Greystone Books

This survey of more than fifty years of national security policy juxtaposes declassified U. S. national intelligence estimates with recently released Soviet documents disclosing the views of Soviet leaders and their Communist allies on the same events. Matthias shows that U. S. intelligence estimates were usually correct but that our political and military leaders generally ignored them—with sometimes disastrous results. The book begins with a look back at the role of U. S. intelligence during World War II, from Pearl Harbor through the plot against Hitler and the D-day invasion to the "unconditional surrender" of Japan, and reveals how better use of the intelligence available could have saved many lives and shortened the war. The following chapters dealing with the Cold War disclose what information and advice U. S. intelligence analysts passed on to policy makers, and also what sometimes bitter policy debates occurred within the Communist camp, concerning Vietnam, the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban missile crisis, the turmoil in Eastern Europe, the Six-Day and Yom Kippur wars in the Middle East, and the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. In many ways, this is a story of missed opportunities the U. S. government had to conduct a more responsible foreign policy that could have avoided large losses of life and massive expenditures on arms buildups.

While not exonerating the CIA for its own mistakes, Matthias casts new light on the contributions that objective intelligence analysis did make during the Cold War and speculates on what might have happened if that analysis and advice had been heeded.

“Alternately joyous and heartbreaking...” —Jane Goodall

A moving and revealing biography of Norway’s most famous chimpanzee.

Julius is a national celebrity, the inspiration behind pop hits and bestselling books.

He’s also a chimpanzee, born in captivity, but raised in a zookeeper’s home after his own mother rejects him. Julius’s new parents change his diapers and comfort him when he has nightmares, and their daughters play with him. But soon they must reintroduce Julius to the zoo, a challenging task that brings new learnings on primate behavior and the dangers of animal celebrity.

Alternately humorous and heartbreaking, Almost Human shows that primates are more like us than we once thought possible. It also charts the transformation of one zoo over time: from a small operation of animals behind bars to a fast-growing attraction coming to terms with twenty-first-century views on animal rights and welfare.

"Journalist Orth delivers a jaunty description of his travels...[that] armchair travelers will enjoy."
—Publishers Weekly

“Funny, insightful, and mind-bendingly entertaining. Stephan Orth is a fearless and fabulous tour guide to the real Russia and its people."
—Lisa Dickey, author of Bears in the Streets: Three Journeys across a Changing Russia

For the psychonaut to those curious about psychedelics, this definitive guide to seven psychedelic substances and how they are changing our world is the perfect holiday stocking stuffer.

"Shows us how psychedelics can transform mental health and enhance the way we live."—Sara Gottfried MD, New York Times bestselling author of The Hormone Cure

This practical guide to psychedelics will appeal to anyone interested in their own health and wellbeing: "A captivating read that shares how society can use psychedelics to transform the way we exist in the world."—Robin Divine, psychedelic advocate and creator of Black People Trip

Once feared and misunderstood, psychedelics have emerged as one of the most promising therapies of the 21st century. Through cutting-edge research, substances such as MDMA and LSD are being recognized as powerful keys to healing and human improvement, offering solutions for mental health issues including PTSD and depression. Similarly, plant medicines like ayahuasca, peyote, and iboga, used since time immemorial by Indigenous cultures for spiritual purposes, have been shown to promote feelings of empathy, connection, and love for the self, others, and the world around us. 

But how can everyday people benefit from psychedelics? And will they really transform healthcare as we know it?

In Psyched, health journalist Amanda Siebert explores the history, culture, and potential of seven psychedelic substances. She interweaves real-life stories, clinical research, and interviews with the world’s leading psychedelics experts and cultural allies to offer a definitive guide to these cutting-edge treatments.

• Do crows have families?
• How do crows communicate with one another?
• Do crows play?
• How can we interact with them?

A captivating cultural and scientific history of orchards, for readers of Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire and Mark Kurlansky’s Salt.

Throughout history, orchards have nourished both body and soul: they are sites for worship and rest, inspiration for artists and writers, and places for people to gather. In Taming Fruit, award-winning writer Bernd Brunner interweaves evocative illustrations with masterful prose to show that the story of orchards is a story of how we have shaped nature to our desires for millennia.

