Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.

Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.

Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home—and his own art—through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better.

Katherine Applegate blends humor and poignancy to create Ivan’s unforgettable first-person narration in a story of friendship, art, and hope.

Want to live your dreams—or even surpass them? Want the world to change for the better? Want to see a miracle? What are we waiting for? Why not be the miracle? That's the challenge Regina Brett sets forth in Be the Miracle.

To be a miracle doesn't necessarily mean tackling problems across the globe. It means making a difference, believing change is possible, even in your own living room, cubicle, neighborhood, or family.

Through a collection of inspirational essays, Regina shares lessons that will help people make a difference in the world around them. The lessons come from Regina's life experience and from the lives of others, especially those she has met in her 24 years as a journalist.

Each chapter is a lesson that can stand alone, but together they form a handbook for seeing the miracle of change everywhere. With upbeat lessons from "Do Your Best and Forget the Rest" to "Sometimes It's Enough to Make One Person Happy," these lessons will help you accept and embrace yourself, challenge and change yourself, and better serve others.

Little Princes is the epic story of Conor Grennan's battle to save the lost children of Nepal and how he found himself in the process. Part Three Cups of Tea, and part Into Thin Air, Grennan's remarkable memoir is at once gripping and inspirational, and it carries us deep into an exotic world that most readers know little about.

One Person Can Make a Difference

In search of adventure, twenty-nine-year-old Conor Grennan traded his day job for a year-long trip around the globe, a journey that began with a three-month stint volunteering at the Little Princes Children's Home, an orphanage in war-torn Nepal. Conor was initially reluctant to volunteer, unsure whether he had the proper skill, or enough passion, to get involved in a developing country in the middle of a civil war. But he was soon overcome by the herd of rambunctious, resilient children who would challenge and reward him in a way that he had never imagined.

When Conor learned the unthinkable truth about their situation, he was stunned: The children were not orphans at all. Child traffickers were promising families in remote villages to protect their children from the civil war — for a huge fee — by taking them to safety. They would then abandon the children far from home, in the chaos of Nepal's capital, Kathmandu.

For Conor, what began as a footloose adventure becomes a commitment to reunite the children he had grown to love with their families, but this would be no small task. He would risk his life on a journey through the legendary mountains of Nepal, facing the dangers of a bloody civil war and a debilitating injury.

Waiting for Conor back in Kathmandu, and hopeful he would make it out before being trapped in by snow, was the woman who would eventually become his wife and share his life's work.

Little Princes is a true story of families and children, and what one person is capable of when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds. At turns tragic, joyful, and hilarious, Little Princes is a testament to the power of faith and the ability of love to carry us beyond our wildest expectations.

Manchild in the Promised Land is indeed one of the most remarkable autobiographies of our time. This thinly fictionalized account of Claude Brown's childhood as a hardened, streetwise criminal trying to survive the toughest streets of Harlem has been heralded as the definitive account of everyday life for the first generation of African Americans raised in the Northern ghettos of the 1940s and 1950s.

When the book was first published in 1965, it was praised for its realistic portrayal of Harlem — the children, young people, hardworking parents; the hustlers, drug dealers, prostitutes, and numbers runners; the police; the violence, sex, and humor. The book continues to resonate generations later, not only because of its fierce and dignified anger, not only because the struggles of urban youth are as deeply felt today as they were in Brown's time, but also because the book is affirmative and inspiring.

Here is the story about the one who "made it," the boy who kept landing on his feet and became a man.

An unthinkable danger. An unexpected choice. Annabel, once the daughter of a wealthy merchant, is trapped in indentured servitude to Lord Ranulf, a recluse who is rumored to be both terrifying and beastly. Her circumstances are made even worse by the proximity of Lord Ranulf’s bailiff—a revolting man who has made unwelcome advances on Annabel in the past.

Believing that life in a nunnery is the best way to escape the escalation of the bailiff’s vile behavior and to preserve the faith that sustains her, Annabel is surprised to discover a sense of security and joy in her encounters with Lord Ranulf.

As Annabel struggles to confront her feelings, she is involved in a situation that could place Ranulf in grave danger. Ranulf’s future, and possibly his heart, may rest in her hands, and Annabel must decide whether to follow the plans she has cherished or the calling God has placed on her heart.

Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?”

Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, you’ve come to the right book, mostly!

In Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka.

For over 40 years, J. I. Packer's classic has been an important tool to help Christians around the world discover the wonder, the glory, and the joy of knowing God.

Stemming from Packer's profound theological knowledge, Knowing God brings together two important facets of the Christian faith:

1. Knowing about God
2. Knowing God through a close relationship with Jesus Christ

Written in an engaging and practical tone, this thought-provoking work seeks to transform and enrich the Christian understanding of God. Explaining both who God is and how we can relate to him, Packer divides his book into three sections:

• The first directs our attention to how and why we know God.
• The second explores the attributes of God.
• The third discusses the benefits enjoyed by those who know Him intimately.

This guide leads readers into a greater understanding of God while providing advice on gaining a closer relationship with Him as a result.

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? is a memoir by Jeanette Winterson that is both witty and fierce, taking readers on an emotional journey of belonging, love, identity, and the search for a mother.

