Bøker utgitt av Houghton Mifflin

A New York Times BestsellerThis acccount of a 36-day walk across Afghanistan, starting just weeks after the fall of the Taliban, is "stupendous...an instant travel classic" (Entertainment Weekly).In January 2002, Rory Stewart walked across Afghanistan, surviving by his wits, his knowledge of Persian dialects and Muslim customs, and the kindness of strangers. By day he passed through mountains covered in nine feet of snow, hamlets burned and emptied by the Taliban, and communities thriving amid the remains of medieval civilizations. By night he slept on villagers' floors, shared their meals, and listened to their stories of the recent and ancient past. Along the way Stewart met heroes and rogues, tribal elders and teenage soldiers, Taliban commanders and foreign-aid workers. He was also adopted by an unexpected companion?a retired fighting mastiff he named Babur in honor of Afghanistan's first Mughal emperor, in whose footsteps the pair was following.Through these encounters?by turns touching, confounding, surprising, and funny?Stewart makes tangible the forces of tradition, ideology, and allegiance that shape life in the map's countless places in between.

Set in the town of Gruel, South Carolina, this first novel by George Singleton, master of the comic short story, is the tale of a young man named Novel (his brother's name is James; his sister's is Joyce), a professional snake handler who stumbles across strange doings while he sits in a motel room writing his autobiography. As he struggles to recount his life story, he uncovers-and finds himself starring in-a decades-old town secret, one that can blow him and his fellow citizens sky-high. Funny as only George Singleton can be, full of Southern mischief and wit, Novel is a crazed and crazy fictional whirlwind of drinking, motel-living, art-forgery-committing, pool-playing redneck charm.

Charles Simic has been widely celebrated for his brilliant poetic imagery; his social, political, and moral alertness; his uncanny ability to make the ordinary extraordinary; and not least, the sardonic humor all his own. Gathering much of his material from the seemingly mundane minutiae of contemporary American culture, Simic matches meditations on spiritual concerns and the weight of history with a nimble wit, shifting effortlessly to moments of clear vision and intense poetic revelation. Chosen as one of the New York Library's 25 Books to Remember for 2003, The Voice at 3:00 A. M. was also nominated for a National Book Award. The recipient of many prizes, Simic most recently received Canada's Griffin Prize. The poems in this collection--spanning two decades of his work--present a rich and varied survey of a remarkable lyrical journey.In the StreetBeauty, dark goddess,We met and partedAs though we parted not.Like two stopped watchesIn a dusty store window,One golden morning of time.

Acclaimed short-story master George Singleton follows the lives and schemes of the citizens of fictitious Gruel, South Carolina, in search of glory, seclusion, money, revenge, and a meaningful existence. In these nineteen tales, young Gruelites learn lessons when confronted with neighbors who might not be as blind as they appear, dermatologists intent on eradicating birthmarks, and fathers prone to driving on half-inflated tires in order to flirt with cashiers. Meanwhile, the town's older citizens try to make sense out of dogs that heal wounds, lawn-mowing dead men, wives who don't appreciate gas masks for Valentine's Day, and children who mix their mother's ashes with housepaint. Hilarious and tragic, George Singleton's unforgettable characters try to overcome their limitations as best they can.

"Alive with terror, charm, and mystery." -- Madeleine Blais, author of Uphill WalkersWhen Catherine Reid returned to the Berkshires to live after decades away, she became fascinated by another recent arrival: the eastern coyote. This tenacious species, which shares some lineage with the wolf, exhibits remarkable adaptability and awe-inspiring survival skills. Coyotes have been spotted in nearly every habitable area available, including urban streets, Central Park, and suburban backyards. Settling into an old farmhouse with her partner, Reid felt compelled to learn more about this outlaw animal. Her beautifully grounded memoir interweaves personal and natural history to comment on one of the most dramatic wildlife stories of our time. With great appreciation for this scrappy outsider and the ecological concerns its presence brings to light, Reid suggests that we all need to forge a new relationship with this uncannily intelligent species in our midst."A captivating read, worthy of joining the pantheon of literary ecological writing." -- Booklist"Enlightening . . . a heartfelt, often poetic case for coexistence between humans and the wild." -- Publishers Weekly"Graceful, intimate, and vibrant prose . . . an important, beautiful book." -- Jane Brox, author of Clearing LandCatherine Reid is a naturalist, teacher, editor, and poet. She lives in an old farmhouse in western Massachusetts.

