Agate Publishing

A comprehensive, first-of-its-kind book about Chicago’s residential architecture and the stories that shaped it. This is an entertaining and precisely illustrated story of Chicago homes from the city’s earliest days through the Second World War, revealing everything about what makes a home a Chicago home. 

A city famous for its architecture—and for arguing with New Yorkers about who built it first and best—now has a definitive guide to the unique housing types and styles that have inspired so much devotion. This book is for curious Chicagoans and visitors alike—anyone who’s ever wondered how to spot a Foursquare or where to find Italianate homes from before the Great Chicago Fire.

Why are Chicago’s lots so narrow? How many Chicagoans built homes from a kit? What exactly is a “greystone”? The authors combine their decades of experience in historic preservation and illustration to create an evergreen resource that Chicagoans and visitors will turn to for answers to these and other questions about the city’s neighborhoods and the homes its citizens live in, visit, and admire. 

Educational resources for Crown can be found here.

The owner of the legendary Hoosier Mama Pie Company turns breakfast into an art form with this go-to guide for baking scones, muffins, and other morning favorites.

In the fifteen years since Paula Haney started Hoosier Mama Pie Company, it has become both a local favorite and national destination, widely regarded as one of the top pie shops in the country. But not everyone wants pie for breakfast, and after opening an Evanston location that opened at 6:30 a.m., Haney and her team began to dream up new sweet and savory bakes for the perfect morning. 

With the same focus on local produce and fresh, seasonal ingredients that made her pies a Chicago institution, and the same warmth and easygoing style of The Hoosier Mama Book of Pie, Haney again invites home bakers into her kitchen—this time with a collection of budget-friendly recipes that largely go from idea to eating in under an hour. This book is meant to be kept on the kitchen counter with a dusting of flour between its pages. It’s a working manual with practical tips and techniques along with base recipes that can handle endless variations, encouraging readers to discover their own favorite combinations.

Whether it’s browned butter banana-Nutella quick bread, scones packed with maple and bacon or strawberries and basil, tender Danishes with cream cheese and fruit, or biscuit sandwiches with all the fixings, these delicious, approachable recipes will make everyday breakfast feel like a special occasion—all before the coffee’s even brewed. 

A poignant, revelatory memoir from acclaimed novelist and actor Denise Nicholas that offers an episodic exploration of her multifaceted life, delving intimately into themes of artistic self-invention, race, and grief. 

Long before writing her acclaimed novel Freshwater Road, or her career as a path-breaking TV and film star, Denise Nicholas was a middle-class Black girl growing up in 1950s Detroit, struggling to decipher her family’s profound secrets. She loved Detroit’s vibrant culture despite the harsh realities of its racial segregation, which deeply influenced her perspective on identity. In her early twenties, she dropped out of the University of Michigan to tour the Deep South with the Free Southern Theater at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, a path that ultimately ignited her lifelong commitment to social justice and activism. A few short years later she would launch from stage work to meteoric national fame as a series lead on the groundbreaking ABC-TV show Room 222, a role that earned her three consecutive Golden Globe nominations.

With eloquence, vulnerability, and resolve, Nicholas mines her six-decade journey through TV and film stardom, the complexities of her three marriages, and her reconstituting her creative life to become a celebrated novelist, reflecting on the personal, professional, and societal pressures that buffeted her throughout. Constructed of episodic reflections from both personal and professional high points and low points of her life, Nicholas navigates the intersections of love and identity, exploring how her experiences in Hollywood shaped her understanding of success, intimacy, and commitment. Her narrative is rich with anecdotes from her career in Hollywood, as an actor and, later, a successful screenwriter for television and eventually a novelist, providing a backdrop to the struggles and achievements that marked her path. She outspokenly discusses the challenges she faced as a trailblazing actress of color, shedding light on the systemic barriers and biases within the entertainment industry. 

But at the deepest level, this memoir is a heartfelt exploration of grief, as Nicholas recounts the profound losses—including the unsolved, targeted slaying of her sister, the telling of which occupies the center of her story—that have shaped her.  Her reflections on mourning and resilience paint a vivid, moving portrait of how to journey through healing to new dimensions of self-discovery. Through her powerful, stylish, and evocative storytelling, Nicholas not only chronicles her own remarkable life but also provides a resonant narrative of what it means to live, work, and succeed as a Black woman in America over the past half-century.

Economic anxiety and loss of trust in civic institutions are driving more and more people to political extremes. How did we get here, and how do we get our economic policies back on track before the democracies of the world derail?

