Social groups: religious groups and communities Books

Book SynopsisRichard D. Sonn is Professor of History at the University of Arkansas, where he teaches French history, Jewish history, and modern European social, cultural and intellectual history. He is the author of three previous books, including Anarchism and Cultural Politics in Fin de Siècle France (1989), and Sex, Violence and the Avant-Garde: Anarchism in Interwar France (2010).Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction: Modernism and Diaspora: The School of Paris in an Age of Immigration 1. Is There Jewish Art? 2. From Montmartre to Montparnasse: New Social and Psychological Dimensions, 1900-1914 3. Masculinity and Patriotism: Cultural Responses to World War One, 1914-1920 4. Cosmopolitan Montparnasse in Les Années Folles, 1920-1930 5. Jews in Jazz Age Paris: The Symbiosis of Music and Art 6. Marketing Art: Jewish Critics and Art Dealers 7. Nationalism, Internationalism and Zionism in the 1930s 8. The End of Time: Artists in Exile, Hiding, and Deportation Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTourists may want a life uncomplicated by technology, but would they be willing to drive around in horse-drawn buggies in order to achieve it?Trollinger's answers to important questions in her fascinating study of Amish Country tourism are sure to challenge readers' understanding of this surprising cultural phenomenon.Trade ReviewMillions of people (this reviewer included) visit Ohio's Amish country, but few consider the penetrating insights Trollinger raises... Following an excellent review of Amish history and belief, she looks at what tourists find when they 'connect' with the plain people... A great book! Choice Trollinger begins Selling the Amish with a praiseworthy overview of Amish history. She enriches her analysis with theories and concepts of tourism: consumer culture, preservation, authenticity, social drama, commemoration, and exotic encounters. -- Steven D. Reschly Indiana Magazine of History The book is highly readable and well documented, making it accessible to students and useful to scholars and those interested in Amish studies. -- Diane Zimmerman Umble Journal of Mennonite Studies Susan Trollinger... covers many Amish Country themes that reveal much about tourists and their ideas of the Amish in her book Selling the Amish: The Tourism of Nostalgia... She makes the book accessible to a general audience by writing both as a tourist and as an academic. -- Caroline Brock H-Net ReviewsTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Who Are the Amish?2. Tourism in Amish Country3. Time and Gender in Walnut Creek4. Technology and Innocence in Berlin5. Ethnicity and Performance in Sugarcreek6. Nostalgia and the Power of Amish WitnessNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisBy asking questions about authenticity, cultural appropriation, and commodification, Thrill of the Chaste considers Amish fiction's effects on Amish and non-Amish audiences alike.Trade ReviewThe promise of the cover is borne out by the content: an engaging analysis of 'bonnet rippers' and their audience. -- Marilyn Dahl Shelf Awareness Weaver-Zercher's book is a fascinating read, that raises some questions about this increasingly popular genre, but also tries to add complexity to our understandings of how Amish fiction functions. Femonite Thrill of the Chaste is an entertaining read... [Weaver-Zercher's] light, engaging voice makes her ideas accessible. I found myself caught up in her rich, often humorous descriptions... Weaver-Zercher redeems the genre and its readers. -- Melanie Springer Mock Mennonite World Review The unusual subject of Amish romance is treated engagingly in this crossover book... Highly recommended. Choice Weaver-Zercher's book-length exploration is not only a groundbreaking contribution to an area that deserves more study, but also an excellent read, as all-consuming and hard to put down for this scholar of American literature and popular culture as Amish romance novels are for their devoted fans. Mennonite Quarterly Review Thrill of the Chaste is a well-written, well-researched, and very readable study of this fast growing fictional subgenre, and Weaver-Zercher sheds much light on the importance of these texts for understanding contemporary American culture... A major contribution to literary analysis, this book will fascinate all who have wondered about the Amish and why so many people want to read about them. -- Karen M. Johnson-Weiner Yearbook of German-American Studies Weaver-Zercher has made a significant contribution to the field with a very comprehensive and scholarly approach to the "bonnet fiction" phenomenon of the 21st century... Thrill of the Chaste is of interest to anyone working with reader-response theories, the uses and functions of popular literature, and the commodification of culture and cultural products. Weaver-Zercher's book is importantly about the history and evolution of the genre; however, the most significant contribution that the book makes is its examination and evaluation of the publishing industry that is both meeting and creating demand for the genre. -- Lorie Sauble-Otto Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature Articulate, relevant and beautifully written... [ Thrill of the Chaste] is very accessible to those who will give themselves to it. Those who choose to read it will undoubtedly find themselves more discriminating readers. -- Pauline Stevick Brethren in Christ History and Life In this comprehensive book, Valerie Weaver-Zercher explores the recent phenomenon of Amish "bonnet fiction"... In well-written, engaging prose, Weaver-Zercher argues convincingly that this genre is production-drive in nature. -- Beth E Graybill Nova Religio Timely and engaging... Thrill of the Chaste is an eminently readable book... This is a welcome text for a number of fields; we will, indeed, be writing about it for some time. -- Robert Zacharias Conrad Grebel Review Weaver-Zercher's energetic and witty study reaches beyond an examination of the popularity of Amish fiction for individual readers. -- Dawn LLwellyn Journal of Contemporary ReligionTable of ContentsPrefaceAcknowledgments1. Slap a Bonnet on the Cover2. The DNA of Amish Romance Novels3. An Evangelical and an Amishman Walk into a Barn4. Taking the Amish to Market5. Is Amishness Next to Godliness?6. An Amish Country Getaway7. Virgin Mothers8. Amish Reading Amish9. Something Borrowed, Something True10. Happily Ever AfterBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisSources include open source material but internal secret files and highly classified audiotapes of Saddam Hussein that were made available to researchers at the Conflict Records Research Center at National Defense University and some documents at the Hoover Institution.Trade ReviewAmatzia Baram, a distinguished historian of Saddam Hussein's Iraq, provides novel insights regarding Saddam Hussein's use of Islam in this intelligent new study... The author is a master storyteller. The book, though lengthy and scholarly, is a page-turner... Essential reading for scholars of modern Iraqi history and of Islam and politics. H-Net Reviews

