With roots originating from Guyana, born of a Chinese mom and Indian dad and having family in Guyana and North America, this young international man of mystery from Brooklyn has many passions. His main passion is life. Looking at life through his tender heart, you will see just how real his experiences have been and be reminded of how simple and complex life can be.

Evolution of a Broken Heart is a book of poems and journal entries about a journey through desperation, deep depression, divorce, struggling to find God's purpose and living with God's grace. Valerio was married for twenty nine years, raising kids and supporting his family. A veteran of the US Navy submarine force, working for different exciting tech companies during the internet boom, he always had a ""good job,"" living in a nice house and driving nice cars. He was living the American Dream. He was a Christian man who attended church, a deacon, and went through the motions of success with a deep sense of emptiness on the inside. Something was missing in his life. God. If you have ever found yourself in the same situation, then this book is for you. Everyone has a chapter in their life they don't want to be read out loud. Here is his.

Winner of the 2023 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award A Five Books "Best Literary Science Writing" Book of 2023 • A Smithsonian Best Science Book of 2022 • A Prospect Magazine Top Memoir of 2022 • A KCRW Life Examined Best Book of 2022 "Keen observer [and] deft writer" (David Quammen) Florence Williams explores the fascinating, cutting-edge science of heartbreak while seeking creative ways to mend her own. When her twenty-five-year marriage suddenly falls apart, journalist Florence Williams expects the loss to hurt. But when she starts feeling physically sick, losing weight and sleep, she sets out in pursuit of rational explanation. She travels to the frontiers of the science of "social pain" to learn why heartbreak hurts so much—and why so much of the conventional wisdom about it is wrong. Soon Williams finds herself on a surprising path that leads her from neurogenomic research laboratories to trying MDMA in a Portland therapist’s living room, from divorce workshops to the mountains and rivers that restore her. She tests her blood for genetic markers of grief, undergoes electrical shocks while looking at pictures of her ex, and discovers that our immune cells listen to loneliness. Searching for insight as well as personal strategies to game her way back to health, she seeks out new relationships and ventures into the wilderness in search of an extraordinary antidote: awe. With warmth, daring, wit, and candor, Williams offers a gripping account of grief and healing. Heartbreak is a remarkable merging of science and self-discovery that will change the way we think about loneliness, health, and what it means to fall in and out of love.

"Doogie Howser, M.D. meets The Fault in Our Stars in this tender romcom." —Teen Vogue The youngest doctor in America, an Indian-American teen makes her rounds—and falls head over heels—in Sona Charaipotra's contemporary romantic comedy Symptoms of a Heartbreak. Sixteen-year-old Saira has always juggled family, friendships, and her Girl Genius celebrity. Now, as the youngest med school graduate ever, she can finally achieve her mission to treat young people dealing with cancer. But proving herself in life-or-death situations is tough when everyone from her boss to her patients can't see past her age to trust her skills. And working in the same hospital as her mom isn't making things any easier! Life gets even more complicated when Saira falls for a teenage patient. To improve his chances, she risks her lifelong dream—and it could cost her everything. In her solo debut, Sona Charaipotra brings us a compelling #ownvoices protagonist who’s not afraid to chase what she wants. Symptoms of a Heartbreak goes from romantic comedy highs to tearjerker lows and is the ultimate cure-all for every reader needing an infusion of something heartfelt. An Imprint Book "Fans of YA contemporary don't want to miss this one." —Buzzfeed

A heartbreak may take many forms: romantic breakup, widowhood, disappointment with one's child or one's parent, loss of friendship, loss of professional identity, loss of one's house, fortune, country... Anyone and anything we love can break the heart and transform us into a miserable beggar for love. None of the usual admonitions to let go, and none of the popular theories based on stages of mourning have succeeded in providing healing, because they fail to take into account what happens in the brain.

A searing portrait of the racial dynamics that lie inescapably at the heart of our nation, told through the turbulent history of the city of St. Louis. From Lewis and Clark's 1804 expedition to the 2014 uprising in Ferguson, American history has been made in St. Louis. And as Walter Johnson shows in this searing book, the city exemplifies how imperialism, racism, and capitalism have persistently entwined to corrupt the nation's past. St. Louis was a staging post for Indian removal and imperial expansion, and its wealth grew on the backs of its poor black residents, from slavery through redlining and urban renewal. But it was once also America's most radical city, home to anti-capitalist immigrants, the Civil War's first general emancipation, and the nation's first general strike—a legacy of resistance that endures. A blistering history of a city's rise and decline, The Broken Heart of America will forever change how we think about the United States.

The Evolution of a Girl is a collection of poetry and prose taking the reader from girl to woman; from heartbreak and anger to transformation and rebirth. It speaks of the strength we find when learning to accept ourselves and the unbreakable softness that comes from unyielding self-love. The Evolution of a Girl is a book for those who are hurting, for those who are healing, and for those who are ready to try again.