Jacob Roth suspects his uncle, Ostaf, an outcast, may be the inventor of a new product Jacob's father has successfully marketed and is claiming credit for. During the final weeks of the summer before he starts college, Jacob embarks on a mission to ensure Ostaf receives any recognition and financial compensation he deserves. Jacob's persistence and unconditional love for his uncle will eventually guide him to the truth. Ostaf's basement full of inventions hides other secrets that will change Jacob's life, and the world, forever. The Magnificent Mind of Ostaf is a story that celebrates the misfits and dreamers whose passions and ideas make the world a better place.

It was the summer of 1983 when eight-year-old Jason Shapiro moved into his new home and stumbled upon Jimmy Gallo. Their connection was instant and the adventures they would embark on captured the essence and simplicity of being a child. A mystical treehouse in Jimmy's yard quickly becomes the boys home base...The place where secrets are shared and lifelong bonds are made. When Jason abruptly finds out he is moving away in 1989, he must say goodbye to Jimmy and the magical life he made growing up on Mayfair Court. After a series of tragic events later in life, Jason returns to the street he grew up on. He reflects back on his boyhood adventures and attempts to confront his unresolved regrets. When he uncovers a long-forgotten letter, it will finally bring peace to his life. The Magic of Mayfair is a coming of age journey that weaves between the past and present, while Jason provides adult narrative. He recalls the joy of his childhood and the challenges of confronting his personal truths as an adult.

Today, Josh is bringing home his new pet, a lion, named Brian. While his family is excited, Josh is worried and nervous. He's afraid that his pet could be WILD and FEROCIOUS. From the moment Brian charges through the open front door, all of the worries that Josh imagined begin to come true. After finding a quiet place to hide, Josh finally takes a break and begins to calm himself. Later that day, when Josh discovers that his new pet is also relaxed, a heartfelt lesson is learned. Brian, My Pet Lion is a story about how our imagination can create fear and how peaceful thoughts can change the channel in our minds.

Russia Engages the World, 1453-1825, an elegant new book created by a team of leading historians in collaboration with The New York Public Library, traces Russia's development from an insular, medieval, liturgical realm centered on Old Muscovy, into a modern, secular, world power embodied in cosmopolitan St. Petersburg. Featuring eight essays and 120 images from the Library's distinguished collections, it is both an engagingly written work and a striking visual object. Anyone interested in the dramatic history of Russia and its extraordinary artifacts will be captivated by this book. Before the late fifteenth century, Europeans knew virtually nothing about Muscovy, the core of what would become the "Russian Empire." The rare visitor--merchant, adventurer, diplomat--described an exotic, alien place. Then, under the powerful tsar Peter the Great, St. Petersburg became the architectural embodiment and principal site of a cultural revolution, and the port of entry for the Europeanization of Russia. From the reign of Peter to that of Catherine the Great, Russia sought increasing involvement in the scientific advancements and cultural trends of Europe. Yet Russia harbored a certain dualism when engaging the world outside its borders, identifying at times with Europe and at other times with its Asian neighbors. The essays are enhanced by images of rare Russian books, illuminated manuscripts, maps, engravings, watercolors, and woodcuts from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries, as well as the treasures of diverse minority cultures living in the territories of the Empire or acquired by Russian voyagers. These materials were also featured in an exhibition of the same name, mounted at The New York Public Library in the fall of 2003, to celebrate the tercentenary of St. Petersburg.

This book focuses particular attention on the six-month interrogation of the doomed poet, and it provides a critical evaluation of Soviet interpretations and an assessment of Ryleev's historical significance. Originally published in 1984. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

How is photography connected to global practices? This is a first edited collection to trace the relationship between history, photography and memory in a global perspective on three interrelated levels: firstly, in the artistic and cultural production of pictures, secondly, in the decoding of colonial and contemporary photography, and thirdly, in collecting photographs in picture archives dealing with colonial, anthropological and family photography. The contributions sketch the contested field of global photography and trace the manifold intertwinements between historical and contemporary photographs.