Catalog for the exhibition held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago from November 9, 2013-March 9, 2014.

“This immigration story is universal.” —School Library Journal, Starred Dan Yaccarino’s great-grandfather arrived at Ellis Island with a small shovel and his parents’ good advice: “Work hard, but remember to enjoy life, and never forget your family.” With simple text and warm, colorful illustrations, Yaccarino recounts how the little shovel was passed down through four generations of this Italian-American family—along with the good advice. It’s a story that will have kids asking their parents and grandparents: Where did we come from? How did our family make the journey all the way to America? “A shovel is just a shovel, but in Dan Yaccarino’s hands it becomes a way to dig deep into the past and honor all those who helped make us who we are.” —Eric Rohmann, winner of the Caldecott Medal for My Friend Rabbit “All the Way to America is a charmer. Yaccarino’s heartwarming story rings clearly with truth, good cheer, and love.” —Tomie dePaola, winner of a Caldecott Honor Award for Strega Nona

For more than 200 years, archaeological sites in the Middle East have been dug, sifted, sorted, and saved by local community members who, in turn, developed immense expertise in excavation and interpretation and had unparalleled insight into the research process and findings—but who have almost never participated in strategies for recording the excavation procedures or results. Their particular perspectives have therefore been missing from the archaeological record, creating an immense gap in knowledge about the ancient past and about how archaeological knowledge is created. Why Those Who Shovel Are Silent is based on six years of in-depth ethnographic work with current and former site workers at two major Middle Eastern archaeological sites—Petra, Jordan, and Çatalhöyük, Turkey—combined with thorough archival research. Author Allison Mickel describes the nature of the knowledge that locally hired archaeological laborers exclusively possess about artifacts, excavation methods, and archaeological interpretation, showing that archaeological workers are experts about a wide range of topics in archaeology. At the same time, Mickel reveals a financial incentive for site workers to pretend to be less knowledgeable than they actually are, as they risk losing their jobs or demotion if they reveal their expertise. Despite a recent proliferation of critical research examining the history and politics of archaeology, the topic of archaeological labor has not yet been substantially examined. Why Those Who Shovel Are Silent employs a range of advanced qualitative, quantitative, and visual approaches and offers recommendations for archaeologists to include more diverse expert perspectives and produce more nuanced knowledge about the past. It will appeal to archaeologists, science studies scholars, and anyone interested in challenging the concept of “unskilled” labor.

A modern classic that no child should miss. Since it was first published in 1939, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel has delighted generations of children. Mike and his trusty steam shovel, Mary Anne, dig deep canals for boats to travel through, cut mountain passes for trains, and hollow out cellars for city skyscrapers -- the very symbol of industrial America. But with progress come new machines, and soon the inseparable duo are out of work. Mike believes that Mary Anne can dig as much in a day as one hundred men can dig in a week, and the two have one last chance to prove it and save Mary Anne from the scrap heap. What happens next in the small town of Popperville is a testament to their friendship, and to old-fashioned hard work and ingenuity.

"Shovel bums" endure weeks of flea-bitten motel beds, greasy roadhouse food, tempermental field vehicles, and long stretches of boredom to practice that most romantic of intellectual endeavors-archaeology. Ignored by the profession, working for low wages and little respect, they represent the vast majority of practicing archaeologists in North America. But, unlike unwed welfare mothers and highway underpass junkies, their plight is unknown and unheralded. No longer. The comix Shovel Bum, developed by de Boer and others in those late night beer sessions at the Motel 6, has now become a book, outlining the trials and tribulations of these unsung heroes of archaeology. Which SUV works best in the mud? How do you survey in a field of unexploded military ordnance? Which motel has the biggest breakfast? How do you construct your own trowel pouch? For an entertaining look at archaeology as it is really practiced in the United States, pick up a copy of Shovel Bum.

A Wheelbarrow and a Shovel documents the rags-to-riches success story of John Boll who built a real estate empire by developing manufactured home communities around the world then selling his company to the State of Washington Pension Fund for $2.3 billion. A Wheelbarrow and a Shovel documents the truly remarkable story of one of America’s most unlikely business success stories. Starting with only a wheelbarrow and a shovel, as well as the same American dream that led his parents to leave their native Holland for the United States, John Boll built a real estate empire in the most unlikely of ways—by developing and improving manufactured home communities around the country. It’s a rags-to-riches tale that could only happen in America—and only with the hand of God leading the way. Before Boll sold his company to the State of Washington Pension Fund for $2.3 billion, he was the first person to take a collection of mobile home communities to Wall Street.

Since the dirty bomb hit Times Square and the city became a shell of itself, Spademan has become a hitman, not a garbage man. But when he's hired to kill the daughter of a powerful evangelist, his unadorned street life is upended.