Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Stalina Folskaya's homeland is little more than a bankrupt country of broken dreams. She flees St. Petersburg in search of a better life in America, leaving behind her elderly mother and the grief of the past. However, Stalina quickly realizes that her pursuit of happiness will be a hard road. A trained chemist in Russia, but disillusioned by her prospects in the US, she becomes a maid at The Liberty, a short-stay motel on the outskirts of Hartford. Able to envision beauty and profit even here, Stalina convinces her boss to let her transform the motel into a fantasy destination. Business skyrockets and puts the American dream within Stalina's sights. A smart, fearless woman like Stalina can go far... if only she can reconcile the ghosts of her past. Obsessed with avenging her family while also longing for a new life, Stalina is a remarkable immigrant's tale about a woman whose imagination — and force of personality — will let her stop at nothing.

Shortly before his death, Philip K. Dick expanded his novella The Unteleported Man into Lies, Inc., a hallucinatory novel that explores Dicks hallmark themes of conspiracy, totalitarianism, and the thin line between illusion and reality. When catastrophic overpopulation threatens Earth, a company begins offering teleportation to Whales Mouth, an allegedly pristine new home for migrs. The only catch is that the trip is one way. But when one man discovers that the images of happy settlers have been faked, he sets out on an eighteen-year trip to see if anyone wants to come back.

In a crumbling apartment building in post-Soviet Russia, there's a ghost who won't keep quiet. Mircha fell from the roof and was never properly buried, so he sticks around to heckle the living: his wife, Azade; Olga, a disillusioned translator/censor for a military newspaper; Yuri, an army veteran who always wears an aviator's helmet; and Tanya, a student of hope, words, and color. Tanya carries a notebook wherever she goes, recording her dreams of finding love and escaping her job at the All-Russia All-Cosmopolitan Museum, a place that holds a fantastic and terrible collection of art knockoffs created with the materials at hand, from foam to chewing gum, Popsicle sticks to tomato juice. When the museum's director hears of an American group seeking to fund art in Russia, it looks as if Tanya might get her chance at a better life, if she can only convince them of the collection's worth. Enlisting the help of her neighbors, Tanya scrambles to save her dreams, and along the way discovers that love may have been waiting in her own courtyard all along.

Scientology, created in 1954 by a prolific sci-fi writer named L. Ron Hubbard, claims to be the world's fastest growing religion, with millions of members around the world and huge financial holdings. Its celebrity believers keep its profile high, and its teams of volunteer ministers offer aid at disaster sites such as Haiti and the World Trade Center. But Scientology is also a notably closed faith, harassing journalists and others through litigation and intimidation, even infiltrating the highest levels of the government to further its goals. Its attacks on psychiatry and its requirement that believers pay as much as tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars for salvation have drawn scrutiny and skepticism. And ex-members use the Internet to share stories of harassment and abuse. Now Janet Reitman offers the first full journalistic history of the Church of Scientology, in an evenhanded account that at last establishes the astonishing truth about the controversial religion. She traces Scientology's development from the birth of Dianetics to today, following its metamorphosis from a pseudoscientific self-help group to a worldwide spiritual corporation with profound control over its followers and even ex-followers. Based on five years of research, unprecedented access to Church officials, confidential documents, and extensive interviews with current and former Scientologists, this is the defining book about a little-known world.

CliffsNotes Quick Review guides give you a clear, concise, easy-to-use review of the basics. Introducing each topic, defining key terms, and carefully walking you through sample problems, this guide helps you grasp and understand the important concepts needed to succeed.

