I awoke to the sound of my own screams and a bead of sweat like a red hot stream of lava poured down the side of my face. Then it hit me, what I had done. At the age of eight I broke into my friend's house and stole his fireworks and I knew at that early age which way my life might turn.

Gregory Scofield's Thunder Through My Veins is the heartbreakingly beautiful memoir of one man's journey toward self-discovery, acceptance, and the healing power of art. Few people can justify a memoir at the age of thirty-three. Gregory Scofield is the exception, a young man who has inhabited several lives in the time most of us can manage only one. Born into a Métis family of Cree, Scottish, English and French descent but never told of his heritage, Gregory knew he was different. His father disappeared after he was born, and at five he was separated from his mother and sent to live with strangers and extended family. There began a childhood marked by constant loss, poverty, violence and self-hatred. Only his love for his sensitive but battered mother and his Aunty Georgina, a neighbor who befriended him, kept him alive. It wasn't until he set out to search for his roots and began to chronicle his life in evocative, award-winning poetry, that he found himself released from the burdens of the past and able to draw upon the wisdom of those who went before him. Thunder Through My Veins is Gregory's traumatic, tender and hopeful story of his fight to rediscover and accept himself in the face of a heritage with diametrically opposed backgrounds.

By turns harrowing, moving, and ultimately redemptive, this is a war story -- a war that rages out of control on the streets of the United States, claiming the lives of our loved ones and neighbors. In this memoir, complete with child soldiers, unspeakable violence, and eventual salvation, we witness the journey of an East Coast member of the notorious Bloods gang coming to terms with the lost boy he was and the transformation into the man he wants to become. Unlike the child warriors of Mozambique and Sierra Leone, gang members and the wars they wage are the United States' homegrown nightmare. Lacking protection, support, or any alternatives, Dashaun Morris is forced into battle for the first time at age eleven, in the streets of Phoenix, when a friend's older brothers put him in a car filled with 40s and weed smoke, put a gun in his hands, then make him point it at the men on the corner and squeeze the trigger. The targets are Crips, of course, and, as Morris writes, "In the darkness of the streets, my childhood is murdered.... I am reborn -- a gangster." In this haunting, violent memoir, Morris takes us through an American childhood turned grotesquely inside out. In the fourth grade, he loses his first friend in a drive-by shooting. By high school he is the man, a champion on the football field by day and a reputable banger on his 'hood turf by night. Living the life of a gang banger, Morris does it all -- drug dealing, jacking, and continuing the aimless war with rival gang members -- almost opening fire one night on a close friend, a cheerleader, as she hangs out with young men he mistakes for Crips. He eventually makes it to college on a football scholarship, but on the verge of being drafted by the NFL, Morris can't escape his gang-banging mentality and gets caught up in crimes that snatch away all future hopes. Sitting in a prison cell, he anticipates the birth of his first child while counting the friends he's buried. War of the Bloods in My Veins is part of Morris's redemption, a cry to his brothers that gang life is mental illness. It is a rare and brutally honest look into the relentless storm of abandonment, violence, crime, death, and the endless rush toward the complete and utter self-annihilation that plagues the lives of the young "soldiers" who die every day in our streets.

Emmy Award-winning producer and New York Times bestselling author Lionel Friedberg has spent 50 years making films as diverse as full-length theatrical features and television documentaries. After growing up in South Africa during the troubled era of apartheid he began his career during the dying days of colonialism in Central Africa. He eventually settled in Los Angeles where his work took him to the sound stages of Hollywood and to the most remote regions of the Earth. His career exposed him to the extraordinary wonders of our planet and brought him into close contact with many unforgettable personalities from maverick scientists to politicians, entertainers and people who survived near-death experiences. His observations have taught him that life is far more complex and infinitely stranger than we can imagine. When he was struck by an unexpected life-threatening illness his efforts to find a way to save his life took him back to Africa where he encountered the age-old rituals and powerful healing methods of African shamans. Their mysterious ways have much to teach us and are as relevant today as they were in ancient times.

