Collection: Biography & Memoir

With rare access to the inner sanctum of the New York Yankees, SNY analyst Andy Martino weaves two years of exclusive interviews with general manager Brian Cashman into a revelatory account of never-before-told stories about Derek Jeter, Aaron Judge, Alex Rodriguez, the complex front office, team ownership, and insights into the World Series wins and day-to-day running of the team that fans never get to see.

When Brian Cashman arrived in the Bronx as an intern in 1986, he discovered a team in chaos, run on impulse and emotion and lacking the sheen that had defined the Yankees in earlier eras. Decades later, Cashman had risen through the ranks of the front office, earned the trust of the Steinbrenner family, and become the longest-serving GM in the Yankees' storied history, helping to transform the Yankees to glory with a string of World Series championships and an unmatched streak of winning seasons.

With unprecedented inside access and featuring exclusive interviews with Cashman, owner Hal Steinbrenner, top front-office executives, current Yankee stars and coaches, award-winning baseball journalist Andy Martino gives fans a view from the GM's seat that we would never normally see. From Cashman's battles with inscrutable team captain Derek Jeter, to tensions between Jeter and A-Rod, to Cashman's struggles with beloved manager Joe Torre. This book explores the management of egos on the field and in the front office, as well as the evolution of the manager position over generations and into the analytics era. Packed with drama and intrigue, this is the definitive inside account of the most intriguing and storied franchise in Major League Baseball.

IT'S 1876 AND THE whole country is celebrating the 100th birthday of the United States. The biggest party is in Philadelphia at the World's Fair, where the latest and greatest inventions are on display for all to see. Alexander Graham Bell is headed to the fair to demonstrate his invention - a talking machine he calls the telephone. But will anyone come to see him at the world's most important science fair? And more importantly, will his machine work? This Step 3 reader celebrates the resilient, quirky spirit of inventors.

"Engaging and revealing, The Letters of Sylvia Plath offers a captivating look into the life and inner thinking of one of the most influential writers of the 20th century." -- Paul Alexander, Washington Post

The second volume in the definitive, complete collection of the letters of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Sylvia Plath, from the early years of her marriage to Ted Hughes to the final days leading to her suicide in 1963, many never before seen.

One of the most talented and beloved poets, Sylvia Plath continues to fascinate and inspire the modern literary imagination. The tragedy of her untimely death at age thirty, almost fifty-five years ago, has left much unknown about her creative and personal life. In this remarkable second volume of the iconic poet and writer's collected letters, the full range of Plath's ambitions, talents, fears, and perspective is made visible through her own powerful words.

As engaging as they are revealing, these remarkable letters cover the years from 1957 to 1963. They detail the last six tumultuous and prolific years of her life, covering her marriage to Ted Hughes, the births of her children Frieda and Nicholas, her early success, including the publication of the classic The Bell Jar, and her ongoing struggle with depression.

The first compendium of its kind to include all of Plath's letters from this period, The Letters of Sylvia Plath Volume 2 offers an intimate portrait of the writing life and mind of one of the most celebrated poets in literary history.

In Danielle, the author invites readers into an intimate journey through the life of her seven-year-old daughter, who courageously battled cancer. Far from being just a heartbreaking narrative, this true story illuminates the transformative power of suffering when united with faith. Danielle, with her extraordinary spiritual maturity, finds strength and inspiration from her favorite saint, St. Therese of Lisieux, while navigating the complexities of illness.This book transcends the usual narratives of tragedy and loss by offering a message of hope and grace. Through sharing the family's experience - Danielle's remarkable perspective on life, her deep relationship with God, and her steadfast resilience - the author aims to reveal the beauty that can be found even in immense suffering. Danielle serves as a poignant reminder that life's hardships and joys are both cradled in the hands of God, and it challenges us to embrace them as such.

Beyond the Battlefield is a compilation of 15 true stories based upon candid interviews with service members from all branches of the military. These stories bring to light the challenges of both combat and non-combat experiences while serving. In addition to these stories, the author introduces mindfulness and meditation as potential tools to help navigate the many difficulties that are addressed throughout the interviews with the hope of making these tools more accessible and acceptable within the mainstream military culture. This book is complete with heartfelt and sincere storytelling coupled with more objective and scientific data backing the usefulness of meditation and mindfulness within the context of military life.

Nestled in the rugged hills of West Yorkshire, Haworth was a bleak, working-class village in eighteenth-century England. As the Evangelical Revival was spreading throughout England and America, William Grimshaw was preaching the gospel and leading many in this northern town and its vicinity to faith in Christ. His unflagging labours extended to the surrounding towns for miles around, and when men like George Whitefield and John Wesley, key figures and leading preachers of their day, visited Haworth on their preaching tours, they were witness to the tremendous awakening and spiritual vitality that had been wrought in men and women through the ministry of Grimshaw. This brief sketch of Grimshaw's life will bring you face-to-face with a humble man whose "heavenly fire" was used to transform poor villagers into those who knew the riches of Christ.