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Book SynopsisMilspaw, Lisa Minardi, Steven M. Nolt, Candace Perry, Sheila Rohrer, and Diane WengerTrade ReviewEssential. All readership levels.—ChoiceThis volume admirably expands its analysis of culture to include the visual, from Taufscheine to Hollywood movies . . .—Mennonite Quarterly ReviewThis book is a tour de force of Pennsylvania German history, language, and culture and points to many directions for future reserach... Considering the disciplinary breadth, array of methodological approaches, and theoretical foundations, this volume should succeed in starting important dialogues.—Birte B. Pfleger, H-Net ReviewsTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Introduction: Pennsylvania German Studies Simon J. Bronner and Joshua R. Brown Part 1: History and Geography1. The Old World BackgroundMark Haberlein2. To the New World: Seventeenth and Eighteenth CenturiesJohn B. Frantz3. Communities and Identities: Nineteenth to the Twenty-First CenturiesDiane Wenger and Simon J. Bronner Part 2: Culture and Society4. The Pennsylvania German Language Mark Louden5. Language Use among Anabaptist Groups Donald B. Kraybill, Steven Nolt, and Edsel Burdge, Jr.6. ReligionJohn B. Frantz7. The AmishKaren Johnson-Weiner and Joshua R. Brown8. Literature Sheila Rohrer9. Agriculture and Industries R. Troy Boyer10. Architecture and Cultural LandscapesGabrielle Lanier11. Furniture and Decorative ArtsLisa Minardi12. Fraktur and Visual CultureLisa Minardi13. TextilesCandace Perry14. Food and CookingYvonne Milspaw15. MedicineDavid W. Kriebel16. Folklore and FolklifeSimon J. Bronner17. EducationWilliam W. Donner18. Heritage and TourismWilliam W. Donner19. Popular Culture and MediaSimon J. Bronner ContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisCompanion to the acclaimed PBS American Experience documentary. Winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title of the Choice ACRLThe Amish have always struggled with the modern world. Known for their simple clothing, plain lifestyle, and horse-and-buggy mode of transportation, Amish communities continually face outside pressures to modify their cultural patterns, social organization, and religious world view. An intimate portrait of Amish life, The Amish explores not only the emerging diversity and evolving identities within this distinctive American ethnic community, but also its transformation and geographic expansion. Donald B. Kraybill, Karen M. Johnson-Weiner, and Steven M. Nolt spent twenty-five years researching Amish history, religion, and culture. Drawing on archival material, direct observations, and oral history, the authors provide an authoritative and sensitive understanding of Amish society. Amish people do not evangelize, yet their numbers in North America have growTrade ReviewThe authors successfully address the seeming exoticism of the Amish without sensationalism . . . Particular attention is paid to debunking myths surrounding the teenage rite of Rumspringa, a time of contemplation before full commitment to the church through baptism. The scholarship is enlivened with quotes and personal anecdotes, and the final section on the future of the Amish raises fascinating questions, even for casual readers.—Publishers WeeklyKraybill, Johnson-Weiner and Nolt have provided masterful research that enlightens the reader about this misunderstood religion and culture . . . The Amish is a must-read for anyone willing to look beyond the horse and buggy image and gain eye-opening knowledge of people keeping a wary eye on the modern world while holding fast to their past beliefs and traditions.—Foreword ReviewsIn sum, Kraybill, Johnson-Weiner and Nolt have offered us a highly readable and thoroughly engaging lens into the Amish, and in doing so offer readers an opportunity to reflect on themselves in this book.—JoelGehman.comGiven its wide scope and up-to-date information there really isn’t a book like this on the Amish today. I would place it among a handful of Amish must-reads.—Amish AmericaThis is a great read for audiences from high school to professionals . . . highly recommended.