DIVIn debt to the mob, Sidel’s sidekick brings hell to One Police Plaza/divDIV/divDIVFor Detective Caroll Brent, special attention from Commissioner Sidel is not a good thing. Sidel’s last pet detective, Manfred Coen, was killed by a gang of smugglers, and none of Sidel’s favorites have had good luck since. But when Sidel taps Brent for an unusual assignment, the young cop can’t refuse./divDIV /divDIVAs part of a feud with the head of the Board of Education, Sidel turns Brent into a one-man special task force to patrol the city’s schools. The lonely, miserable, dangerous work is not Brent’s only trouble. Ever since he made the mistake of marrying an heiress, he has been spending like mad to keep up with her lifestyle, borrowing money from the mob to keep himself in tuxedos on a detective’s salary. When his money runs out, it’s Sidel who will have to cover the debt./div

The amazing story of a curious girl who became a pioneer in the field of entomology and scientific illustration. Maria Sibylla Merian was fascinated with insects. But when Maria was a girl in the mid-1600s, superstitions about bugs prevented most people from taking a close look. People thought bugs were evil—and anyone interested in such creatures was surely evil too. That didn't stop Maria. Filled with curiosity, she began to study and paint them. She even witnessed silkworms form cocoons and transform into moths—discovering metamorphosis! Painting and drawing as she studied, Maria pushed the boundaries of what girls were expected to do, eventually gaining recognition as one of the first entomologists and scientific illustrators. This gorgeously illustrated biography celebrates a fascinating female pioneer who broke boundaries in both the arts and sciences.

One of the Must-Read Books of 2019 According to O: The Oprah Magazine * Time * Bustle * Electric Literature * Publishers Weekly * The Millions * The Week * Good Housekeeping “There is more life packed on each page of Ordinary Girls than some lives hold in a lifetime.” —Julia Alvarez In this searing memoir, Jaquira Díaz writes fiercely and eloquently of her challenging girlhood and triumphant coming of age. While growing up in housing projects in Puerto Rico and Miami Beach, Díaz found herself caught between extremes. As her family split apart and her mother battled schizophrenia, she was supported by the love of her friends. As she longed for a family and home, her life was upended by violence. As she celebrated her Puerto Rican culture, she couldn’t find support for her burgeoning sexual identity. From her own struggles with depression and sexual assault to Puerto Rico’s history of colonialism, every page of Ordinary Girls vibrates with music and lyricism. Díaz writes with raw and refreshing honesty, triumphantly mapping a way out of despair toward love and hope to become her version of the girl she always wanted to be. Reminiscent of Tara Westover’s Educated, Kiese Laymon’s Heavy, Mary Karr’s The Liars’ Club, and Terese Marie Mailhot’s Heart Berries, Jaquira Díaz’s memoir provides a vivid portrait of a life lived in (and beyond) the borders of Puerto Rico and its complicated history—and reads as electrically as a novel.

She was found abandoned in the lavatory of a cafeteria in Bogota, Colombia. The police who picked her up named her Maria Consuelo. From a stack of would-be parents, Colombias welfare agency chose Valerie Kreutzers application, and the toddler quickly bonded with her new mom in Washington, DC. At school Maria struggled with severe learning disabilities despite a superior I.Q., but also blossomed into an award-winning young artist. Her impulsive behavior led to fits and false starts during adolescence, until she found happiness at twenty-one with David and his extended family. Their love and lives ended in the curve of a rural road in Florida. A Girl Named Maria chronicles an adopted daughters struggle with identity and her yearning for a birth family that may have included a twin brother. Marias legacy lives on in this poignant personal story of one mothers unconditional love for her adopted daughter. I loved this book! This story, although carrying the deep sorrow of a daughters death, will give parents of transnational adoptions a guideline for their own experience. This book is a much needed addition to the adoption literature. Nancy Verrier, The Primal Wound; Coming Home to Self www.nancyverrier.com

In this beautiful nonfiction biography, a Robert F. Sibert Medal winner, the Newbery Honor–winning author Joyce Sidman introduces readers to one of the first female entomologists and a woman who flouted convention in the pursuit of knowledge and her passion for insects. One of the first naturalists to observe live insects directly, Maria Sibylla Merian was also one of the first to document the metamorphosis of the butterfly. Richly illustrated throughout with full-color original paintings by Merian herself, The Grew Who Drew Butterflies will enthrall young scientists. Bugs, of all kinds, were considered to be “born of mud” and to be “beasts of the devil.” Why would anyone, let alone a girl, want to study and observe them? The Girl Who Drew Butterflies answers this question. Booklist Editor’s Choice Chicago Public Library Best of the Year Kirkus Best Book of the Year Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book Junior Library Guild Selection New York Public Library Top 10 Best Books of the Year

When Maria first came to America from Italy, she hoped that some day she would live the American dream. She thought she found her happiness when she met and married Michael. Instead, over the years, she became a battered woman. After many years and four daughters later, things changed for the better. She has now made a new life for her and her daughters. They had little problems starting their new life together without Michael, but now they have more happiness as they raise their families and enjoy each other.

Maria comes from a very loyal family. The Parkers are a family with morals and values. Poppa Parker was a very strict man when it came to raising his children. He believed in whatever business ventures his family proceeded in as long as it carried on the family's generational stability. Maria was a boss by blood and she would be the leader of the next generation under Maria's lead she would take the next generation to a level that no man in the family has accomplished.The wealth started from Poppa Parkers Great Great-Grandfather Edward Parker. The Parkers were originally born DADA; however, after the slave trade they were sold to the Parkers. The Parkers proved that racism didn't live in the hearts of everyone. Mr. Parker would prove that from the day he purchased the whole family and generations to come.Maria's loyalty is strong; however, when you cross that line of disloyalty no matter who you are. The consequences are deadly. Enjoy this ride of sex, money laundering, and murders in this on-going saga of the luxurious life of the Parker family.

Maria longs to be an astronomer -- wish that burns as brightly as a star. But girls in the nineteenth century don't grow up to be scientists, especially those who are needed at home. Each night when her papa sweeps the sky with his telescope, Maria sweeps the floor below, imagining all the strange worlds he can travel to from the rooftop of their Nantucket home. Then one night Maria finally gets her chance to look through her papa's telescope. For the first time, she beholds the night sky stretching endlessly above her, and her dream of exploring the comets and constellations seems close enough to touch. Loosely based on the childhood of Maria (pronounced ma-RYE-ah) Mitchell, America's first woman astronomer, and illuminated by Deborah Lanino's star-swept illustrations, here is an exquisitely told story of a girl who yearns for adventure beyond her limited circumstances, and sets out to follow her heart.