jonathan Eig, hailed by Ken Burns as one of America's master storytellers, sheds important new light on Ali's politics, religion, personal life, and neurological condition through unprecedented access to all the key people in Ali's life, more than 500 interviews and thousands of pages of previously unreleased FBI and Justice Department files and audiotaped interviews from the 1960s. Ali: A Life is a story about America, about race, about a brutal sport, and about a courageous man who shook up the world.

James H. Lowry encapsulated his thirty plus years of experience in the field of minority business development in the book he co-authored in 2011, Minority Business Success: Refocusing on the American Dream. In his new book, Change Agent: A Life Dedicated to Creating Wealth for Minorities, Lowry delivers a deeply personal, candid, and often humorous, portrayal of his life from the South Side of Chicago to Wall Street and trailblazing entrepreneur. Often the first black in many rooms, at eighty years old, he continues the fight so he will not be the last. More than just a story of his life, this memoir illustrates the power of iconic mentors and pivotal opportunities leveraged across the globe, demonstrates how breakthroughs can be achieved through years of lessons learned, and offers real solutions to the ever widening wealth gap that plagues minority communities today. Unlike like many who only diagnose the problem, Lowry delivers a plan to accelerate economic development in the black community. This book is a road map for the next generation of leaders and will inspire new change agents to take the reins.

Aces Back to Back is the most comprehensive, fun, fact-filled and up-to-date history of the Grateful Dead ever written - now updated through August, 2016 !! From the band's inception, through the death of Jerry Garcia, and on to their incarnations as the Other Ones, the Dead, RatDog, Phil Lesh and Friends, the Mickey Hart Band, 7 Walkers, and Furthur - a replete history complemented by never-before-penned Grateful Dead stories, anecdotes and tales. Our biography features a Foreword from Grateful Dead lyricist and renowned civil libertarian John Perry Barlow. The cover is drawn by acclaimed poster artist Steve Johannsen (Grateful Dead, Phil Lesh and Friends, RatDog, Furthur, Gov't Mule) and the interior features 18 original illustrations by Steve and the gifted Lauren Kroutil. In his brand-new, updated 2nd edition, available September 1, Scott has added several new, amazing stories to the Grateful Dead canon, never-before-published tales that add to his already fantastic and exacting account of the Dead's history, which is told from their earliest roots - the spring, 1961 introduction of Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter - and detailed right up to the Gathering of the Vibes festival in Connecticut in August, 2014. Few moments in the band's history in-between are missed !! Aces Back to Back celebrates the most minute - Weir gets to sing almost all of the songs at two '78 shows because Jerry is ill - and doesn't forget any of the glory: the Acid Tests, the Sixties, the Haight-Ashbury, Woodstock, Watkins Glen, the Wall of Sound, the band's late-career success with In the Dark, the Warlocks shows in '89, the Deadheads, and so on. All the key players are here, too: Dr. Albert Hofmann, Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, the Family Dog, the Mime Troupe, Augustus Owsley Stanley III, Wavy Gravy and the Hog Farm, Tom Constanten, Winterland, lyricists Robert Hunter and John Barlow, Bill Graham, Mouse and Kelley, Betty Cantor-Jackson, Dan Healy, Bill Walton, Jerry's guitar history with luthier Doug Irwin, the Egypt shows, Bob Bralove, John Cutler, et. al. Today, the Grateful Dead's music continues to reverberate within the hearts and souls of their fans - faithful, long-time Deadheads and younger audiences drawn to the band's legendary, magical appeal, making Aces Back to Back a must-read for fans of all ages !! Scott W. Allen wrote for Relix magazine from 1983 until 1992, serving as Senior Writer, columnist ("Fragments"), and feature article writer. He is a veteran of nearly 250 Grateful Dead concerts and has taught on the high school and college levels for more than 25 years. Mr. Allen was commissioned by the Library of Congress to write the essay that accompanied the enshrinement into the National Recording Registry of the Grateful Dead's show on May 8, 1977 at Barton Hall on the campus of Cornell University. "This book is a gift ... it is from Scott Allen, an utterly shameless Deadhead, to the community he has loved for a long time. It is, in one sense, a historical textbook. Scott understands that the real object of his adoration is not the band, but the Mysterious Creature which sometimes arises between them and the audience, which all of us create and of which each of us should be properly in awe. I hope you will accept this book with the grace in which it's given. As a fairly shameless Deadhead myself, I am grateful for it." - John Perry Barlow, Grateful Dead

The classic story of life in Apartheid South Africa.

Mark Mathabane was weaned on devastating poverty and schooled in the cruel streets of South Africa's most desperate ghetto, where bloody gang wars and midnight police raids were his rites of passage. Like every other child born in the hopelessness of apartheid, he learned to measure his life in days, not years. Yet Mark Mathabane, armed only with the courage of his family and a hard-won education, raised himself up from the squalor and humiliation to win a scholarship to an American university.

This extraordinary memoir of life under apartheid is a triumph of the human spirit over hatred and unspeakable degradation. For Mark Mathabane did what no physically and psychologically battered "Kaffir" from the rat-infested alleys of Alexandra was supposed to do -- he escaped to tell about it.