Jeanette Winterson, known for her acclaimed novel Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, shares her life story in this celebratory and tough-minded narrative. It's a book full of stories: about a girl locked out of her home, sitting on the doorstep all night; about a religious zealot disguised as a mother with two sets of false teeth and a revolver in the dresser, waiting for Armageddon; about growing up in a northern England industrial town now changed beyond recognition; about the Universe as a Cosmic Dustbin.

Winterson's journey takes her through madness and back as she searches for her biological mother, confronting the painful past she thought she'd left behind. This memoir also explores the power of literature, illustrating how fiction and poetry can form a string of guiding lights, a life raft that supports us when we are sinking.

Seattle was a very different city in 1960 than it is today. There were no black bus drivers, sales clerks, or bank tellers. Black children rarely attended the same schools as white children. And few black people lived outside of the Central District. In 1960, Seattle was effectively a segregated town.

Energized by the national civil rights movement, an interracial group of Seattle residents joined together to form the Seattle chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Operational from 1961 through 1968, CORE had a brief but powerful effect on Seattle. The chapter began by challenging one of the more blatant forms of discrimination in the city, local supermarkets. Located within the black community and dependent on black customers, these supermarkets refused to hire black employees. CORE took the supermarkets to task by organizing hundreds of volunteers into shifts of continuous picketers until stores desegregated their staffs.

From this initial effort, CORE, in partnership with the NAACP and other groups, launched campaigns to increase employment and housing opportunities for black Seattleites, and to address racial inequalities in Seattle public schools. The members of Seattle CORE were committed to transforming Seattle into a more integrated and just society.

Seattle was one of more than one hundred cities to support an active CORE chapter. Seattle in Black and White tells the local, Seattle story about this national movement. Authored by four active members of Seattle CORE, this book not only recounts the actions of Seattle CORE but, through their memories, also captures the emotion and intensity of this pivotal and highly charged time in America’s history.

It’s the start of fifth grade for seven kids at Snow Hill School. There’s Jessica, the new girl, smart and perceptive, who’s having a hard time fitting in; Alexia, a bully, your friend one second, your enemy the next; Peter, class prankster and troublemaker; Luke, the brain; Danielle, who never stands up for herself; shy Anna, whose home situation makes her an outcast; and Jeffrey, who hates school.

Only Mr. Terupt, their new and energetic teacher, seems to know how to deal with them all. He makes the classroom a fun place, even if he doesn’t let them get away with much... until the snowy winter day when an accident changes everything—and everyone.

A Legacy of Madness is the story of a loving family coming to grips with its own fragilities. It relays the author's journey to uncover, and ultimately understand, the history of mental illness that led generations of his suburban American family to their demise.

Dede Davis had worried, fussed, and obsessed for the last time. Her heart stopped beating in a fit of anxiety. In the wake of his mother's death, Tom Davis knew one thing: Helplessly self-absorbed and severely obsessive-compulsive, Dede led a tormented life. She spent years bouncing around mental health facilities, nursing homes, and assisted-living facilities, but what really caused her death?

A Legacy of Madness portrays Tom Davis's captivating discoveries of mental illness throughout generations of his family. Investigating his mother's history led to that of Davis's grandfather, a top administrator at one of the largest psychiatric hospitals in the country; his great-grandfather who died of self-inflicted gas asphyxiation during the Depression; and his great-great-grandmother who, with her eldest son, completed suicide one tragic day.

Ultimately, four generations of family members showed clear signs of depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and alcoholism—often mistreated illnesses that test one's ability to cope.

Through this intimate memoir, we join Davis on a personal odyssey to ensure that he and his siblings, the fifth generation, recover their family legacy by not only surviving their own mental health disorders but by getting the help they need to lead healthy, balanced lives. In the end, we witness Davis's powerful transition as he makes peace with the past and heals through forgiveness and compassion for his family—and himself.

What would cause an eighteen-year-old old senior class president and homecoming queen from Nashville, Tennessee, to disappoint her parents by forgoing college, break her little brother’s heart, lose all but a handful of her friends (because the rest of them think she has gone off the deep end), and break up with the love of her life, all so she could move to Uganda, where she knew only one person but didn’t know any of the language? A passion to make a difference. Katie Davis left over Christmas break her senior year for a short mission trip to Uganda and her life was turned completely inside out. She found herself so moved by the people and children of Uganda that she knew her calling was to return and care for them. She has given up a relatively comfortable life—at a young age—to care for the less fortunate of this world. She was so moved by the need she witnessed, she’s centered her life around meeting that need.

Katie, a charismatic and articulate young woman, is in the process of adopting thirteen children in Uganda, and she completely trusts God for daily provision for her and her family. Despite the rough conditions in which Katie lives, she has found a life of service to God to be one of great joy. Katie’s children bring constant delight and help her help others by welcoming whoever comes to their door. As the challenges grow, so does Katie’s faith and her certainty that what she’s doing in Uganda, one person at a time, will have far-reaching rewards. It isn’t the life she planned, but it is the life she loves.

