When walking the French Quarter and watching a Lucky Dog salesman set up that colorful cart and call out to entice customers, don't you wonder how such a business works? As a knowing review in Rolling Stone stated, "People have always loved the cart and harbored a mysterious need to ride it. Revelers have been known to climb on top of the rolling wienies, screaming 'Yippee kaya!' as vendors stoically push them back to the barn at 4 a.m." Since 1947 the red and yellow carts have trumpeted good fortune and sustenance. Jerry E. Strahan recounts the wild adventures of the Bourbon Street wienie salesmen but also takes readers well beyond New Orleans. In fact, he takes them halfway around the world, where this unique pushcart business maneuvered its way through the bureaucratic red tape of a communist country to become a licensed corporation in the People's Republic of China. In China, two points quickly became apparent to Strahan. First, 99 percent of the Chinese population had no idea what a Lucky Dog cart represented. One elderly passerby declared it to be a missile. Second, the success or failure of any joint venture in the Asian nation is directly proportional to the political clout of that company's local partner. Lucky Dogs also recounts how the business and its vendors survived Hurricane Katrina. Miraculously, it reopened only six months after the storm in a city where more than 80 percent of the landmass had been flooded and where less than 40 percent of the population had returned. To reestablish itself in what many described as Third World conditions, the company had to transform its operation. This work mixes business history, autobiography, survival story, and an insider's look at the bizarre lives of some of Bourbon Street's most quirky characters--the dauntless Lucky Dog vendors. Both humorous and tragic, though it may read like fiction, it is, for better or worse, all fact.

Our readers and customers asked for informative and entertaining fiction for teens and young adults about their lives, and we've listened! We're pleased to publish Lucky Dogs, Lost Hats, and Dating Don'ts, a collection of over a dozen hi-lo (high interest-low reading level) short stories for people with intellectual disabilities or other learning challenges. Middle schoolers through adults will identify with the book's true-to-life stories and their characters (some with developmental disabilities, some without), who want to live as independently as they can. And just like real life, there are episodes of hilarity, poignancy, messiness, responsibility, longing, fulfillment, and adventure. From roommate troubles to wanting a pet, and from seeking a girlfriend to going camping with friends, these appealing short stories engage readers and impart subtle life lessons. A set of questions at the end of each story encourages discussion and further self-reflection. Stories included are: -A Day of Kindness -A Very Lucky Dog -Adventures in Camping -Bad Hair Day -Dear Diary -Dirty Dishes -Doctor Visit -Evening Walks -How to Find a Girlfriend -Road Trip -Slugger -Sneezes -The Kissing Scene -Tornado at Big Burger Written by experts in literacy and inclusion for people with developmental disabilities, stories range in reading grade level from 1.5 to 3.5 (Flesch Kincaid scale) and are illustrated with large format black and white photos. Large type, a sans serif font, ample margins, and space between paragraphs helps to provide a smooth reading experience. An Introduction provides important information about who can benefit from the book and how to use it. If you're a parent, educator, reading specialist, book club coordinator, librarian, or counselor don't miss this unique book for your teen and adult readers with intellectual disabilities or other struggling readers!

The paths of two women on opposite ends of a high-profile sexual abuse scandal set them on a devastating collision course. "Part thriller, part Hollywood satire, Lucky Dogs is a brash, sometimes heartbreaking saga in which trauma and self-preservation converge across decades and continents. This is Helen Schulman's best novel yet."—Jennifer Egan, best-selling author of A Visit from the Goon Squad and The Candy House On a sultry summer night in Paris, two women meet in line at an ice cream kiosk on the Ile de la Cité. One is tall, fair, striking, with an indeterminate accent. The other, a troubled American TV star, is hiding her beauty and identity under a shapeless sweatshirt, wearing sunglasses even in the darkness. When leering male tourists hassle the pair, the blonde pulls out a knife and a sisterhood is born. Both women have been victims of male violence, and both are warriors—one trained and calculating, one instinctually ferocious. They each think they know who they are dealing with. But both are very, very wrong. In a story that unfolds with unexpected humor and the pace of a thriller, acclaimed novelist Helen Schulman lays bare what happens to women—no matter how fortunate they may appear to be on the surface—whose lives have been warped by brutality and misogyny. The issues are universal, but the core of the story is intimate: a passionate exploration of love, betrayal, and survival. Lucky Dogs asks and answers a shattering question: How could one woman so utterly betray another?

From critically acclaimed author-illustrator Joowon Oh comes a poignant picture book about the special bonds between a girl and her foster dogs, with heartwarming messages of compassion, selflessness, and finding a home—in each other. One day, Ruth and her mom are in the park and see a pet adoption fair. Ruth is drawn to a cute little dog, but they are moving soon and can’t adopt. However, they can foster for a couple of months, and that’s how they wind up with Ginger. Then Daisy. Then Cody, a special-needs dog with injured hind legs. Can Ruth help Cody find his forever home? Lucky Dogs is a vibrant and charming story about three adorable dogs down on their luck and a girl with a big heart who wants to save them. Each hello is a delight as these furry friends teach our young heroine how to overcome her worries and be joyful, curious, and brave.

A collection of short stories from favorite authors, all about dogs and the kids who love them. Proceeds will be donated to RedRover, an organization that helps animals in need! This collection is full of heartwarming and hilarious stories about the Pawley Rescue Center, where rescued dogs find their way into hearts and homes. You'll meet Foxtrot, a feisty Pomeranian who can't bear the thought of leaving her best friend. And Beatrice, whose bark is definitely worse than her bite. And then there's Pumpkin, one of the 101 Chihuahuas who turn life at the center upside down. Whether drooling, dueling, or just fooling around, these captivating canines will show you why the dog is kid's best friend! LUCKY DOG features sweet and silly stories about playful pups and the kids who love them by some of your favorite authors: Randi Barrow, Marlane Kennedy, Elizabeth Cody Kimmel, Kirby Larson, C. Alexander London, Leslie Margolis, Jane B. Mason and Sarah Hines Stephens, Ellen Miles, Michael Northrop, Teddy Slater, Tui T. Sutherland, and Allan Woodrow. Michael Northrop is the New York Times bestselling author of TombQuest, an epic book and game adventure series featuring the magic of ancient Egypt. He is also the author of Trapped, an Indie Next List Selection, and Plunked, a New York Public Library best book of the year and an NPR Backseat Book Club selection. An editor at Sports Illustrated Kids for many years, he now writes full-time from his home in New York City. Learn more at www.michaelnorthrop.net.

An accidental dog swap unleashes an unexpected love match in this new romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author Julia London. Carly Kennedy's life is in a spiral. She is drowning in work, her divorced parents are going through their midlife crises, and somehow Carly's sister convinces her to foster Baxter--a basset hound rescue with a bad case of the blues. When Carly comes home late from work one day to discover that the dog walker has accidentally switched out Baxter for another perkier, friendlier basset hound, she has reached the end of her leash. When Max Sheffington finds a depressed male basset hound in place of his cheerful Hazel, he is bewildered. But when cute, fiery Carly arrives on his doorstep, he is intrigued. He was expecting the dog walker, not a pretty woman with firm ideas about dog discipline. And Carly was not expecting a handsome, bespectacled man to be feeding her dog mac and cheese. Baxter is besotted with Hazel, and Carly realizes she may have found the key to her puppy’s happiness. For his sake, she starts to spend more time with Hazel and Max, until she begins to understand the appeal of falling for your polar opposite.

Collects essays on controversial topics of twentieth-century American history, including wars, organized crime, and abuses of political power.