—ChoiceThe book’s thoroughness is praiseworthy, along with its unbiased approach. It doesn’t overpraise the Amish, nor does it criticize their ways. If you’re wondering how traditional societies cope with the modern era, this book is perfect.—Olive Branch UnitedAn essential work on the Amish for both those who begin with little knowledge and those who would like to update their understanding of this unique plain Christian community.—Annals of IowaWritten by the foremost contemporary authority on the Amish along with experts on linguistics and Amish history, this impressive, illustrated volume positions itself as the best and most comprehensive book on the Amish in the twenty-first century. Based on twenty-five years of sociological and demographics research, face-to-face interviews and in-person observation, the twenty-two chapters cover every aspect of Amish life. . . The Amish is invaluable for the reader seeking a first, serious encounter with the subject, but readers with some prior knowledge of the Amish will benefit greatly from its comprehensive, national scope. For libraries with limited space, this is the one book on the Amish to own.—Nova ReligioTen years in the making, The Amish is one of a kind. . . The book draws on a combined seventy-five years of observation and analysis of Amish life by three of the most insightful scholars in the field of Amish studies. . . It does an exceptional job of conveying the cultural logic behind Amish practices. . . The book is a major contribution to understanding and theorizing Amish difference amid unity in the twenty-first century. . . The Amish is beautifully written and the consistency of voice is remarkable. . . This is interdisciplinary work at its best.—Mennonite Quarterly ReviewA valuable, detailed and large (520 pp.) introduction to the Amish . . . The book, wisely documented with photographs (to be more appreciated, because of Amish shunning them), is a very precious documentation of Amish life and religious culture in present America—and therefore not only our best choice of 2014, but a bibliographic milestone not to be missed.—PolifemoA sophisticated yet accessible picture of the many forms of contemporary Amish life, a picture that includes both the attractions of deeply rooted community relationships and the troubling shadows cast in a closely-knit patriarchal tribe, such as poorly addressed sexual abuse and a sometimes-dysfunctional youth culture. The nuance, accuracy, thoroughness, and respect attending this beautifully presented work of collaborative scholarship ensure that The Amish will define the field of Amish studies for some time to come.—Journal of Mennonite StudiesTable of ContentsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsPart I1. Who Are the Amish?2. European Origins3. The Story in AmericaPart II4. Religious Roots5. Sacred Rituals6. The Amish Way7. Symbols and IdentityPart III8. Diverse Affiliations9. Population Patterns10. Community Organization11. Gender and Family12. From Rumspringa to Marriage13. Social Ties and Community Rhythms14. EducationPart IV15. Agriculture16. Business17. Technology18. Health and Healing19. Government and Civic Relations20. The Amish in Print21. Tourism and MediaPart V22. Pursuits of HappinessAppendix AAppendix BNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisFrom Santa, elves and Ebenezer Scrooge, to the culture wars and virgin birth, Christmas - Philosophy for Everyone explores a host of philosophical issues raised by the practices and beliefs surrounding Christmas. Offers thoughtful and humorous philosophical insights into the most widely celebrated holiday in the Western world Contributions come from a wide range of disciplines, including philosophy, theology, religious studies, English literature, cognitive science and moral psychology The essays cover a wide range of Christmas themes, from a defence of the miracle of the virgin birth to the relevance of Christmas to atheists and pagans Trade Review"'Philosophy' here means not the serious study of logic, metaphysics, and