To further her reach into the needs of Ugandans, Katie established Amazima Ministries. The ministry matches orphaned children with sponsors worldwide. Each sponsor’s $300/year provides schooling, school supplies, three hot meals a day, minor medical care, and spiritual encouragement. Katie expected to have forty children in the program; she had signed up 150 by January 2008; today it sponsors over 400. Another aspect of the ministry is a feeding program created for the displaced Karamojong people—Uganda’s poorest citizens. The program feeds lunch to over 1,200 children Monday-Friday and sends them home with a plate of food; it also offers basic medical care, Bible study, and general health training.

Katie Davis is more than fascinating, she’s inspiring, as she has wholeheartedly answered the call to serve.

Beautiful is a harrowing but ultimately inspiring memoir of how one girl's beautiful face and spirit was destroyed after a vicious acid attack.

'I heard a horrible screaming sound, like an animal being slaughtered ... then I realised it was me.'

When Katie Piper was 24, her life was near perfect. Young and beautiful, she was well on her way to fulfilling her dream of becoming a model. But then she met Daniel Lynch on Facebook, and her world quickly turned into a nightmare. After being held captive and brutally raped by her new boyfriend, Katie was subjected to a vicious acid attack.

Within seconds, this bright and bubbly girl could feel her looks and the life she loved melting away. This is the moving true story of how one young woman had her mind, body, and spirit cruelly snatched from her and how she inspired millions with her fight to get them back.

No sickness, No injuries, No pain, No limits. If you had the power to heal, what would you do?

For fifteen-year-old Ada, discovering that she can heal feels more like a curse than a gift. When she learns of the mystery surrounding her mother's disappearance and sees the indifference of so-called friends, she sets out for Paris to find her.

The power to heal protects her, but also has her hunted by a man who sees her as nothing more than his fountain of youth. Ada realizes her true power is her will to survive, and that her only chance at freedom is to become the best at escaping.

Ada hasn't grown up in a house with a white picket fence. Instead, she was cast off and absorbed into the foster care system, quickly putting up a shield of hostility. Always knowledgeable of the sicknesses of those around her and never getting hurt just seemed like facts of life. Finally on her last strike of trouble, an estranged aunt comes to the rescue, giving Ada the knowledge of how to use her healing power. Now Ada, who up to this point has shunned the world, all of the sudden has the power to heal it.

This book delves into the psychology and growth of a teenage girl coming to grips with the knowledge that there are some good people out there; some people worth healing. Along with action and adventure, Ada: Legend of a Healer also brings to light numerous philosophical issues. Like many middle and high school girls, Ada is introduced to society's harsh realities at a young age, so she's built a wall of anger to strengthen her self-reliance, to survive. Despite the pressure and demands, Ada refuses to sacrifice her self-worth, and in this she discovers that a strong will overcomes all obstacles.

Emma Blaxland-Hunter, a prima ballerina from London, faces a pivotal moment when an injury ends her dancing career. At her mother's urging, she returns to Sydney and discovers that her beloved grandmother, Beattie Blaxland, has left her an unusual inheritance: Wildflower Hill, an old sheep farm in Tasmania.

As Emma begins to sort through the remnants of her grandmother's life, she finds a photograph of Beattie with a mysterious child. This discovery leads Emma on a journey through time, unraveling the secrets of her family's past.

Spanning three generations and set against the backdrop of the Australian wilderness, Wildflower Hill is a story of love, secrets, and the courage to start over. Emma learns from Beattie's life lessons, realizing the importance of keeping her heart open to love and the magic of new beginnings.

This novel is about taking risks, embracing change, and believing in oneself, capturing the essence of what it means to find one's true path.

The Emperor of All Maladies is a magnificent, profoundly humane biography of cancer - from its first documented appearances thousands of years ago through the epic battles in the twentieth century to cure, control, and conquer it to a radical new understanding of its essence.

Physician, researcher, and award-winning science writer, Siddhartha Mukherjee examines cancer with a cellular biologist’s precision, a historian’s perspective, and a biographer’s passion. The result is an astonishingly lucid and eloquent chronicle of a disease humans have lived with - and perished from - for more than five thousand years.

The story of cancer is a story of human ingenuity, resilience, and perseverance, but also of hubris, paternalism, and misperception. Mukherjee recounts centuries of discoveries, setbacks, victories, and deaths, told through the eyes of his predecessors and peers, training their wits against an infinitely resourceful adversary that, just three decades ago, was thought to be easily vanquished in an all-out “war against cancer.”

The book reads like a literary thriller with cancer as the protagonist. From the Persian Queen Atossa, whose Greek slave cut off her malignant breast, to the nineteenth-century recipients of primitive radiation and chemotherapy to Mukherjee’s own leukemia patient, Carla, The Emperor of All Maladies is about the people who have soldiered through fiercely demanding regimens in order to survive—and to increase our understanding of this iconic disease.

Riveting, urgent, and surprising, The Emperor of All Maladies provides a fascinating glimpse into the future of cancer treatments. It is an illuminating book that provides hope and clarity to those seeking to demystify cancer.

A Severe Mercy: A Story of Faith, Tragedy and Triumph is a heart-rending love story described by its author as the spiritual autobiography of a love rather than of the lovers. It beautifully narrates the author's marriage and his profound search for faith.