Since its U.S. debut a quarter-century ago, this brilliant text has set a new standard for historical scholarship of Latin America. It is also an outstanding political economy, a social and cultural narrative of the highest quality, and perhaps the finest description of primitive capital accumulation since Marx. Rather than chronology, geography, or political successions, Eduardo Galeano has organized the various facets of Latin American history according to the patterns of five centuries of exploitation. Thus he is concerned with gold and silver, cacao and cotton, rubber and coffee, fruit, hides and wool, petroleum, iron, nickel, manganese, copper, aluminum ore, nitrates, and tin. These are the veins which he traces through the body of the entire continent, up to the Rio Grande and throughout the Caribbean, and all the way to their open ends where they empty into the coffers of wealth in the United States and Europe. Weaving fact and imagery into a rich tapestry, Galeano fuses scientific analysis with the passions of a plundered and suffering people. An immense gathering of materials is framed with a vigorous style that never falters in its command of themes. All readers interested in great historical, economic, political, and social writing will find a singular analytical achievement, and an overwhelming narrative that makes history speak, unforgettably. This classic is now further honored by Isabel Allende's inspiring introduction. Universally recognized as one of the most important writers of our time, Allende once again contributes her talents to literature, to political principles, and to enlightenment.

The House of Ferro has dominated the city-state of Verona since its creation, made mighty by their magia del ferro, financial acumen, and ties to the imperial throne. The House of Ishikawa arrived on Verona's shores a few years later, made powerful and wealthy by way of their rare, priceless magia d'acqua. A short time later, murder and vengeance exploded into a feud that has lasted for generations-and by decree of Hardegin-principe, will end now or else. Royal decrees cannot so easily quell generations of hate and bloodshed, but ancient feuds cannot stop love. Determined to be together, young Ferro Carac and Ishikawa Arata decide to run away and leave their families behind. But on the night they depart, Arata is murdered, and Carac is wrongfully blamed for it, betrayed by everyone he trusted. Fifteen years later, Carac is long dead of disease while in prison, and Verona is abuzz with nervous excitement over the betrothal of Ferro Selinah to Ishikawa Naoki. Unhappy with the pending marriage, Naoki spends most of his time drinking and sleeping. On the way home from a bar one night, accompanied by the sister come to drag him home, they are attacked by a bandit-and saved by an intriguing man who goes by the name of Dante...

When a 16 year old, small town girl, Christine Matthews, from Dryden, Michigan gets a shot at playing semi- professional hockey on a boys hockey team she jumps at the opportunity. Follow her ups and downs as she tackles some of lives hardships, surprises, and victories as she reaches out to catch her dreams. Journey with her as she struggles through some of life's tough situations, as well as love and loss. Her story is inspirational to people every where who feel their dreams are unreachable. Christine wants one thing in her life, hockey. Nothing would ever mean more to her than that. She had worked so hard for it without the support of her friends and family. When she meets Alex her world starts to change. Why was she so enticed by this boy. She had to stop thinking about how gorgeous he was. He would be running for the exits as soon as he found out what she was doing there. She noticed that her palms were starting to sweat, she wiped them on her jeans, before he noticed. She wanted to hate him. She couldn't have these type of distractions around her. She needed to be focused on the prize. Then there was Moose. What would she do without him? This couldn't be happening right now, not to her. She still had her stalker to deal with. The hatred he had for her, in those deep black coal eyes. Was her life about to spiral out of control?

Burdened with a heritage of both Spanish and British colonization and imperialism, Guyana is today caught between its colonial past, its efforts to achieve the consciousness of nationhood, and the need of its diverse subgroups to maintain their own identity. Stains on My Name, War in My Veins chronicles the complex struggles of the citizens of Guyana to form a unified national culture against the pulls of ethnic, religious, and class identities. Drawing on oral histories and a close study of daily life in rural Guyana, Brackette E. Williams examines how and why individuals and groups in their quest for recognition as a “nation” reproduce ethnic chauvinism, racial stereotyping, and religious bigotry. By placing her ethnographic study in a broader historical context, the author develops a theoretical understanding of the relations among various dimensions of personal identity in the process of nation building.

Robinson's memoir of his wartime service as a Naval officer on PT boats and LSTs, including his part in rescuing John F. Kennedy after PT 109 was sunk, which is the first true account told by an eyewitness, as Robinson was on one of the boats patrolling the same area as JFK's. Kennedy was Robinson's tent mate and as a result his work provides details never published before. See the contents pages in the preview for more details. Photos, maps.

Barely navigating the emotional vacuum of her family, Annette relies on romance and alcohol to guide her through a narrowly defined fantasy of how life is supposed to be. After marriage to her high school sweetheart fails, her immature dream is further challenged by an intenseyet vacant relationship with a wealthy Arab-American. Unable to find her place, or peace, in his world, Annette turns to Daniel, a handsome, charming, ex-con who easily seduces her into the underworld of basement methamphetamine production. Based loosely on the authors life, this work of fiction takes the reader into the abyss of addiction as Annette moves further away from the light of day, her own sanity, and the people she loves.