From the host of MSNBC’s Alex Wagner Tonight, “a rich and revealing memoir” (The New York Times) about her travels around the globe to solve the mystery of her ancestry, confronting the question at the heart of the American experience of immigration, race, and identity: Who are my people? “A thoughtful, beautiful meditation on what makes us who we are . . . and the values and ideals that bind us together as Americans.”—Barack Obama The daughter of a Burmese mother and a white American father, Alex Wagner grew up thinking of herself as a “futureface”—an avatar of a mixed-race future when all races would merge into a brown singularity. But when one family mystery leads to another, Wagner’s post-racial ideals fray as she becomes obsessed with the specifics of her own family’s racial and ethnic history. Drawn into the wild world of ancestry, she embarks upon a quest around the world—and into her own DNA—to answer the ultimate questions of who she really is and where she belongs. The journey takes her from Burma to Luxembourg, from ruined colonial capitals with records written on banana leaves to Mormon databases, genetic labs, and the rest of the twenty-first-century genealogy complex. But soon she begins to grapple with a deeper question: Does it matter? Is our enduring obsession with blood and land, race and identity, worth all the trouble it’s caused us? Wagner weaves together fascinating history, genetic science, and sociology but is really after deeper stuff than her own ancestry: in a time of conflict over who we are as a country, she tries to find the story where we all belong. Praise for Futureface “Smart, searching . . . Meditating on our ancestors, as Wagner’s own story shows, can suggest better ways of being ourselves.”—Maud Newton, The New York Times Book Review “Sincere and instructive . . . This timely reflection on American identity, with a bonus exposé of DNA ancestry testing, deserves a wide audience.”—Library Journal “The narrative is part Mary Roach–style participation-heavy research, part family history, and part exploration of existential loneliness. . . . The journey is worth taking.”—Kirkus Reviews “[A] ruminative exploration of ethnicity and identity . . . Wagner’s odyssey is an effective riposte to anti-immigrant politics.”—Publishers Weekly

A high-class puzzle book from the bestselling author of Alex's Adventures in Numberland; organised from easy-peasy to ninja level - with stories of puzzle mysteries, histories and scandals along the way this book will make your hippocampus happy.

'A moving tribute that beautifully evokes the struggles, the initial triumphs, the setbacks, the unexpected and often stunning achievemnets . . . [while] uncovering cognitive abilities in Alex that no one believed were possible.'Publishers WeeklyOn September 6, 2007, an African Grey parrot named Alex died prematurely at age thirty-one. His last words to his owner, Irene Pepperberg, were 'You be good. I love you'.What would normally be a quiet, very private event was, in Alex's case, headline news. Over the thirty years they had worked together, Alex and Irene had become famous - two pioneers who opened an unprecedented window into the hidden yet vast world of animal minds. Alex's brain was the size of a shelled walnut, and when Irene and Alex first met, birds were not believed to possess any potential for language, consciousness, or anything remotely comparable to human intelligence. Yet, over the years, Alex proved many things. He could add. He could sound out words. He understood concepts like bigger, smaller, more, fewer, and none. He was capable of thought and intention. Together, Alex and Irene uncovered a startling reality: We live in a world populated by thinking, conscious creatures.The fame that resulted was extraordinary. Yet there was a side to their relationship that never made the papers. They were emotionally connected to one another. They shared a deep bond far beyond science. Alex missed Irene when she was away. He was jealous when she paid attention to other parrots, or even people. He liked to show her who was boss. He loved to dance. He sometimes became bored by the repetition of his tests, and played jokes on her. Sometimes they sniped at each other. Yet nearly every day, they each said, 'I love you'.Alex and Irene stayed together through thick and thin - despite sneers from experts, extraordinary financial sacrifices, and a nomadic existence from one university to another. The story of their thirty-year adventure is equally a landmark of scientific achievement and of an unforgettable human-animal bond.

"A coloring book that reveals math's hidden beauty and contemplative power as never before with 78 coloring designs and games that explore symmetry, fractals, tessellations, randomness, and more."--

The world of maths can seem mind-boggling, irrelevant and, let's face it, boring. This groundbreaking book reclaims maths from the geeks. Mathematical ideas underpin just about everything in our lives: from the surprising geometry of the 50p piece to how probability can help you win in any casino. In search of weird and wonderful mathematical phenomena, Alex Bellos travels across the globe and meets the world's fastest mental calculators in Germany and a startlingly numerate chimpanzee in Japan. Packed with fascinating, eye-opening anecdotes, Alex's Adventures in Numberland is an exhilarating cocktail of history, reportage and mathematical proofs that will leave you awestruck.

A single promise can change a life forever. We all make promises constantly. “Yes, I’ll be there.” “Sure, no problem!” But do we really mean what we are saying? What is the impact of a broken promise? And what happens to a life when a promise is honored? Because I said I would is the international social movement at the forefront of shifting how the world views commitment and accountability. With over 10.3 million Promise Cards distributed, this cause has played a unique role in changing lives around the world. Heartwarming, humorous, inspirational, and tragic—these stories will challenge readers to look deep within themselves and consider the importance of the promises they make. Through a collection of inspiring short stories and concise philosophical chapters, readers will gain the following: • Practical life lessons from surprisingly raw stories of everyday people with incredible determination • Useful advice on how to get better at keeping promises • Inspiring perspectives that can be utilized in leadership and character development initiatives One hundred percent of the author’s proceeds go to because I said I would, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is bettering humanity through chapters of volunteers, character education in schools, accountability programs, and awareness campaigns with global reach.

Presents a biography of the artist's life and explores his career as a cartoonist and comic book illustrator with such publishing houses as Western, Dell, and National Periodicals, along with a compilation of some of his work.

A journalist presents an intimate assessment of the mythology, experience, and psyche of the Asian-American male that traces his own experiences as an immigrant under the constraints of American cultural stereotypes.

The revolutionary beekeeping method that is providing a radical return to healthy bee hives in the U.S. and around the world today is explained in detail in A Lively Hive. Author, Alex Tuchman, the director of Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary in Floyd, Virginia, walks the reader through both the philosophy and practical applications that have shown remarkable success rates. In the past five years, the catastrophic loss of 45% of U.S. honeybee colonies has been well documented. By contrast, in that same time period Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary has shown an astonishing low loss of only 12%. Tuchman shares the significant difference between beekeeping methods that exploit the honeybee for human agribusiness and alternative methods to beekeeping that are in line with the instincts and wisdom of the honeybees themselves. The amazing results, as it turns out, are found at heart in the relationship and communication between the honeybee and the human-that when we listen to what the bees are telling us, only then are we guided to best provide for the bees' needs in the physical world.