Praised as "a trenchant, funny, and unsparing work of memoir and philosophy" (Aaron Robertson, ?Literary Hub), Frank B. Wilderson's Afropessimism arrived at a moment when protests against police brutality once again swept the nation. Presenting an argument we can no longer ignore, Wilderson insists that we must view Blackness through the lens of perpetual slavery. Radical in conception, remarkably poignant, and with soaring flights of memoir, Afropessimism reverberates with wisdom and painful clarity in the fractured world we inhabit."Wilderson's ambitious book offers its readers two great gifts. First, it strives mightily to make its pessimistic vision plausible. . . . Second, the book depicts a remarkable life, lived with daring and sincerity."--Paul C. Taylor, Washington Post

Sin amargura ni sentimentalismo, Francisco Jiménez termina de contar la historia de su juventud en esta conmovedora secuela a Cajas de cartón.
At the age of fourteen, Francisco Jimenez, together with his older brother Roberto and his mother, are caught by la migra. Forced to leave their home, the entire family travels all night for twenty hours by bus, arriving at the U.S. and Mexican border in Nogales, Arizona. In the months and years that follow, Francisco, his mother and father, and his seven brothers and sister not only struggle to keep their family together, but also face crushing poverty, long hours of labor, and blatant prejudice. How they sustain their hope, their goodheartedness, and tenacity is revealed in this moving sequel to The Circuit. Without bitterness or sentimentality, Francisco Jimnez finishes telling the story of his youth.

A Lil' Libros Bilingual Biography

Known for her powerful voice and eccentric style, Celia Cruz has become one of the most popular singers in the world. In this book you'll introduce little ones to her remarkable life. Known as the "Queen of Salsa", the incomparable music of Celia Cruz continues to be sugar to our ears.

Unable to find bilingual first concept books she could enjoy reading to her baby, Patty Rodriguez came up with the idea behind Lil' Libros.

Patty and her work have been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, CNN Latino, Latina Magazine, Cosmopolitan, People En Espanol, Cosmo Latina, and American Latino TV, to name a few. She is currently Sr. Producer for On Air With Ryan SeacrestiHeartMedia, jewelry designer for MALA by Patty Rodriguez, and creator of Manolos And Tacos.

Ariana Stein, a graduate from California State University, Dominguez Hills, has a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration. Ariana spent the first eight years of her professional career in the corporate world. Her life changed with the birth of her baby boy. She immediately realized that bilingualism played a very important role in his future, as well as the future of other children.

From Kamala Harris' white pantsuit to Judy Garland's ruby slippers to Mamie Johnson's blue baseball uniform, powerful and inspiring women from throughout history have proved that "awesome" comes in all colors!

A Is for Awesome provided an ABC of amazing women from throughout history. 3 2 1 Awesome counted down some of their most amazing accomplishments. Now with their third concept board book original, Colors of Awesome!, the New York Times-bestselling dynamic duo Eva Chen and Derek Desierto pairs groundbreaking feminist icons with all the colors of the rainbow and beyond.

With Desierto's bold and vibrant art, Eva fans and readers of all ages will be transported through history in style.

"A readable, compassionate account of an extraordinary life." --The Washington Post

The remarkable life of history's first foreign-born samurai, and his astonishing journey from Northeast Africa to the heights of Japanese society.

Warrior. Samurai. Legend.

When Yasuke arrived in Japan in the late 1500s, he had already traversed much of the known world. Kidnapped as a child in Northeast Africa, he served as a bodyguard to the head of the Jesuits in Asia, traveling to India and China, and eventually arriving in Japan, where everything would change.

Most Japanese people had never seen an African man before. Some believed he was a god. Others saw him as the black-skinned Buddha.

Among those drawn to him was Lord Nobunaga, head of the most powerful clan in Japan, who made Yasuke a samurai in his court. Soon, Yasuke was learning the traditions of martial arts and ascending the upper echelons of Japanese society, where he would live on to become a legend for the centuries to come.

Selected as "One of the 100 Best Spiritual Books of the 20th Century," Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi has been translated into over 28 languages, and is regarded worldwide as a spiritual classic. It reads like an adventure story while answering questions about religion, God, existence, yoga, higher consciousness, and the challenges of daily spiritual living. It is a book for people of all faiths - anyone yearning to know what life is truly all about. Self Realization Fellowship's editions, and no others, incorporate all of the author's significant revisions to the text of the 1946 first edition.

Born to a wealthy family in West Africa around 1770, Omar Ibn Said was abducted and sold into slavery in the United States, where he came to the attention of a prominent North Carolina family after filling "the walls of his room with piteous petitions to be released, all written in the Arabic language," as one local newspaper reported. Ibn Said soon became a local celebrity, and in 1831 he was asked to write his life story, producing the only known surviving American slave narrative written in Arabic.
In A Muslim American Slave, scholar and translator Ala Alryyes offers both a definitive translation and an authoritative edition of this singularly important work, lending new insights into the early history of Islam in America and exploring the multiple, shifting interpretations of Ibn Said's narrative by the nineteenth-century missionaries, ethnographers, and intellectuals who championed it.
This edition presents the English translation on pages facing facsimile pages of Ibn Said's Arabic narrative, augmented by Alryyes's comprehensive introduction, contextual essays and historical commentary by leading literary critics and scholars of Islam and the African diaspora, photographs, maps, and other writings by Omar Ibn Said. The result is an invaluable addition to our understanding of writings by enslaved Americans and a timely reminder that "Islam" and "America" are not mutually exclusive terms.
This edition presents the English translation on pages facing facsimile pages of Ibn Said's Arabic narrative, augmented by Alryyes's comprehensive introduction and by photographs, maps, and other writings by Omar Ibn Said. The volume also includes contextual essays and historical commentary by literary critics and scholars of Islam and the African diaspora: Michael A. Gomez, Allan D. Austin, Robert J. Allison, Sylviane A. Diouf, Ghada Osman, and Camille F. Forbes. The result is an invaluable addition to our understanding of writings by enslaved Americans and a timely reminder that "Islam" and "America" are not mutually exclusive terms.

Best Books for General Audiences, selected by the American Association of School Librarians