In 1977, Christopher Boyce and Andrew Daulton Lee were convicted of selling top secret intelligence information to the Soviet Union. Boyce was sentenced to 40 years imprisonment. Lee received a life sentence. The story of their crime, as told in the 1985 movie starring Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn, was only the beginning. THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN: AMERICAN SONS tells the full story of how two of America's youngest convicted spies survived decades in prison - and how a young, idealistic paralegal named Cait Mills helped them become free men.

Forty years before the names Snowden and Manning entered the world's cultural lexicon, Christopher Boyce and Andrew Daulton Lee became America's youngest convicted spies - condemned to federal prison in 1977 for their roles in one of the most highly publicized espionage cases in Cold War history.Yet the story of their crime, as told in the book and movie THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN, was only the beginning.Locked away in some of the country's most violent and inhospitable prisons, Boyce and Lee survived repeated attempts on their lives and years of solitary confinement before a young and idealistic paralegal, Cait Mills, attempted to put them on the path to freedom. Diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, Mills' determination to continue her work while battling the illness ultimately changed all three of their lives. AMERICAN SONS: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN is an incredible true story told by the people who lived it - a narrative of survival against impossible odds, a case study on the indomitability of the human spirit, and a testament to the transformative power of forgiveness.The 40th Anniversary Edition of AMERICAN SONS includes new and expanded content, including over a dozen articles written by Christopher Boyce for the Minneapolis Star Tribune during the late '80s and early '90s that shed a stark light on life inside prison walls.

Tens of thousands of men from southern China changed the course of American history with their tireless work in the California gold fields in the 1850s and their crucial contribution in the building of the first Transcontinental Railroad in the following decade. Chinese Brothers, American Sons tells the little-known story of these brave adventurers through the eyes of two brothers, Li Chang and Li Yu, who arrive in San Francisco in 1854 in search of the Gold Mountain. Their hope is to make some money to take back to China, but they also encounter violence and discrimination and, yes, American food. This apocryphal tale celebrates and illuminates the struggles and achievements of a largely-ignored group in the rich history of the United States of America--the Cantonese men who conquered the toughest part of the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad: the tunnels through the granite of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Despite their efforts, Asian-Americans were the target of racism for a century beyond the opening of the railroad in 1869, and the poison has yet to fully disappear. The author's own story of trying to "fit in" to his hometown birthplace of St Louis is one of the many rich strands to this broad narrative. In the end, the story is one of hope and triumph--the Chinese brothers are no longer invisible. They are now American sons. Praise for Chinese Brothers, American Sons: "In telling the story of what the Chinese brothers endure, Shew has essentially combined two books. One is the novel, as Li Chang and Li Yu gradually make their way through American culture and prejudices. The other is history, first of the search for gold, then of how railroad crews -- Chinese and otherwise -- laid track in impossible conditions to unite America in the wake of the Civil War." St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A powerful novel about ethnically fluid California, and the corrosive relationship between two Filipino brothers. Told with a hard-edged purity that brings to mind Cormac McCarthy and Denis Johnson, American Son is the story of two Filipino brothers adrift in contemporary California. The older brother, Tomas, fashions himself into a Mexican gangster and breeds pricey attack dogs, which he trains in German and sells to Hollywood celebrities. The narrator is younger brother Gabe, who tries to avoid the tar pit of Tomas's waywardness, yet moves ever closer to embracing it. Their mother, who moved to America to escape the caste system of Manila and is now divorced from their American father, struggles to keep her sons in line while working two dead-end jobs. When Gabe runs away, he brings shame and unforeseen consequences to the family. Full of the ache of being caught in a violent and alienating world, American Son is a debut novel that captures the underbelly of the modern immigrant experience. A Los Angeles Times Best Book, New York Times Notable Book, and a Kiriyama Pacific Rim Prize Finalist

Home schooling has long been regarded as a last resort, particularly by African-American families. But in this inspirational and practical memoir, Paula Penn-Nabrit shares her intimate experiences of home-schooling her three sons, Charles, Damon, and Evan. Paula and her husband, C. Madison, decided to home-school their children after racial incidents at public and private schools led them to the conclusion that the traditional educational system would be damaging to their sons’ self-esteem. This decision was especially poignant for the Nabrit family because C. Madison’s uncle was the famed civil rights attorney James Nabrit, who, with Thurgood Marshall, had argued Brown v. Board of Education before the U.S. Supreme Court; to other members of their family, it seemed as if Paula and C. Madison were turning their backs on a rich educational legacy. But ultimately, Paula and C. Madison felt that they knew what was best for their sons. So in 1991—when Evan was nine and twins Charles and Damon were eleven—the children were withdrawn from the exclusive country day school they’d been attending. In Morning by Morning, Paula Penn-Nabrit discusses her family’s emotional transition to home schooling and shares the nuts and bolts of the boys’ educational experience. She explains how she and her husband developed a curriculum, provided adequate exposure to the arts as well as quiet time for reflection and meditation, initiated quality opportunities for volunteerism, and sought out athletic activities for their sons. At the end of each chapter, she offers advice on how readers can incorporate some of the steps her family took—even if they aren’t able to home-school; plus, there’s a website resource guide at the end of the book. Charles and Damon were eventually admitted to Princeton, and Evan attended Amherst College. But Morning by Morning is frank about the challenges the boys faced in their transition from home schooling to the college experience, and Penn-Nabrit reflects on some things she might have done differently. With great warmth and perception, Paula Penn-Nabrit discusses her personal experience and the amazing outcome of her home-schooling experience: three spiritually and intellectually well balanced sons who attended some of the top educational institutions in this country. What we learned from home schooling: -Use your time wisely. -Education is more than academics. -The idea of parent as teacher doesn’t have to end at kindergarten. -The family is our introduction to community. -Extended family is a safety net. -Yes, kids really do better in environments designed for them. -Travel is an education. -Athletics is more than competitive sports. -Get used to diversity. -It’s okay if your kids get angry at you—they’ll get over it! -from Morning by Morning From the Hardcover edition.

2020 Chautauqua Prize Finalist 2020 NAACP Image Award Nominee - Outstanding Literary Work (Nonfiction) Best-of Lists: Best Nonfiction Books of 2019 (Kirkus Reviews) · 25 Can't-Miss Books of 2019 (The Undefeated) Explores the terror, grace, and beauty of coming of age as a Black person in contemporary America and what it means to parent our children in a persistently unjust world. Emotionally raw and deeply reflective, Imani Perry issues an unflinching challenge to society to see Black children as deserving of humanity. She admits fear and frustration for her African American sons in a society that is increasingly racist and at times seems irredeemable. However, as a mother, feminist, writer, and intellectual, Perry offers an unfettered expression of love—finding beauty and possibility in life—and she exhorts her children and their peers to find the courage to chart their own paths and find steady footing and inspiration in Black tradition. Perry draws upon the ideas of figures such as James Baldwin, W. E. B. DuBois, Emily Dickinson, Toni Morrison, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Ida B. Wells. She shares vulnerabilities and insight from her own life and from encounters in places as varied as the West Side of Chicago; Birmingham, Alabama; and New England prep schools. With original art for the cover by Ekua Holmes, Breathe offers a broader meditation on race, gender, and the meaning of a life well lived and is also an unforgettable lesson in Black resistance and resilience.

The authors, two noted psychologists who are parents themselves, provide simple yet effective strategies for problem-solving, improving communication, and instilling a positive racial identity in African-American boys.