so on, but something closer to ‘a collection of interesting ideas and arguments', an eclectic amalgam of popular psychology, sociology and morality ... Be irenic by all means, but to allow your opponent to win before you have even begun is to eviscerate the arguments and discussion that are the very reason for this book." (New Directions, 1 December 2011) "For those more philosophically trained or inclined, the utilization of these philosophical works within the context of the great Christmas debate provide an alternative dimension into classic philosophical arguments of ethics and sociological structures, not typically revealed in academic literature." (Metapsychology, 30 September 2011) "Wickedly humorous and innovative philosophical insights in a range of essays on Christmas themes make you think more than twice about the most widely celebrated holiday in the Western world." (Suite101.com, December 2010)"Still, it contains several thoughtful and bruising entries, the perfect mix for this time of year". (CBC News, 21 December 2010) "This great new book, in fine Socratic fashion, probes the meaning of Christmas, asking challenging questions that help us reflect on how we celebrate the birth of Jesus." (The Englewood Review of Books, January 2011) "It seems that this time of year most of us are consumed with, well, consuming, whether it's indulgent holiday fare or gift giving. But if you've ever found yourself contemplating some of the deeper aspects of the season, Christmas Philosophy for Everyone offers insight into the season of giving with thought and humor". (Urban Baby, 17 December 2010) From Santa Claus, elves and Ebenezer Scrooge to rampant consumerism and controversial questions of multiculturalism and the virgin birth, this immensely entertaining and thought-provoking volume, in the oft-audacious Philosophy for Everyone series, explores a plethora of philosophical issues raised by the practices and beliefs surrounding Christmas." (Suite101.com, 16 December 2010) "It all goes to show that philosophy can engage comfortably with popular themes after all - in this case, by offering an antidote to festive semiotic overload, and bringing a little reason to the season". (Time Out, 16 December 2010)Table of ContentsForeword: Joining the Manger to the Sleigh? (Stephen Nissenbaum). Editor's Introduction (Scott C. Lowe). Part I: Christmas: In the Beginning. 1. Jesus, Mary and Hume: On the Possibility of the Virgin Birth (Zachary Jurgensen and Jason Southworth). 2. The Virgin Birth: Authentic Christmas Magic (Victor Lyons). 3. Putting the "Yule" Back in "Yuletide" (Todd Preston). Part II: Is Celebrating Christmas Really a Good Idea? 4. Armed for the War on Christmas (Scott F. Aiken). 5. Christmas Mythologies: Sacred and Secular (Guy Bennett-Hunter). 6. The Significance of Christmas for Liberal Multiculturalism (Mark Mercer). 7. Crummy Commercials and BB Guns: Son-of-a-Bitch Consumerism in a Christmas Classic (Erin Haire and Dustin Nelson). Part III: Santa: A Deeper Look. 8. The Mind of Santa Claus and the Metaphors He Lives By (William E. Deal and S. Waller). 9. Making a List, Checking It Twice: The Santa Claus Surveillance System (Richard Hancuff and Noreen O'Connor). 10. You'd Better Watch Out… (Will Williams). 11. Santa's Sweatshop: Elf Exploitation for Christmas (Matthew Brophy). Part IV: The Morality of Christmas. 12. Against the Santa Clause Lie: The Truth We Should Tell Our Children (David Kyle Johnson). 13. Lying to Children about Santa: Why It's Just Not Wrong (Era Gavrielides). 14. Putting Claus Back into Christmas (Steven D. Hales). 15. Scrooge Learns it All in One Night: Happiness and the Virtues of Christmas (Dane Scott). Part V: Christmas Through Others' Eyes. 16. Holly Jolly Atheists: A Naturalistic Justification for Christmas (Ruth Tallman). 17. Heaven, Hecate and Hallmark: Christmas in Hindsight (Marion G. Mason). 18. Festivus and the Need for Seasonal Absurdity (Caleb Holt). 19. Common Claus: Santa as Cross-Cultural Connection (Cindy Scheopner). Afterword (Santa Claus). Notes on Contributors (Santa's Elves).