From former Belgian minister of finance and bestselling author Johan Van Overtveldt comes a new analysis of the economic forces that have driven us to the brink of a democratic breakdown. The Icarus Curse offers a stark assessment of the current state of Western democracies, once celebrated as the pinnacle of political and economic success. With the demise of the Soviet Union and China's emergence onto the world stage, the Western model faced no viable challengers. However, three decades later, Western democracies find themselves under siege both externally and internally. Russia, Iran, and especially China openly challenge the liberal Western order, while internally, citizens increasingly question the democratic and free market system, leading to polarization and social unrest. The political elite in most Western democracies flew too close to the sun, and now they’re crashing.

In The Icarus Curse, Van Overtveldt argues that decades of Keynesian-inspired policies have led to policy exhaustion, with politicians fueling unrealistic expectations and accumulating debt. Despite central bankers' efforts to mitigate crises, the current policy model is unsustainable, leaving little room for significant change. Yet, there is hope for redemption: Van Overtveldt reviews the ideas of Adam Smith, John Maynard Keynes, and Paul Volcker to put forward ideas to redesign policies for a brighter economic future. 

An updated and expanded edition of the bestselling Holiday Cookies, featuring additional recipes from the last decade of contest winners.

For nearly four decades, the Chicago Tribune has run its annual Holiday Cookie Contest, asking readers to submit recipes that are both unique and meaningful to them. Each recipe is accompanied by a brief description or story explaining why the cookie is special to the reader and their family. The Chicago Tribune's award-winning food writers and editors carefully consider these essays, select the finalists, and then publish winning recipes.

Holiday Cookies, 2nd Edition is an updated and expanded collection of the best holiday cookies as curated from nearly four decades worth of reader submissions, including 28 new recipes from the winners in 2014 to 2022. These delicious recipes represent an eclectic mix of traditional and modern recipes from diverse cultural backgrounds and skill levels, such as Tropical Nuevo Latino Cookies, Dorie's Dark and Stormies, and Grandma Grump's Peanut Butter Drizzles.

Complete with full-color photography and helpful baking tips, this gorgeous compilation brings the warmth and expertise of a cross-generational baking community home for the holidays. From cookie classics to twists on old standards, Holiday Cookies provides the home baker with a plethora of possibilities for any holiday party.

An introduction to oysters and their place in our culture and food system—including a quick global history, an account of the current state of oyster farming, and a glimpse of the promising environmental solutions oyster farming offers in this age of food challenges and climate change.

The oyster is one of Earth’s oldest animals, and fossil records show humans have enjoyed them for hundreds of thousands of years. But like so many other creatures, wild oysters were driven to near extinction by overconsumption and pollution. The Clean Water Act passed in 1972 marked a turning point for water quality, and decades later, we’re witnessing a renaissance in oyster culture as the rise of aquaculture (ocean farming) attempts to supply a growing demand for oysters that increases exponentially year after year.

Internationally renowned oyster farmer Dan Martino guides readers through this fascinating history before presenting a detailed breakdown of the current state of the oyster industry as only an insider can describe it. He discusses husbandry, nursery, and farm techniques; the practical side of working with local government to set up a farm; tips for selling into the market; and what qualities make for the perfect oyster. He details the various global styles of farming and the species of oysters farmed, explaining how they differ in size, texture, shape, and taste—characteristics referred to as “merroir,” to parallel the way “terroir” illuminates how the origin of place affects taste in wine.

The oyster has never been more relevant as we look to the future and the many challenges presented by climate change and a growing population. Martino explores how the current land-based food production system risks collapse as it tries to keep up with growing demand, and oyster farming, which uses no land and minimal freshwater input, is a natural alternative to more resource-intensive food sources. Oysters are also exceptionally good at capturing carbon, making them a necessary element in the quest for climate change solutions.

The Oyster Book is an exploration of the past, present, and future of humanity’s relationship with the oyster, highlighting how humans can learn from our mistakes and harness the oyster’s potential for a more sustainable future.

From nurses and teachers to wildland firefighters and funeral directors—an intimate, honest, and illuminating collection of interviews that reveal what it’s like to work in America at this historic and volatile moment in time. 

Author Mark Larson sits down with more than one hundred workers from across the socioeconomic spectrum as they share their experiences with work and what it has meant in their lives—the good, the bad, the mundane, and the profound. Doulas, firefighters, chefs, hairstylists, executives, actors, stay-at-home parents, and so many more talk about what they do all day and how it aligns (or doesn't) with what they want to be doing with their lives. The pandemic, the ensuing “Great Resignation,” and the current reckonings with racial justice are among the forces that are now upending and reshaping our longstanding relationships with work. Larson’s interviews display how these forces collide in the lives of average Americans as they tell their own stories with passion, heartbreak, and, ultimately, hope.

