In January 1959, ten experienced young skiers set out to travel to a mountain named Mount Otorten in the far north of Russia. Otorten translates to "don't go there" in the local Mansi language. During the trip, one of the skiers fell ill and returned. The remaining nine lost their way and ended up on another mountain slope known as Kholat Syakhl, or "Mountain of the Dead." On the night of February 1, 1959, something or someone caused the skiers to...

Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower, consecutive presidents of the United States, were midwesterners alike in many ways—except that they also sharply differed.  Born within six years of each other (Truman in 1884, Eisenhower in 1890), they came from small towns in the Missouri–Mississippi River Valley—in the midst of cows and wheat, pigs and corn, and grain elevators. Both were grandsons of farmers and sons of forceful mothers,

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Ira Einhorn is a well-known 1970's activist whose companion disappeared. Her decomposed body is found in his apartment, so with help, he flees the country. Ira is tried in absentia and convicted to life in prison, but the manhunt for him lasts 16 years.

Following its initial publication, the critically acclaimed Betrayal of Work became one of the most influential policy books about economic life in America; it was discussed in the pages of Newsweek, Business Week, Fortune, the Washington Post, Newsday, and USA Today, as well as in public policy journals and in broadcast interviews, including a one-on-one with Bill Moyers on PBS's NOW. Beth Shulman's powerfully argued book offers a full program to...

In the 1950s and 60s, the Coors dynasty reigned over Golden, Colorado, seemingly invincible. When rumblings about labor unions threatened to destabilize the family's brewery, Adolph Coors, Jr., the septuagenarian president of the company, drew a hard line, refusing to budge. They had worked hard for what they had, and no one had a right to take it from them. What they'd soon realize was that they had more to lose than they could have imagined. On...

An intense scientific debate has ignited around an extraordinary family living in rural Turkey with five adults who walk with their feet and the palms of their hands. Five siblings were discovered by scientist Uter Tan, who suggested that the handwalkers might be "genetic throwbacks, " offering clues to our early human ancestors. German geneticist Stephan Mundlos is searching for a genetic mutation that could be connected to why early humans first...

Do public library storytimes make a difference in helping children learn to read? Whether or not your funding depends on it, you need to prove that your programs do make a difference. In 2009 the iSchool of the University of Washington was awarded grants to assess the impact of early literacy storytimes in public libraries. One result: Project VIEWS2 launched "Supercharged Storytimes. Where will their experiences take you?

"asha bandele has a poignant story to share in Something Like Beautiful. It is the love that comes through that makes this such a compelling tale." -Nikki Giovanni Award-winning journalist, and author of The Prisoner's Wife andDaughter, and performance poet featured on HBO'S Def Poetry Jam, asha bandele once again writes from the heart in her lyrical and intimate memoir Something Like Beautiful-a moving story of love, loss, motherhood, and survival....

In a true story of family ties, journalist Mei-Ling Hopgood, one of the first wave of Asian adoptees to arrive in America, comes face to face with her past when her Chinese birth family suddenly requests a reunion after more than two decades. In 1974, a baby girl from Taiwan arrived in America, the newly adopted child of a loving couple in Michigan. Mei-Ling Hopgood had an all-American upbringing, never really identifying with her Asian roots or...