As Brunner tells it, the first orchards may have been oases dotted with date trees, where desert nomads stopped to rest. In the Amazon, Indigenous people maintained mosaic gardens centuries before colonization. Modern fruit cultivation developed over thousands of years in the East and the West. As populations expanded, fruit trees sprang from the lush gardens of the wealthy and monasteries to fields and roadsides, changing landscapes as they fed the hungry.

But orchards don’t just produce fruit; they also inspire great artists. Taming Fruit shares paintings, photographs, and illustrations alongside Brunner's enchanting descriptions and research, offering a multifaceted-—and long-awaited—portrait of the orchard.

This gem of a picture book features:

• Sheet music of Buffy Sainte-Marie's beloved song
• Notes from Sainte-Marie and Flett about their inspiration for the song and illustrations

FROM NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR DR. JASON FUNG: The landmark book that is helping thousands of people lose weight for good.

Harness the power of intermittent fasting for lasting weight loss.

Understand the science of weight gain and insulin resistance.

Stop suffering and ditch calorie counting, yoyo diets, and excessive exercise.

In this highly readable book, Dr. Jason Fung, long considered the founder of intermittent fasting, sets out an original theory of obesity and weight gain. He reveals that everything you've been told about how to lose weight is wrong: weight gain is driven by hormones, and only by understanding the effects of insulin and insulin resistance can we achieve lasting weight loss.

Dr. Fung shares five basic steps to controlling your insulin for better health. And he explains how to use intermittent fasting to break the cycle of insulin resistance and reach a healthy weight—permanently.

• Get outside to explore and play, even in the rain
• Understand why rain is important, from helping plants grow to bringing cooler temperatures

• Science-based information about marine life reviewed by experts
• Fun facts about underwater creatures and plant life
• Brightly colored graphic style illustrations

"Daniel Pauly is a friend whose work has inspired me for years."
—Ted Danson, actor, ocean activist, and co-author of Oceana

"This wonderfully personal and accessible book by the world’s greatest living fisheries biologist summarizes and expands on the causes of collapse and the essential actions that will be required to rebuild fish stocks for future generations.”
—Dr. Jeremy Jackson, ocean scientist and author of Breakpoint

The world’s fisheries are in crisis. Their catches are declining, and the stocks of key species, such as cod and bluefin tuna, are but a small fraction of their previous abundance, while others have been overfished almost to extinction. The oceans are depleted and the commercial fishing industry increasingly depends on subsidies to remain afloat.

In these essays, award-winning biologist Dr. Daniel Pauly offers a thought-provoking look at the state of today’s global fisheries—and a radical way to turn it around. Starting with the rapid expansion that followed World War II, he traces the arc of the fishing industry’s ensuing demise, offering insights into how and why it has failed.

With clear, convincing prose, Dr. Pauly draws on decades of research to provide an up-to-date assessment of ocean health and an analysis of the issues that have contributed to the current crisis, including globalization, massive underreporting of catch, and the phenomenon of “shifting baselines,” in which, over time, important knowledge is lost about the state of the natural world.

Finally, Vanishing Fish provides practical recommendations for a way forward—a vision of a vibrant future where small-scale fisheries can supply the majority of the world’s fish.

Published in Partnership with the David Suzuki Institute

"Vallely transports the reader to places few will ever go: the very edges of the earth and of human endurance."
—Evan Solomon

In this gripping first-hand account, four seasoned adventurers navigate a sophisticated, high-tech rowboat across the Northwest Passage. One of the "last firsts" remaining in the adventure world, this journey is only possible because of the dramatic impacts of global warming in the high Arctic, which provide an ironic opportunity to draw attention to the growing urgency of climate change.

Along the way, the team repeatedly face life-threatening danger from storms unparalleled in their ferocity and unpredictability and bears witness to unprecedented changes in the Arctic habitat and inhabitants, while weathering gale-force vitriol from climate change deniers who have taken to social media to attack them and undermine their efforts.

Jurassic Park meets The Sixth Extinction in Rise of the Necrofauna, a provocative look at de-extinction from acclaimed documentarist and science writer Britt Wray.

