Now in paperback comes the "amusing, engaging, and truly enlightened" ("Library Journal") guide to cultivating Zen practice through housekeeping tasks and finding the hidden spirituality in everyday life. 15 illustrations.

From two-time Newbery Honor and New York Times–bestselling author Kevin Henkes, this timeless novel about loss, loneliness, and friendship tells the story of the spring break that changes seventh-grader Amelia Albright’s life forever. Amelia Albright dreams about going to Florida for spring break like everyone else in her class, but her father—a cranky and stubborn English professor—has decided Florida is too much adventure. Now Amelia is stuck at home with him and her babysitter, the beloved Mrs. O’Brien. The week ahead promises to be boring, until Amelia meets Casey at her neighborhood art studio. Amelia has never been friends with a boy before, and the experience is both fraught and thrilling. When Casey claims to see the spirit of Amelia’s mother (who died ten years before), the pair embarks on an altogether different journey in their attempt to find her. Using crisp, lyrical, literary writing and moments of humor and truth, award-winning author Kevin Henkes deftly captures how it feels to be almost thirteen. With themes of family, death, grief, creativity, and loyalty, Sweeping Up the Heart is for readers of Kate DiCamillo, Rebecca Stead, Lauren Wolk, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, and Pam Muñoz Ryan.

Public education in the United States faces an unprecedented crisis. The explosive growth of charter schools over the last two decades has shaken the status quo to its core. At stake are the future of public schools and how they will continue to educate our nation's youth. ​Clashes over money and ideologies have led to a struggle between the public education establishment and those at the forefront of educational reform. The conflict is being waged in the court of public opinion, as well as in courtrooms throughout the country. While the outcome is impossible to predict, both sides are preparing for a fight of David versus Goliath proportions. Collaboration is critical to the success of both. In Charter Storm, they use their combined knowledge and research of over 120 individual interviews over five years to teach you about-- - essential insights those new to the charter school movement need for their schools to survive and thrive - how aggressive educational establishment pushback threatens to sweep away the most vulnerable - key issues authorizers must know to effectively oversee their organizations - the overwhelming challenges the educational establishment faces today and how it can effectively navigate the changing local and national educational landscape - why active participation and support of charter school associations are essential to each charter school and the educational reform movement's long-term success - what every charter school parent needs to know to create and support an exceptional educational experience for his or her children.

An exhilarating travelogue for a new generation about a journey along Colombia’s Magdalena River, exploring life by the banks of a majestic river now at risk, and how a country recovers from conflict. "Richly observed." —Liesl Schillinger, The New York Times Book Review An American writer of Argentine, Syrian, and Iraqi Jewish descent, Jordan Salama tells the story of the Río Magdalena, nearly one thousand miles long, the heart of Colombia. This is Gabriel García Márquez’s territory—rumor has it Macondo was partly inspired by the port town of Mompox—as much as that of the Middle Eastern immigrants who run fabric stores by its banks. Following the river from its source high in the Andes to its mouth on the Caribbean coast, journeying by boat, bus, and improvised motobalinera, Salama writes against stereotype and toward the rich lives of those he meets. Among them are a canoe builder, biologists who study invasive hippopotamuses, a Queens transplant managing a failing hotel, a jeweler practicing the art of silver filigree, and a traveling librarian whose donkeys, Alfa and Beto, haul books to rural children. Joy, mourning, and humor come together in this astonishing debut, about a country too often seen as only a site of war, and a tale of lively adventure following a legendary river.

Practical, tested, implementable real-world advice for transforming any business and is written by people that have “been there and done that”. Changing an organization is tough. Transformation is hard work that should not be attempted by the faint of heart or the weak of mind. But transformation is not rocket science either. By taking a realistic, simple and direct view of what is required to transform an enterprise, the authors reduce the noise and nonsense that surrounds much of the discussion of transformation and provide straight forward lessons, examples and thought provoking questions to guide the reader to a more powerful position as an agent of change. Based on the authors' decades of experience dealing with major business transformation, this book provides valuable guidance for any company engaged in large scale change brought on by shifts in the competitive landscape, mergers, acquisitions, or a major restructuring of their business model. Many organizations undergo transformation with lots of enthusiasm, but are frustrated with the results. This book contains a set of lessons gained in the process of working in and with organizations in the process of transformation. The book starts out by framing transformation and explains the overall system the enterprise that is involved in transformation. By doing so, clarity is brought to the question of why change is so difficult and problematic. What you can expect to get by reading this book is: A way of looking at transformation that is comprehensive and yet manageable without all the buzzword bingo terminology 11 critical lessons taken from the author’s broad experience on a broad range of topics that you can leverage in your situation To get some thought provoking insight from 10 key questions for each lesson that you can use to apply the lessons to your organization A comprehensive framework for leading transformation that will challenge your thinking and provide a path forward to taking immediate action With rare insight and candor, the authors provide thoughtful advice backed by examples from their comprehensive experience. If you don’t like transformation, you are going to hate irrelevance. This book is your best bet for getting the insight you need to transform your organization before it becomes irrelevant.

Identifies the common vulnerabilities of the voiceless and demonstrates how the law can evolve to protect their interests more effectively.

Few events in the history of humanity rival the Industrial Revolution. Following its onset in eighteenth-century Britain, sweeping changes in agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, and technology began to gain unstoppable momentum throughout Europe, North America, and eventually much of the world—with profound effects on socioeconomic and cultural conditions. In The Institutional Revolution, Douglas W. Allen offers a thought-provoking account of another, quieter revolution that took place at the end of the eighteenth century and allowed for the full exploitation of the many new technological innovations. Fundamental to this shift were dramatic changes in institutions, or the rules that govern society, which reflected significant improvements in the ability to measure performance—whether of government officials, laborers, or naval officers—thereby reducing the role of nature and the hazards of variance in daily affairs. Along the way, Allen provides readers with a fascinating explanation of the critical roles played by seemingly bizarre institutions, from dueling to the purchase of one’s rank in the British Army. Engagingly written, The Institutional Revolution traces the dramatic shift from premodern institutions based on patronage, purchase, and personal ties toward modern institutions based on standardization, merit, and wage labor—a shift which was crucial to the explosive economic growth of the Industrial Revolution.