"Ryan is a scrupulously observant poet with a gift for going for the jugular . . . His work is finely honed, provocative, questing, and humane." - Edward Hirsch, Washington Post Book World Michael Ryan's first collection in many years shows the acclaimed poet at the height of his powers. Highlighting the wit and passion displayed throughout his career, Ryan's latest work comprises fifty-seven poems from three award-winning volumes and thirty-one new poems. In both dramatic lyrics and complex narratives, Ryan renders the world with startling clarity, freshness, and intimacy. New and Selected Poems is filled with the stuff of everyday life, and as the New York Times Book Review said, it "include[s] pain and fear but also surprise, joy, laughter, everything human." "New and Selected Poems reminds us how much we have relied on this poet to forge a path for us in plain style." - Carol Muske-Dukes, Los Angeles Times Book Review "Ryan's poems have always felt as if they neded to be written. They seem to exist because of some pressure to respond, not because of a facility for language alone. This is a rare quality among poets. The commitment to it is as hard-won, and real, as any you are likely to find in poetry." - David Rivard, American Poetry Review Michael Ryan is the author of many acclaimed books, including three previous volumes of poetry. Among the honors for his work are the prestigious Kingsley Tufts Award, the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, a Whiting Writers' Award, and NEA and Guggenheim fellowships. Ryan is a professor of English and creative writing at the University of California at Irvine.

Praise for David Kertzer and Prisoner of the Vatican:"Kertzer once again proves himself a truly compelling historian." -- André Aciman"Prisoner of the Vatican reads like exciting fiction. And it has astounding contemporary relevance." -- Alfred Uhry"Kertzer's careful scholarship and lucid writing make the human character of this religious institution quite clear." -- James Carroll"Fascinating." -- Entertainment Weekly"Lively . . . filled with telling anecdotes and colorful descriptions of the various characters involved in the struggle." -- America, the National Catholic Weekly"Riveting and fast-paced . . . history writing at its best." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review"[A] rousing tale . . . from a masterful, controversial scholar." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review"A chilling and timely warning of what happens when religious power becomes synonymous with political power. If you love Italy, if you love Rome, this book is essential reading." -- John Guare"As magically spellbinding as it is enlightening, replete with colorful characters and complex international and ecclesiastical politics and intrigue. Kertzer is a national treasure and his latest book another masterpiece." -- Kevin Madigan, associate professor, Harvard Divinity School "This book is a gift to everyone who welcomes the emergence of buried history, and a boon to anyone who has ever wondered about the origins of the wonderful, tenuously unified place called modern Italy." -- Tracy KidderDavid Kertzer's absorbing history presents an astonishing account of the birth of modern Italy and the clandestine politics behind the Vatican's last stand in the battle between church and the newly created Italian state. Drawing on a wealth of secret documents long buried in the Vatican archives, Kertzer reveals a fascinating story of outrageous accusations, mutual denunciations, raucous demonstrations, and secret dealings. When Italy's armies seized the Holy City and claimed it for the Italian capital, Pope Pius IX, outraged, retreated to the Vatican and declared himself a prisoner, calling on foreign powers to force the Italians out of Rome. The action set in motion decades of political intrigues that hinged on such fascinating characters as Garibaldi, King Viktor Emmanuel, Napoleon III, and Chancellor Bismarck. No one who reads this eye-opening book will ever think of Italy, or the Vatican, in quite the same way again."A gripping account of this little-known story." -- Washington Post"A suspenseful and even captivating read . . . Kertzer illuminates one of history's darker corners.” -- Providence Journal"Extraordinary . . . Kertzer describes intrigue, spying, disinformation, and public relations campaigns worthy of any contemporary spy novel." -- Seattle Times David I. Kertzer is author of several illuminating works of history, including The Popes Against the Jews and The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, a National Book Award finalist. A professor of anthropology and Italian studies at Brown University, he lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Amir has finally landed in a good place. His new foster parents, the Smiths, are loving and kind, and he has been reunited with his youngest brother, whom the Smiths have raised since babyhood. Amir knows he should be happy, but he is uncomfortable around the Smiths, and his little brother doesn’t even remember him. If only Amir could find the rest of the siblings he was separated from when his parents died, perhaps he would feel more at ease. Luckily, he has someone he can open his heart to—his friend Doris, who lives in his old Bronx neighborhood. The two of them share all their feelings and concerns in frequent letters. But when Doris writes Amir that a friend has been experimenting with drugs, unpleasant memories rise to the surface of his mind. In this long-awaited companion to The Gift-Giver and Yellow Bird and Me, Amir not only must find a way to come to terms with his family’s past, but he must also determine where his true home is.