Working in the 21st Century asks why we show up—or don’t—to the jobs we’ve chosen, and how the upheaval of the past few years has changed how we perceive the work we do. It will be released to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Studs Terkel's 1974 classic Working.

The untold stories behind Chicago's globally celebrated culinary scene—from revolutionary chefs to kitchen disasters to public uproars to Michelin stars, told by the cooks, servers, restaurateurs, critics, dreamers, and rebels who built America's most fearless food city.

Whether serious destination diners, weekend visitors, or fans of The Bear, everyone knows Chicago has long outgrown its mid-twentieth-century reputation as a steak-and-potatoes town. The last fifty years have seen it explode into world prominence as one of America’s best places to eat—and ground zero of some of America’s greatest cooking. When Michelin first started awarding stars in the United States, they selected Chicago as one of the first cities so recognized. But the story of this ascendency—and of nationally famed chefs like Rick Bayless, Charlie Trotter, Grant Achatz, Stephanie Izard, and many others—has never been fully revealed in all its messy, dramatic, high-energy glory.

The Chicago Way traces Chicago’s growth as a dining capital over the past fifty-plus years through an oral history made up of the voices of those who led, drove, and otherwise took part in that transformation. Readers will learn how the city’s diners (and millions of happily sated visitors) grew to love new and more adventurous ways of eating, from hot dogs with foie gras to molecular gastronomy. These first-person accounts show how restaurants played a key role in transforming the city’s culture, creating hot new neighborhoods—before sometimes getting priced out of them—and driving economic growth not just downtown, but increasingly into its kaleidoscopically diverse neighborhoods. 

This is a dynamic plunge into the chaos and glory of the restaurant world, charged with the unfiltered voices of the men and women who helped make Chicago’s food culture what it is today. Focusing on real estate, finance, and economics as well as food and creativity, these insider accounts together tell a powerful story about the essential influence of Chicago chefs and restaurants on contemporary American cuisine that will appeal to everyone interested in food, restaurants, and dining.

James Beard Award–winning Michael Gebert has written for decades about hundreds of Chicago food figures from every background, and in The Chicago Way, he includes contributions from national celebrities such as Top Chef winners Stephanie Izard and Joe Flamm, Alinea chef Grant Achatz, and Michelin-starred chef and author Lane Regan, among many other notables. His vast network and deep knowledge are reflected in the scores of both famed and unsung food professionals included here, arrayed into a narrative mosaic that reveals the stories behind the story of Chicago’s greatest, most important, and most memorable places to eat food.

Discover the power of relationship-building to enhance your leadership, boost your team’s well-being, and drive organizational success.

In today’s dynamic business environment, the success of any organization is deeply rooted in the quality of its internal relationships. In The Relationship-Driven Leader, psychologist and organizational behavior expert Dr. Karen Bridbord offers a revolutionary guide to career success and advancement, regardless of your industry, your company’s size, or your role. This groundbreaking book sheds light on how nurturing strong work relationships can lead to unmatched productivity and greater overall wellness throughout the organization and among its staff. Through compelling research and insightful case studies, Bridbord reveals the detrimental impact dysfunctional relationships can have on both personal and business achievements, and how to come back from “relationship system failure.” By rethinking workplace relationships, you can foster deeper connections within your team, resulting in enhanced cohesion and well-being for all members.

The Relationship-Driven Leader explores the profound influence of everyday interactions on team experience and team performance. Bridbord emphasizes the importance of “micro-moments” in leadership to spark significant improvements. This book empowers you to take the first step toward becoming the leader everyone aspires to work with by enhancing your leadership skills, boosting workplace productivity, and mastering innovative conflict-management techniques. By focusing on well-being through relationship-building, you can create a healthier, more engaged, and more productive team. 

Elevate your home cooking with more than 100 recipes that feature the vibrant fusion of Creole flavors and California freshness from a renowned personal chef.

Chef Ryan Rondeno, who has dazzled the palates of celebrities with his innovative and mouthwatering creations, seamlessly blends the vibrant flavors of Creole cuisine with the fresh ethos of California cooking in My Creole-Cali Kitchen. Each recipe is meticulously crafted to be both intriguing, flavorful,, and accessible, allowing home cooks to recreate elevated dishes that burst with flavor and creativity. With dishes like tempura squash blossoms, crawfish enchiladas, and duck confit with whipped ricotta and pickled peaches, Rondeno brings his signature style to every page, ensuring that each dish is not only delicious but also visually stunning. And for those with a sweet tooth, there are celebration-worthy desserts like brown butter banana bread with pistachio praline and buttermilk ice cream, and—of course—beignets.

