Family and friends gather on a New England beach to savor the wonderful foods at a clambake.

In a Maine coastal village toward the end of the 19th century, swaggering, carefree carnival barker Billy Bigelow captivates and marries naive millworker Julie Jordan. Billy loses his job just as he learns that Julie is pregnant, and – desperately intent upon providing a decent life for his family – he is coerced into being an accomplice to a robbery. Caught in the act and facing the certainty of prison, he takes his own life and is sent “up there.” Billy is allowed to return to earth for one day 15 years later, and he encounters the daughter he never knew. She is a lonely, friendless teenager, her father's reputation as a thief and bully having haunted her throughout her young life. How Billy instills a sense of hope and dignity in both the child and her mother is a dramatic testimony to the power of love. It's easy to understand why, of all the shows they created, Carousel was Rodgers and Hammerstein's personal favorite.

Offers more than 450 recipes for formal, informal, and family entertaining and suggestions for making any occasion special

New York Times Bestseller: “Both revelatory and entertaining . . . Along the way, Viertel provides some fascinating Broadway history.” —The New York Times Book Review Americans invented musicals—and have a longstanding love affair with them. But what, exactly, is a musical? In this book, longtime theatrical producer and writer Jack Viertel takes them apart, puts them back together, sings their praises, and occasionally despairs over their more embarrassing shortcomings. In the process, he shows us how musicals happen, what makes them work, how they captivate audiences, and how one landmark show leads to the next—by design or by accident, by emulation or by rebellion—from Oklahoma! to Hamilton and onward. Beginning with an overture and concluding with a curtain call, with stops in between for “I Want” songs, “conditional” love songs, production numbers, star turns, and finales, Viertel shows us patterns in the architecture of classic shows and charts the inevitable evolution that has taken place in musical theater as America itself has evolved socially and politically. The Secret Life of the American Musical makes you feel like you’re there in the rehearsal room, the front row, and the offices of theater owners and producers as they pursue their own love affair with that rare and elusive beast—the Broadway hit. “A valuable addition to the theater lover’s bookshelf. . . . fans will appreciate the dips into memoir and Viertel’s takes on original cast albums.” —Publishers Weekly “Even seasoned hands will come away with a clearer understanding of why some shows work while others flop.” —Commentary “A showstopper . . . infectiously entertaining.” —John Lahr, author of Notes on a Cowardly Lion “Thoroughly interesting.” —The A.V. Club “The best general-audience analysis of musical theater I have read in many years.” —The Charlotte Observer “Delightful . . . a little bit history, a little bit memoir, a little bit criticism and, for any theater fan, a whole lot of fun.” —The Dallas Morning News

This new second edition of Enchanted Evenings offers theater lovers an illuminating behind-the-scenes tour of some of America's best loved, most admired, and most enduring musicals. Readers will find such all-time favorites as Show Boat, Carousel, Kiss Me, Kate, Guys and Dolls, My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, and Phantom of the Opera. Geoffrey Block provides a documentary history of each of the musicals, showing how each work took shape and revealing, at the same time, how the American musical evolved from the 1920s to today, both on stage and on screen. The book's particular focus is on the music, offering a wealth of detail about how librettist, lyricist, composer, and director work together to shape the piece. Block also includes trenchant social commentary and lively backstage anecdotes. Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, the Gershwins, Rodgers and Hart, Kurt Weill, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, Frank Loesser, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and other luminaries emerge as hardworking craftsmen under enormous pressure to sell tickets without compromising their dramatic vision. The second edition includes a greatly expanded chapter on Sondheim, a new chapter on Lloyd Webber, and two new chapters on the film adaptations of the main musicals featured in the text (including such hard to find films as the original 1936 version of Anything Goes and the 1959 film adaptation of Porgy and Bess). Packed with information, including a complete discography and plot synopses and song-by-song scenic outlines for each of the fourteen shows, Enchanted Evenings is an essential reference as well as a riveting history. "A solid and fascinating work that should become a model of how to investigate and report on the evolution of a musical. Block's research is persuasive and his writing vivid. . . Indispensable for anyone who cares to know more about Broadway musicals than Playbill can provide." --Steven Bach, The Los Angeles Times Book Review

