As Americans, we have a deeply rooted sense of individualism that is at the heart of our unprecedented rise to power in less than 250 years of existence. As a result, our perspective on the outside world, for better or worse, tends to be informed by its impact on us. This is not to say that Americans are completely self-absorbed and blind to the needs of others. We send billions in aid to help those suffering around the world. The generosity of Americans is not in question. The humility of Americans is.

"Broadcasters have always been coddled by politicians, and Speak Softly explains how and why. J.H. Snider tells the story with the rigor of a scholar, the doggedness of an investigative reporter and the zeal of a reformer."--Paul Taylor, Executive Vice President, Pew Research Center "J.H. Snider offers an extremely comprehensive and well-documented look 'behind the curtain' at how the National Association of Broadcasters drives its national legislative agenda. This is must reading for not only political scientists but for all who are interested in media policy and how it gets made in Washington."-Chellie Pingree, President and CEO, Common Cause "This astute book is a first-rate work of original scholarship. It also provides an unsettling description of broadcasters' policy influence. When their own interests are involved, broadcasters cannot be trusted to act in the way they demand of all others in society. Readers will no doubt question whether J.H. Snider's recommended solution is a practical one. But no reader will question his call for new measures."-Thomas E. Patterson, Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press, Harvard University "Having played a role in the mad-cap drama of telecommunications legislation Snider documents, I can tell you he has captured the essence of the machinations, strange bedfellows, and almost single-minded, righteous self-interest that drives the telecommunications debate. Like it or not, this is how the power game is really played."-Stephen R. Effros, Former President (1976-1999), Cable Telecommunications Association "Speak Softly documents the broadcast industry's striking influence on public policy, including the landmark Telecommunications Act of 1996. As Congress gears up to re-write the Act, J.H. Snider's analysis is particularly timely."-Kevin Werbach, Professor, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Our children constantly twist with needs and wrestle with life's challenges. Dr. William Baughman's new book "Speak Softly, Love Loudly: UnCommon Sense for Raising Healthy and Successful Kids" addresses these challenges. The world too often is void of necessary answers, but full of useless substitutes, dangers and distractions. So, how can we put our children on the path to happiness, health, and success? What will keep them there so that they may reach their God-given potential? We must return to the forgotten principles of common sense. These are proven means of guiding children that today have become uncommon. Through the pages of "Speak Softly, Love Loudly" the reader will: - Learn the principles that most parents and many experts have forgotten. - Recognize what truly motivates and works to mold children. - Understand the difference between what children want and need. - Touch the hearts and minds of children with love through discipline. - Know how to overcome the obstacles to their happiness and success. - Protect children from the dangers of the world as well as themselves. - Savor the satisfying difference made by uncommon sense. 'He has the unique ability to take the clinical and make it practical...he is a professional who speaks to you rather than at you.' C.S. Turner

To fall in love is to be young again. To count the cost is to die a little bit inside. In Speak Softly My Love, Inspector Gilles Maintenon goes out for a quart of milk and stumbles across a dead man. The trouble is, when the dead get up and walk away. They have one too many missing-person reports, too many wives, girlfriends and other mysterious blondes. Enticing as it is, Gilles has a heavy court schedule. Without a body and a firm identification, what can they really do? It’s a time of budget restraint and limited resources—and the work keeps piling up. The suave but inexperienced Detective Hubert, and the raw but persistent Detective Tailler must handle the case. All Maintenon can do is keep his mouth shut and let them give it a shot. In this, the fifth in the noir Inspector Gilles Maintenon Mystery Series, author Louis Shalako transports the reader into the gritty reality of murder in Paris, 1931. An unforgettable mystery, one that is dark, witty and entertaining.

Actress and model Cynthia O'Neal was living her dream life—married to the famous stage and screen actor Patrick O’Neal, the mother of two young sons, resident of the Dakota downstairs from John Lennon, owner of the successful Ginger Man restaurant, and frequent guest at dinner parties with Leonard Bernstein and Rudolf Nureyev. And then she changed course suddenly, surprisingly, and completely. The AIDS epidemic hit the arts community hard, and after seeing the multitude of people facing an unfamiliar and stigmatized disease completely alone, Cynthia walked into the fray. With the support of longtime friend Mike Nichols, she founded Friends in Deed and soon found herself spending her days in hospitals, cramped rooms, and dirty apartments, anywhere a patient needed a hug, a hand held, or confidence boosted. And when Patrick became ill and passed away in 1994, Cynthia had to work through her own grief instead of someone else’s and found her life transformed again. Talk Softly is the story of a life well-lived—with passion and compassion, in celebration of the joy of each moment, and with the ability to surprise yourself when you least expect to.

The adventures of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of the Peanuts gang.

This series answers the often-expressed need for a variety of supplementary material in many different popular styles. What could be more fun for an adult than to play the music that everybody knows and loves? When the books in the Greatest Hits series are assigned in conjunction with the Lesson Books, these appealing pieces reinforce new concepts as they are introduced. In addition, the motivation the music provides could not be better. The emotional satisfaction students receive from mastering each popular song increases their enthusiasm to begin the next one. With the popular music available in the Greatest Hits series (Levels 1 and 2), the use of both books will significantly increase every adult's interest in piano study. Two selections from this book are featured on the Royal Conservatory of Music Popular Selection List (2007 Ed.): * The Rainbow Connection * Nadia's Theme

In this “gripping psychological thriller” (New York Post), two best friends at an exclusive Manhattan girls’ school make a pact: they will lose their virginity before graduation. Carole is a shy, overweight scholarship student who finds herself under the spell of the charismatic, pedigreed Naomi—it’s an unlikely friendship that will set in motion a series of events with dire and far-reaching consequences. Enter Eddie, a slick Upper East Side prep school dropout, expelled from a half-dozen private schools on the East Coast. Eddie is handsome, fatally charming, and more than willing to help the girls accomplish their goal. But something about him is not quite right—his overly familiar way with Naomi, his hair-trigger temper, the stories that just don't add up—and on one bitterly cold holiday weekend in an isolated cabin deep in the Vermont woods, a horrifying twist develops in the girls’ plan. #1 bestselling author Wally Lamb says, “Pam Lewis is a sly and sure-footed storyteller whose literary tale of treachery, deception, and truth sits comfortably alongside Donna Tartt's The Secret History and Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley."

A lyrical story of star-crossed love perfect for readers of The Hate U Give, by National Ambassador for Children’s Literature Jacqueline Woodson--now celebrating its twentieth anniversary, and including a new preface by the author Jeremiah feels good inside his own skin. That is, when he's in his own Brooklyn neighborhood. But now he's going to be attending a fancy prep school in Manhattan, and black teenage boys don't exactly fit in there. So it's a surprise when he meets Ellie the first week of school. In one frozen moment their eyes lock, and after that they know they fit together--even though she's Jewish and he's black. Their worlds are so different, but to them that's not what matters. Too bad the rest of the world has to get in their way. Jacqueline Woodson's work has been called “moving and resonant” (Wall Street Journal) and “gorgeous” (Vanity Fair). If You Come Softly is a powerful story of interracial love that leaves readers wondering "why" and "if only . . ."