Sheldon Vanauken chronicles the birth of a powerful pagan love borne out of the relationship he shares with his wife, Davy. He eloquently describes the growth of their relationship and the dreams that they share, offering a beloved, profoundly moving account of their journey.

The book delves into the couple's search for faith and their cherished friendship with C. S. Lewis. It explores the spiritual strength that sustained Vanauken after his wife's untimely death, addressing some of the universal questions that surround faith, such as the existence of God and the reasons behind tragedy.

This narrative is replete with 18 letters from C.S. Lewis, adding depth and insight into the couple's spiritual and emotional journey.

Stories of famously eccentric Princetonians abound—such as that of chemist Hubert Alyea, the model for The Absent-Minded Professor, or Ralph Nader, said to have had his own key to the library as an undergraduate. Or the "Phantom of Fine Hall," a figure many students had seen shuffling around the corridors of the math and physics building wearing purple sneakers and writing numerology treatises on the blackboards. The Phantom was John Nash, one of the most brilliant mathematicians of his generation, who had spiraled into schizophrenia in the 1950s. His most important work had been in game theory, which by the 1980s was underpinning a large part of economics.

When the Nobel Prize committee began debating a prize for game theory, Nash's name inevitably came up—only to be dismissed, since the prize clearly could not go to a madman. But in 1994 Nash, in remission from schizophrenia, shared the Nobel Prize in economics for work done some 45 years previously.

Economist and journalist Sylvia Nasar has written a biography of Nash that looks at all sides of his life. She gives an intelligent, understandable exposition of his mathematical ideas and a picture of schizophrenia that is evocative but decidedly unromantic. Her story of the machinations behind Nash's Nobel is fascinating and one of very few such accounts available in print (the CIA could learn a thing or two from the Nobel committees).

On June 10, 1991, eleven-year-old Jaycee Dugard was abducted from a school bus stop within sight of her home in Tahoe, California. It was the last her family and friends saw of her for over eighteen years.

On August 26, 2009, Dugard, her daughters, and Phillip Craig Garrido appeared in the office of her kidnapper's parole officer in California. Their unusual behavior sparked an investigation that led to the positive identification of Jaycee Lee Dugard, living in a tent behind Garrido's home.

During her time in captivity, at the age of fourteen and seventeen, she gave birth to two daughters, both fathered by Garrido. Dugard's memoir is written by the 30-year-old herself and covers the period from the time of her abduction in 1991 up until the present.

In her stark, utterly honest, and unflinching narrative, Jaycee opens up about what she experienced, including how she feels now, a year after being found. Garrido and his wife Nancy have since pleaded guilty to their crimes.

Warrior of the Light: A Manual is an inspirational companion to The Alchemist, an international bestseller that has beguiled millions of readers around the world. Every short passage invites us to live out our dreams, to embrace the uncertainty of life, and to rise to our own unique destiny.

In his inimitable style, Paulo Coelho helps bring out the Warrior of the Light within each of us. He shows readers how to embark upon the way of the Warrior: the one who appreciates the miracle of being alive, the one who accepts failure, and the one whose quest leads him to become the person he wants to be.

Paulo Coelho is one of the most beloved storytellers of our time. Now, in this companion to his first novel, Coelho presents a collection of philosophical stories that will delight and guide seekers everywhere.

With her classic book, The Game of Life and How to Play It, Florence Scovel Shinn established herself as one of the most down-to-earth, practical, and helpful prosperity writers of her era. With a timeless message and the ability to explain success principles and how they work in an entertaining style, her writings are still considered the leaders in prosperity literature today.

This book has inspired thousands of people around the world to find a sense of purpose and belonging. It asserts that life is not a battle but a game of giving and receiving, and that whatever we send out into the world will eventually be returned to us. This little book will help you discover how your mind and its imaging faculties play leading roles in the game of life.

Explore the wisdom of a New Thought classic and master the game of life! In this classic bestseller, Florence Scovel Shinn helped to define the personal success genre. Written in the new thought tradition, her message is simple yet transformative—we receive back what we put into the world through our actions, energy, and attitudes. Negativity and pessimism are returned in kind, but by switching the script in favor of positive attitudes and affirmations, we are able to manifest success and joy in everything we do.

Life, Shinn tells us, is not a battle of us against the world, but rather a game of giving and receiving. What we give to the world we receive back—whether that be the dark weight of fear and inhibition or the freedom of joy and empowerment.

In Have a Little Faith, Mitch Albom offers a beautifully written story of a remarkable eight-year journey between two worlds--two men, two faiths, two communities--that will inspire readers everywhere. Albom's first nonfiction book since Tuesdays with Morrie, Have a Little Faith begins with an unusual request: an eighty-two-year-old rabbi from Albom's old hometown asks him to deliver his eulogy. Feeling unworthy, Albom insists on understanding the man better, which throws him back into a world of faith he'd left years ago. Meanwhile, closer to his current home, Albom becomes involved with a Detroit pastor--a reformed drug dealer and convict--who preaches to the poor and homeless in a decaying church with a hole in its roof. Moving between their worlds, Christian and Jewish, African-American and white, impoverished and well-to-do, Albom observes how these very different men employ faith similarly in fighting for survival: the older, suburban rabbi embracing it as death approaches; the younger, inner-city pastor relying on it to keep himself and his church afloat.