When Matt and Abby go to live with Great-Aunt Gerda in Sierra Madre Canyon after their mother dies, Matt is put off at first by the life-size wooden dolls whom Aunt Gerda talks to and calls her “children.” However, when someone vandalizes the dolls and two are stolen, it is Matt, with the help of his new friend, Kristin, who foils the would-be thief and returns the dolls to Aunt Gerda.

How do you prepare for a test? Study the material, of course. But studying for the SAT is different?knowing facts is not enough. On the SAT, basic information is presented in tricky new combinations, and getting the right answers depends less on what you know than on how you think.Zen in the Art of the SAT, written for those in grades 9?12, can help you achieve your highest score on the new SAT.• Learn to let go of worries and fears, calm your mind, and bring your attention to the present moment.• Explore the main obstacles actual students have faced and how they overcame them.• Assess yourself: know what role anxiety plays in your test-taking and learn how to change reading habits that may be limiting your success.• Create a study plan that will work for you.• Find out how your parents can support you best.• Discover your mind's hidden natural ability to solve problems.The techniques in Zen in the Art of the SAT were developed through years of work with students in New York City, one of the most competitive test-prep markets in America.

The teenage years are a time filled with sadness, madness, joy, and all the messy stuff in between. Sometimes it feels that every day brings a new struggle, a new concern, a new reason to stay in bed with the shades drawn. But between moments of despair and confusion often come times of great clarity and insight, when you might think, like the poet Rumi, “Whoever’s calm and sensible is insane!” It is moments like these that have inspired the touching, honest, and gripping poems found in I Just Hope It’s Lethal: Poems of Sadness, Madness, and Joy. After all, what’s normal anyway? This collection includes poems by Charles Bukowski, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, T. S. Eliot, Edgar Allen Poe, W. B. Yeats, Dorothy Parker, Jane Kenyon, and many more, including teenage writers and up-and-coming poets.

In an era when parents and kids are overwhelmed by a sports-crazed, win-at-all-costs culture, here is a comprehensive guide that helps parents ensure a positive sports experience for their children. In Whose Game Is It, Anyway? two of the country’s leading youth sports psychologists team up with a former Olympic athlete and expert on performance enhancement to share what they have gleaned in more than forty years of combined experience.The result is a book unique in its message, format, and scope.Through moving case studies and thoughtful analyses, Ginsburg, Durant, and Baltzell advocate a preventive approach through a simple three-step program: know yourself, know your child, know the environment.They look at children in age groups, identifying the physical, psychological, and emotional issues unique to each group and clarifying what parents can expect from and desire for their kids at every stage.They also explore myriad relevant topics, including parental pressure, losing teams, steroid use, the overscheduled child, and much more.Illuminating, impassioned, and inspiring, Whose Game Is It, Anyway?is required reading for anyone raising—or educating—a child who participates in sports.

Last night I saw my sister, who is dead. She stood at the end of a long corridor, weeping. "Can it really be you, Ariadne, come back after all this time?” I whispered. She did not answer, but began slowly to sink through the floor. Princess Xenodice is content to spend her days tending to the animals in the royal menagerie, haunting the workshop of a beautiful young man named Icarus, and visiting her brother who lives in the Labyrinth. Her safe and privileged world, however, has ominous cracks underfoot. Soon battles for power and revenge threaten everything Xenodice loves. Betrayals from both within and without her family lead to a series of tragedies that Xenodice struggles to avert. From the deepest layer of the Labyrinth under the Royal Palace to the topmost floor of the prison tower, this enthralling version of the myth of the maze and the Minotaur by master storyteller Patrice Kindl is filled with the marvelous and the strange.

