The decade of the 1040s, especially in South Central Los Angeles, was a challenging time and place. It endured rationing; suffered endemic racial tensions; spawned incipient gangs; and stubbornly clung to the ravages of the depression. This was the milieu Arnie Crockett and his family migrated into when he was eight and he encountered such wonders as concrete buildings, electric appliances, indoor plumbing, streetcars, stoplights, dial telephones, smog, and special movies. L.A. was an urban sprawl unique among U.S. cities. It was crisscrossed by alleys and dotted with vacant lots a serendipity of which Arnie took full advantage, turning 97th Street and environs into his exclusive fiefdom of fun. Arnie loved to play. He suffered severe asthma, a contentious relationship with his father, felonious cousins, an essential inferiority complex, and an early awareness of his mortality; but the exhilaration he felt when he played with his brother, Lenny, and his friends, Richard and Jimmy overcame all. A panoply of unique and fascinating characters inhabited 97th street: the crazy girl; the jungle lady; the fugitive kidnappers; the ghost of a suicide; the sweet old arsonists; and the evil custodian of the 97th Street School. In Arnies back yard resided the worlds mangiest dog; the worlds largest chicken; a wiener-eating snake; and the worlds smelliest duck, the demise of which turned out to be one of the most profound events in Arnies life. Elwood Crockett, Arnies father, was a complex man of varied skills and prejudices. But Elwood could not or would not show the love he truly felt for his wife and children other than by his stoic sense of responsibility. It was not until the day before Elwoods sudden, unexpected death that Arnie and his father finally came to demonstrate unequivocally their mutual love and respect.

Imagine growing up on Orchard Street in 1916. If you were a member of the large Confino family you'd be living in 325 square feet of space. The only fresh air and natural light would come from the two windows in the front room. No heat, no water, no bathtub, no shower. Toilet in the hall. The Confinos' apartment is only one part of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, an extraordinary facility in New York City. The Museum has restored 97 Orchard Street to provide us with an opportunity to understand the immigrant experience shared by millions who have come to North America. In text and with archival photos, Linda Granfield tells the story of four families, including the Confinos, who called 97 Orchard Street home, and provides information about the period, the history of the house, and the neighborhood, bringing to life conditions that were familiar to immigrants in many of North America's big cities. The stories and archival materials are beautifully complemented by Arlene Alda's sensitive photographs that evoke the hardship, the dignity, and the hope encompassed in 97 Orchard Street. The book includes useful facts, information about the Museum and its efforts to help new immigrants who share similar experiences. Whether or not the reader can visit the Museum itself, this book is a valuable resource in understanding our own histories in North America.

In 97 Orchard, Jane Ziegelman explores the culinary life that was the heart and soul of New York's Lower East Side around the turn of the twentieth century—a city within a city, where Germans, Irish, Italians, and Eastern European Jews attempted to forge a new life. Through the experiences of five families, all of them residents of 97 Orchard Street, Ziegelman takes readers on a vivid and unforgettable tour, from impossibly cramped tenement apartments, down dimly lit stairwells, beyond the front stoops where housewives congregated, and out into the hubbub of the dirty, teeming streets. Ziegelman shows how immigrant cooks brought their ingenuity to the daily task of feeding their families, preserving traditions from home but always ready to improvise. 97 Orchard lays bare the roots of our collective culinary heritage.

This guidebook offers: Descriptions of numerous attractions, star-rated so you can spot the must-sees at a glance; The best accommodations and restaurants, in every price range; All there is to know about parks and historic sites, as well as outdoor activities; More than 50 regional and city maps to help you customize your itinerary.

Here, eagerly anticipated, is the definitive biography of Elijah Muhammad (né Elija Poole), a sharecropper's son with a fourth- grade education who became one of the most controversial Americans of the twentieth century, the founder and "Prophet" of the Nation of Islam, a movement dedicated to black separatism and self-empowerment. Though Muhammad's main argument--that white people were innately evil ("devils," he called them)--ran counter to the precepts of orthodox Islam, he was the chief influence in the conversion of nearly four million African Americans to Islam, touching in the process the lives of figures ranging from Muhammad Ali and Jesse Jackson to Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan. But in his desperate grasp for power, Muhammad also amassed a huge personal fortune at the expense of his followers. He was a party to ritualistic homicides, had illicit affairs galore, and was quick to betray his friends and charges, most notably Malcolm X. In brief, he violated every ideal and principle that he espoused. With the cooperation of some of Elijah Muhammad's children and former apostles and with access to previously unreleased FBI files, Karl Evanzz gives us an unprecedented account of the life of the man whose philosophy continues, long after his death, to shape race relations in America.

At first glance New York City might seem overwhelming, but the Eyewitness Travel to New York will make the city feel uncomplicated. Take a bite out of the Big Apple as you discover New York''s shopping, museums, restaurants, hotels, parks, nightlife, and theaters. This lavishly illustrated guide will enlighten your experience and make it easy to manage. Everyday in New York offers its visitors something new to see and experience. Annually revised and updated with beautiful new full-color photos, illustrations, and maps, this guide includes information on local customs, currency, medical services, and transportation. Consistently chosen over the competition in national consumer market research. The best keeps getting better!

As gang violence continues to rise across the country and the world, police departments, prosecutors, and community members are seeking new methods to reduce the spread of gang-related criminal activity. Civil gang injunctions have become a growing feature of crime control programs in several states across the nation. Gang Injunctions and Abatement