On Jordan's Stormy Banks is a social history of southern evangelicalism from the late eighteenth century to the end of Reconstruction. By focusing on the three largest evangelical denominations in a single state - Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian - Randy J. Sparks charts the rise of evangelicals on the southern frontier and their remarkable increase in numbers, wealth, and influence throughout the remainder of the period. Beginning as a rebellious movement of the plain folk, evangelicals set themselves up to challenge the social hierarchy and even welcomed slaves into their congregations on terms approaching equality. Although evangelicals had largely abandoned formal opposition to slavery by the time the movement reached Mississippi, their relationship to the institution was complex and conflicted. Sparks demonstrates that the typical evangelical church was biracial and that the African-American influence in ritual and practice left an indelible imprint on southern religion. The egalitarian nature of these early churches created unique opportunities for women and blacks, and Sparks pays close attention to the important role of the female majority of church members. Similarly, evangelical practice and rhetoric was consciously democratic, linking the movement with republican virtue. By the 1830s, the evangelicals in Mississippi had so prospered that their churches grew from sects to major denominations. This shift to the establishment divided the traditionalists from the modernists within each denomination. As the evangelicals began to have a marked influence on southern society, they sought to perfect rather than abolish slavery, and egalitarian biracialism gave way to separateworship services, a practice that fueled the development of independent African-American churches following the Civil War. The orderly society that evangelicals labored to create - one organized around the patriarchal household - unraveled at the end of the Civil War, says Sparks. For whites, evangelicalism became entwined with the Religion of the Lost Cause; for African Americans, the Confederate defeat came as an answered prayer as they began to carve out an autonomous religious life for themselves that would prove to be the bedrock of the African-American community. This separation of Mississippi's major denominations along racial lines dramatically marked the end of the evangelical movement's first century.

Winner of the Newbery Medal, Coretta Scott King Author Award, and Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature! Perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier and Gene Luen Yang, New Kid is a timely, honest graphic novel about starting over at a new school where diversity is low and the struggle to fit in is real, from award-winning author-illustrator Jerry Craft. Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade. As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds—and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself? This middle grade graphic novel is an excellent choice for tween readers, including for summer reading. New Kid is a selection of the Schomburg Center's Black Liberation Reading List. Plus don't miss Jerry Craft's Class Act!

In the summer of 1990, Dr. Bill Brockton—a bright, ambitious young forensic scientist—is hired by the University of Tennessee to head, and to raise the profile of, the school's small Anthropology Department. Six months later, the ink on his contract barely dry, Brockton is called to a gruesome crime scene in a rural area to identify a corpse and determine how the woman died. But the case—one of Brockton's first murder investigations in Tennessee—could also prove to be his last when he runs afoul of both the county sheriff and an angry mob intent on administering their own swift, rough brand of "justice." With his back to the wall, Brockton is forced to think fast, talk faster, and hope for a miracle.

A 2020 Newbery Honor Recipient! Christian McKay Heidicker, author of the Thieves of Weirdwood trilogy, draws inspiration from Bram Stoker, H. P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe for his debut middle-grade novel, a thrilling portrait of survival and an unforgettable tale of friendship. "Clever and harrowing." —The Wall Street Journal "Into the finest tradition of storytelling steps Christian McKay Heidicker with these highly original, bone-chilling, and ultimately heart-warming stories. All that’s needed is a blazing campfire and a delicious plate of peaches and centipedes.” —Kathi Appelt, Newbery Award honoree and National Book Award finalist The haunted season has arrived in the Antler Wood. No fox kit is safe. When Mia and Uly are separated from their litters, they discover a dangerous world full of monsters. In order to find a den to call home, they must venture through field and forest, facing unspeakable things that dwell in the darkness: a zombie who hungers for their flesh, a witch who tries to steal their skins, a ghost who hunts them through the snow . . . and other things too scary to mention. Featuring eight interconnected stories and sixteen hauntingly beautiful illustrations, Scary Stories for Young Foxes contains the kinds of adventures and thrills you love to listen to beside a campfire in the dark of night. Fans of Neil Gaiman, Jonathan Auxier, and R. L. Stine have found their next favorite book. A Booklist 2019 Editors' Choice Selection

Seventeen in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 190 economies, Doing Business 2020 measures aspects of regulation affecting 10 areas of everyday business activity.

As China emerges as a global powerhouse, this title examines its economic past and the shaping of its financial institutions.

Given the degree of popular fascination with Gnostic religions, it is surprising how few pay attention to the one such religion that has survived from antiquity until the present day: Mandaism. Mandaeans, who esteem John the Baptist as the most famous adherent to their religion, have in our time found themselves driven from their historic homelands by war and oppression. Today, they are a community in crisis, but they provide us with unparalleled access to a library of ancient Gnostic scriptures, as part of the living tradition that has sustained them across the centuries. Gnostic texts such as these have caught popular interest in recent times, as traditional assumptions about the original forms and cultural contexts of related religious traditions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, have been called into question. However, we can learn only so much from texts in isolation from their own contexts. Mandaean literature uniquely allows us not only to increase our knowledge about Gnosticism, and by extension all these other religions, but also to observe the relationship between Gnostic texts, rituals, beliefs, and living practices, both historically and in the present day.

Rescuing a squirrel after an accident involving a vacuum cleaner, comic-reading cynic Flora Belle Buckman is astonished when the squirrel, Ulysses, demonstrates astonishing powers of strength and flight after being revived. By the Newbery Medal-winning author of The Tale of Despereaux.

Rising star author-illustrator Ethan M. Aldridge delivers a fantasy adventure with all the makings of a classic. Illustrated with over two-hundred pages of watercolor paintings, this epic graphic novel is perfect for fans of Amulet. Edmund and the Childe were swapped at birth. Now Edmund lives in secret as a changeling in the World Above, his fae powers hidden from his unsuspecting parents and his older sister, Alexis. The Childe lives among the fae in the World Below, where being a human makes him a curiosity at the royal palace. But when the cruel sorceress Hawthorne seizes the throne, the Childe and Edmund must unite on a dangerous quest to save both worlds—even if they’re not sure which world they belong to. “A splendid tale of faery magic and adventurous siblings, all told in gorgeously rendered watercolor panels: this is exactly my kind of thing.” —Ben Hatke, author and illustrator of the New York Times bestselling Zita the Spacegirl trilogy “It’s got dragons. It’s got drama. It’s got depth. And it’s got me impatiently awaiting Ethan M. Aldridge’s next eye-popping adventure.” —Tim Federle, award-winning author of Better Nate Than Ever and Five, Six, Seven, Nate! “A compelling story about finding identity in a world where magic dangers lurk just around the corner. I loved Estranged!” —Molly Ostertag, author-illustrator of The Witch Boy

A uniquely informed investigative account of one of the biggest financial crises of President Obama’s early administration During his first year in office, President Obama faced the possibility of more than a million lost jobs as GM and Chrysler headed for financial ruin. He joined forces with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and economic advisor Larry Summers in a historic government intervention to keep these two auto-industry giants afloat, working against a ticking clock and fielding vocal opposition from free market champions along the way. It's from this vantage point that former New York Times financial journalist Steven Rattner witnesses a new administration's grace under pressure in the face of gross corporate mismanagement—a scenario rich in hard-earned lessons for managers and executives in any industry.