A gorgeously illustrated companion to Matt Lamothe's This Is How We Do It featuring 50 kids from across the United States.

From the rocky coastline of Maine to the lush rainforests of Hawai'i, read about the many different places American kids call home--and about 50 real kids who live there.

In Iowa, Amelia and her dad soar through the skies in their red-and-white-striped plane.
In Rhode Island, Ramon and his sisters ride scooters in the apartment building courtyard.
In Louisiana, Adrain Jr. races his dirt bike down a gravel road, speeding past cornfields.

Matt Lamothe and Jenny Volvovski document the daily lives of 50 children from America's 50 states in this compelling companion to the award-winning picture book This Is How We Do It. Fifty unique, authentic portraits of growing up in America include:

• Families who live in a variety of dwellings, from houseboats and yurts to farms, Native reservations, and Air Force bases
• Children with adoptive families, stepfamilies, single-parent families, two moms or dads, and those who live with their grandparents
• Children living with health conditions such as leukemia and muscular dystrophy
• Families from a range of social, religious, and economic backgrounds

This illustration-packed nonfiction children's book depicts a diverse collection of families, homes, and dreams, highlighting what makes each child's world so unique yet also familiar. All About U.S. brings us together by celebrating the similarities and differences between kids' day-to-day experiences across the United States.

KIDS CAN DO AMAZING THINGS!: Prepare to be amazed and inspired by the variety of activities and interests kids take up across the United States, including kids who fly planes, forge real swords, raise their own cows, and write novels.

A FRESH APPROACH TO GEOGRAPHY BOOKS FOR KIDS: Focusing on how children experience the United States today, this book presents the REAL lives of modern children with a variety of backgrounds and family structures.

A WEALTH OF ONE-OF-A-KIND BACKMATTER: With kid-friendly demographics analysis, snapshots of the children featured in the book, and a fascinating peek into the research process (the authors sent more than 400 emails to teachers, librarians, and organizations asking for help finding kids to feature; 231 families applied to be included), this is sure to be a classroom favorite and a valuable educational resource for years to come.

CHALLENGING STEREOTYPES: All About U.S. challenges preconceptions while deepening readers' understandings of the country. No family in the book represents their entire state, where millions of others live. But the 50 chil­dren featured create an image of the country's incredible diversity and the next generation's unique potential.

EXCELLENT EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE: An entertaining and informative resource for children of all ages, this book will inspire children to tell their own stories and to learn about the lives of others across the United States. This book also speaks to educational standards, specifically for younger grades, emphasizing that "students compare and contrast everyday life in different times and places around the world."

PRAISE FOR THIS IS HOW WE DO IT:

• A Booklist Editors' Choice
• An Amazon Best Book of the Year
• A Parents' Choice Award winner
• A Junior Library Guild selection
• And so much more!

Perfect for:

• Parents or teachers looking for children's books about the United States
• Fans of National Geographic Kids magazine and other resources that explore geography and different world cultures
• Readers of books like Everything & Everywhere: A Fact-Filled Adventure for Curious Globe-Trotters and Milo Imagines the World
• Kids who love U.S. wall maps or atlases
• Gift-givers seeking an inspiring and educational gift book

Oooohhh yeahhhh!

Macho Man: The Life of Randy Savage is the sensational, definitive biography of the WrestleMania headlining, Spider-Man fighting, Slim Jim snapping, minor league baseball playing American original: Randy Savage.

Savage, a WWE wrestling hall of famer, was an A-list celebrity who sat atop the entertainment universe for much of the '80s and '90s. His outfits were as flamboyant as anything worn by Liberace, Elton John, or Prince. His charisma surpassed Hulk Hogan's and is rivaled only by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Rock. His millions of fans are more loyal than followers of any sports team.

Macho Man starred in cartoons, was featured on lunchboxes, sold a slew of action figures and toys, was in multiple video games, guest starred on Baywatch, Mad About You, and Walker, Texas Ranger, and made multiple appearances on iconic '90s talk shows. He supported a myriad of kids' charities, emceed Christmas events at hospitals for George Steinbrenner, played minor league baseball with Pete Rose, was the Harvard Lampoon's "Real Man of the Year," and held his family's wrestling legacy above all else.

With catchphrases and a voice still imitated by millions to this day, and with his GIFs reaching hundreds of millions of views on social media, the Macho Man is a transcendent figure who led an extraordinary life.

