The national best-selling memoir about banishment, reconciliation,
and the meaning of family
"Without a Map is a stunning, striking collection of unforgettable
essays that can be read either singly or as an entire work of love,
loss, reconciliation, of grief and grace. In my creative nonfiction
classes, I use "Killing Chickens" to serve as an exemplary
model of a compact narrative. The good bones of its plot embed stories
told and intimated; its characters are both sharply drawn and lightly
limned; its complex themes are told with candor and clarity by an utterly
reliable narrator-unsentimental yet fully sympathetic. 'Waiting' could
be the story of many a mid-twentieth century teenager's ostracism, unjust
punishment shattering the confines of a New England town and leaving
its protagonist to find her wandering, weary way. Without a Map
is the saddest, most searing, truest story one could ever read, ever
teach. Meredith Hall has honed the tone, the touch with the grit of
sandpaper, desert, and indestructible moral fiber. —Lynn Z. Bloom,
Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor, Aetna Chair of Writing, University
of Connecticut
"My college students really connect with Meredith Hall's brave,
intelligent and compassionate coming-of-age story. Hall is a wonderful
writing mentor not only because she crafts clear, elegant sentences
but also because she uses those sentences to ask questions and to lean
into, rather than shy away from, the complexities of the human experience."
—Kerry Reilly, writing instructor, University of Colorado, Boulder
Ideal for Courses In: Creative Writing, Nonfiction Writing and Prose
Major reflections on race and schools-by the best-selling author of
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?
"A provocative and important book . . . What Tatum seeks to do
above all is trigger sometimes challenging discussions about race, and
infuse those discussions with a reality-based focus on how race affects
us all. Her latest book does that beautifully, asking tough questions,
and patiently, inclusively seeking answers." —Chuck Leddy,
Boston Globe
"Another thoughtful, personal and provocative book that will encourage
discussion about many of the difficult issues still surrounding race
in America—in and out of the classroom." —Marian Wright
Edelman, president, Children's Defense Fund
Ideal for Courses In: Education, African American Studies, Race
and Ethnicity
The first comprehensive history of free speech in America for a general
readership, from a respected historian and free speech activist
"At a time when America's freedoms and liberties are under attack
in Washington, Finan's book is a powerful reminder of why we must carry
on the fight to preserve the central underpinning of the American democratic
system." —Senator Bernie Sanders
"A marvelously readable account of the struggle for free speech
in the United States." —Geoffrey R. Stone, author of Perilous
Times
Ideal for Courses In: US History, American Studies
How vengeance has replaced rehabilitation in our prisons—and its
terrible costs
"Sasha Abramsky provides us with an invaluable, if harrowing,
audit of the cataclysmic damage inflicted upon American values by American
prisons. The lack of compassion in our national life and the gangrened
hearts of our politicians pose greater threats to our children's futures
than any overseas terrorist conspiracy." —Mike Davis, professor
of history, University of California, Irvine and author of seven books,
including Planet of Slums and The Monster at Our Door
"This is by far the most intelligent and haunting indictment of
the American prison system that I have ever read. Sasha Abramsky has
shone an incandescent lamp on a shadowy underground universe that holds
and in all too many cases brutalizes the lives of more than two million
Americans. He should be commended for doing so, and his book made required
reading for every legislator in the land, bar none." —Simon
Winchester, author of A Crack in the Edge of the World
Ideal for Courses In: Criminal Justice, American Studies, Contemporary
Politics
A young Muslim activist explains our critical need to counter the recruitment
of youth by religious fundamentalists
"A beautifully written story of discovery and hope." —President
Bill Clinton
“A remarkable book by a young Muslim and a Rhodes Scholar with
a vast spiritual vision: a future in which young people join hands in
service across the lines of religion. Refreshing, honest, and hopeful,
it will speak to the soul of a generation yearning for a new way ahead.
Give it to every young person in your life—and to yourself.”
—Diana Eck, author of A New Religious America: How a ‘Christian
Country’ Has Become the World’s Most Religious Diverse Nation
Ideal for Courses In: Religion, Multicultural Studies, Freshman
Year Experience
A journalist writes about his surprising friendship with an Amish family
trying to live a simple life in a complex world
“In simple but elegant prose that matches the values of his subject,
Joe Mackall takes us deep into the Amish community. He neither romanticizes
nor condemns an alternate way of living, but provides stunning insight
through the generosity and compassion of his own heart.” —Chris
Offutt, author of The Same River Twice and Kentucky Straight
Ideal for Courses In: Nonfiction Writing and Prose
From Dred Scott to Lawrence v. Texas and more, the most famous
Supreme Court dissents, collected in one volume for the first time
"An important reminder that strong challenges have been made to
the best and worst in American constitutional development and that responsibility
for the best lies as much in the citizenry as Supreme Court justices."
—Mark A. Graber, author of Dred Scott and the Problem of Constitutional
Evil
Beacon Press is a department of the