Readers are invited behind the scenes to the torrid office affairs in those big towers or the multicultural sexual melting pot that only the Big Apple can offer and all its pulse-racing impromptu encounters.

In Big Apple Diaries, a heartfelt diary-style graphic memoir by Alyssa Bermudez, a young New Yorker doodles her way through middle school—until the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack leaves her wondering if she can ever be a kid again. It’s the year 2000 in New York City. For 12-year old Alyssa, a biracial Puerto Rican girl, this means all kinds of new challenges: splitting time between her dad's apartment in Manhattan and her mom's new place in Queens, navigating the ups and downs of middle school, harboring an epic crush on a new classmate, and figuring out how to be a "real" Puerto Rican. The only way to make sense of it all is to write and draw her thoughts and worries into her diary. Then life abruptly changes on September 11, 2001. After the Twin Towers fall and so many lives are lost, her concerns about gossip, crushes, and fashion feel distant and insignificant. Alyssa must find a new sense of self and purpose amidst all of the chaos, and find strength to move forward with hope. This moving graphic memoir is based on Alyssa Bermudez's own middle school diaries.

December 2001: Vince McMahon steps out of a snowy night into a diner in upstate New York for a meeting with old friend Phil Thomson, now a highly placed government official. Thomson has a strange proposition: creating a new covert black-ops group using the Superstars of World Wrestling Entertainment. The WWE's talented men and women are perfect. Highly skilled athletes with the ideal cover, they travel all across the country and the globe; no one would find it unusual to find them in a town one day and gone the next. The government would train and support the wrestlers in every way possible except one: no one must know the truth. March 2006: The Superstars have been handed their latest assignment -- take down a commercial-grade methyl-amphetamine plant that is bankrolling terrorist activities in Europe. Their mission seems simple and straightforward, until a member of their team is taken prisoner. Now all that they've worked so hard for is in jeopardy, and one of their own might be killed...

Clayton and Desmond work together to try to find the biggest apple for a school contest, but when they realize they will not win they find a better use for all of the apples they have collected.

Fifteen-year-old Maddie has won an art contest and gets to visit New York City.

When Samantha Archer and her friends take a field trip to New York City, they discover odd instances of vandalism at all of the sightseeing locations that they visit.

The great founding figures of organized crime in the 20th century were born and bred in New York City, and the city was the basis of their operations. Beginning with Prohibition and going on through many illegal activities the mob became a major force and its tentacles reached into virtually every enterprise, whether legal or illegal: gambling, boxing, labor racketeering, stock fraud, illegal unions, prostitution, food service, garment manufacturing, construction, loan sharking, hijacking, extortion, trucking, drug dealing – you name it the mob controlled it. The men who organized crime in America were the sons of poor immigrants. They were hungry for success and would use whatever means available to achieve their goals. They were not interested in religious identity and ethnic identity. Their syndicate of criminals was made up, primarily of Italians and Jews, but also Irish and black gangsters who could further their ambitions. Their sole objective was always the same – money. It began with Arnold Rothstein, who not only helped to fix the 1919 World Series, but who also mentored and financed the individuals who would control organized crime for decades. Individuals such as Frank Costello, Lucky Luciano, Bugsy Siegel, Joe Adonis, and Meyer Lansky, who would then follow suit setting up other criminal organizations. They established rules of governance, making millions of dollars for themselves and their cohorts. All the organized crime bosses and their cohorts had the same modus operandi: they were far-seeing opportunists who took advantage of every illegal opportunity that came their way for making money. Big Apple Gangsters: The Rise and Decline of the Mob in New York reveals just how influential the mob in New York City was during the 20th century. Jeffrey Sussman entertainingly digs into the origins of organized crime in the 20th century by looking at the corporate activity that dominated this one city and how these entrepreneurial bosses supported successful criminal enterprises in other cities. He also profiles many of the colorful gangsters who followed in the footsteps of gangland’s original founders. Throughout the book Sussman provides fascinating portraits of a who’s who of gangland. His narrative moves excitingly and entertainingly through the pivotal events and history of organized crime, explaining the birth, growth, maturation, and decline of various illegal enterprises in New York. He also profiles those who prosecuted the mob and won significant verdicts that ended many careers, responsible for bringing many organized crime figures to their knees and then delivering a series of coups de grace – such as Burton Turkus, Thomas Dewey, Robert Kennedy, and Rudolph Giuliani.

The wind blows an apple off a tree, a worm eats a tiny hole in it, a bird pecks at it, and a boy eats it, spitting out the seeds--from which an apple tree grows.

This is the story of Mouse, who finds a delicious, juicy red apple. Mouse wants to keep the apple all to himself but must first get the apple past various obstacles. Will Mouse succeed in getting his apple treat home safely without sharing it?

"""future is a mystery; than where does our riches belong to if not the past, even though there's still some bitterness there? --Mohamad Sobary (Former Director of Antara News Agency) This book is an important manuscript that is filled with the essence of hardwork, the warmth of family, and a journey. It is a bright practice of man jadda wajada. I hope you will be touched by his spirit and patience. The son of a minibus driver in the corner of East Java who shines in New York. Inspirational! --Ahmad Fuadi (writer of the best-selling trilogy Negeri 5 Menara) The power of education, life and the love of a family brought Iwan to a journey across the world to New York City where he gets to pursue his childhood dream. After 10 years, he returns to Indonesia to continue his great work. Refreshing and inspirational. --Andy F. Noya (Host Kick Andy Show) Iwan from Batu City is the proof and he is an inspiration. Read this novel and we will feel the optimism grow inside us. --Anies Baswedan (Dean at University of Paramadina and the Chief of Indonesia Mengajar) I can't stop reading this book from beginning to end. I will require my children to read this book, which for me is both moving and inspirational. --Virginia Rusli (Chief Editor of CLARA) The novel doesn't talk about dreams, but the courage to break the limit of your fears. It's an amazing story that is told firmly and simply. --E.S. Ito (Writer of Negara Kelima) The novel seems simple at first, but it has details and descriptions that warm the hearts of the readers. A clear work, and it begs us all to immortalize our memories as the points of the sun in our lives. --Asma Nadia (Writer of Emak Ingin Naik Haji, CEO Publication) ...most of all it is a story of dreams coming true, sharply focused by a person who knows what he wants. Certainly very relevant in today's world which needs the dose of positive energy that Mr. Iwan Setyawan delivers. --Wimar Witoelar (Authority in journalism, public relations and communication)"""