Run, Walk, Crawl- A Caregiver Caught Between Generations is a raw account of burnout and burned bridges.

Award winning, this highly relevant memoir has been named:

• Winner (Caregiving) Independent Press Award 2023
• Winner (Women's Issues) NYC Big Book Award 2022
• Winner (Caregiving) National Indie Excellence(R) Award (NIEA) 2021
• Winner (Christian) Next Generation Indie Book Award (NGIBA) 2021
• Silver (Cover Design, Non-fiction) Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) 2021
• Finalist (Cover Design, Non-fiction) National Indie Excellence(R) Award (NIEA) 2021
• Finalist (Inspirational and Women's Issues) American Book Fest's Best Book Award 2020
• Bronze (AUDIO Book Narration- Non-fiction) Reader's Favorite Award 2021
• Honorable Mention (Inspirational) 30th Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards

All working women juggle multiple priorities, but some carry a heavier load and lead a caregiver's double life.

Initially in stride and ultimately brought to her knees, Sarahbeth Persiani provides a deeply personal glimpse into modern day issues such as elder hoarding, opioid addiction, dementia, chronic fatigue, sibling tension, navigating a complex healthcare system and today's multi-generational workforce.

By no means prescriptive, but with honesty, humility, and a smattering of 1970's throwback references, this story offers relatable insights into one woman's transformation with lessons for us all.

When Shirley Chisholm was asked why she would dare run for president, her response was, why not her?
Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm rose from being the child of immigrants to the United States to running for the highest office in the land. Her achievement in doing this as a Black woman was not in spite of her background but rather because of it. She became both the first African American woman elected to the US Congress and the first female African American of a major political party to make a serious run for president of the United States.
She persevered by being steadfast in her political convictions and unwillingness to compromise on the issues she believed in. Chisholm directly challenged the political establishment and was successful because she galvanized women, minorities, young people, and the poor not only in her home district in Brooklyn, New York, but across the country.
She was that catalyst for change who gave a political voice to so many segments of society who were, up until that time, ignored: women, minorities, the young, members of the gay community, domestic and agricultural workers, and the poor. Her run for the presidency in 1972 was a win in terms of her forging a unified grassroots campaign in which the voices of the previously voiceless joined together for a single cause of voting for someone who supported their diverse but collective interests.
As many historians have pointed out, without Shirley Chisholm there may not have been a Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or Kamala Harris.

Acclaimed author Sarah Gerard turns her keen observational eye and penetrating prose to the 2016 murder of her friend Carolyn Bush, examining the multi-faceted reasons for her death―personal and societal, avoidable and inevitable―as "nuanced and subtly intimate" (NPR) as her lauded essay collection Sunshine State.

On the night of September 28, 2016, twenty-five-year-old Carolyn Bush was brutally stabbed to death in her New York City apartment by her roommate Render Stetson-Shanahan, leaving friends and family of both reeling. In life, Carolyn was a gregarious, smart-mouthed aspiring poet, who had seemingly gotten along well with Render, a reserved art handler. Where had it gone so terribly wrong?

This is the question that has plagued acclaimed author Sarah Gerard and driven her obsessive pursuit to understand this horrific tragedy. In Sarah's exploration of Carolyn's life and death, she spent thousands of hours interviewing Carolyn and Render's friends and family, poring over court documents and news media, reading obscure writings and internet posts, and attending Carolyn's memorials and Render's trial.

What emerged from Sarah's relentless instinct to follow a story and its characters to their darkest ends is a book that is at once a striking homage to Carolyn's life, a chilling excavation of a brutal crime, and a captivating whydunit with a shocking conclusion.

"Do you realize that by the time you wake up in the morning twenty thousand men may have been killed?" - Winston Churchill to Clementine Churchill, 5 June 1944 From the world's greatest collection of his personal papers comes the genesis, execution, and aftermath of D-Day through the eyes of Winston Churchill himself.
In Churchill's D-Day, Allen Packwood, one of the world's foremost Churchill experts, and Richard Dannatt, former leader of the entire British Army, narrate and analyze Sir Winston Churchill's emotional turmoil and epic decision-making before, during, and after the world-defining action of D-Day. Culled from the official Churchill Papers at the Churchill Archives Centre, the book features historical documents, photographs, letters, and more, for a documentary, hour-by-hour, Churchillian experience of D-Day leadership, military strategy, and humanity.
As dawn breaks on June 6th, 1944, the landings from the greatest armada of ships ever assembled begins at 0630hrs. Overnight paratroopers from the British 6th Airborne Division secure the eastern flank of the landing zone with the U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne Division securing the western flank to reduce the risk of German counter attacks. The Allied battle, codenamed Operation Overlord, has begun to take shape. When Great Britain awakes to the news of the landings on their radios, the expectation to make a formal statement to the House of Commons lands on the shoulders of their Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. While Churchill is aware of the huge responsibility he bears for the British soldiers and French civilians, and while he knows his political opponents will question his leadership, no one else in the world is aware of the conversations, innermost thoughts, deliberations, and decisions he's been making and will continue to make on this day. Everything hangs in the balance. Churchill's D-Day provides exactly that living history, an unprecedented opportunity for readers to experience the Invasion of Normandy as the British Bulldog experienced it himself.

