"Born in Harlem during the Great Depression, a little African-American girl is named Hope Sequoyah for the promise of better times to come and the Cherokee chief who taught his people how to read and write. With a name like yours, you must stand tall, her mama always says. When Hope is five years old, her mama takes a painting class with Robert Brackman and Hope's life is forever changed. In her own words, Hope tells of how she gets another name and meets President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor--all with her teddy bear by her side."--Dust jacket.

Mark Singer's lively and extremely popular "U.S. Journal" column in The New Yorker featured under-the-radar stories that were unusual but emblematic tales of American life. A first-time collection of these pieces, Somewhere in America offers an illuminating glimpse of the cultural kaleidoscope of our country. From worm farmers in Weleetka, Oklahoma, to angry nudists in Wilmington, Vermont, Singer proves that "sometimes you don't even need a passport to experience a new nation" (U.S. News & World Report).

For too long we’ve lacked a compact, inexpensive, authoritative, and compulsively readable book that offers American readers a clear, informative, and inspiring narrative account of their country. Such a fresh retelling of the American story is especially needed today, to shape and deepen young Americans’ sense of the land they inhabit, help them to understand its roots and share in its memories, all the while equipping them for the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship in American society The existing texts simply fail to tell that story with energy and conviction. Too often they reflect a fragmented outlook that fails to convey to American readers the grand trajectory of their own history. This state of affairs cannot continue for long without producing serious consequences. A great nation needs and deserves a great and coherent narrative, as an expression of its own self-understanding and its aspirations; and it needs to be able to convey that narrative to its young effectively. Of course, it goes without saying that such a narrative cannot be a fairy tale of the past. It will not be convincing if it is not truthful. But as Land of Hope brilliantly shows, there is no contradiction between a truthful account of the American past and an inspiring one. Readers of Land of Hope will find both in its pages.

The challenges we face can be difficult even to think about. Climate change, war, political polarization, economic upheaval, and the dying back of nature together create a planetary emergency of overwhelming proportions. This revised, tenth anniversary edition of Active Hope shows us how to strengthen our capacity to face these crises so that we can respond with unexpected resilience and creative power. Drawing on decades of teaching an empowerment approach known as the Work That Reconnects, the authors guide us through a transformational process informed by mythic journeys, modern psychology, spirituality, and holistic science. This process equips us with tools to face the mess we’re in and play our role in the collective transition, or Great Turning, to a life-sustaining society.

Hope Somewhere in Pittsburgh is the historical fiction sequel to Hope Somewhere in America. Hope, the subject of a 1934 New Deal painting by Robert Brackman, learns the history behind a portrait of Mrs. Dilworth that was presented to the Pittsburgh Dilworth School during the opening ceremony in 1915. Along the way, Hope also learns about important historical figures that relate to the history of Pittsburgh.

The Motif of Hope in African American Preaching during Slavery and the Post-Civil War Era: There's a Bright Side Somewhere explores the use of the motif of hope within African American preaching during slavery (1803–1865) and the post-Civil War era (1865–1896). It discusses the presentation of the motif of hope in African American preaching from an historical perspective and how this motif changed while in some instances remained the same with the changing of its historical context. Furthermore, this discussion illuminates a reality that hope has been a theme of importance throughout the history of African American preaching.

Readers fell in love with teenage waitress Hope Yancey when Joan Bauer’s Newbery Honor–winning novel was published ten years ago. Now, with a terrific new jacket and note from the author, Hope’s story will inspire a new group of teen readers.