Yakuza Moon is the shocking, yet intensely moving memoir of 37-yearold Shoko Tendo, who grew up the daughter of a yakuza boss. Tendo lived her life in luxury until the age of six, when her father was sent to prison, and her family fell into terrible debt. Bullied by classmates who called her "the yakuza girl," and terrorized at home by a father who became a drunken, violent monster after his release from prison, Tendo rebelled. A regular visitor to nightclubs at the age of 12, she soon became a drug addict and a member of a girl gang. By the age of 15 she found herself sentenced to eight months in a juvenile detention center. Adulthood brought big bucks and glamour when Tendo started working as a bar hostess during Japan’s booming bubble economy of the nineteen- eighties. But among her many rich and loyal patrons there were also abusive clients, one of whom beat her so badly that her face was left permanently scarred. When her mother died, Tendo plunged into such a deep depression that she tried to commit suicide twice. Tendo takes us through the bad times with warmth and candor, and gives a moving and inspiring account of how she overcame a lifetime of discrimination and hardship. Getting tattooed, from the base of her neck to the tips of her toes, with a design centered on a geisha with a dagger in her mouth, was an act that empowered her to start making changes in her life. She quit her job as a hostess. On her last day at the bar she looked up at the full moon, a sight she never forgot. The moon became a symbol of her struggle to become whole, and the title of the book she wrote as an epitaph for herself and her family.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • More than one million copies sold! A “brilliant” (Lupita Nyong’o, Time), “poignant” (Entertainment Weekly), “soul-nourishing” (USA Today) memoir about coming of age during the twilight of apartheid “Noah’s childhood stories are told with all the hilarity and intellect that characterizes his comedy, while illuminating a dark and brutal period in South Africa’s history that must never be forgotten.”—Esquire Winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor and an NAACP Image Award • Named one of the best books of the year by The New York Time, USA Today, San Francisco Chronicle, NPR, Esquire, Newsday, and Booklist Trevor Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents’ indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa’s tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle. Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man’s relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother—his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life. The stories collected here are by turns hilarious, dramatic, and deeply affecting. Whether subsisting on caterpillars for dinner during hard times, being thrown from a moving car during an attempted kidnapping, or just trying to survive the life-and-death pitfalls of dating in high school, Trevor illuminates his curious world with an incisive wit and unflinching honesty. His stories weave together to form a moving and searingly funny portrait of a boy making his way through a damaged world in a dangerous time, armed only with a keen sense of humor and a mother’s unconventional, unconditional love.

Born into the family of a wealthy yakuza boss, Shoko Tendo lived her early years in luxury. But labelled the yakuza kid, she became the victim of bullying and discrimination from teachers and classmates at school, her father's drunken rages at home. This title presents an account of one woman's experience of growing up in Japan's yakuza society. The story of a yakuza's daughter is tellingly recreated in a mature manga format, illustrated by a female Japanese manga artist in a lively and inspired fashion. A poignant and eye-opening true-life memoir, 'Yakuza Moon' is a

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author of Missing Beauty comes a fascinating inside look at the mafia. Growing up among racketeers on the Lower East Side of New York City, Arlyne Brickman associated with mobsters. Drawn to the glamorous and flashy lifestyle, she was soon dating "wiseguys" and running errands for them; but after years as a mob girlfriend, Arlyne began to get in on the action herself—eventually becoming a police informant and major witness in the government's case against the Colombo crime family.

It was a cold, raining morning but that wasnt going to stop the crew from hunting down Big Rob. He had caused them some problems in the past and now he had shot one of their boys. Everyone who knew anything about the Born Gangsters knew that Big Rob had signed his death certificate the day he shot D. It was a good day for the Born Gangsters. Everything had finally paid off after all the years of lock downs, police drama and killings. J, G, B and D had come a long, long way. They started out just selling weed and graduated to crack. J had drawn up an Oath that all of them signed when they were just teenagers. They all vowed to uphold everything they swore to in the contract and believe me they did. Everyone knew that if you had beef with one of the Born Gangster, you had beef with all of them. And when they came for someone, they came with full force and NO mercy. There was nothing they wouldnt do for each other; and no one they wouldnt take out for one another. They had a bond that was incorruptible. No women, child or family could turn these boys against one another. They were family. They were Born Gangsters to the end.

Amina was born in Dubai in the 1970s. As a child, Amina was brutally beaten by her father. As she came of age, she was cruelly discriminated against in favor of her brothers. But as a woman she nonetheless persisted in her love for her family, which was at the center of her life. Managing to connect her father with life-saving medical attention at a time when he was dangerously close to death, she subsequently witnessed what appeared to be a miracle. Her grateful father became a famous businessman and a fervently devout Muslim. Delighted with his apparent change of heart, Amina felt as though her loyalty had been rewarded. Sadly for her and for many other people, she couldn't have been more mistaken. She soon discovered that her father was, in fact, a gangster, hiding behind the shield of religion. This true tale is more than a disturbing account of hypocrisy, corruption, and betrayal. Thanks to Amina's 14-year-old daughter, Maha, who skillfully brings her story to life in these pages, it is also an inspiring testament to the power of speaking the truth, of bringing meaning to suffering, and of discovering what truly matters in this life.

Of the ethnic gangs that rule America's inner cities, none has had the impact of the Jamaican posses. Spawned in the ghettos of Kingston as mercenary street-fighters for the island's politicians, the posses began migrating to the United States in the early 1980's, just in time to catch and ride the crack wave as it engulfed the country. Laurie Gunst's provocative exposé of the Jamaican politicians' role in creating this problem is also a moving and compelling tale of suffering and exploitation. Leone Ross' substantial afterword examines further the issues raised by the book from a British and Jamaican perspective. --Back cover.