The New York Times–bestselling novel of two women and their enduring friendship—the basis for the classic film starring Bette Midler. Loudmouthed, redheaded Cee Cee Bloom has her sights set on Hollywood. Bertie White, quiet and conservative, dreams of getting married and having children. In 1951, their childhood worlds collide in Atlantic City. Keeping in touch as pen pals, they reunite over the years . . . always near the ocean. Powerful and moving, this novel follows Cee Cee and Bertie’s extraordinary friendship over the course of thirty years as they transform from adolescents into adults. As they take divergent paths in life, they experience marriage and motherhood, triumph and heartbreak, and a beautiful friendship that stands the test of time. A bestselling novel that became a hugely successful film, Beaches is funny, heartbreaking, and a tale that should be a part of every woman’s library.

THE STORY: The play deals with the post-college careers (and dilemmas) of two former classmates, a short, slightly plump would-be writer named Janie Blumberg, and her tall, thin gorgeous WASP friend, Harriet Cornwall. Both are struggling to escape

This unforgettable new voice in contemporary YA is perfect for fans of John Green, Libba Bray, and Jennifer Niven. “Like nothing you’ve read before.” —Bustle.com No one is more surprised than Leigh when her father buys a graveyard. Less shocking is the fact that he’s too lazy to look farther than the dinner table for employees. Working the literal graveyard shift, she becomes great at predicting headstone choice (mostly granite) and taking notes with one hand while offering Kleenex with the other. Sarcastic and smart, Leigh should be able to quit this stupid after-school job. But her world’s been turned upside down by the sudden loss of her best friend and the appearance of Dario, the slightly-too-old-for-her gravedigger. Can Leigh move on, if moving on means it’s time to get a life? Funny and heart-wrenchingly beautiful, Jennifer Longo’s YA debut about a girl surrounded by death will change the way you look at friendship, love, and life. More Praise for Six Feet Over It: A Washington State Book Award Finalist A VOYA Perfect Tens 2014 Pick An Indies Introduce New Voices Pick “Equal parts poignant and humorous. . . . Superb.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred “A vibrant voice. . . . Readers will rejoice.” —The Bulletin, Starred “A unique book for unique teens.” —Booklist “Darkly funny and deeply moving. An original, memorable voice.” —Jennifer L. Holm, New York Times bestselling author “A wildly funny coming-of-age story about life, love, death, and everything in between.” —Sarah McCarry, author of All Our Pretty Songs “Terrific. Longo had me at ‘graveyard’ and then dug me in deeper with wit, dark humor, and splendid characters.” —Lisa Brown, New York Times bestselling author “A strong heroine, multicultural cast, and eclectic contemporary setting make Longo’s story stand out.” —Publishers Weekly “Stands out for its unusual setting and also the sarcasm and caustic humor of its protagonist.” —The Horn Book Review “Hilarious, clever, and poignant.” —SLJ

In the 12 months of 1945, the world was radically reshaped: both Hitler’s Germany and imperial Japan fell to Allied armies, in scenes of death and destruction that still defy belief. A new world order began to emerge, as the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. began their long Cold War duel, the United Nations was founded, and Europe’s colonial empires began to collapse. New technologies unleashed by the war—radar, computers, rockets and atomic power—began to revolutionize our lives. At home, millions flocked to new suburban homes, television began to replace radio, and returning vets sparked an era-defining “baby boom.” Now TIME captures all these earth-shaking events in 1945: The Year That Changed the World. Join us as vintage photos, illuminating graphics and fascinating “then and now” stories recapture the sense of turmoil, hope and change that followed history’s greatest conflict.