Brookside Elementary in Norwalk, Connecticut, is preparing for a new school year and another chance to improve its failing scores on the statewide standardized test known as the CMT. The challenges are many, and for the faculty—whose jobs may depend on their students’ ability to improve on the test—the stakes are high. Ten-year-old Hydea is about to start fifth grade with second-grade reading skills. Her friend Marbella is only a little further along. In past years, these students would have received help from the literacy specialist Mrs. Schaefer. But this year, due to cutbacks and a change in job description, she will have to select the few students whom she and the teachers can bet on—the ones who are close to passing the exams. And, for added measure, Principal Hay has already asked his faculty to teach to the test. Journalist Ron Berler spent a full year at Brookside. In Raising the Curve, he offers a nuanced and personal portrait of the students, teachers, and staff who make up the Brookside community, capturing their struggles as well as their pride, resilience, and spirited faith.

In recent times, venture capital and private equity funds have become household names, but so far little has been written for the investors in such funds, the so-called limited partners. There is far more to the management of a portfolio of venture capital and private equity funds than usually perceived. Beyond the J Curve describes an innovative toolset for such limited partners to design and manage portfolios tailored to the dynamics of this market place, going far beyond the typical and often-simplistic recipe to 'go for top quartile funds'. Beyond the J Curve provides the answers to key questions, including: Why 'top-quartile' promises should be taken with a huge pinch of salt and what it takes to select superior fund managers? What do limited partners need to consider when designing and managing portfolios? How one can determine the funds' economic value to help addressing the questions of 'fair value' under IAS 39 and 'risk' under Basel II or Solvency II? Why is monitoring important, and how does a limited partner manage his portfolio? How the portfolio's returns can be improved through proper liquidity management and what to consider when over-committing? And, why uncertainty rather than risk is an issue and how a limited partner can address and benefit from the fast changing private equity environment? Beyond the J Curve takes the practitioner's view and offers private equity and venture capital professionals a comprehensive guide making high return targets more realistic and sustainable. This book is a must have for all parties involved in this market, as well as academic and students.

Have we ever needed kindness more? Learn which ways of acting, speaking, and thinking will improve your relationships and make the greatest difference for your life. “This book has the potential to change the emotional climate of our culture.”—Gary Chapman, New York Times bestselling author of The Five Love Languages Think of your toughest relationship. Think of a relationship that is good but could be great. Think of a group of people that drives you nuts. You want to show more kindness and generosity, but sometimes you’re just tired, stretched, and frustrated. Besides, would small actions make that big a difference? Yes! After years of extensive research, Shaunti Feldhahn has concluded that kindness is a superpower. It can change any relationship, make your life easier and better, and transform our culture. But how does it work? And how can you show kindness when you don’t feel like it? In The Kindness Challenge, Shaunti explores . . . • Three simple acts that make all the difference in any relationship (with a spouse, child, co-worker, brother-in-law . . .) • Whether kindness is ever the wrong approach • The seven ways you may be unkind and never realize it • Eight types of kindness—and which might be the best fit for you • Ten sneaky obstacles that get in the way of giving praise • Practical ways to persevere when kindness is tough • How kindness in marriage leads to benefits in the bedroom (yes, really!) • Why your acts of kindness today can help transform the world With self-assessments, day-to-day tips, a 30-day challenge, and specific kindness ideas, The Kindness Challenge can make your toughest relationships better and your good relationships great—starting today.

“Time did not exist; or if it did it did not mater. Our world then was both wide and narrow—wide in the immensity of the sea and mountain; narrow in that the boat was very small, and we lived and camped, explored and swam in a little realm of our own making...” This is the fascinating true adventure story of a woman who packed her five children onto a twenty-five-foot boat and explored the coastal waters of British Columbia summer after summer in the 1920s and 1930s. Acting single-handedly as skipper, navigator, engineer and of course, mother, Muriel Wylie Blanchet saw her crew through exciting—and sometimes perilous—encounters with fog; rough seas, cougars, bears and whales, and did so with high spirits and courage. On these pages an independent woman with a deep respect for the native cultures of a region, and a refreshing wonderment about the natural world, comes to life. In The Curve of Time, she has left us with a sensitive and lyrically written account of their journeys and a timeless travel memoir not to be missed.