A New Yorker “The Books We Loved in 2017” Selection
A Science News Favorite Book of 2017
A Sunday Times "Must Read"

What happens when you try to recreate a woolly mammoth—fascinating science, or conservation catastrophe?

In Rise of the Necrofauna, Wray takes us deep into the minds and labs of some of the world's most progressive thinkers to find out. She introduces us to renowned futurists like Stewart Brand and scientists like George Church, who are harnessing the powers of CRISPR gene editing in the hopes of "reviving" extinct passenger pigeons, woolly mammoths, and heath hens. She speaks with Nikita Zimov, who together with his eclectic father Sergey, is creating Siberia's Pleistocene Park—a daring attempt to rebuild the mammoth's ancient ecosystem in order to save earth from climate disaster. Through interviews with these and other thought leaders, Wray reveals the many incredible opportunities for research and conservation made possible by this emerging new field.

But we also hear from more cautionary voices, like those of researcher and award-winning author Beth Shapiro (How to Clone a Woolly Mammoth) and environmental philosopher Thomas van Dooren. Writing with passion and perspective, Wray delves into the larger questions that come with this incredible new science, reminding us that de-extinction could bring just as many dangers as it does possibilities. What happens, for example, when we bring an "unextinct" creature back into the wild? How can we care for these strange animals and ensure their comfort and safety—not to mention our own? And what does de-extinction mean for those species that are currently endangered? Is it really ethical to bring back an extinct passenger pigeon, for example, when countless other birds today will face the same fate?

By unpacking the many biological, technological, ethical, environmental, and legal questions raised by this fascinating new field, Wray offers a captivating look at the best and worst of resurrection science.

A captivating whirlwind tour through the birth and early life of the scientific idea known as “de-extinction.”—Beth Shapiro, author of How to Clone a Mammoth: The Science of De-Extinction

Published in Partnership with the David Suzuki Institute.

From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Hidden Life of Trees.

“The Inner Life of Animals will rock your world. This book shows us that animals think, feel and know in much the same way as we do.”—Sy Montgomery, bestselling author of The Soul of an Octopus

Through vivid stories of devoted pigs, two-timing magpies, and scheming roosters, The Inner Life of Animals weaves the latest scientific research into how animals interact with the world with Peter Wohlleben's personal experiences in forests and fields. We learn that horses feel shame, deer grieve, and goats discipline their kids. Ravens call their friends by name, rats regret bad choices, and butterflies choose the very best places for their children to grow up.

In this captivating book, Peter Wohlleben follows the hugely successful The Hidden Life of Trees with insightful stories into the emotions, feelings, and intelligence of animals around us. Animals are different from us in ways that amaze us—and they are also much closer to us than we ever would have thought.

“Wry, avuncular, careful and kind. . . Each story adds to a widening vision of intelligence, emotion and relationship.”—The Guardian

Published in Partnership with the David Suzuki Institute

"Zazie Todd has created a must-have guide to improving your cat's life."—Modern Cat Magazine

We all love our cats and we all want them to be happy. But making our cats happy isn't about buying them lots of things—it's about finding out what matters to them. In Purr, animal behavior expert Zazie Todd addresses every stage of your cat's life and offers surprising and effective advice for even the most experienced cat owner, all with the science to back it up.

In this indispensable book, "cat lovers learn the science behind cats' petting preferences; the multiple meanings of purrs, chirrups, and meows; how to best satisfy the scratching and stalking desires for indoor cats; and even how to keep both cats and wildlife safe if your felines spend time outside.'—Cat Warren, New York Times-bestselling author

Cat lovers will also discover how to:

• Enrich your cat's life through play and exercise
• Reduce anxiety and fear around your absence, visitors, and trips to the vet
• Train your kitten or cat without causing harm (i.e. don't use a spray bottle!)
• Provide for special needs like asthma
• Make senior cats comfortable
• And so much more!
• In Purr, Zazie Todd demystifies the feline-human relationship so you can form your special bond based on your cat's unique needs—all while learning lots and having fun together.