In November 1910, Count Lev Tolstoy died at a remote Russian railway station. At the time of his death, he was the most famous man in Russia, with a growing international following, and more revered than the Tsar. Born into an aristocratic family, Tolstoy had spent his life rebelling not only against conventional ideas about literature and art but against traditional education, against family life, organized religion, and the state. In this exceptional biography, Rosamund Bartlett draws extensively on key Russian sources, including much fascinating new material made available since the collapse of the Soviet Union. She sheds light on Tolstoy's remarkable journey from callow youth to writer to prophet; discusses his troubled relationship to his wife Sonya, a subject long neglected; and she vividly evokes the Russian landscapes Tolstoy so loved. Above all, she gives us an eloquent portrait of the brilliant, maddening, and contrary man who has, once again, been discovered by a new generation of readers.

Join Curious George as he visits all of his animal friends in this innovative novelty book. Each spread features a fun poem for reading aloud and beautiful, bright illustrations of George and his favorite animals, plus a four-piece jigsaw puzzle! Preschool readers will love pointing out familiar creatures and assembling the age-appropriate puzzles to complete the illustrations.

Edited by the award-winning, best-selling author Richard Russo, this year's collection boasts a satisfying chorus of twenty stories that are by turns playful, ironic, somber, and meditative (Wall Street Journal). With the masterful Russo picking the best of the best, America's oldest and best-selling story anthology is sure to be of enduring quality (Chicago Tribune) this year.

Dodsworth and his duck have just arrived in London via hot air balloon. There is so much to see! Double-decker buses! Palaces! Fog! But a crowded bus stop leads to a hilarious case of mistaken identity and... a lost duck. Time to call in Scotland Yard?

The unpredictable events of a particular Tuesday unroll before the reader with the precision and clarity of a silent movie. A Caldecott Medal book.

You mean delegate, not relegate, right? I think the word is cachet, not cache. At one time or another we've all suffered the embarrassment of having our remarks corrected by a family member, colleague, or stranger. 100 Words Almost Everyone Mixes Up or Mangles presents fifty pairs of words that people have trouble getting right and keeping straight-words that tend to get corrected when we're least expecting it. These words include near-synonyms-words with subtle but important distinctions in meaning-like baleful vs. baneful, and effectual vs. efficacious. Other pairings bring together notorious sound-alikes, like faze (bother) vs. phase (stage), pour (put in fluid) vs. pore (read closely), and waive (forgo) vs. wave (say hello). The book also addresses some classic spelling blunders and nonwords, like beyond the pail, full reign, injust, and inobstrusive. Each word has a definition and a pronunciation, and most have etymologies explaining the word's origin. The mix-ups themselves are described in fun-to-read notes that provide clear solutions to help readers avoid making needless, uncomfortable gaffes. 100 Words Almost Everyone Mixes Up or Mangles gives readers the chance to improve their command of words that are often heard but not so well expressed.

»There was one little baby who was born far away. And another who was born on the very next day. And both of these babies, as everyone knows, had ten little fingers and ten little toes». No matter which part of the world a baby comes from born on the ice or in a tent that baby has «ten little fingers and ten little toes», the pleasing refrain of this wonderful, rhyming tribute to the chubby, sweet universality of babies of all colors. Helen Oxenbury's soft, rounded babies are captured perfectly in soft, rounded watercolors.

Best-selling novelist Lee Child edits this latest collection of the genre's finest from the past year. Featuring «gritty tales told with panache», this is a «must-read for anybody who cares about crime stories».

Inventions, spells, and bullies — oh my! It all begins when Chet's favorite teacher is fired, only to be replaced by the mechanical invention of Dr. Tanya Lightov — a mysterious Russian scientist. Suddenly, the school seems possessed by forces that are upsetting the natural order of things: Kindergartners are beating up sixth graders; teachers' pets are talking back; and worst of all, Chet's faithful partner and best friend, Natalie Attired, has abandoned him in his hour of need. Will Chet be able to restore his friendship with Natalie and bring Emerson Hicky back to normal? One thing's for certain: The crazy, mixed-up mastermind behind this case will be the last creature anyone expects.