As America struggles with hard times and people turn more to their beliefs, Albom and the two men of God explore issues that perplex modern man: how to endure when difficult things happen; what heaven is; intermarriage; forgiveness; doubting God; and the importance of faith in trying times. Although the texts, prayers, and histories are different, Albom begins to recognize a striking unity between the two worlds--and indeed, between beliefs everywhere. In the end, as the rabbi nears death and a harsh winter threatens the pastor's wobbly church, Albom sadly fulfills the rabbi's last request and writes the eulogy. And he finally understands what both men had been teaching all along: the profound comfort of believing in something bigger than yourself.

Have a Little Faith is a book about a life's purpose; about losing belief and finding it again; about the divine spark inside us all. It is one man's journey, but it is everyone's story.

Develop a new understanding of neurodivergence with this thoughtful exploration of the human mind from a bestselling author and psychologist. From ADHD and dyslexia to autism, the number of diagnosis categories listed by the American Psychiatric Association has tripled in the last fifty years. With so many people affected, it is time to revisit our perceptions of people with disabilities.

Bestselling author, psychologist, and educator Thomas Armstrong illuminates a new understanding of neuropsychological disorders. He argues that if they are a part of the natural diversity of the human brain, they cannot simply be defined as illnesses. Armstrong explores the evolutionary advantages, special skills, and other positive dimensions of these conditions.

A manifesto as well as a keenly intelligent look at "disability," The Power of Neurodiversity is a must for parents, teachers, and anyone who is looking to learn more about neurodivergence.

Kapan terakhir kali kita memeluk ayah kita? Menatap wajahnya, lantas bilang kita sungguh sayang padanya? Kapan terakhir kali kita bercakap ringan, tertawa gelak, bercengkerama, lantas menyentuh lembut tangannya, bilang kita sungguh bangga padanya?

Inilah kisah tentang seorang anak yang dibesarkan dengan dongeng-dongeng kesederhanaan hidup. Kesederhanaan yang justru membuat ia membenci ayahnya sendiri. Inilah kisah tentang hakikat kebahagiaan sejati. Jika kalian tidak menemukan rumus itu di novel ini, tidak ada lagi cara terbaik untuk menjelaskannya.

Mulailah membaca novel ini dengan hati lapang, dan saat tiba di halaman terakhir, berlarilah secepat mungkin menemui ayah kita, sebelum semuanya terlambat, dan kita tidak pernah sempat mengatakannya.

Tere-Liye adalah pengarang beberapa novel dengan rating tinggi di website para pencinta buku. Tere-Liye banyak menghabiskan waktu untuk melakukan perjalanan, mencoba memahami banyak hal dengan melihat banyak tempat. Selamat membaca novel kecil ini.

Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong.

Isolated by the most savage terrain in North America, the reclusive Tarahumara Indians of Mexico’s deadly Copper Canyons are custodians of a lost art. For centuries they have practiced techniques that allow them to run hundreds of miles without rest and chase down anything from a deer to an Olympic marathoner while enjoying every mile of it. Their superhuman talent is matched by uncanny health and serenity, leaving the Tarahumara immune to the diseases and strife that plague modern existence. With the help of Caballo Blanco, a mysterious loner who lives among the tribe, the author was able not only to uncover the secrets of the Tarahumara but also to find his own inner ultra-athlete, as he trained for the challenge of a lifetime: a fifty-mile race through the heart of Tarahumara country pitting the tribe against an odd band of Americans, including a star ultramarathoner, a beautiful young surfer, and a barefoot wonder.

With a sharp wit and wild exuberance, McDougall takes us from the high-tech science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultrarunners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to the climactic race in the Copper Canyons. Born to Run is that rare book that will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that the secret to happiness is right at your feet, and that you, indeed all of us, were born to run.

Waris Dirie ran away from her oppressive life in the African desert when she was barely in her teens, illiterate and impoverished, with nothing to her name but a tattered shawl. She traveled alone across the dangerous Somali desert to Mogadishu—the first leg of a remarkable journey that would take her to London, where she worked as a house servant; then to nearly every corner of the globe as an internationally renowned fashion model; and ultimately to New York City, where she became a human rights ambassador for the U.N.

Desert Flower is her extraordinary story, filled with courage, resilience, and the power of the human spirit.

Those who grow up with the knowledge of God's love know that He is there to guide them in their life. Even in bad times, they know that God will help them see things through and come out better when the trials have ended.

But what about those who have not been raised with God in their lives? Samantha Ryan Chandler knows about living without God. Or at least she thought she did.

In A Love Story: How God Pursued Me and Found Me, she tells her story of love, hatred, abuse, forgiveness, betrayal, greed, enlightenment, and fear. Born to a pagan mother and a former altar boy living in a land of denial, she recounts how God was involved in her life even before she knew who He was.

She shares the story of her trip to the Holy Land and how her prayers at the Wailing Wall were interrupted because of a hamburger. Yes, despite her tribulations, her life has had its funny moments as well.

You'll find inspiration in A Love Story: How God Pursued Me and Found Me—and like Chandler, you, too, may find yourself pursued by God.