“Mr. Brunner’s winning book is a reassuring, nostalgic reminder that winter is the season of both play and regeneration.”—Wall Street Journal

In Winterlust, a farmer painstakingly photographs five thousand snowflakes, each one dramatically different from the next. Indigenous peoples thrive on frozen terrain, where famous explorers perish. Icicles reach deep underwater, then explode. Rooms warmed by crackling fires fill with scents of cinnamon, cloves, and pine. Skis carve into powdery slopes, and iceboats traverse glacial lakes.

This lovingly illustrated meditation on winter entwines the spectacular with the everyday, expertly capturing the essence of a beloved yet dangerous season, which is all the more precious in an era of climate change

“Brunner masterfully does in words what resilient and adventurous people have done in their lives for centuries; he finds beauty in blizzards and ice and the crystallized enchantment of snow.”
—Dan Egan, Pulitzer finalist and author of The Death and Life of the Great Lakes

The ultimate companion cookbook to The Diabetes Code from the New York Times-bestselling author and pioneer of intermittent fasting, Dr. Jason Fung.

Dr. Jason Fung helped thousands of people lose weight with his breakout bestseller The Obesity Code.

Next, he helped prevent and reverse type 2 diabetes with his groundbreaking book The Diabetes Code.

Now, The Diabetes Code Cookbook makes it even easier to follow Dr. Fung’s proven advice for preventing and reversing type 2 diabetes through intermittent fasting and a low carb/high-fat diet.

This cookbook features full-color photographs and includes:

• 100 simple and delicious recipes to help manage insulin and aid in weight loss
• Intermittent fasting schedules and plans (16, 24, 30, and 26-hour fasts)
• Grocery shopping lists
• A new intro from Dr. Fung with up-to-date information on insulin resistance and its connection to weight gain and type 2 diabetes

Readers will come away with knowledge of their health and an arsenal of mouthwatering meals—because eating for type 2 diabetes doesn’t have to be bland!

A lively introduction to voting, democracy, and activism for kids.

“The message of this book, which focuses on a student body’s divided opinion about an issue vital to its future, is that disagreements can lead to fruitful discussion, better understanding and great ideas.” —The New York Times

Should an ancient monkey puzzle tree be cut down to make room for exciting new classrooms? In this spirited picture book, students must work together to come to an agreement—but it’s not as easy as it seems!

On the first day back at school after the holidays, a group of classmates notice a construction crane parked next to the old monkey puzzle tree. The school principal says the tree will be cut down to make room for new science classrooms and computer labs. The classmates are divided, with some in favor of innovation, and others calling for the protection of the thousand-year-old tree. As they protest, march, fight, and strike, one teacher offers a solution: Why not hold a debate? The principal agrees, and at the end of the debate, a student vote will end the disagreement, once and for all—or will it?

Inspirational without being didactic, and filled with warm, lively illustrations, this wonderful introduction to the process of debate, listening, and collective decision-making will be read by young and old alike for years to come.

“A refreshing and timely reminder that disagreement can—and should—be productive.” —Kirkus

An Aldana Libros Book, Greystone Kids

A radiant, unforgettable memoir of one woman’s 450 days spent in captivity, and her defiant refusal to have her humanity stripped away. 

When Edith meets Luca in a small Northern town, the two connect instantly. Under the Northern Lights, they develop a deep friendship over their shared passions: travel, living off the land, a bohemian life. In search of wanderlust, they embark on an epic road trip from Italy to Togo, where they will join their friend’s sustainable farming project. Upon arriving on the African continent, they change their itinerary and drive through Africa’s Sahel region, a haven for militant groups, where they are surrounded and captured. Little was known about Edith’s and Luca’s fate until they reappeared in Mali more than one year later, having mysteriously escaped their captors. 

Now, Edith shares her harrowing story with the world for the first time—complete with the poems that became a lifeline for her in captivity, which she wrote in secret with a pen borrowed from another hostage. 

Against the stunning but cruel backdrop of the desert, Edith recounts her months as a hostage: the oppressive heat, violent sandstorms, constant relocations, hunger strikes, and her eventual heart-pounding escape. Separated from Luca early on, she finds solidarity and comfort with a group of other female hostages, who lend her a pen to write poetry, a creative outlet that helps save her life. Edith is steadfast in her will to remain sane: she reveals her dedication to her art, and her striking ability to unsettle her captors and identify their vulnerabilities.

