What Is the What is the story of Valentino Achak Deng, a refugee in war-ravaged southern Sudan who flees from his village in the mid-1980s and becomes one of the so-called Lost Boys. Valentino’s travels bring him in contact with enemy soldiers, with liberation rebels, with hyenas and lions, with disease and starvation, and with deadly murahaleen (militias on horseback)–the same sort who currently terrorize Darfur. Eventually Deng is resettled in the United States with almost 4000 other young Sudanese men, and a very different struggle begins. Based closely on true experiences, What Is the What is heartbreaking and arresting, filled with adventure, suspense, tragedy, and, finally, triumph.

Whether you want to improve your impact in speeches, staff meetings, pitches, emails, PowerPoint presentations, or any other communication setting, this book provides a novel approach that teaches you how to go from simply sharing a thought to making a difference. --

"Jax loves the food his family cooks. But when his grandmother packs his favorite Chinese dishes for his first day of school, Jax discovers his lunch looks very different from what the rest of his classmates are eating. Embarrassed to eat his food, Jax finds himself sitting alone. When Meena sits next to him, the two strike an unexpected friendship over their lunches, sharing a mutual joy of time spent in the kitchen and the delicious meals they eat with their families. What's That? is a heartwarming story about the foods that make up who we are and how the meals we eat can bring us together."--Publisher's website.

In 1848, gold was discovered in California, attracting over 300,000 people from all over the world, some who struck it rich and many more who didn't. Hear the stories about the gold-seeking "forty-niners!" With black-and white illustrations and sixteen pages of photos, a nugget from history is brought to life!

“Big ideas that just might save the world”—The Guardian The founder of the international Transition Towns movement asks why true creative, positive thinking is in decline, asserts that it's more important now than ever, and suggests ways our communities can revive and reclaim it. In these times of deep division and deeper despair, if there is a consensus about anything in the world, it is that the future is going to be awful. There is an epidemic of loneliness, an epidemic of anxiety, a mental health crisis of vast proportions, especially among young people. There’s a rise in extremist movements and governments. Catastrophic climate change. Biodiversity loss. Food insecurity. The fracturing of ecosystems and communities beyond, it seems, repair. The future—to say nothing of the present—looks grim. But as Transition movement cofounder Rob Hopkins tells us, there is plenty of evidence that things can change, and cultures can change, rapidly, dramatically, and unexpectedly—for the better. He has seen it happen around the world and in his own town of Totnes, England, where the community is becoming its own housing developer, energy company, enterprise incubator, and local food network—with cascading benefits to the community that extend far beyond the projects themselves. We do have the capability to effect dramatic change, Hopkins argues, but we’re failing because we’ve largely allowed our most critical tool to languish: human imagination. As defined by social reformer John Dewey, imagination is the ability to look at things as if they could be otherwise. The ability, that is, to ask What if? And if there was ever a time when we needed that ability, it is now. Imagination is central to empathy, to creating better lives, to envisioning and then enacting a positive future. Yet imagination is also demonstrably in decline at precisely the moment when we need it most. In this passionate exploration, Hopkins asks why imagination is in decline, and what we must do to revive and reclaim it. Once we do, there is no end to what we might accomplish. From What Is to What If is a call to action to reclaim and unleash our collective imagination, told through the stories of individuals and communities around the world who are doing it now, as we speak, and witnessing often rapid and dramatic change for the better.

Are you ready to discover your WHAT—that is, the 1 amazing thing you were born to do? Would you like to powerfully impact both those who share this lifetime with you and those of lifetimes to come? In What Is Your WHAT? author Steve Olsher reveals his proven process that has helped thousands answer YES to these life-changing questions and cultivate a life of purpose, conviction, and contribution by identifying and creating a plan of action for bringing the 1 thing they were born to do to fruition. It is a timely, step-by-step guide that will guide you towards making both a fortune and a difference sharing your unique gift with the world. Features inspiring stories of trial, tribulation, and triumph, as well as examples of 17 public figures, such as Guy Kawasaki, Chris Brogan, and Jack Canfield who have made the critical shift from pursuing commodity-driven opportunities to honoring their singular blueprint Author Steve Olsher is a 25+ year entrepreneur, creator/founder of The Reinvention Workshop, and award-winning author of Internet Prophets: The World’s Leading Experts Reveal How to Profit Online Steve’s singular approach to realizing permanent, positive change blends proprietary methods with ancient wisdom and revolutionary lessons from modern thought leaders. Leverage this proven system to discover your WHAT and realize ultimate achievement in business and life.

Toward a computational explanation of thought: an argument that underlying mind is a complex but compact program that corresponds to the underlying complex structure of the world.