Tattoos on the Heart is a series of parables about kinship and redemption from pastor, activist, and renowned speaker, Father Gregory Boyle. For twenty years, Father Boyle has run Homeboy Industries, a gang-intervention program located in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles—also known as the gang capital of the world.

In Tattoos on the Heart, Boyle distills his experiences working in the ghetto into a breathtaking series of parables inspired by faith. From giant, tattooed Cesar, shopping at JC Penney fresh out of prison, you learn how to feel worthy of God's love. From ten-year-old Pipi, you learn the importance of being known and acknowledged. From Lulu, you come to understand the kind of patience necessary to rescue someone from the dark. As Father Boyle phrases it, we can only shine a flashlight on a light switch in a darkened room.

This is a motivating look at how to stay faithful in spite of failure, how to meet the world with a loving heart, and how to conquer shame with boundless, restorative love. These essays offer a stirring look at how full our lives could be if we find the joy in loving others and in being loved unconditionally.

Just like you, Ann Voskamp hungers to live her one life well. Forget the bucket lists that have us escaping our everyday lives for exotic experiences. How, Ann wondered, do we find joy in the midst of deadlines, debt, drama, and daily duties? What does the Christ-life really look like when your days are gritty, long, and sometimes even dark? How is God even here?

In One Thousand Gifts, Ann invites you to embrace everyday blessings and embark on the transformative spiritual discipline of chronicling God's gifts. It's only in this expressing of gratitude for the life we already have that we discover the life we've always wanted—a life we can take, give thanks for, and break for others. We come to feel and know the impossible right down in our bones: we are wildly loved by God.

Let Ann's beautiful, heart-aching stories of the everyday give you a way of seeing that opens your eyes to ordinary amazing grace, a way of being present to God that makes you deeply happy, and a way of living that is finally fully alive. Come live the best dare of all!

Two kids with the same name lived in the same decaying city. One went on to be a Rhodes Scholar, decorated combat veteran, White House Fellow, and business leader. The other is serving a life sentence in prison. Here is the story of two boys and the journey of a generation.

In December 2000, the Baltimore Sun ran a small piece about Wes Moore, a local student who had just received a Rhodes Scholarship. The same paper also ran a series of articles about four young men who had allegedly killed a police officer in a spectacularly botched armed robbery. The police were still hunting for two of the suspects who had gone on the lam, a pair of brothers. One was named Wes Moore.

Wes just couldn’t shake off the unsettling coincidence, or the inkling that the two shared much more than space in the same newspaper. After following the story of the robbery, the manhunt, and the trial to its conclusion, he wrote a letter to the other Wes, now a convicted murderer serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. His letter tentatively asked the questions that had been haunting him: Who are you? How did this happen?

That letter led to a correspondence and relationship that have lasted for several years. Over dozens of letters and prison visits, Wes discovered that the other Wes had had a life not unlike his own: Both had grown up in similar neighborhoods and had had difficult childhoods, both were fatherless; they’d hung out on similar corners with similar crews, and both had run into trouble with the police. At each stage of their young lives they had come across similar moments of decision, yet their choices would lead them to astonishingly different destinies.

Told in alternating dramatic narratives that take readers from heart-wrenching losses to moments of surprising redemption, The Other Wes Moore tells the story of a generation of boys trying to find their way in a hostile world.

The Running Dream is a powerful and inspiring novel by Wendelin Van Draanen. When Jessica's dreams are shattered, she puts herself back together—and learns to dream bigger than ever before.

Jessica thinks her life is over when she loses a leg in a car accident. She's not comforted by the news that she'll be able to walk with the help of a prosthetic leg. Who cares about walking when you live to run?

As she struggles to cope with crutches and a first cyborg-like prosthetic, Jessica feels oddly both in the spotlight and invisible. People who don't know what to say, act like she's not there. Which she could handle better if she weren't now keenly aware that she'd done the same thing herself to a girl with CP named Rosa. A girl who is going to tutor her through all the math she's missed. A girl who sees right into the heart of her.

With the support of family, friends, a coach, and her track teammates, Jessica may actually be able to run again. But that's not enough for her now. She doesn't just want to cross finish lines herself—she wants to take Rosa with her.

The Hustle: One Team and Ten Lives in Black and White chronicles a fascinating social experiment where wealthy white and disadvantaged African-American basketball athletes were brought together to form a successful youth team. This team also provided the black players an opportunity to attend private school, unveiling their journeys years later.

The experiment was conceived by two fathers, one white and one black. They pondered the outcome of mixing white players from an elite Seattle private school, known for alumni like Microsoft's Bill Gates, with black kids from the inner city. Would exposure to privilege offer the black kids better opportunities? Would it open the white kids' eyes to a different side of life?

The 1986 season became the experimental stage. Hip-hop was going mainstream, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson dominated the NBA, and Ronald Reagan was president. In Seattle, this team's season unfolded like a classic sports movie: the diverse group of boys bonded and won the league championship.

But was the experiment truly successful? How did crossing lines of class, race, and wealth affect the lives of these ten boys? Two decades later, Doug Merlino, a former team member, embarked on a journey to reconnect with his teammates. His search ranged from a prison cell to a hedge fund office, street corners to a shack in rural Oregon, a Pentecostal church to brutal murder records.