A compelling descent into a strange, brutal universe, The Weight of Sand is ultimately a life-affirming book and a poetic celebration of one woman’s resilience.

“[A] powerful account of the sexism cooked into medical care ... will motivate readers to advocate for themselves.”—Publishers Weekly STARRED Review

A groundbreaking and feminist work of investigative reporting:

• Explains why women experience healthcare differently than men
• Shares the author’s journey of fighting for an endometriosis diagnosis

In Pain and Prejudice, acclaimed investigative reporter Gabrielle Jackson takes readers behind the scenes of doctor’s offices, pharmaceutical companies, and research labs to show that—at nearly every level of healthcare—men’s health claims are treated as default, whereas women’s are often viewed as a-typical, exaggerated, and even completely fabricated. The impacts of this bias? Women are losing time, money, and their lives trying to navigate a healthcare system designed for men. 

Almost all medical research today is performed on men or male mice, making most treatments tailored to male bodies only. Even conditions that are overwhelmingly more common in women, such as chronic pain, are researched on mostly male bodies. Doctors and researchers who do specialize in women’s healthcare are penalized financially, as procedures performed on men pay higher. Meanwhile, women are reporting feeling ignored and dismissed at their doctor’s offices on a regular basis.

Jackson interweaves these and more stunning revelations in the book with her own story of suffering from endometriosis, a condition that affects up to 20% of American women but is poorly understood and frequently misdiagnosed. She also includes an up-to-the-minute epilogue on the ways that Covid-19 are impacting women in different and sometimes more long-lasting ways than men. 

A rich combination of journalism and personal narrative, Pain and Prejudice reveals a dangerously flawed system and offers solutions for a safer, more equitable future.

“Kids and adult alike will love poring over the different sections of this book and will delight in informing their friends and family members of the facts they've learned.”—School Library Journal ★

A perfect book for engaging kids in STEM: This illustrated tour of our “leftover” body parts (like the appendix, or even goosebumps) introduces readers age 7-11 to the bizarre and fascinating science of evolution. 

Welcome to the weirdest museum you’ll ever explore—the one inside your body. 

Did you know your amazing, incredible body is a walking, talking museum of evolution? In The Museum of Odd Body Leftovers, tour guides Wisdom Tooth and Disappearing Kidney lead readers through a wacky museum dedicated to vestigial structures: body parts that were essential to our ancestors but are no longer useful to us—even though they’re still hanging around. 

From goosebumps and hiccups to exploding organs and monkey muscles, each room in the museum shows us that these parts have stories to tell us about our past. By the time we make it to the gift shop, we’ll understand that evolution is not only messy and imperfect, but also ongoing. Our bodies are constantly changing along with the environment we live in—and there’s so much that is still unknown, just waiting to be discovered. 

Engaging, hilarious, and a visual treat, The Museum of Odd Body Leftovers is a place you’ll want to visit again and again.

“Winning and wondrous, this picture book is a compelling appreciation of neurodiversity.”
—Kirkus (Starred Review) 

A lyrical and moving celebration of neurodiversity and self-discovery, from the award-winning author of The Bone Sparrow.

With the Curiosities, a whole world of wonder awaits… 

One morning, at dawn, the Curiosities choose Miro to nest on. At first, he doesn’t notice. They blend in, perching on his shoulder and nuzzling into his hair. Over time, Miro discovers that he sees and feels things differently than everyone else around him. 

The Curiosities show Miro an extraordinary world. He weaves clouds to make stories for the wind, and marvels at the wonders waiting in the shadows where no one else looks. Sometimes, though, the Curiosities make Miro feel lost and alone: they shriek and roar, and are so bright and overwhelming that he feels invisible. 

But perhaps Miro isn’t as alone as he thinks... and maybe the Curiosities have chosen other people as well. 