Rondeno, who has cooked for A-list stars, shares his culinary secrets and expert tips, making even the most sophisticated recipes easy to follow. The cookbook features step-by-step instructions, beautiful photographs, and clever twists on Southern favorites. Whether you're a seasoned home cook or a beginner looking to impress your guests, My Creole-Cali Kitchen offers a treasure trove of recipes that are sure to level-up your cooking game while remaining approachable and fun. Indulge in the best of both worlds with this delightful fusion that promises to bring excitement and flair to your kitchen.

An in-depth look at the history of the Chicago Bulls franchise, featuring profiles, photography, box scores, and more from the archives of the Chicago Tribune.

The Chicago Bulls, one of the NBA’s most storied and valuable franchises, have been building their highly decorated legacy for six decades. To this day, the Bulls are one of the most popular teams the world over. Six championships and the eternal legacy of Michael Jordan—the greatest player of all time—will do that, and Bulls fans wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Chicago Tribune Book of the Chicago Bulls, 2nd Edition is a decade-by-decade look at the pride of Chicago’s West Side, updated since its original publication in 2016 to include the last several years of history. Curated by the Chicago Tribune sports department, this book documents every era in the team’s history through the newspaper’s original reporting, in-depth analysis, interviews, and archival photos. Comprehensive timelines, rankings of top players by position, and profiles on key coaches, Hall of Famers, and MVPs provide an entertaining, blow-by-blow look at the team’s greatest successes and most dramatic moments.

A beautiful collector's item, The Chicago Tribune Book of the Chicago Bulls is a tour through basketball history produced by the award-winning journalists who have been documenting their home team since the beginning.

Get inside the head of one of the most influential musicians of our time, a pop music phenomenon turned titan of industry and cultural icon: Taylor Swift.

This collection of quotes has been carefully curated from Swift’s numerous public statements—interviews, op-eds, social media posts, and more, specifically geared toward middle and high school readers. It’s a comprehensive picture of her meteoric rise to the top, her ever-savvy business sense, and her increasingly outspoken perspective on the music world and beyond. This edition includes educational materials and resources for lesson plans designed to provoke discussion and thought for readers in grades 7–12 about Taylor Swift’s ideas.

Swift’s catchy, chart-topping songs have propelled her to become one of the bestselling musicians of all time. But in the nearly 20 years she’s been making music, she has also amassed enough power to buck the norms of an industry notorious for controlling the images of its often very young female artists.

Her latest, unprecedented record deal gives her ownership of all her master records, the ability to dictate the terms of her albums’ streaming releases in order to maximize her profits, and a requirement that her label share proceeds from the sale of its stake in Spotify with its musicians. She has championed the rights of artists to earn fair royalties, and more recently, she has inspired tens of thousands of fans to register to vote.

Swift’s achievements have earned her spots on both Forbes’s Most Powerful Women and Time’s 100 Most Influential People lists. Now, for the first time, young readers find her most inspirational, thought-provoking quotes in one place.

Special educational materials for classrooms are available from Agate Publishing.

Get inside the head of LeBron James: basketball star, activist, philanthropist, and one of the most influential athletes in the world.

This collection of quotes has been curated from LeBron James’s numerous public statements—interviews, social media posts, television appearances, and more. It’s a comprehensive picture of his legacy as one of the world’s most recognizable and influential athletes, specifically geared toward middle and high school readers. The quotes in the collection touch on sports, community, life lessons, opportunity, equality, justice, and more. This edition includes educational materials and resources for lesson plans designed to provoke discussion and thought for readers in grades 7–12 about LeBron James's ideas.

LeBron James’s meteoric rise to basketball fame started when he was just a teenager, being billed by Sports Illustrated as “The Chosen One” while he was still playing for his high school team in Akron, Ohio. He became the top overall selection for the 2003 NBA draft and signed an unprecedented $90 million endorsement deal with Nike before he ever played a professional game. James spent the first seven years of his career playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, with whom he would establish himself as a premier player in the league before going on to play for the Miami Heat and the L.A. Lakers. His unmatched athleticism and drive have led to multiple NBA championships, MVP awards, Olympic gold medals, and more points scored than anyone else in the history of professional basketball. Off the court, he has spoken up for racial equality, founded a school for at-risk children in his hometown, launched multiple media companies, and even tried his hand at acting.

Since emerging on the global stage, James has become a source of inspiration for people all over the world. Now, LeBron James: In His Own Words Young Reader Edition offers a unique look into the mind of one of the world’s most influential athletes by collecting over 100 of his most insightful quotes to create a comprehensive picture of LeBron James and his legacy for young readers everywhere.