The result is a complex, gripping, and unsettling story. Set against a backdrop of sweeping social and economic change, The Hustle captures the intricate ways race, money, and opportunity shape our lives. It is a tale both personal and public, exploring how a disparate group of men found—or didn't find—a place in America.

When a 16 year old, small town girl, Christine Matthews, from Dryden, Michigan gets a shot at playing semi-professional hockey on a boys hockey team, she jumps at the opportunity. Follow her ups and downs as she tackles some of life's hardships, surprises, and victories as she reaches out to catch her dreams. Journey with her as she struggles through some of life's tough situations, as well as love and loss.

Christine wants one thing in her life, hockey. Nothing would ever mean more to her than that. She had worked so hard for it without the support of her friends and family. When she meets Alex, her world starts to change. Why was she so enticed by this boy? She had to stop thinking about how gorgeous he was. He would be running for the exits as soon as he found out what she was doing there. She noticed that her palms were starting to sweat, she wiped them on her jeans, before he noticed. She wanted to hate him. She couldn't have these type of distractions around her. She needed to be focused on the prize.

Then there was Moose. What would she do without him? This couldn't be happening right now, not to her. She still had her stalker to deal with. The hatred he had for her, in those deep black coal eyes. Was her life about to spiral out of control?

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt is a captivating biography that chronicles the life of the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, from his birth in 1858 to his ascendancy to the Presidency in 1901. This book offers an in-depth look at the transformation of Roosevelt from a frail, asthmatic boy into a robust, full-blooded man who would become the youngest President in history.

The story begins at the apex of his international prestige, on New Year’s Day, 1907, when Roosevelt, who had just won the Nobel Peace Prize, opened the doors of the White House to the American people. The narrative then takes us back through the years 1858–1901, detailing how Roosevelt became a naturalist, a writer, a lover, a hunter, a ranchman, a soldier, and a politician. Each of these roles contributed to his inevitable rise to power.

From chasing thieves across the Badlands of North Dakota with a copy of Anna Karenina in one hand and a Winchester rifle in the other, to leading the famous charge up San Juan Hill, Roosevelt's life was filled with adventure and determination. He was known as a flamboyant civil service reformer, a night-stalking police commissioner, and a military hero who was rewarded with the governorship of New York.

This biography is a story of resilience, ambition, and the American Dream, showing how one man’s diverse experiences and relentless drive led him to become a leader of the nation. Roosevelt’s life is a testament to the belief that one can shape their destiny through courage and commitment.

Author Stephen Robinson illustrates the power of the Savior as he uses analogies and parables, such as his own bicycle story, and scriptures and personal experiences in this moving, best-selling book. "Mortals have finite liabilities," he explains, "and Jesus has unlimited assets." By merging the two, exaltation can come. As long as we progress in some degree, the Lord will be pleased and will bless us. We must not only believe in Christ but also believe him — believe that he has the power to exalt us, that he can do what he claims. People will better understand the doctrines of mercy, justification, and salvation by grace after reading this book.

Written initially to guide his son, Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography is a lively, spellbinding account of his unique and eventful life, now a classic of world literature that is sure to inspire and delight readers everywhere. Few men could compare to Benjamin Franklin. Virtually self-taught, he excelled as an athlete, a man of letters, a printer, a scientist, a wit, an inventor, an editor, and a writer, and he was probably the most successful diplomat in American history. David Hume hailed him as the first great philosopher and great man of letters in the New World.

Seabiscuit was one of the most electrifying and popular attractions in sports history and the single biggest newsmaker in the world in 1938, receiving more coverage than FDR, Hitler, or Mussolini. But his success was a surprise to the racing establishment, which had written off the crooked-legged racehorse with the sad tail.

Three men changed Seabiscuit’s fortunes: Charles Howard was a onetime bicycle repairman who introduced the automobile to the western United States and became an overnight millionaire. When he needed a trainer for his new racehorses, he hired Tom Smith, a mysterious mustang breaker from the Colorado plains. Smith urged Howard to buy Seabiscuit for a bargain-basement price, then hired as his jockey Red Pollard, a failed boxer who was blind in one eye, half-crippled, and prone to quoting passages from Ralph Waldo Emerson. Over four years, these unlikely partners survived a phenomenal run of bad fortune, conspiracy, and severe injury to transform Seabiscuit from a neurotic, pathologically indolent also-ran into an American sports icon.

Author Laura Hillenbrand brilliantly re-creates a universal underdog story, one that proves life is a horse race.

A riveting memoir of a girl's painful coming-of-age in a wealthy Chinese family during the 1940s.

A Chinese proverb says, "Falling leaves return to their roots." In Chinese Cinderella, Adeline Yen Mah returns to her roots to tell the story of her painful childhood and her ultimate triumph and courage in the face of despair. Adeline's affluent, powerful family considers her bad luck after her mother dies giving birth to her. Life does not get any easier when her father remarries. She and her siblings are subjected to the disdain of her stepmother, while her stepbrother and stepsister are spoiled. Although Adeline wins prizes at school, they are not enough to compensate for what she really yearns for -- the love and understanding of her family.