This gentle, heart-touching story from award-winning children’s book author Zana Fraillon is a nuanced portrait of emotions, self-expression, and empathy. Complete with Phil Lesnie’s gorgeous art that draws on legends from his Filipino heritage, The Curiosities celebrates the varied perspectives that come with being neurodivergent and contains the triumphant reminder that those who see and experience the world differently have always been here.

“The powerful origin story of one of Yellowstone’s greatest and most famous wolves.” —Washington Post

“[The Rise of Wolf 8] is a goldmine for information on all aspects of wolf behavior and clearly shows they are clever, smart, and emotional beings.” —Marc Bekoff, Psychology Today

Yellowstone National Park was once home to an abundance of wild wolves—but park rangers killed the last of their kind in the 1920s. Decades later, the rangers brought them back, with the first wolves arriving from Canada in 1995.

This is the incredible true story of one of those wolves.

Wolf 8 struggles at first—he is smaller than the other pups, and often bullied—but soon he bonds with an alpha female whose mate was shot. An unusually young alpha male, barely a teenager in human years, Wolf 8 rises to the occasion, hunting skillfully, and even defending his family from the wolf who killed his father. But soon he faces a new opponent: his adopted son, who mates with a violent alpha female. Can Wolf 8 protect his valley without harming his protégé?

Authored by a renowned wolf researcher and gifted storyteller, The Rise of Wolf 8 marks the beginning of The Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone series, which will transform our view of wolves forever.

The bonds among republican citizens are created, in part, through the stories told and retold as the foundational myths of the republic. In this book, Melissa Matthes takes advantage of the way in which republican theorists in different eras—Livy, Machiavelli, and Rousseau—retell the story of the rape of Lucretia to support their own conceptions of republicanism.

The recurring presentation of this story as theater by these different theorists reveals not only the performative elements of republicanism but, as Matthes argues, adds to Hannah Arendt’s emphasis on the oral dimensions of speech and hearing the important idea of public space as a visual field.

Lucretia’s story also helps illuminate the gendering of republicanism, particularly the aspects of violence and subordination that lie at its very origin. By focusing attention on this underlying and deeply gendered quality of republics, Matthes brings republican theory into fruitful dialogue with feminism.

“An admiring portrait of a father's example and an introduction to the rainforest.”
—Wall Street Journal

A young boy shares exciting facts and stories about the peoples, plants, and animals who inhabit the Amazon rainforest.

In this original, uplifting book from one of Argentina’s most acclaimed children’s writers, a young boy records his dad’s stories of the Amazonian jungle in his journal. As he does, he can’t help but compare his own life. When you visit the rainforest, you should ask the Sápara peoples for permission and be respectful, just like when you visit your neighbor in the city. Smoked fish is delicious in the rainforest—but hard to make in your bedroom. The rainforest is like a great big house for plants, animals, and spirits, but it’s disappearing, little by little. Filling his journal with imaginative drawings and words, the boy decides what he would do if he visited the rainforest: Invite the spirits for donuts and hot cocoa!

Inspired by the author’s volunteer efforts to assist the Sápara peoples in protecting an endangered bird, When My Dad Went to the Jungle portrays a young boy exploring big ideas about the natural world. As he journals, the young boy realizes that, even though life for the Sápara peoples is very different from his own, a little bit of the rainforest lives inside of all of us. If we let it grow, then we will always respect the lands we walk, gather, and play on.

An Aldana Libros book

From the author of the New York Times-bestseller The Hidden Life of Trees comes this spirited picture book, which shares the true story of how trees communicate, feel, and grow.

“A beautiful reminder of the importance of preserving natural forests and landscapes for the benefit of all the creatures who live there.”
—School Library Journal starred review

Piet the squirrel feels all alone in his forest home. Luckily, Peter the Forester has the perfect plan to cheer him up: a search for tree children. You can’t be lonely in a forest full of friends! As they wander, Peter shares amazing facts about trees, how they communicate and care for each other, and the struggles they endure. Soon, the little squirrel is feeling much better—especially when he realizes he’s helped the tree children grow.

This environmentally conscious picture book, written by acclaimed author and forester Peter Wohlleben, brings the majesty of The Hidden Life of Trees to the youngest of readers everywhere.