The best new American voices are heard here first: Writers like Julie Orringer, Adam Johnson, William Gay, David Benioff, Rattawut Lapcharoensap, Maile Meloy, Amanda Davis, Jennifer Vanderbes, and John Murray are just some of the acclaimed authors whose early work has appeared in this series since its launch in 2000. The new volume features a new crop of promising stories selected by renowned novelist Jane Smiley, who continues the tradition of identifying the best young writers on the cusp of their careers. Culled from hundreds of writing programs like the Iowa Writers' Workshop and Johns Hopkins and from summer conferences like Sewanee and Bread Loaf-and including a complete list of contact information for these programs-this exciting collection showcases tomorrow's literary stars.

Collun has always been happiest working in his garden. But his peaceful life is shattered when his sister, Nessa, mysteriously disappears. He sets off to find her and soon realizes that he has become involved in something much larger and more sinister than he had imagined. With his traveling companions-a wizard, an aspiring bard, a fairy prince, and a feisty young woman on a quest of her own-Collun must face dangers both natural and magical in order to complete his mission. "The author spins a dramatic tale, infused with Irish myth and folklore, that fantasy fans will relish." -Booklist

Little Pear is a young boy who lives in a small village in China. Although his story takes place long ago, Little Pear is much like any little boy today--always on the lookout for excitement and adventure! Wherever Little Pear goes, there is fun to be had. His friends love to join his adventures--especially his best friend, Big Head. Accompany Little Pear as he goes ice fishing, masquerades as a beggar boy, finds a tiger in his house, and--best of all--gets a brand-new little brother!

In this classic novel, Josh, a teenage logger on the Ohio River, discovers his life's true mission as an abolitionist after his first encounter with a runaway slave.Josh first attempts to spread the abolitionist message by lecturing in remote towns about the evils of slavery--but his views often ignite strong disapproval. Frustrated, he makes a more daring choice and becomes an agent of the Underground Railroad. After dozens of successful rescues, Josh is captured by Kentucky slave owners and convicted of "enticing slaves to leave their owners."Locked away, he struggles to hold on to his ideals and sense of self. But when freedom comes sooner than he expected, Josh must decide if he will again take the kind of risks that landed him in prison.

This witty and charming collection of ten short fantasies includes a story, set in the Enchanted Forest, about Queen Cimorene's Frying Pan of Doom; a zany yarn about a magical blue chipmunk with a passion for chestnuts; and an eerie tale of a caliph who turns his vizier's daughter into a wolf.

On a rainy night eight years ago, Evan Barrett's parents were lost at sea. In horror, he listened to their frantic Mayday calls on the ship-to-shore radio, to his mother's cries for mercy--and to the deafening shrieks that answered her back.Now seventeen, Evan has gone in search of answers to his parents' strange disappearance. The only explanation that makes any sense to him is that they were swallowed up by The She, a legendary sea creature that devours ships. But when Evan's quest for the truth uncovers shocking allegations against his parents, he must deal with the possibility that everything he knows about his family is a lie.Includes a reader's guide.

Jimmy McGee is a tiny, leprechaun-like man whose peaceful life is disrupted when he rescues Amy's doll Little Lydia from a monstrous wave that sweeps her off the beach. Can Jimmy find a way to restore Little Lydia to her original state as a "do-nothing doll" before he returns her to her rightful owner? From the bestselling author of Ginger Pye comes the quirky story of a little man who saves the day in a big way.

When barbarians invade Rome, Miranda the cat and her daughter Punka must find a safe place to hide from the chaos. They make their way through the burning city, collecting motherless kittens as they go. At last they reach the Colosseum--but even there, danger lurks!