A predictable pattern of success Entrepreneurs who have read early drafts of The Start-Up J Curve responded, ''I wish I had this book years ago.'' A start-up unfolds in a predictable pattern; the more aware entrepreneurs are of this pattern, the better able they will be to capitalize on it. Author Howard Love calls this pattern the start-up J Curve: The toughest part of the endeavor is the time between the actual start of a new business and when the product and model are firmly established. The Start-Up J Curve gives entrepreneurs the tools they need to get through the early challenges so they can reach the primary value creation that lies beyond. Love brings thirty-five years of start-up experience to this comprehensive guide to starting a business. He outlines the six predictable stages of start-up growth and details the activities that should be undertaken at each stage to ensure success and to avoid common pitfalls. Instead of feeling lost and confused after a setback, start-up founders and investors can anticipate the challenges, overcome the obstacles, and ride the curve to the top.

How are young women supposed to see each other clearly when they can't even see themselves? This razor-sharp novel “perfectly captures [the] power dynamics and identity issues that . . . women are forced to face.”—Marie Claire (Best Books of the Year) Fiona and Liv are seniors at Buchanan College, a small liberal arts school in rural Pennsylvania. Fiona, who is still struggling emotionally after the death of her younger sister, is spending her final college year sleeping with abrasive men she meets in bars. Liv is happily coupled and on the fast track to marriage with an all-American frat boy. Both of their journeys, and their friendship, will be derailed by the relationships they develop with Oliver Ash, a ruggedly good-looking visiting literature professor whose first novel was published to great success when he was twenty-six. But now Oliver is in his early forties, with thinning hair and a checkered past, including talk of a relationship with an underage woman—a former student—at a previous teaching job. Meanwhile, Oliver’s wife, Simone, is pursuing an academic research project in Berlin, raising their five-year-old son, dealing with her husband’s absence, and wondering if their marriage is beyond repair. This sly, stunning, wise-beyond-its-years novel is told from the perspectives of the three women and showcases Mandy Berman’s talent for exploring the complexities of desire, friendship, identity, and power dynamics in the contemporary moment. Praise for The Learning Curve “Readers expecting a typical love triangle won’t find one. Instead, Berman delivers a thorough and incredibly timely investigation into relationship power imbalances that’s sure to start a lot of conversations.”—The Millions “Fiona and Liv are two best friends who became inseparable after Fiona experienced a family tragedy. Senior year of college, their lives are headed in different directions, and their differences are only highlighted by the sudden arrival of famed writer and controversial figure Oliver Ash. It’s not what you think—at least, not entirely. This novel, through different perspectives, explores loss, grief, sex, friendship, power dynamics, and much more.”—Betches “You win some, you learn some. The Learning Curve by Mandy Berman follows two roommates who develop relationships with a visiting professor with a questionable past. Spoiler: things get complicated.”—The Skimm

Shortlisted for the Business Book Awards 2022 Many of us are striving to reach our full potential at work and beyond - to achieve our goals, rise to challenges and connect well with others. But how can we actively develop our performance, while also taking care of our well-being and life satisfaction? The Performance Curve is a ground-breaking guide to success and happiness in both work and life. Rather than telling you what to do, this book allows you to come up with a roadmap for evolving your inner operating system (your mindsets, emotions and habits) for your unique circumstances. Crucially, this book explores both how you can improve individual performance and how to build relationships and cultures that bring out the best others. By interweaving individual and collective development, this approach is transformational for building leadership and organizational performance. The Performance Curve is a powerful combination of neuroscience, psychological research and practical guidance. These concepts are then brought to life through the stories of remarkable individuals from different sectors, including business, the arts, academia and not-for-profits. Laura Watkins and Vanessa Dietzel draw upon their vast experience and research as consultants and leadership coaches to deliver a ground-breaking guide to enhancing your performance in your life and career.