This book and outfit package includes a board book and six-month-size all-cotton snapsuit for babies, making it the perfect baby shower or new arrival gift. The snapsuit features an image of George at his most adorable, silkscreened onto the front. The board book is a refreshed version of our First Words at the Zoo — updated with our Curious Baby colors and a new cover. The packaging will include new parent tips on sharing books and a love of reading with their new baby.

Colorful vegetables, delicious fruits, and lots of friends... The farmers market is always fun! Includes a note from the translators.

Rabbit and Turtle repeat their famous race — this time on their way to school. Rabbit runs; Turtle takes the bus. Who will win? Includes a note from the translators.

The Best American Comics showcases the work of both established and up-and-coming contributors. Editor Neil Gaiman — one of the top writers in modern comics and the award-winning author of novels and children's books — has culled the best stories from graphic novels, pamphlet comics, newspapers, magazines, mini-comics, and the Internet to create this cutting-edge collection. With entries from luminaries such as Tim Hensley, Michael Kupperman, and Dash Shaw, it's hard to flip through this book without finding a lot worth reading (and rereading).

As a critic, George Orwell cast a wide net. Equally at home discussing Charles Dickens and Charlie Chaplin, he moved back and forth across the porous borders between essay and journalism, high art and low. A frequent commentator on literature, language, film, and drama throughout his career, Orwell turned increasingly to the critical essay in the 1940s, when his most important experiences were behind him and some of his most incisive writing lay ahead. All Art Is Propaganda follows Orwell as he demonstrates in piece after piece how intent analysis of a work or body of work gives rise to trenchant aesthetic and philosophical commentary. With masterpieces such as Politics and the English Language and Rudyard Kipling and gems such as Good Bad Books, here is an unrivaled education in, as George Packer puts it, how to be interesting, line after line.

Dodsworth wanted adventure. He wanted to see the world. He especially wanted to visit New York City. What he didn't want was to be joined by a duck. A crazy duck. A duck that misbehaves. Young readers will laugh out loud at the duck's silly antics as Dodsworth has the unexpected adventure of his life in the Big Apple... and beyond.

Young Gav can remember the page of a book after seeing it once, and, inexplicably, he sometimes remembers things that are going to happen in the future. As a loyal slave, he must keep these powers secret, but when a terrible tragedy occurs, Gav, blinded by grief, flees the only world he has ever known. And in what becomes a treacherous journey for freedom, Gav's greatest test of all is facing his powers so that he can come to understand himself and finally find a true home. Includes maps.

There are red sheep and blue sheep, wind sheep and wave sheep, scared sheep and brave sheep, but where is the green sheep? The search is on in this cozy, sheep-filled story from beloved author Mem Fox and popular Australian cartoonist Judy Horacek. Complete with sleepy rhymes and bright illustrations, this book is sure to delight children of all ages, from the very young to those just beginning to read.

From arbitrage to leverage to zero-coupon bond, financial expert David L. Scott defines more than 6,000 terms from all aspects of business in clear, understandable language. Unlike most business dictionaries, which address a specific discipline, The American Heritage Dictionary of Business Terms covers the entire spectrum of business terminology. In clear language it defines over 6,000 terms drawn from the areas of investing, finance, marketing, law, real estate, management, economics, accounting, insurance, and international business. Entries range from investment fundamentals (price-earnings ratio, split, yield) to the lexicon of real estate (amortization, buy down, wraparound mortgage) to the terminology of contemporary finance (CDO, short sale, tranche). More than 100 key terms, such as antitrust, bailout, and subprime loan, are enhanced by real-world case studies that bring the concept to life. In addition, scores of tips from expert professionals offer advice on topics ranging from renegotiating a mortgage to reducing the estate tax. This dictionary is an indispensable reference for business professionals and investors at all levels of expertise.The growing need for individuals to plan their own retirement strategies, especially in a global economy, makes it an ideal resource for those interested in how current business news affects their investments. Business students also will find it an informative supplement to their curriculum.

Despite their differences, Big Pig and Little Pig are great friends. When they get together, these piggy pals have nothing but fun — and so will the reader.