With The Silence and the Roar, Nihad Sirees writes a powerful, life-affirming and Kafkaesque novel about a censored writer trying to live a normal life under a Middle Eastern dictatorship, Syria. Fathi, a writer no longer permitted to write, makes his way through a city churned by parades for an unnamed dictator. It is a day stifled by heat and the noise of the chants, a day of people trampled, and of the brutality and bullying of the party faithful. But Fathi presses treacherously against the crowd, attempting just to visit his mother and his girlfriend. The Silence and the Roar (Al Samt wa Al Sakhab) is a personal, urgent, funny and aggrieved novel. It asks what it means to have a conscience, or to laugh, or to endure in a time of the violence, strangeness and roar of tyranny. It is both a true literary achievement and an act of real courage by a brilliant Syrian writer. Nihad Sirees' The Silence and the Roar (Al Samt wa Al Sakhab) is translated from the Arabic by Max Weiss and published by Pushkin Press

For many years there has been growing concern about the culture of fear that is penetrating maternity services throughout the world, and that the fear felt by maternity care workers is directly and indirectly being transferred to the women and families they serve. The Roar Behind the Silenceprovides information, inspiration and practical suggestions to support maternity care workers, policy makers, and maternity care funders across the world in their quest to deliver sensitive, compassionate and high quality maternity services."

Nevada’s Comstock Mining District has been the focus of legend since it first burst into international prominence in the late 1850s, and its principal settlement, Virginia City, endures in the popular mind as the West’s quintessential mining camp. But the authentic history of the Comstock is far more complex and interesting than its colorful image. Contrary to legend, Virginia City spent only its first few years as a ramshackle mining camp. The mining boom quickly turned it into a thriving urban center, at its peak one of the largest cities west of the Mississippi, replete with most of the amenities of any large city of its time. The lure of the area’s fabulous wealth attracted a remarkably heterogenous population from around the world and offered employment to dozens of trades and thousands of people, both men and women, representing every one of the region’s diverse ethnic groups. Ronald James’s brilliant account of the Comstock’s long and eventful history—the first comprehensive study of the subject in over a century—examines every aspect of the region and employs information gleaned from hundreds of written sources, interviews, archeological research, computer analysis, folklore, gender studies, physical geography, and architectural and art history, as well as over fifty rare photographs, many of them previously unpublished.

The therapeutic power of sound is inherent in everyone. Breath, tone, and music are explored through meditations and exercises by the bestselling author of The Mozart Effect. Don guides us into the world of overtoning and chanting, awakening vibratory awareness by exploring the energy beneath sound.

His world is one without sound. But Kenny Walker made his own noise through his actions growing up in Texas and Colorado. Deaf since suffering meningitis at age 2, Kenny went on to become an All-American at the University of Nebraska before playing five years of professional football, including two with the Denver Broncos in the NFL. The road was never clear for Kenny Walker. But through hard work, perseverance and surrounding himself with people who truly care for him, Walker has been able to lead a life that is a shining example to both those who experience disabilities and those who have not. The married father of four, including a deaf stepson, Kenny Walker refuses to let deafness stop his world from moving forward. He will take the hand dealt to him and run with it as he always has. Learn about his heartbreaking and heartwarming journey in Roar of Silence.

For all its storied past and lofty reputation, poetry is really just the art of noticing, naming, and comparing the stuff of this world. Unlike the eye of modern science (which sees the world as a giant specimen for us to dissect), poetry fosters and nurtures life by finding wonder in the nooks and crannies of ordinary life. Suzanne Rhodes, a longtime poet and teacher, offers The Roar on the Other Side as an introductory guide for students (junior high and up). Clear and imaginative, this book makes poetry approachable. Focusing on the importance of sight and the necessity of practice, Rhodes easily communicates the joy of words to her readers and helps them see how good poetry binds all seemingly-contradictory things together. Students will emerge from this book with a good handle on the basics of writing poetry and a new appreciation for the awesome world in which we live.

Winner of the Edgar Award The story of a teen's struggle to prove her brother innocent of murder. The Crime: The murder of John Johnson, beloved baseball coach. The Accused: 18-year-old Jeremy Long, who hasn't spoken a single word in 12 years. Witness for the Defense: 16-year-old Hope Long, the only person who believes her brother is innocent. Other Suspects: The police have none. But Hope's list is growing. From author Dandi Daley Mackall comes a gripping murder mystery and a dark yet powerfully redemptive story of love, secrets, and silence.