Special educational materials for classrooms are available from Agate Publishing.

An inspiring collection of pithy, easy-to-recall one-liners and quotable short passages from historic and contemporary thought leaders throughout the African Diaspora. 

Famous Black Quotations, first published in 1986, has long been the go-to resource for the eloquent words of Black history makers. In this new, expanded edition, Famous Black Quotations for the Twenty-First Century, editor Janet Cheatham Bell includes the words of people who have come to prominence in recent decades, such as Barack and Michelle Obama, Alicia Garza, John Legend, Colin Kaepernick, Kamala Harris, and Nikole Hannah-Jones. Bestselling author Bell has curated more than five hundred quotes along with dates, sources, and biographical information of the people quoted. This guide to significant events in the experiences of people of African descent can be used to educate and inspire. Much has changed in the past few decades as Black Americans speak out to demand fair treatment and equal opportunity, and Famous Black Quotations for the Twenty-First Century has been updated and repackaged to inspire a new generation.

Get inside the head of Michelle Obama: author, lawyer, humanitarian, and the trailblazing first Black woman to serve as First Lady of the United States.

This collection of quotes has been carefully curated from Michelle Obama’s numerous public statements—interviews, books, social media posts, television appearances, and more. It’s a comprehensive picture of her legacy as one of America’s most recognizable and influential women, specifically geared toward middle and high school readers. The quotes in the collection touch on education, friendship and community, life lessons, America, the role of First Lady, making change, inequality and injustice, and more. This edition includes educational materials and resources for lesson plans designed to provoke discussion and thought for readers in grades 7-12 about Michelle Obama's ideas.

Michelle Obama has been challenging others’ expectations since she was a young woman growing up on Chicago’s South Side. When a high school counselor told her, “I’m not sure you’re Princeton material,” Obama graduated as the salutatorian and went off to Princeton anyway. After graduating from Harvard Law School, Obama spent several years as an attorney at a prestigious Chicago law firm before committing her efforts to public service and community outreach. When her husband, Barack Obama, was elected president in 2008, she began a new chapter of her life as the first Black woman to serve as First Lady of the United States of America. While always conscious of the unique pressures and difficulties of her role, Obama made it her mission to present her authentic self to the American people. Her pride in and openness about the aspects of her identity that made her unusual among First Ladies—including her race, working-class upbringing, career path, and educational achievement—made her a figure beloved by the general public.

Since emerging on the global stage, Obama has become a source of inspiration for young people all over the world, largely due to her engaging authenticity and candor. Now, Michelle Obama: In Her Own Words offers a unique look into the mind of one of the world’s most influential women by collecting 200 of her most insightful quotes. Meticulously curated from interviews, speeches, statements, and other sources, Michelle Obama: In Her Own Words creates a comprehensive picture of Michelle Obama, her wisdom, and her legacy.

Special educational materials for classrooms are available from Agate Publishing.

Get inside the head of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, history’s second woman to serve as a Supreme Court justice.

This collection of quotes has been curated from Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s numerous public statements—interviews, court opinions, oral arguments from her time as a lawyer, speeches, and more. It’s a comprehensive picture of her legacy and her impact on American history, specifically geared toward middle and high school readers. The quotes in the collection touch on equality, the law, feminism, the United States justice system, education, and more. This edition includes educational materials and resources for lesson plans designed to provoke discussion and thought for readers in grades 7-12 about Ginsburg's ideas.

Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg earned respect and admiration over the course of her remarkable lifetime, during which she broke barriers and set her sights on the highest levels of achievement at every turn. Beginning with her graduation from Cornell as the highest-ranking woman in her class, and then her enrollment in Harvard Law School in 1956, where she was one of only nine women in a class of 500, she steadily moved up the ranks of the American legal system until she was appointed as the second woman in history to join the Supreme Court in 1993.

During her time on the Supreme Court, she became known for her fiery dissents, her fundamental work toward equality and fair treatment, and her eloquent thought-leadership. Even after her death in 2020, she serves as an inspiration to all and a role model for women everywhere.

Now, Ruth Bader Ginsburg: In Her Own Words offers a unique look into the mind of one of the world’s most influential women by collecting 200 of Ginsburg’s most insightful quotes. Meticulously curated from interviews, speeches, court opinions, dissents, and other sources, Ruth Bader Ginsburg: In Her Own Words creates a comprehensive picture of Ginsburg, her wisdom, and her legacy.

Special educational materials for classrooms are available from Agate Publishing.