biography & autobiography

"Philadelphia's progressive district attorney offers an inspiring vision of how people can take back power to reform criminal justice, based on lessons from a life's work as an advocate for the accused." --.

"What does it take to go from growing up in a Mississippi housing project to becoming a master sergeant and a celebrity chef serving in the White House under four United States presidents? Call Me Chef, Dammit! is the inspiring story of Andre Rush, who became an overnight sensation in 2018, after a photograph of his now-famous twenty-four-inch biceps went viral. However, his journey to that moment could never be captured in a fleeting moment. From his childhood working on a farm, to his developing into a gifted athlete and artist to his joining the Army, Rush has dedicated his life to serving others. During his twenty-four-year military career, his reputation as an award-winning cook eventually led him to the Pentagon. His presence in the building when the plane struck on 9/11/2001 led to his suffering from PTSD, and he has become an outspoken advocate for the military and especially for wounded warriors. Every step of the way, Chef Rush has overcome tremendous obstacles, including battling stereotypes and racism. And in this memoir, he shares not only his wounds and what he experienced along the road to recovery but also the optimism, hope, and hard-earned wisdom that have encouraged countless others"--Page 4 of cover.

"Eddie Jaku always considered himself a German first, a Jew second. He was proud of his country. But all of that changed on 9 November 1938, when he was beaten, arrested and taken to a concentration camp. Over the next seven years, Eddie faced unimaginable horrors every day, first in Buchenwald, then in Auschwitz, then on the Nazi death march. He lost family, friends, his country. Because he survived, Eddie made the vow to smile every day. He pays tribute to those who were lost by telling his story, sharing his wisdom and living his best possible life. He now believes he is the 'happiest man on earth'"--Publisher.

The author shares his experience working as a federal law enforcement agent, focusing on the racism he encountered.

An exploration of China's widely acclaimed yet insular education system shares insights into how their examples are shaping the future of American parenting and education.

"In 1927, Zora Neale Hurston went to Plateau, Alabama, just outside Mobile, to interview eighty-six-year-old Cudjo Lewis. Of the millions of men, women, and children transported from Africa to America as slaves, Cudjo was then the only person alive to tell the story of this integral part of the nation's history. Hurston was there to record Cudjo's firsthand account of the raid that led to his capture and bondage fifty years after the Atlantic slave trade was outlawed in the United States. In 1931, Hurston returned to Plateau, the African-centric community three miles from Mobile founded by Cudjo and other former slaves from his ship. Spending more than three months there, she talked in depth with Cudjo about the details of his life. During those weeks, the young writer and the elderly formerly enslaved man ate peaches and watermelon that grew in the backyard and talked about Cudjo's past--memories from his childhood in Africa, the horrors of being captured and held in a barracoon for selection by American slavers, the harrowing experience of the Middle Passage packed with more than 100 other souls aboard the Clotilda, and the years he spent in slavery until the end of the Civil War. Based on those interviews, featuring Cudjo's unique vernacular, and written from Hurston's perspective with the compassion and singular style that have made her one of the preeminent American authors of the twentieth-century, Barracoon masterfully illustrates the tragedy of slavery and of one life forever defined by it. Offering insight into the pernicious legacy that continues to haunt us all, black and white, this poignant and powerful work is an invaluable contribution to our shared history and culture."--Publisher's website.

"[Stephan] Kuusisto was born legally blind, but being raised in the 1950s he was taught to deny his blindness in order to 'pass' as sighted. As an adult, he coped with his limited vision until he was laid off. With no other job opportunities in his vicinity, he would have to travel to find work. He found himself at Guiding Eyes paired with a Labrador named Corky. Here he recounts how partnership with a guide dog changed his life, and the . . . adventure that began for him in midlife"--OCLC.

Television personality Padma Lakshmi examines "her journey from [a humble family kitchen], led by ferocious and unforgettable women, to the judges' table of Top Chef and beyond. It chronicles the fierce devotion of the remarkable people who shaped her along the way, from her headstrong mother who flouted conservative Indian convention to make a life in New York, to her Brahmin grandfather--a brilliant engineer with an irrepressible sweet tooth--to the man seemingly wrong for her in every way who proved to be her truest ally"--Amazon.com.

"Tells the ambitious tale of how one private company [Koch Industries] consolidated power over half a century-and how in doing so, it helped transform capitalism into something that feels deeply alienating to many Americans today"--Amazon.

In this collection of personal essays, the beloved star of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood reveals stories about life, love, and working as a woman in Hollywood?along with behind-the-scenes dispatches from the set of the new Gilmore Girls, where she plays the fast-talking Lorelai Gilmore once again.