From Pulitzer Prize - winning Washington Post reporter Steve Fainaru comes an unforgettable journey into Iraq's parallel war - a world filled with tens of thousands of armed men roaming Iraq with impunity, doing jobs the military can't or won't do. Fainaru reveals in gritty and shocking detail what drives these men to do the world's most dangerous work.

In this outstanding, funny, and edgy debut, Going tells an engaging story of two unlikely friends who meet when a high-school dropout talks a boy out of suicide--and who ultimately save each other.

Twelve-year-old Catherine just wants a normal life. Which is near impossible when you have a brother with autism and a family that revolves around his disability. She's spent years trying to teach David the rules from a peach is not a funny-looking apple to keep your pants on in public---in order to head off David's embarrassing behaviors. But the summer Catherine meets Jason, a surprising, new sort-of friend, and Kristi, the next-door friend she's always wished for, it's her own shocking behavior that turns everything upside down and forces her to ask: What is normal?

The life of Steve Ballmer is an incredible story of tremendous ambition, genius, arrogance, and charisma, an up-by-the-bootstraps saga of how the child of immigrants growing up in suburban Michigan became the only American billionaire to acquire his wealth working for someone else. In the tradition of The New New Thing and The Silicon Boys, Bad Boy Ballmer will tell this story of a man so shamelessly arrogant that he told reporters "to heck with Janet Reno," so intense and aggressive that he ripped his vocal cords by talking to loudly. In this revealing biography -- based on in-depth study and interviews with Microsoft insiders -- Fredric Alan Maxwell provides the complete, controversial narrative of one of the technology industry's most influential, talked-about figures: Steven Anthony Ballmer, the awkward Detroit Country Day School valedictorian who rose to become Microsoft's president, and in the past two years, its CEO. Together with Bill Gates, Ballmer leads the company he and Gates took from less than 30 employees to some 50,000, and annual revenues from $12 million to more than $20 billion and rising. A balanced portrait, this book reveals the good boy Ballmer -- the dedicated son who once took three months off to care for his ailing parents, and the bad boy Ballmer -- the ruthless businessman who at the same time devised and led a scorched earth policy against other software developers, a policy that earned him the nickname "The Em-balmer." Bad Boy Ballmer is also the definitive story of the Bill Gates/Steve Ballmer relationship, from their 1974 meeting at a Harvard dorm to the present. Providing fresh insights into the longstanding bond between this odd couple, who describe their relationship as a marriage, the book will show how Ballmer and Gates work together to form Microsoft's ego and id. Or, as former competitor, Novell's Ray Noorda calls them, "the Pearly Gates and the Emballmer: one promises you heaven, the other prepares you for the grave." One half of the new economy's most powerful partnership, Ballmer's greatest accomplishment, Bad Boy Ballmer shows, may be putting up with Gates for over two decades. Eye-opening and thorough, Bad Boy Ballmer is a shocking look at one of the masterminds of the technological age.

When Lieutenant Commander Heidi Kraft's twin son and daughter were fifteen months old, she was deployed to Iraq. A clinical psychologist in the US Navy, Kraft's job was to uncover the wounds of war that a surgeon would never see. She put away thoughts of her children back home, acclimated to the sound of incoming rockets, and learned how to listen to the most traumatic stories a war zone has to offer. One of the toughest lessons of her deployment was perfectly articulated by the TV show M*A*S*H: "There are two rules of war. Rule number one is that young men die. Rule number two is that doctors can't change rule number one." Some Marines, Kraft realized, and even some of their doctors, would be damaged by war in ways she could not repair. And sometimes, people were repaired in ways she never expected. Rule Number Two is a powerful firsthand account of providing comfort admidst the chaos of war, and of what it takes to endure.

"I've learned it takes heart to come out a winner every time, whether you win or lose." -- Michael Jordan Jonathan wants to win more than anything. But the Badgers haven't seen much of that lately. For Jonathan, the only good thing about the baseball season is being on the same team as his best friend, Michael. Jonathan wants to believe in himself and his team, but it's getting harder to do. Then when Michael's uncle Jack tells the boys about his golden rules of baseball, Jonathan is confused. What could Uncle Jack mean -- there is more to a good game than winning or losing? Deloris and Roslyn M. Jordan, mother and sister of basketball superstar Michael Jordan, tell a family story of personal best, friendship, and teamwork that will inspire. Kadir Nelson's radiant illustrations illuminate this story of what it really means to be a champion.

A landmark book that reveals the way boys think and that shows parents, educators and coaches how to reach out and help boys overcome their most common and difficult challenges -- by the bestselling author who changed our conception of adolescent girls. Do you constantly struggle to pull information from your son, student, or athlete, only to encounter mumbling or evasive assurances such as “It’s nothing” or “I’m good?” Do you sense that the boy you care about is being bullied, but that he’ll do anything to avoid your “help?” Have you repeatedly reminded him that schoolwork and chores come before video games only to spy him reaching for the controller as soon as you leave the room? Have you watched with frustration as your boy flounders with girls? Welcome to Boy World. It’s a place where asking for help or showing emotional pain often feels impossible. Where sports and video games can mean everything, but working hard in school frequently earns ridicule from “the guys” even as they ask to copy assignments. Where “masterminds” dominate and friends ruthlessly insult each other but can never object when someone steps over the line. Where hiding problems from adults is the ironclad rule because their involvement only makes situations worse. Boy world is governed by social hierarchies and a powerful set of unwritten rules that have huge implications for your boy’s relationships, his interactions with you, and the man he’ll become. If you want what’s best for him, you need to know what these rules are and how to work with them effectively. What you’ll find in Masterminds and Wingmen is critically important for every parent – or anyone who cares about boys – to know. Collaborating with a large team of middle- and high-school-age editors, Rosalind Wiseman has created an unprecedented guide to the life your boy is actually experiencing – his on-the-ground reality. Not only does Wiseman challenge you to examine your assumptions, she offers innovative coping strategies aimed at helping your boy develop a positive, authentic, and strong sense of self.

Young Percy Isaac Gifford provides a list of ten rules for getting the most out of Thanksgiving Day, especially how best to enjoy the buffet.

Put down your sissy drink with its umbrella, get off your backside, and square yourself away. Get fit, get a job, and get yourself some self-respect. America’s favorite, most in-your-face sarge is going to show you how to get squared away like a Marine. R. Lee “Gunny” Ermey, of The History Channel’s Mail Call, takes time out from telling viewers all about military technology, to tell readers all about life. Men today are facing a crisis of emasculation. Gunny is here to tell you how to fight back and save your dignity: by taking control of your own damn life. First, he teaches you how to get fit, stay fit, and defend yourself. Then, he teaches you how to conduct yourself the way real men do: with assertiveness but also with wisdom and courtesy. Finally, Gunny motivates you to use your new fitness and new attitude to live life like a man of honor: to work hard, reach for high goals, and set an example with your life. Gunny’s Rules is the ultimate guide for anyone who wants to live life like one of the toughest of the tough—like a Marine.

School's in session! When it comes to surviving school, Percy's at the head of the class. If you can follow his ten simple rules, making the grade will be a piece of cake (and school will be a lot of fun). But there's more to school than showing up on time and staying awake in class. If you have any doubts, Percy also shows exactly what not to do. No spitballs! No running in the halls! No bouncing off the ceiling! No crazy scheming! See what other trouble—and tips—Percy has in mind!