"There seemed to be no way out of the custom. Her arguments were always the same and always turned into pleas. 'But, Ama', it's embarrassing. I'm too old for that. I'm an adult, '" Naomi says in Helena Maria Viramontes' story Growing. Ever since Naomi hit high school and puberty, she began to notice that there were too many expectations, and no one instructed her on how to fulfill them." In her tradition-bound family and under the thundering gaze of her father, Naomi struggles to stretch the limitations imposed on her by her family, even as her mind expands along with her changing body. Like Growing, the pieces in this anthology for young adults reveal the struggles of discovering a new self and the trials of leaving behind an old one. This extraordinary collection gathers a wealth of stories and poems that explore the challenges of negotiating identity and relationships with others, struggling with authority, learning to love oneself and challenging the roles society demands of teenagers and adults. Edited by well-known poet and prose-writer Judith Ortiz Cofer, the collection includes work by such leading Latino writers as Pat Mora, Jesus Salvador Trevino, Tomas Rivera, Virgil Suarez, Jose Marti, Viramontes and Ortiz Cofer herself. Included as well are new voices that represent the freshness and vigor of youth: Mike Padilla, Daniel Chacon, and Sarah Cortez. For many students across the United States, this text will serve as their first rewarding introduction to diverse writers of Latino/Latina literature. This beautiful collection gathers a wealth of stories and poems that are studded with the challenges of negotiating identity and learning to love the bodies and worlds in which young adults find themselves. Edited by well-known poet and prose writer Judith Ortiz Cofer, the collection includes work by Pat Mora, Nicholasa Mohr, Tomas Rivera, and Virgil Suarez.

Get ready for life after death. Combining three books that together have sold nearly 1 million copies, Heaven and the Afterlife gives you Erwin Lutzer’s best reflections on eternity and what it means for you today. The trilogyincludes: One Minute After You Die. A simple and moving explanation of what the Bible teaches about death, this book makes you consider a sobering truth: one minute after you die, your life will not be over. Rather, it will be just beginning—in a place of unimaginable bliss or indescribable gloom. Are you ready for that moment? How You Can Be Sure You Will Spend Eternity with Godsummarizes the Bible’s teaching on salvation, answering questions like, “What role do I play in my own salvation? Can I lose my salvation if I commit a serious sin? What if I doubt that I’m saved?” Your Eternal Reward. This book explores the often-overlooked Scriptures about reward and judgment for Christians, answering questions like, “How will believers be judged? Do rewards for faithfulness vary? If heaven is perfect, why do rewards even matter?” Together these books will help you live faithfully today, readying you for that final hour when you meet your Maker.

Forbes, Best Business Books of 2022 Behavioral Scientist, Notable Books of 2022 The facts, not the fiction, of America’s immigration experience Immigration is one of the most fraught, and possibly most misunderstood, topics in American social discourse—yet, in most cases, the things we believe about immigration are based largely on myth, not facts. Using the tools of modern data analysis and ten years of pioneering research, new evidence is provided about the past and present of the American Dream, debunking myths fostered by political opportunism and sentimentalized in family histories, and draw counterintuitive conclusions, including: Upward Mobility: Children of immigrants from nearly every country, especially those of poor immigrants, do better economically than children of U.S.-born residents – a pattern that has held for more than a century. Rapid Assimilation: Immigrants accused of lack of assimilation (such as Mexicans today and the Irish in the past) actually assimilate fastest. Improved Economy: Immigration changes the economy in unexpected positive ways and staves off the economic decline that is the consequence of an aging population. Helps U.S. Born: Closing the door to immigrants harms the economic prospects of the U.S.-born—the people politicians are trying to protect. Using powerful story-telling and unprecedented research employing big data and algorithms, Abramitzky and Boustan are like dedicated family genealogists but millions of times over. They provide a new take on American history with surprising results, especially how comparable the “golden era” of immigration is to today, and why many current policy proposals are so misguided.

The story of London City Mission is of men walking the poorest streets of London, getting their hands dirty as they reached out to people in need with the message of the Gospel and their unique brand of practical help. Rather than writing a consecutive history of London City Mission, the authors selected areas of the work and told the story of each. The story takes a different turn as it enters the 20th C. From being the capital city of an empire, London became a city at war with itself and then with others. LCM missionaries were right in among the revolutionaries. What comes out in the story of LCM is that missionaries were men (until the late 1980s) whose hearts were full of compassion for the lost and the needy. The Mission is still looking forward to the challenge of the 21st Century LCM may be an old Mission, but it is not resting on its laurels; rather it is grappling, as it always has, with today's London, and planning for the needs of the London of tomorrow.

The word faith is quite familiar to most Christians in the world. I first heard about it as a little boy growing up in rural Africa. Like most people, the idea of having faith in God sounds good to my ears. However, as I mature in the Lord and heard many people teach about faith, I began to see many loop holes and outright misinformation on the subject. I must admit that it provoked me to start a long journey of trying to get a clearer picture of what faith is really about. I simply wanted to find an answer to simple questions like what is faith, how do I get it, and how do I use it effectively. Like King Solomon, I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that is done under heaven. Ecclesiastes 1:13 The goal of this book is to share with you what I have discovered and learned about faith over the past several years of seeking and searching the heart of God concerning the subject matter. Also, I would like to share with you some of my own personal faith-walk experiences in life. I believe that one can learn from the experience of others. I want you to be able to learn from my life what I called my faith walk experiences. Finally, it is my earnest desire to teach you about faith in such a way that you would never have any misunderstanding concerning the subject. In short, my assignment is to help you avoid the errors and pitfalls of many teachers and instead reveal to you the heart of God concerning the subject of faith. Believe me, if you read this book prayerfully with an open mind, your life would never be the same again.