First settled in the 1600s, the present-day village of Franklin Square developed as a German-speaking farming community in the late 1800s. The fertile farmland of Franklin Square supplied New York City with all types of fresh produce into the mid-20th century, when waves of suburban growth transformed fields into residential neighborhoods. Franklin Square's rich history exemplifies the larger trends in America's history. George Washington visited in 1790, and the poet Walt Whitman taught in the local school in 1840. The Franklin Square National Bank invented a new type of walk-up window as well as the bank credit card, eventually becoming the 18th-largest bank in the United States. A native son orbited the earth on the space shuttle.

From the author of Paris Never Leaves You, Ellen Feldman's The Living and the Lost is a gripping story of a young German Jewish woman who returns to Allied Occupied Berlin from America to face the past and unexpected future “A deeply satisfying and truly adult novel.” —Margot Livesey, New York Times best-selling author of The Flight of Gemma Hardy Millie (Meike) Mosbach and her brother David, manage to escape to the States just before Kristallnacht, leaving their parents and little sister in Berlin. Millie attends Bryn Mawr on a special scholarship for non-Aryan German girls and graduates to a magazine job in Philadelphia. David enlists in the army and is eventually posted to the top-secret Camp Ritchie in Maryland, which trains German-speaking men for intelligence work. Now they are both back in their former hometown, haunted by ghosts and hoping against hope to find their family. Millie, works in the office responsible for rooting out the most dedicated Nazis from publishing; she is consumed with rage at her former country and its citizens, though she is finding it more difficult to hate in proximity. David works trying to help displaced persons build new lives, while hiding his more radical nighttime activities from his sister. Like most of their German-born American colleagues, they suffer from conflicts of rage and guilt at their own good fortune, except for Millie’s boss, Major Harry Sutton, who seems much too eager to be fair to the Germans. Living and working in bombed-out Berlin, a latter day Wild West where drunken soldiers brawl; the desperate prey on the unsuspecting; spies ply their trade; werewolves, as unrepentant Nazis were called, scheme to rise again; black markets thrive, and forbidden fraternization is rampant, Millie must come to terms with a decision she made as a girl in a moment of crisis, and with the enigmatic sometimes infuriating Major Sutton who is mysteriously understanding of her demons. Atmospheric and page-turning, The Living and the Lost is a story of love, survival, and forgiveness of others and of self.

In the April of 1945, exactly two years before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in major league baseball, liberal Boston City Councilman Izzy Muchnick persuaded the Red Sox to try out three black players in return for a favorable vote to allow the team to play on Sundays. The Red Sox got the councilman’s much-needed vote, but the tryout was a sham; the three players would get no closer to the major leagues. It was a lost battle in a war that was ultimately won by Robinson in 1947. This book tells the story of the little-known heroes who fought segregation in baseball, from communist newspaper reporters to the Pullman car porters who saw to it that black newspapers espousing integration in professional sports reached the homes of blacks throughout the country. It also reminds us that the first black player in professional baseball was not Jackie Robinson but Moses Fleetwood Walker in 1884, and that for a time integrated teams were not that unusual. And then, as segregation throughout the country hardened, the exclusion of blacks in baseball quietly became the norm, and the battle for integration began anew.

A gorgeous visual celebration of America's public libraries including 150 photos, plus essays by Bill Moyers, Ann Patchett, Anne Lamott, Amy Tan, Barbara Kingsolver, and many more. Many of us have vivid recollections of childhood visits to a public library: the unmistakable musty scent, the excitement of checking out a stack of newly discovered books. Today, the more than 17,000 libraries in America also function as de facto community centers offering free access to the internet, job-hunting assistance, or a warm place to take shelter. And yet, across the country, cities large and small are closing public libraries or curtailing their hours of operation. Over the last eighteen years, photographer Robert Dawson has crisscrossed the country documenting hundreds of these endangered institutions. The Public Library presents a wide selection of Dawson's photographs— from the majestic reading room at the New York Public Library to Allensworth, California's one-room Tulare County Free Library built by former slaves. Accompanying Dawson's revealing photographs are essays, letters, and poetry by some of America's most celebrated writers. A foreword by Bill Moyers and an afterword by Ann Patchett bookend this important survey of a treasured American institution.

Pascuala Herrera, a Mexican immigrant woman with a physical disability resulting from childhood polio, had the odds against her, yet she conquered simply by working hard, having unfailing faith, and finding her own life purpose. Although her mother always told her that "life was a valley of tears," Pascuala learned that although there were many difficult moments in her life, there were also beautiful miracles that happened every day. Pascuala Herrera tells her life's narrative with honest painful stories, simple yet joyous triumphs, and humor that will lead all readers to embrace their own struggles and realize that life is "Not Always a Valley of Tears." From being a child crawling in the streets of her pueblo in Mexico to becoming a successful educator in the United States, she proved that everything is possible. This autobiography covers many facets of the human experience - race, health, disability, religion, poverty, immigration, access to medical care, education, disability rights, miscarriage, adoption, and much more. For supplemental materials for the book, please visit pascualaherrera.com.

An in-depth look at the United States Marine Corps-in the New York Times bestselling tradition of Submarine, Armored Cav, and Fighter Wing Only the best of the best can be Marines. And only Tom Clancy can tell their story--the fascinating real-life facts more compelling than any fiction. Clancy presents a unique insider's look at the most hallowed branch of the Armed Forces, and the men and women who serve on America's front lines. Marine includes: An interview with the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Charles "Chuck" Krulak The tools and technology of the Marine Expeditionary Unit The role of the Marines in the present and future world An in-depth look at recruitment and training Exclusive photographs, illustrations, and diagrams

Under the auspices of one of the world's premier libraries, The New York Public Library Science Desk Reference offers the most comprehensive single volume available of frequently needed information on science. More than a simple dictionary or encyclopedia yet easier to use and understand than a textbook, it offers an enormous wealth of information on each of the major scientific disciplines, including: topic overviews, definitions of terms and theories, lists and descriptions of key scientists and discoveries, tables and charts of commonly needed scientific data, lists of additional sources of information...and lots more. Best of all, this reference is written and designed to be both accurate and accessible. More than 100 original state-of-the-art computer illustrations illuminate the text, while countless sidebars present information on connected topics, and extensive cross-references make it easy to explore related issues. Finally, an entire chapter is devoted to resources, including such useful information as a complete list of Nobel Prize winners and names and addresses of scientific organizations, publications, museums, nature centers, and other places to visit.