On February 3, in the frigid winter of 1923, the Lituania arrives in Boston without announcement or fanfare on the deck. Among the immigrants on board are brothers Jacov and Reuven Sidowitz and their mother, Ida. With the help of older brothers Natan and Lable, Jacov and Reuven (now Jack and Rubin), secure jobs in the shoe industry. They embrace union politics and enjoy girls, burlesque, and bagels. Ida, on the other hand, has difficulty adjusting to life in the East Bronx and is constantly praying for the safety of her oldest son and his family who stayed behind in volatile Russia. After a decade of romance, celebrations, and prosperity, the Depressionfollowed by World War IIchanges everything. Jack is drafted, trained to be an interpreter, and parachuted into Europe. Exposed to hundreds of maimed, hungry survivors and corpses, he continues searching for his brother in the former labor/concentration camps in Germany as he had promised Mama Ida. When WWII ends, Jack is discharged, but he is discontent. A passionate reunion with his wife, running a business, his dream of going to college, even the joy of his young son all leave him unfulfilled. He joins the Jewish fleet, financed by the Mafia, and helps smuggle survivors into Palestine. Could Yehuda, the brother left behind, or one of his children, be one of those survivors?

Hello Golden Gate is the epic generational saga of a family that was forced to flee their mother country and spent the rest of their lives looking for a place to call home. When author O1ga Valcoff s grandparents left behind everything they cared for while fleeing from the Russian Revolution of 1917, they became part of Asias White Russian community, where a diaspora of stateless refugees found comfort as they tried to rebuild their lives. Two generations later, Olga was born in Japan and moved to Shanghai with her parents, always on the run from war, Communism and political oppression. Hello Golden Gate is a factual record of Russian refugees in the Far East from the early 1920s through World War II and Chinese Communist takeover of China. At the heart of Olgas story is a strong family bond that endured hardships, enjoyed good times and never gave up hope. From illness, imprisonment and wartime destitution to beautiful Japanese festivals and opulent Russian religious holidays. The vignettes in Hello Golden Gate let readers see what life was like in another time and place

A collection of whimsical true encounters between famous and infamous individuals describes the unlikely meetings of Marilyn Monroe with Frank Lloyd Wright, Michael Jackson with Nancy Reagan, and Sigmund Freud with Gustav Mahler.

Instant New York Times Bestseller “Truly, there's no shame in taking a break from books during the pandemic. But if you're feeling ready to reach out, try starting with Goodbye, Again. Take my word for it — let Jonny Sun into your life.”---Janet W. Lee, NPR The wonderfully original author of Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Toogives us a collection of touching and hilarious personal essays, stories, poems—accompanied by his trademark illustrations—covering topics such as mental health, happiness, and what it means to belong. Jonny Sun is back with a collection of essays and other writings in his unique, funny, and heartfelt style. The pieces range from long meditations on topics like loneliness and being an outsider, to short humor pieces, conversations, and memorable one-liners. Jonny's honest writings about his struggles with feeling productive, as well as his difficulties with anxiety and depression will connect deeply with his fans as well as anyone attempting to create in our chaotic world. It also features a recipe for scrambled eggs that might make you cry.

This book gathers examples of the author's criticism from the span of his writing career, each of which demonstrates his passion for the way we view movies, as well as how we write about them.