Help Not Wanted

In Help (Not) Wanted, Michael Strausz offers an original and provocative answer to a question that has long perplexed observers of Japan: Why has Japan's immigration policy remained so restrictive, especially in light of economic, demographic, and international political forces that are pushing Japan to admit more immigrants? Drawing upon insights developed during nearly two years of intensive field research in Japan, Strausz ultimately argues that Japan's immigration policy has remained restrictive for two reasons. First, Japan's labor-intensive businesses have failed to defeat anti-immigration forces within the Japanese state, particularly those in the Ministry of Justice and the Japanese Diet. Second, no influential strain of elite thought in postwar Japan exists to support the idea that significant numbers of foreign nationals have a legitimate claim to residency and citizenship. This book is particularly timely at a moment shaped by Brexit, the election of Trump, and the rise of anti-immigrant political parties and nativist rhetoric across the globe.

A powerful retelling of the tale of Noah and his family, and the first time the world ended. Winner of the CNIB Talking Book of the Year Award.

Sometimes it's our mistakes that teach us the most. Posy always has a plan, and she is determined to see her plans through. But when she eagerly takes charge of the new classroom pet, things don't go according to plan. Bluey the beta fish suffers under all the special attention, and he starts looking worse and worse. Posy fears everyone will blame her. Can she admit she needs help to bring her new friend back around? In this lovely school-based story, award-winning author and illustrator Ruth Ohi gives us a recognizable character -- a high-achieving child, who needs a reminder that it's okay to ask for help -- and the lesson that cooperation wins the day!

George Orwell set out ‘to make political writing into an art’, and to a wide extent this aim shaped the future of English literature – his descriptions of authoritarian regimes helped to form a new vocabulary that is fundamental to understanding totalitarianism. While 1984 and Animal Farm are amongst the most popular classic novels in the English language, this new series of Orwell’s essays seeks to bring a wider selection of his writing on politics and literature to a new readership. In Why I Write, the first in the Orwell’s Essays series, Orwell describes his journey to becoming a writer, and his movement from writing poems to short stories to the essays, fiction and non-fiction we remember him for. He also discusses what he sees as the ‘four great motives for writing’ – ‘sheer egoism’, ‘aesthetic enthusiasm’, ‘historical impulse’ and ‘political purpose’ – and considers the importance of keeping these in balance. Why I Write is a unique opportunity to look into Orwell’s mind, and it grants the reader an entirely different vantage point from which to consider the rest of the great writer’s oeuvre. 'A writer who can – and must – be rediscovered with every age.' — Irish Times

In March 1976 five members of the family of State Department employee William Bradford Bishop, Jr., were found slain in a shallow grave in rural eastern North Carolina. It was determined that the murders had been committed in the family home in suburban Washington, D.C. Bishop was missing, and the authorities quickly named him the one and only suspect in the brutal and seemingly motiveless crimes. The family station wagon was found abandoned at the western side of Great Smoky National Park. Bishop vanished and since that time has allegedly been an international fugitive. The author, Bishop's roommate senior year at Yale University, has been haunted by this case and its unanswered questions for many years. In this challenging book he puts forth some interesting theories as to what might have happened.

Shailey loves bedtime, especially reading with her dad. But her dad starts a new job, and it gets in the way of their bedtime routine. So Shailey takes action! She fires her dad, posts a Help Wanted sign, and starts interviews immediately. She is thrilled when her favorite characters from fairytales line up to apply. But Sleeping Beauty can't stay awake, the Gingerbread Man steals her book, and Snow White brings along her whole team. Shailey is running out of options. Is bedtime ruined forever?