The play that gave birth to the smash-hit film - a wonderful comedy about growing up in multiracial Salford. The six Khan children, entangled in arranged marriages and bell-bottoms, are trying to find their way growing up in 1970s Salford. They are all caught between their Pakistani father's insistence on Asian traditions, their English mother's laissez-faire attitude, and their own wish to become citizens of the modern world.

A young woman journeys to a distant castle on the back of a great white bear who is the victim of a cruel enchantment.

Annotation Li (education, State U. of New York at Buffalo) examines the experiences of four Chinese immigrant children and their families adjusting to daily life and schooling in Saskatoon, Canada, with a specific focus on the interrelationship between literacy and culture. She analyzes the meaning of schooling with reference to the children's home literacy experiences and their parents' perspectives, and the influence of the parents' cultural values on their children's literacy learning. She concludes that home literacy practices are complex and multifaceted, and offers suggestions for classroom teachers, policy makers, and immigrant parents. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Fantasically funny novel by the author of The Tortilla Curtain, about a man washed up on an inhabited island and his adventures there

Puluwat Atoll in Micronesia, with a population of only a few hundred proud seafaring people, can fulfill anyone's romantic daydream of the South Seas. Thomas Gladwin has written a beautiful and perceptive book which describes the complex navigational systems of the Puluwat natives, yet has done so principally to provide new insights into the effects of poverty in Western cultures.The cognitive system which enables the Puluwatans to sail their canoes without instruments over trackless expanses of the Pacific Ocean is sophisticated and complex, yet the Puluwat native would score low on a standardized intelligence test. The author relates this discrepancy between performance and measured abilities to the educational problems of disadvantaged children. He presents his arguments simply and clearly, with sensitive and detailed descriptions and many excellent illustrations. His book will appeal to anthropologists, psychologists, and sailing enthusiasts alike.

The year 1955 was a watershed one for New York’s film industry: Elia Kazan’s On the Waterfront took home eight Oscars, and, more quietly, Stanley Kubrick released the low-budget classic Killer’s Kiss. A wave of films that changed how American movies were made soon followed, led by directors such as Sidney Lumet, William Friedkin, Francis Ford Coppola, and Martin Scorsese. Yet this resurgence could not have occurred without a deeply rooted tradition of local film production. Richard Koszarski chronicles the compelling and often surprising origins of New York’s postwar film renaissance, looking beyond such classics as Naked City, Kiss of Death, and Portrait of Jennie. He examines the social, cultural, and economic forces that shaped New York filmmaking, from city politics to union regulations, and shows how decades of low-budget independent production taught local filmmakers how to capture the city’s grit, liveliness, and allure. He reveals the importance of “race films”—all-Black productions intended for segregated African American audiences—that not only helped keep the film business afloat but also nurtured a core group of writers, directors, designers, and technicians. Detailed production histories of On the Waterfront and Killer’s Kiss—films that appear here in a completely new light—illustrate the distinctive characteristics of New York cinema. Drawing on a vast array of research—including studio libraries, censorship records, union archives, and interviews with participants—“Keep ’Em in the East” rewrites a crucial chapter in the history of American cinema.

Brings together the Slovenian photographer's images from his travels in the East, frequently following the Trans-Siberian railway. His use of deep blacks and back-lit silhouettes embues his work with a highly unique style. The powerful images are remarkably moody and atmospheric, permeated with a strange melancholy and an overwhelming sense of isolation.