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Book SynopsisA charming book with show-stopping main dish recipes for Jewish holidays throughout the year.Trade Review"With thousands of years’ tradition behind them, these global Jewish feast-time favourites will fill any celebration with joy" -- Food and Travel

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Book SynopsisHere [In the State if Israel] their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance, and gave the world the Eternal Book of Books.' David Ben-Gurion, 14 May 1948 Seventy years ago in 1948 the State of Israel came into being amidst great controversy. For many, the Jews did not belong in Palestine and around them many nations sought to eradicate the new state from the map. How did the State arise? What led to the founding of Israel? This book sets out to give a chronological journey of the Jewish people from the time Abraham came out of the land of Ur 3,000 years ago, until 6 million of them died in the horror of the Holocaust under Hitler and his Nazi regime. It recounts the many expulsions from the land in which they lived, the suffering under Babylonians, Greek, Persians, the destruction of their Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD, and finally, genocide and the expulsion by the Romans in 132 AD creating a diaspora across the world. The Jews would be charged with killing God and throughout the following centuries would be expelled from countries, burned alive after being locked in Synagogues and at the stake, have all their property seized and herded into ghettoes. All of this until that fatal Holocaust, which attempted to wipe them from the face of the earth. This book recounts their story to achieve a homeland, using a wide-range of historical documents to tell the story of humiliation, suffering, poverty and death. It tells of religious persecution that would not let them rest, and as their journey enters the twentieth century, gives a behind-the-scenes look at how governments manipulated the Middle East and exacerbated divisions.

