Originally published in 2003, The Light Inside is a ground-breaking study of an Afro-Cuban secret society, its sacred arts, and their role in modern Cuban cultural history. Enslaved Africans and creoles developed the Abakuá Society, a system of men’s fraternal lodges, in urban Cuba beginnings in 1836. Drawing on years of fieldwork in the country, the book’s novel approach builds on close readings of dazzling Abakuá altars, chalk-drawn signs, and hooded masquerades. It looks at the art history of Abakuá altars, not only tracing changing styles but also how they evolve through cycles of tradition and renovation. The Light Inside reflects the essence of the artists’ creativity and experience: through adornment, altars project the powerful spirituality of Abakuá practice, an aesthetic strategy. The book also traces a biography of Abakuá objects – their shifting forms and meanings – as they participated in successive periods of Cuban cultural history. The book constructs close rhetorical and visual analyses of changing representations of the Abakuá, spanning nineteenth-century arts and letters, modern ethnographic texts, museum displays, paintings, and late twentieth century commercial kitsch. This interdisciplinary work combines art history, African Diaspora, cultural studies and cultural anthropology with Latin American.

The creator of the beloved Maple books pays tribute to the power of friendship and the bonds that endure after the loss of a loved one. Something magical happens when a little girl encounters a small red bird--the two instantly see eye-to-eye, and see that there is something in each other that transcends time and space. They become fast friends and connect over their love of listening to the wind, looking at clouds, splashing in puddles, and eating snacks. But the bird can fly, so the girl pretends she can too. Then one day the bird is gone and life isn't the same. The girl is lonely, but the bird visits her in her dreams and she is comforted as they fly together; then as the days pass, the wind, the clouds, and the rain all help her remember her friend and feel the spark of her friend's light still shining within herself.

An account of the rock group Velvet Underground, tracing the band's history from its formation by John Cale and Lou Reed in the mid-1960s to its notoriety after being adopted by Andy Warhol to its ignominious end.

The first Asian woman tenured at Harvard Law School, a Guggenheim Fellow, a Herbert Jacob Prize Winner and selected as one of the Best Lawyers Under 40 by the NAPABA, Jeannie Suk tells her heartfelt story. By sharing her old love for ballet, piano and reading, she guides us through her passionate life and work and finally to the world 'that she wanted to see.' Through this clean and elegant memoir, we learn that one's attitude and passion is the most important thing in life, and she suggests that we should be brave as we have freedom to be imperfect.

The extraordinary story of Stefania Podgórska, a Polish teenager who chose bravery and humanity by hiding thirteen Jews in her attic during WWII, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Sharon Cameron - now a Reese's Book Club YA Pick! One knock at the door, and Stefania has a choice to make... It is 1943, and for four years, sixteen-year-old Stefania has been working for the Diamant family in their grocery store in Przemysl, Poland, singing her way into their lives and hearts. She has even made a promise to one of their sons, Izio -- a betrothal they must keep secret since she is Catholic and the Diamants are Jewish. But everything changes when the German army invades Przemysl. The Diamants are forced into the ghetto, and Stefania is alone in an occupied city, the only one left to care for Helena, her six-year-old sister. And then comes the knock at the door. Izio's brother Max has jumped from the train headed to a death camp. Stefania and Helena make the extraordinary decision to hide Max, and eventually twelve more Jews. Then they must wait, every day, for the next knock at the door, the one that will mean death. When the knock finally comes, it is two Nazi officers, requisitioning Stefania's house for the German army. With two Nazis below, thirteen hidden Jews above, and a little sister by her side, Stefania has one more excruciating choice to make. This remarkable tale of courage and humanity, based on a true story, is now a Reese's Book Club YA Pick!

"The Light Within Me" will inspire your inner light to shine brightly. We each have a beautiful gift that we can share with the world. Use your powers and positivity to make this world a more illuminated and brilliant place.

Elizabeth Spencer is captivated by Italy. Collected in this volume are The Light in the Piazza, which is her signature piece, and six other Italian tales in which her American characters encounter and respond to the mysteries of Italian mores.