When William Matthews died, the day after his fifty-fifth birthday, America lost one of its most important poets, one whose humor and wit were balanced by deep emotion, whose off-the-cuff inventiveness belied the acuity of his verse. Drawing from his eleven collections and including twenty-three previously unpublished poems, Search Party is the essential compilation of this beloved poet's work. Edited by his son, Sebastian Matthews, and William Matthews's friend and fellow poet Stanley Plumly (who also introduces the book), Search Party is an excellent introduction to the poet and his glistening riffs on twentieth-century topics from basketball to food to jazz.

A reading group favorite, The Jump-Off Creek is the unforgettable story of widowed homesteader Lydia Sanderson and her struggles to settle in the mountains of Oregon in the 1890s. ?Every gritty line of the story rings true? (Seattle Times) as Molly Gloss delivers an authentic and moving portrait of the American West. ?A powerful novel of struggle and loss? (Dallas Morning News), The Jump-Off Creek gives readers an intimate look at the hardships of frontier life and a courageous woman determined to survive.

Windsor Armstrong has a problem: her brilliant boy, Pushkin X, has become a football superstar and is planning to marry a Russian lap dancer. In Windsor's opinion, Pushkin is throwing away every good thing she has given him. When she was an unwed teen mother, Windsor attended Harvard, leaving her shady Detroit roots behind. She raised her son to be fiercely intelligent, well-spoken, and proud. Now he lives for pro football and a white woman of no account. Outraged by her son's decisions but devoted to loving him right, Windsor prepares to give up her last secret: the identity of Pushkin's father.

In his prize-winning collection, Ron Slate seeks out the intersections of art, technology, and humanity with intelligence, wit, and fervor. His unique voice is informed by his world travels as a business executive. As Robert Pinsky writes in his introduction, Slate “brings together the personal and the global in a way that is distinctive, subtle, defying expectations about what is political and what is personal.” In Slate's words, "Is this the end of the world? / No just the end / of the language that describes it." Recently published in The New Yorker, Slate has been praised by James Longenbach for his ability to “make the known world seem wickedly strange — a poetry that is utterly of the moment, our moment, because it sounds like nobody else.”

When Melissa King, a transplanted southerner in search of connection, finds herself on the lean, mean streets of Chicago, she turns to her childhood passion for basketball. In her late twenties, King is at a crossroads in her life, and the randomness of the game as it is played on the streets suits her mood. The rules are unwritten, the teams a haphazard collection of players, and unlike anything else around her, the courts feel like home. So wherever there is a game, she gets her ball and goes. From the rough, male-dominated inner-city courts of Chicago, she travels to lazy oceanside pickup games in sunny California and dilapidated gyms in her Bible Belt home state.In a street-smart voice full of understated humor and palpable hope, King chronicles her journey, using the rhythms of the court to riff on the issues of race, class, gender, religion, sexual politics, and love. Ultimately, through the jubilant swish of the net, the brunt of an egregious foul, and the knowing glance of a stranger who says yes, you can be on my team, King discovers in those rare moments on the court the countless things she wants in life but cannot name.

Helen doesn't want to stay in the fattening hut. She's told her mother that she's too young, not ready for it. Why must she marry so soon?and gorge on rich meals for months, until she's heavy and round, like a good bride? Like her mother and sister before her, like all the women of her tribe. When she learns the terrible secret the fattening hut harbors, Helen becomes even more defiant and confused. Lonely, scared, and feeling confined by her family, culture, and tradition, she fights for a chance to be educated, young, and free. The Fattening Hut is a lyrical and timeless tale about a teenage girl who struggles to reclaim her independence, her body, and her soul.

Priding himself on not doing his homework or ever losing a fight, Toby Scudder starts sixth grade planning to rule the school, but sixth grade presents him with some tough situations that he can't bully his way through.

Sixth-graders Tommy, Angela, Faye, and the twins, Judge and Jury Jenkins, have been friends forever. Now they’re faced with new problems and need to find new solutions to them—even if it means breaking the law. How can they help prevent an inevitable accident on Tommy’s street, other than by trying to stop cars from speeding past Tommy’s young, deaf neighbor? Not only must the Posse mastermind a plan, but Tommy must confront his doubts about his mother’s participation in a rally to fight racism. The last thing Tommy wants is to be singled out as a Japanese American, so why does his mother insist on drawing attention to his family?