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Book SynopsisThis ethnography investigates the meaning of learning in the lives of ultra-orthodox Jewish women. Presenting a picture of the Gur Hassidic community in Israel, the author explores the relationship between women's literacy and their subordination. She finds that ultra-orthodox women are taught to be ignorant. These women perform the role of being ignorant only as educated women can. Preserving their social and emotional ties with the community, they are at the same time able to observe their surroundings, and even their own worlds, as if from the ""outside"". This duality creates the social and personal conditions that allow them to accept their subordination, even at the end of the 20th century.Table of ContentsThe Theoretical Triangle; ""Tochen and Tachles"" - The Women and Their Studies; The Ultra-Orthodox Community - Decoding Paradoxes and the Construction of Social Boundaries; The Production of Knowledge - Informants, Information and Methodology.

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Book SynopsisAmerican and Jewish historians have long shied away from the topic of Jews and business. Avoidance patterns grew in part from old, often negative stereotypes that linked Jews with money, and the perceived ease and regularity with which they found success with money, condemning Jews for their desires for wealth and their proclivities for turning a profit. A new, dauntless generation of historians, however, realizes that Jewish business has had and continues to have a profound impact on American culture and development, and patterns of immigrant Jewish exploration of business opportunities reflect internal, communal, Jewish-cultural structures and their relationship to the larger non-Jewish world. As such, they see the subject rightly as a vital and underexplored area of study. Doing Business in America: A Jewish History, edited by Hasia R. Diner, rises to the challenge of taking on the long-unspoken taboo subject, comprising leading scholars and exploring an array of key topics in this important and growing area of research.Table of Contents FOREWORD EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1, American Jewish Business: At the Street Level, by Hasia R. Diner CHAPTER 2, Common Fortunes: Social and Financial Gains of Jewish and Christian Partnerships in Eighteenth-Century Transatlantic Trade, by Allan M. Amanik CHAPTER 3, Jewish Immigrant Bankers, New York Real Estate, and American Finance, 1870–1914, by Rebecca Kobrin CHAPTER 4, Far Away Moses & Company: An Ottoman Jewish Business between Istanbul and the United States, by Julia Phillips Cohen CHAPTER 5, The Roots of Jewish Concentration in the American Popular Music Business, 1890–1945, by Jonathan Karp CHAPTER 6, "Sometimes It Is Like I Am Sitting on a Volcano": Retailers, Diplomats, and the Refugee Crisis, 1933–1945, by Niki C. Lefebvre CHAPTER 7, Max Moses Heller: Patron Saint of Greenville's Renaissance, by Diane Vecchio CHAPTER 8, "A Just and Righteous Man": Eli Black and the Transformation of United Fruit, by Matt Garcia ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS ABOUT THE USC CASDEN INSTITUTE

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Book SynopsisJudaism and Global Survival presents basic Jewish teachings on peace, justice, compassion, sharing, love of neighbors, environmental sustainability, and others, and urges that they be applied in order to reduce climate change and other environmental threats and help shift our imperiled planet onto a sustainable path. This important bookdiscusses the challenges facing humanity and the Jewish teachings related to these challenges, in order to galvanize Jews to help repair the world (tikkun olam), as required by Jewish law. It argues that we don?t need to discover new values and approaches to address current global threats. What is needed is a rediscovery and application of basic Jewish teachings and mandates, such as to pursue peace and justice, to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to act as co-workers with God in protecting and preserving the world.Judaism and Global Survival is meant to be a wake-up call, the strongest that one can make, on the urgency of addressing climate threats and other environmental threats, and the importance of Jews applying Jewish values in addressing these threats. Among the issues discussed in the book are the following: Jews are to guardians of the earth, partners and co-workers with God in working toward tikkun olam, the healing repair and proper transforming of the world; climate change is an existential threat to the world and the only hope to avert a climate catastrophe is through a major shift to plant-based diets, as that would enable reforestation of the vast areas now used for animal agriculture, reducing atmospheric CO2 to a much safer level; vegetarianism, and even mores veganism, is the diet most consistent with Jewish teachings on preserving our health, treating animals with compassion, protecting the environment, conserving natural resources, and helping hungry people.

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Book SynopsisDefying foreign government orders and interviewing terrorists face to face, a young American tours hostile lands to learn about Middle Eastern youth, and uncovers a subculture that defies every stereotype. In 2004, Jared Cohen embarked on the first of a series of incredible journeys to the Middle East in an effort to understand the spread of radical Islamist violence among Muslim youth. The result is Children of Jihad, a portrait of paradox that probes much deeper than any journalist or pundit ever could. Chosen as one of Kirkus Review''s Best Books of 2007, Cohen''s account begins in Lebanon, where he interviews Hezbollah members at, of all places, a McDonald''s. In Iran, he defies government threats and sneaks into underground parties, where bootleg liquor, Western music, and the Internet are all easy to access. His risky itinerary also takes him to a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, borderlands in Syria, the insurgency hotbed of Mosul, and other front-line locales. At each turn, he observes a culture at an uncanny crossroads. Gripping and daring, Children of Jihad shows us the future through the eyes of those who are shaping it.