Following the success of the critically acclaimed adult bestseller Falling Leaves, this memoir is a moving telling of the classic Cinderella story, with Adeline Yen Mah providing her own courageous voice.

Stepping Heavenward is the fictional coming of age story of a young Christian girl named Katherine. The story follows her life from when she is sixteen, through courtship, engagement, marriage, having children, and the many challenges that she confronts in her adult life.

This classic Christian story is told through a series of journal entries by Katherine and is an inspirational tale for young girls who themselves are facing the very same challenges of growing up.

"Long live the King" hailed Entertainment Weekly upon the publication of Stephen King's On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer's craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King's advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported near-fatal accident in 1999 -- and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery.

Brilliantly structured, friendly and inspiring, On Writing will empower and entertain everyone who reads it -- fans, writers, and anyone who loves a great story well told.

Le Voleur d'ombres is a magical and heartwarming tale that explores the unique power of shadows. In this enchanting story, the main character discovers that he possesses a rare ability to communicate with shadows.

One day, a shadow whispers to him: "You have a rare power, and you must learn to use it, even if it frightens you." The shadow explains that he must find the hidden light within those whose shadows he steals, illuminating their lives and revealing pieces of their hidden memories.

As the protagonist embarks on this adventurous journey, he realizes the importance of self-discovery and the impact of his gift on others' lives. What if the child you once were could meet the adult you've become? This thought-provoking question adds depth to the narrative.

Marc Levy's eleventh novel is both funny and tender, inviting readers into a world where the line between reality and fantasy blurs, offering a modern tale filled with lost dreams, childhood wonders, and a touch of the fantastic.

Dr. Asa Don Brown's insightful message of unconditional love will transpire your way of thinking. Dr. Brown reveals a profound way of looking at life, forgiveness, and happiness.

He explores with the reader the concepts of love and forgiveness. He has a poignant way of evoking the internal and spiritual side of life. His message will inspire you to begin living today.

Why are you Waiting to Live?

Awakening Inner Guru is a clear and straightforward guide to awaken the light within. The book is about awakening your inner wisdom, inner power, inner beauty, your inner self. Living a fulfilling life is a skill that requires both practice and understanding. This book provides both.

It is a gem! It can be used for inspiration, or instruction. It can be read countless times for added insight. You may also enjoy reading this book if you really want to explore the full potential of your inner strength. It offers a very down-to-earth approach to understanding, in detail and simple language.

For those who are truly interested to attain spiritual freedom and fulfillment in every sphere of life, this book is a practical and personal manual.

God designed men to be dangerous, says John Eldredge. Simply look at the dreams and desires written in the heart of every boy: To be a hero, to be a warrior, to live a life of adventure and risk.

Sadly, most men abandon those dreams and desires—aided by a Christianity that feels like nothing more than pressure to be a "nice guy." It's no wonder that many men avoid church, and those who go are often passive and bored to death.

In this provocative book, Eldredge gives women a look inside the true heart of a man and gives men permission to be what God designed them to be—dangerous, passionate, alive, and free!

Already an internet phenomenon, these wise and insightful lessons by popular newspaper columnist and Pulitzer Prize finalist Regina Brett will make you see the possibilities in your life in a whole new way.

When Regina Brett turned 50, she wrote a column on the 50 lessons life had taught her. She reflected on all she had learned through becoming a single parent, looking for love in all the wrong places, working on her relationship with God, battling cancer, and making peace with a difficult childhood.

Brett now takes the 50 lessons and expounds on them in essays that are deeply personal. From "Don't take yourself too seriously-Nobody else does" to "Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift," these lessons will strike a chord with anyone who has ever gone through tough times--and haven't we all?

My name is Alan Christoffersen. You don’t know me. ‘Just another book in the library,’ my father would say. ‘Unopened and unread.’ You have no idea how far I’ve come or what I’ve lost. More important, you have no idea what I’ve found.

What would you do if you lost everything—your job, your home, and the love of your life—all at the same time? When it happens to Seattle ad executive Alan Christoffersen, he’s tempted by his darkest thoughts. A bottle of pills in his hand and nothing left to live for, he plans to end his misery. Instead, he decides to take a walk. But not any ordinary walk. Taking with him only the barest of essentials, Al leaves behind all that he’s known and heads for the farthest point on his map: Key West, Florida.

The people he encounters along the way, and the lessons they share with him, will save his life—and inspire yours.

A life-changing journey, both physical and spiritual, The Walk is the first of an unforgettable series of books about one man’s search for hope.

Melody is not like most people. She cannot walk or talk, but she has a photographic memory; she can remember every detail of everything she has ever experienced. She is smarter than most of the adults who try to diagnose her and smarter than her classmates in her integrated classroom - the very same classmates who dismiss her as mentally challenged because she cannot tell them otherwise. But Melody refuses to be defined by cerebral palsy. And she's determined to let everyone know it - somehow.

In this breakthrough story, reminiscent of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, from multiple Coretta Scott King Award-winner Sharon Draper, readers will come to know a brilliant mind and a brave spirit who will change forever how they look at anyone with a disability.