A renowned sexologist shows us we’re not alone when it comes to problems of sex and love.

Ann-Marlene Henning has improved the sex lives of thousands through her TV show and advice blog. Now, readers can experience her sought-after talk therapy in Let’s Talk About Sex, which illuminates common bedroom plights with real client stories. Meeting with couples of diverse identities and sexual orientations, Henning offers a rare window into the therapist’s mind. She shares her first impressions, explains her thinking as she decides what to ask now (and what to save for later), and solves problems that range from disagreements over fetishes to a lackluster sex life.

The result is a timely portrait of modern sex, one that raises as many questions as it offers real, tangible solutions.

Readers of Stolen Focus and Quiet will appreciate this wide-ranging and passionate investigation into creativity: Why and when it strikes us, and how to transform workplaces, classrooms, and societies for creativity to flourish.

After a cycling crash leaves her head spinning, journalist Hilde Østby finds herself suddenly bursting with creative energy—which makes her wonder: What’s the secret to human creativity? Where do ideas come from? And most importantly: in a society that praises productivity and pace, how can we nurture, rather than suppress, our creative impulses?

Using Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as her inspiration, Østby takes readers tumbling down the rabbit hole of ideas. The Key to Creativity features:

• Interviews with powerhouse creatives—like journalist Michael Pollan, novelist Maja Lunde, and artist Tracey Emin—and decodings of their creative regimens.
• The cultural history and science behind our “aha” moments, our inner critics, and our idle thoughts.
• Information on how to foster your creative potential: Østby shares how we can cultivate more creativity in our lives through prioritizing daydreaming and valuing productivity less.

With the charm of Alice exploring Wonderland and meeting its curious inhabitants, The Key to Creativity invites us to imagine a world where daydreaming is encouraged and even our strangest ideas have value.

• How to engage with nature in fun and respectful ways
• Connection and empathy with living things
• Mindfulness, observation, and imagination

This up-close, captivating look at an iconic animal traces our complex relationship to bears throughout history—and what they can tell us about ourselves. 

On Being a Bear draws on history, legends, scientific studies, and the author’s thirty years of observing bears around the world to offer a richly detailed biography of these iconic animals, including the many ways bears have figured in our lives and imaginations.

As author Rémy Marion tells us, some cultures view bears as our wild cousins—as humans cloaked in fur—while others cast bears as cuddly characters in cartoons or seek to eradicate their grizzled forms from civilization. Scientists have made new discoveries into bears’ varied diets, their powerful sense of smell, and a mother bear’s stubborn patience with her cubs. Bears play a vital role in our ecosystems, and new studies into bear hibernation could lead to medical breakthroughs for humans. Offering these and more astonishing insights, On Being a Bear brings readers face-to-face with these long admired, feared, and misunderstood animals, and sets the record straight through a combination of thrilling science and expert storytelling.

Entre dos montañas, cerca de un arroyo, en medio de la nada, se encuentra una escuela sin patio de juegos, gimnasio, biblioteca, ni computadoras. Como dice la niña que nos cuenta está historia: “Nuestra escuela no tiene casi nada. Un pizarrón, unas sillas”.

Pero en esta escuela hay algo que nadie más tiene: una maestra como ninguna otra en el mundo. “Ahí está siempre, en la puerta de la escuela esperándonos en la mañana”, dice la niña.

El día en que se desarrolla esta historia, la maestra lleva a sus alumnos afuera y les pide que dibujen algo grande y puntiagudo escondido entre los árboles. A medida que los estudiantes observan de cerca, comienzan a comprender lo que están viendo… ¡pero, entonces, la maestra ya está señalando a la próxima bestia magnífica!

Este inspirador e ingenioso libro hará que cualquier niño tenga el inmenso deseo de asistir a esta escuela especial y recibir lecciones de esta extraordinaria maestra.

¿Y quién dice que esto no puede suceder en todas partes?

An Aldana Libros Book, Greystone Kids

Christianity has become the most practiced religion among the Chinese in America, but very little solid research exists on Chinese Christians and their churches. This book is the first to explore the subject from the inside, revealing how Chinese Christians construct and reconstruct their identity—as Christians, Americans, and Chinese—in local congregations amid the radical pluralism of the late twentieth century.