Just Kids for the grunge era.

Seattle band, The Gits and their charismatic front person Mia Zapata were on the verge of international rock stardom but on July 7, 1993, days before their third US tour, Mia Zapata, The Gits 27-year-old singer-songwriter, was brutally assaulted and murdered by a stranger. Zapata's death sent chilling ripples through progressive communities throughout the United States. She became a cause-celebre for women's rights activists outraged by the brutal killing and lack of law enforcement support. This book reclaims Zapata's story to focus on the art she and The Gits created and not her tragic end.

Much has been written and said about her murder, yet Zapata's life and work remain overshadowed by the circumstances of her death. Zapata's friend and bandmate, Steve Moriarty, tells her story--and the story of their band, The Gits--from their first meeting in 1985 to their last goodbye.

Moriarity and Zapata met in 1985 as first-year students at Antioch College, where they discovered the power of punk rock and found an outlet for their progressive ideas through music. Zapata, Moriarity, and fellow students Matt Dresdner and Andy Kessler attended a show by San Francisco punk legends Dead Kennedys that inspired the friends to start a band fueled by Mia's provocative lyrics. They quickly gained critical praise and dedicated fans.

Moriarty details their struggles as newcomers to the then-pre-tech outpost of the Seattle music scene. Interspersed are the tales Zapata told of her legendary ancestor, Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, to entertain the band as they spen't countless hours on the road crammed into a single un-air-conditioned van touring the US and Europe. They shared stages with Beck, Nirvana, Mudhoney, Joan Jett, Bikini Kill, L7, and more--all who expected Mia and The Gits to be the next "big thing."

The Gits's story is more than a biography; it's a testament to the ability of artists and musicians to challenge the status quo and the power of friendship to change the world. Moriarty reframes the sensationalist story as he shares his personal narrative and presents, with intimacy, grit, and humor, the lived experience of The Gits and his dear friend, Mia Zapata.

Included are never before seen paintings, letters, and pictures.

Trystan and Biff had been dating for just a year when the couple learned that Biff's niece and nephew were about to be removed from their home by Child Protective Services. Immediately, Trystan and Biff took in one-year-old Hailey and three-year-old Lucas, becoming caregivers overnight to two tiny survivors of abuse and neglect.

From this unexpected start, the young couple built a loving marriage and happy home--learning to parent on the job. They adopted Hailey and Lucas, tied the knot, and soon decided to try for a baby that Trystan, who is transgender, would carry. Trystan's groundbreaking pregnancy attracted media fanfare, and the family welcomed baby Leo in 2017.

In this inspiring memoir, Trystan shares his unique story alongside universal lessons that will help all parents through the trials of raising children. How We Do Family is a refreshing new take on family life for the LGBTQ community and beyond. Through every tough moment and touching memory, Trystan shows that more important than getting things right is doing them with love.

From the beloved cohost of Good Morning America, NFL Hall of Fame member and Super Bowl champion Michael Strahan comes a motivational guide to tackle each day from the moment you get out of bed.Pulling from his own life experiences, Michael Strahan details the mix of mental discipline, positive thinking, and sense of play that lead him to a Super Bowl XLII victory as a member of the New York Giants, and later to star alongside Kelly Ripa in the hit daytime talk show Live! with Kelly and Michael. Each of these "Strahan Rules" will guide you step-by-step through developing a work ethic and mental durability that will prime you to achieve your goals and transform your life. Delivered with his signature wit and wisdom, Strahan's Rules combine a range of advice, from values he picked up from his father who served in the military to professors who teach on the science of happiness and include: -Rule #5: Too many of us count ourselves out before we even give ourselves a chance...Do the work. Be excellent. You'll find your place. -Rule #11: You can't change other people, but you can change how you are around them, and sometimes, a lot of times, that's more than enough. -Rule #12: Listen to other people, but don't take their opinions for fact. Have your own experiences. Draw your own conclusions. Whether you are attempting to achieve your career goals, seeking to better your relationships or simply up your optimism quotient, Wake Up Happy will inspire you.