Wake: Why the Battle Over Diverse Public Schools Still Matters tells the story of the aftermath of the 2009 Wake County school board election in favor of "neighborhood schools," including the fierce public debate that ensued during school board meetings and in the pages of the local newspaper, and the groundswell of community support that voted in a pro-diversity school board in 2011. What was at stake in those years was the fundamental direction of the largest school district in North Carolina and the 14th largest in the U.S. Would it maintain a commitment to diverse schools, and if so, how would it balance that commitment with various competing interests and demands? Through hundreds of published opinion articles and several in depth interviews with community leaders, Wake examines the substance of that debate and explores the community’s vision for public education.

This is the first book to examine how and why the United States refused to officially acknowledge the 1915-17 Armenian Genocide until the early 2020s. Drawing from congressional records, rare newspapers, and interviews with lobbyists and decision-makers, historian Julien Zarifian reveals how genocide recognition became such a complex, politically sensitive issue.

Patricia Roos was a professor of sociology at Rutgers University when she lost her 25-year-old son Alex to a heroin overdose. Turning her grief into action, she began to research the social factors and institutional failures that contributed to his death. Surviving Alex tells her moving story while describing a more compassionate approach that would provide proper care to substance users and reduce addiction.

Jewish education has been dominated by two concerns: What ought to be taught? And what is the best way to teach it?  This book upends the conventional approaches by asking a different question: How do people learn to engage in Jewish life?
 

Global Film Color: The Monopack Revolution at Midcentury explores color filmmaking around the world during the mid-century era when color came to dominate global film production. As Eastmancolor, Agfacolor, Fujicolor and other film stocks became broadly available and affordable, national film industries increasingly converted to color, transforming the look and feel of global cinema.

Biologist Eric G. Bolen introduces readers to the natural wonders of the Jersey Shore, taking them on a guided tour of its unique ecology and fascinating history. You’ll learn about everything from sand dunes to salt marshes, from blueberry patches to cranberry bogs, and from ship wrecks to shark attacks. 

Combining science writing, environmental history, and first-hand accounts from a longtime resident, At the Glacier’s Edge offers a unique narrative natural history of Long Island. It tells the story of how its habitats evolved, how humans radically degraded its landscape, and how community activists are restoring the land and preserving the species who depend on it. 

American democracy has reached an inflection point. This book is a wake-up call about the heavy responsibilities that come with being a citizen in a participatory democracy. It describes the many ways that individuals can make a difference on both local and national levels—and explains why they matter.

Yakov Protazanov was the most prolific Russian director of the silent era whose works enjoyed consistent popularity with audiences as he adapted to the Russian Revolution and, later, the transition to sound. This first career-length study in English argues that he pursued a unique artistic vision that reflected his ambivalent position within Soviet culture of the revolutionary era.

Headstrong art historian Leyla is expecting a baby with feckless computer technician Pablo. There’s only one problem: she can’t stand him. And one more problem: her student Michael wants Pablo for himself. But when the writings by utopian philosopher Tommaso Campanella unlocks the secret of a painting and a mystical gateway to 17th-century Naples, Leyla and Michael embark on a voyage of self-discovery in search of a new life.

This fresh take on the epistolary novel tells the story of a family through the disparate perspectives of a teenage daughter writing in her diary, a mother composing letters, and a grandmother speaking into a recorder. In turns heartbreaking and laugh-out-loud funny, it is a triumph of voice and style from one of Italy’s most renowned writers.

Former Hudson River Park Conservancy president Tom Fox offers an insider’s look at the park’s expansion and the conflicts it has spawned among community activists, local politicians, and private developers. Explaining how the park’s current problems might be surmounted, he provides a model for future urban planners. 
 

Born of War in Colombia examines how a past-oriented and harm-centered model of transitional justice has converged with a restricted notion of gendered victimhood and the patriarchal politics of reproduction to render the bodies of people born of conflict-related sexual violence unintelligible to those seeking to understand and address the consequences of war in Colombia.