Today there are more than one thousand Chinese churches in the United States, most of them Protestant evangelical congregations, bringing together diasporic Chinese from diverse origins—Taiwan, Hong Kong, mainland China, and Southeast Asian countries. Fenggang Yang finds that despite the many tensions and conflicts that exist within these congregations, most individuals find ways to creatively integrate their evangelical Christian beliefs with traditional Chinese (most Confucian) values. The church becomes a place where they can selectively assimilate into American society while simultaneously preserving Chinese values and culture.

Yang brings to this study unique experience as both participant and observer. Born in mainland China, he is a sociologist who converted to Christianity after coming to the United States. The heart of this book is an ethnographic study of a representative Chinese church, located in Washington, D. C., where he became a member. Throughout the book, Yang draws upon interviews with members of this congregation while making comparisons with other churches throughout the United States. Chinese Christians in America is an important addition to the literature on the experience of "new" immigrant communities.

This “heartbreaking … powerful work” (★ School Library Journal) introduces the contemporary issue of forced disappearances to readers 10 and up—with “deceptively simple black line drawings” and “unsentimental bilingual text” (★ Kirkus).

By a closed door, a child waits for his uncle, who is coming to stay. As he waits, he imagines all the fun things they’ll do when he arrives: his uncle can teach him how to block a penalty shot and the boy can show him how well he is doing in school. But his uncle never arrives. Page by page, the boy grows older sitting in the same position, waiting to show his uncle his degree, his son, and eventually, his granddaughter. And still, his uncle does not come. 

A bilingual edition, with both Spanish and English text,My Uncle Is Coming Tomorrow is dedicated to the forcibly disappeared who were never able to come home, and depicts the devastating impact on their loved ones who are left behind. 

An excellent resource for learning about the history of forced disappearances, this gentle but effective book includes an afterword that explains the act of “disappearing people”: how it developed over the course of the twentieth century as a tool of political terror, and how people continue to be disappeared today.

An Aldana Libros Book, Greystone Kids

Is there a single right interpretation for such cultural phenomena as works of literature, visual artworks, works of music, the self, and legal and sacred texts? In these essays, almost all written especially for this volume, twenty leading philosophers pursue different answers to this question by examining the nature of interpretation and its objects and ideals.

The fundamental conflict between positions that universally require the ideal of a single admissible interpretation (singularism) and those that allow a multiplicity of some admissible interpretations (multiplism) leads to a host of engrossing questions explored in these essays: Does multiplism invite interpretive anarchy? Can opposing interpretations be jointly defended? Should competition between contending interpretations be understood in terms of (bivalent) truth or (multivalent) reasonableness, appropriateness, aptness, or the like? Is interpretation itself an essentially contested concept? Does interpretive activity seek truth or aim at something else as well? Should one focus on interpretive acts rather than interpretations? Should admissible interpretations be fixed by locating intentions of a historical or hypothetical creator, or neither? What bearing does the fact of the historical situatedness of cultural entities have on their identities?

The contributors are Annette Barnes, Noël Carroll, Stephen Davies, Susan Feagin, Alan Goldman, Charles Guignon, Chhanda Gupta, Garry Hagberg, Michael Krausz, Peter Lamarque, Jerrold Levinson, Joseph Margolis, Rex Martin, Jitendra Mohanty, David Novitz, Philip Percival, Torsten Pettersson, Robert Stecker, Laurent Stern, and Paul Thom.

• How trees talk to each other (hint: through the wood wide web!)
• Why trees are important in the city
• How trees make us healthy and strong
• How trees get sick, and how we can help them get better

• Engaging informational side bars with wild facts about mushrooms (such as how some are so strong they can grow through cement, and others can glow in the dark!)
• Backmatter that dives further into the science
• Important life lessons (including how to help each other and keep our homes clean)

• A better understanding of your own hormones and how they factor in menopause and your overall health;

• Confidence to speak your truth about your menopause symptoms to your doctor, other health professionals, your family, and friends;

• Zero bull-sh*t tips for nutrition, fitness, vagina health, sex, and more.