"I wanna become a teacher and then teach in another country," an eight-year-old Canadian girl decided. By the age of twenty-five, she had checked this-her main goal in life-off her bucket list. In March 1992, Lorna Stuber stepped off an Air Canada plane in Tokyo, and embarked on a three-year adventure in a country she had never even thought about visiting until six months prior. Teaching ESL in a suburb of Tokyo-sometimes charging her way ahead, at other times stepping meekly forward-she fumbled through linguistic and cultural hiccups such as eating sushi so fresh it was still twitching and getting attacked by a high-tech toilet. While battling intense homesickness, adjusting to Japanese culture, and exploring Japan's beautiful mountains and coasts, Lorna learned to laugh at herself and open her mind to other cultures. Japan set her forth on a path that has continued to lead to opportunities she otherwise would have never known existed. "Everyone should live in another culture for at least a year. Not only do you learn about the world that is bigger than your own culture, but you learn aspects about yourself than you never would otherwise."

A beautiful Kirkassi girl, cold-eyed villains and smiling killers, a bazaar merchant peddling slightly used dreams—could any young adventurer ask for more? Not Carlo Chuchio, who is seeking hidden treasure on the legendary Road of Golden Dreams. With Baksheesh, the world's worst camel-puller, Carlo leads a caravan through the realm of Keshavar. Robbed of all but his underdrawers, mistaken for a mighty warrior and then for a crown prince, Carlo risks his life for a prize that may not even exist. Newbery medalist Lloyd Alexander weaves a glorious tale of adventure, love, and the treasures that matter most. The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio is a 2008 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

A narrative tour de force that combines wide-ranging scholarship with captivating prose, Kevin Starr's acclaimed multi-volume Americans and the California Dream is an unparalleled work of cultural history. In this volume, Starr covers the crucial postwar period--1950 to 1963--when the California we know today first burst into prominence. Starr brilliantly illuminates the dominant economic, social, and cultural forces in California in these pivotal years. In a powerful blend of telling events, colorful personalities, and insightful analyses, Starr examines such issues as the overnight creation of the postwar California suburb, the rise of Los Angeles as Super City, the reluctant emergence of San Diego as one of the largest cities in the nation, and the decline of political centrism. He explores the Silent Generation and the emergent Boomer youth cult, the Beats and the Hollywood "Rat Pack," the pervasive influence of Zen Buddhism and other Asian traditions in art and design, the rise of the University of California and the emergence of California itself as a utopia of higher education, the cooling of West Coast jazz, freeway and water projects of heroic magnitude, outdoor life and the beginnings of the environmental movement. More broadly, he shows how California not only became the most populous state in the Union, but in fact evolved into a mega-state en route to becoming the global commonwealth it is today. Golden Dreams continues an epic series that has been widely recognized for its signal contribution to the history of American culture in California. It is a book that transcends its stated subject to offer a wealth of insight into the growth of the Sun Belt and the West and indeed the dramatic transformation of America itself in these pivotal years following the Second World War.

Gerry Faust won more hearts than games. He came to Notre Dame as the high school coach from Cincinnati's Moeller High School, such a perfect fit for Notre Dame that it seemed almost too good to be true. It was. Faust admits his mistakes, which include the manner in which he put together his first coaching staff, changing Notre Dame's offense, even feeling sorry for himself. He explains how he could beat Southern Cal, but not Air Force and Purdue. An optimist to the end, Faust took on, if anything, an even greater challenge when he left Notre Dame. He became coach at the University of Akron, a program where, unlike at Notre Dame, not everyone wanted him to succeed.

One of the most persistent legends in the annals of New World exploration is that of the Land of Gold. This mythical site was located over vast areas of South America (and later, North America); the search for it drove some men mad with greed and, as often as not, to their untimely deaths. In this history of quest and adventure, Robert Silverberg traces the fate of Old World explorers lured westward by the myth of El Dorado. From the German conquistadores licensed by the Spanish king to operate out of Venezuela, to the journeys of Gonzalo Pizarro in the Amazon basin, and to the nearly miraculous voyage of Francisco Orellana to the mouth of the Amazon River, encountering the warlike women who gave the river its name, violence and bloodshed accompanied the determined adventurers. Sir Walter Raleigh and a host of other explorers spent small fortunes and many lives trying to locate Manoa, a city that was rumored to be El Dorado—City of Gold. Celebrated science fiction author Robert Silverberg recreates these legendary quests in The Golden Dream: Seekers of El Dorado.

In this powerful and inspiring memoir, a Pakistani immigrant shares his story of finding new freedoms and a new faith in America. It’s easy to talk about freedom. But unless someone has lived in a world that suffocates freedom, it’s difficult to appreciate the liberty found in America. This is the true story of a Pakistani Muslim who immigrates to the United States for college and discovers five transformational freedoms along the way: the freedom to fail and start over, to love, to choose one’s faith, to be an entrepreneur, and to self-govern. Contrasting these precious freedoms with the life he lived in Pakistan, Ali’s story reveals that God is the true source of liberty as He works in people’s lives to bring about redemption. A call to value and preserve American freedoms, Beyond the Golden Door is also an invitation for readers to consider ultimate freedom in Jesus Christ.

Coming to Nickelodeon for the 2016 holidays, Albert is the hilarious and exciting story of a tiny Douglas Fir tree who dreams of being THE big Christmas tree in Empire City. Boys and girls ages 3 to 7 will love this beautifully illustrated book based on the television movie. This Nickelodeon read-along contains audio narration.