social life and customs

In 1937, a prison guard's only daughter has gone missing. Inmate Tommy is the only one who knows the truth, but both of their lives depend on the search's outcome. Two decades earlier, a boy named Shanley dreams of shedding his dingy existence and finding his real father in America. When the chance comes to cross the Atlantic, he must use all of his ingenuity to survive a volatile and foreign world.

Learn fun facts about South Korea, from its early history to its current politics and culture.

Learn fun facts about the fascinating country of Germany, from its early history to its current politics and culture.

"One of the most famous works of 19th-century American Transcendentalist literature is excerpted and illustrated by Italian artist Giovanni Manna, who brings Thoreau's natural experiment to life"--Provided by publisher.

"What was it like to live during World War II in the United States? How were the lives of ordinary people affected? How did the war change the status of women and different ethnic groups? Discover how a worldwide conflict affected America during the war and for years to come. Learn how that conflict still affects our lives today through technology advances, human rights issues, and more"--Back cover.

"September, 1940. German bombs fall on Britain, and enemy fighter planes blacken the sky around the Epping Forest, home of Susan Shepherd and her grandfather, Bertie. The two raise homing pigeons, and Susan's favorite is Duchess. Hatched from an egg that Susan incubated in a bowl under her grandfather's desk lamp, Duchess shares a special bond with Susan. A Maine crop-duster pilot, Ollie Evans travels to Britain to join the Royal Air Force. In the National Pigeon Service, Susan is involved in an assignment code-named Source Columba, to air-drop hundreds of homing pigeons in German-occupied France, hopefully to convey crucial information on German troop movements. Friendship between Ollie and Susan deepens, but when Ollie's plane is downed behind enemy lines both know the chance of reunion is remote."--Adapted from dust jacket.

"A clever, funny, and informative look at the pets--from Calvin Coolidge's wallaby to Teddy Roosevelt's flying squirrels--that have passed through the White House gates"-- Provided by publisher.

An introduction to Day of the Dead.

"By March 4, 1865, the Civil War had slaughtered more than 700,000 Americans and left intractable wounds on the nation. That day, after a morning of rain-drenched fury, tens of thousands crowded Washington's Capitol grounds to see Abraham Lincoln take the oath for a second term. As the sun emerged, Lincoln rose to give perhaps the greatest inaugural address in American history, stunning the nation byarguing, in a brief 701 words, that both sides had been wrong, and that the war's unimaginable horrors--every drop of blood spilled--might well have been God's just verdict on the national sin of slavery . . . [the author] captures the frenzy in the nation's capital at this crucial moment in America's history and the tension-filled hope and despair afflicting the country as a whole, soon to be heightened by Lincoln's assassination"--Provided by publisher.

"A . . . history of how artisans created America, from the nation's origins to the present day"--Provided by publisher.