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Book SynopsisUpdated and expanded edition! From the icons of the game to the players who got their big break but never quite broke through, The Baseball Talmud provides a wonderful historical narration of Major League Jewish Baseball in America. All the stats, the facts, the stories, and the (often unheralded) glory. This delightful compmendium reveals that there is far more to Jewish baseball than Hank Greenberg's powerful slugging and Sandy Koufax's masterful control. From Ausmus to Zinn, Berg to Kinsler, Holtzman to Yeager, and many others, Howard Megdal draws upon the lore and the little-known details that increase our enjoyment of the game.This new, expanded edition of The Baseball Talmud rewrites the history of Jewish baseball and is a book that every baseball fan should own.

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Book SynopsisInterweaving my experiences as a Canadian Muslim woman, mother, (grand)daughter, educator, and scholar throughout this work, I write about living and narratively inquiring (Clandinin and Connelly, Narrative Inquiry; Clandinin) alongside three Muslim mothers and daughters during our daughters’ transition into adolescence. I was interested in mother-and-daughter experiences during this time of life transition because my eldest daughter, Malak, was in the midst of transitioning into adolescence as I embarked upon my doctoral research. I had many wonders about Malak’s experiences, my experiences as a mother, and the experiences of other Muslim daughters and mothers in the midst of similar life transitions. I wondered about how dominant narratives from within and across Muslim and other communities in Canada shape our lives and experiences. For, while we are often storied as victims of various oppressions in media, literature, and elsewhere, little is known about our diverse experiences—par-ticularly the experiences of Muslim mothers and daughters composing our selves and lives alongside one another in familial places.

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Book SynopsisWhile in a Russian-administered holding camp in Katowice, Poland, in 1945, Primo Levi was asked to provide a report on living conditions in Auschwitz. Published the following year, it was subsequently forgotten and remained unknown to a wider public.Dating from the weeks and months immediately after the war, Auschwitz Report details the authors' harrowing deportation to Auschwitz, and how those who disembarked from the train were selected for work or extermination. As well as being a searing narrative of everyday life in the camp, and the organization and working of the gas chambers, it constitutes Levi's first lucid attempts to come to terms with the raw horror of events that would drive him to create some of the greatest works of twentieth-century literature and testimony. Auschwitz Report is a major literary and historical discovery.Trade ReviewOne of the most important and gifted writers of our time. -- Italo CalvinoAn important corrective to the accepted view of Auschwitz. * Guardian *The book is important not just because it is the first published work by Levi; it contains the seeds of his great Survival in Auschwitz. * New Yorker *One of the first written by eyewitnesses, it has an important place in Holocaust historiography. * Publishers Weekly *

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Book SynopsisEleven-year-old Jacob 'Cobber' Stern has the world on his shoulders. He is still grieving for his mother six years after her death; frustrated by his distant workaholic father; abandoned by his best friend Boolkie, who now has to study for his barmitzvah; and overwhelmed by his sense of responsibility for his ailing almost one-hundred-year-old great-grandfather, Papa-Ben. On top of that, Boolkie is pressuring him to perform his magic act at the school talent show, a terrifying prospect given how badly wrong that went last time Cobber performed at school. As Cobber navigates the multiple challenges of his life, he learns more about the people around him: why his father works so hard and Boolkie’s reasons for having a barmitzvah. In the process, he begins to understand more about himself and the threads that bind them all together. And as events force him to negotiate his complicated relationship with Judaism, he begins to see what it means to those he is closest to, and what it could mean to him. Calling Cobber is about making decisions, answering life’s big questions, and working out how to process the past in order look to the future. Full of warmth and compassion and at once funny, emotional and profound, it is a touching, thought-provoking story of grief, faith, family and friendship.

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