Next Stop

Rapido makes deliveries all over town, bringing everything from a croissant to a new cash register.

Beyond the safety of New York City's news headlines, Next Stop is a train ride into the heart of the Bronx during the late eighties and early nineties at the height of the crack epidemic, a tumultuous time when hip-hop was born and money-hungry slumlords were burning down apartment buildings with tenants still inside. From one stop to the next, this gritty memoir follows Ivan Sanchez and his crew on their search for identity and an escape from poverty in a stark world where street wars and all-night symphonies of crime and drug-fueled mayhem were as routine as the number 4 train. In the game, the difference between riches and ruin was either a bullet or a lucky turn away. Almost driven insane by the poverty, despair, and senseless violence, Ivan left it all behind and moved to Virginia, but the grotesque images and voices of the dead continued to haunt him. This book honors the memories of those who died. At times heartbreakingly sad and brutal, Next Stop shares with a whole new generation the insights and hard lessons Ivan learned.

Oleg Gordievsky was the highest ranking KGB officer ever to work for Britain. Gordievsky's autobiography gives a fascinating account of life as a secret agent.

The summer David Finland was twenty-one years old, he and his mother, Glen, navigated the Washington, D.C., Metro trains. Every day. David has autism, and the hope was that if he could learn the train lines, maybe he could get a job. And if he could get a job, then maybe he could move out on his own. And maybe his parents’ marriage could get the jump start it so desperately needed. Maybe. A candid portrait of a differently abled young man poised at the entry to adulthood, Next Stop recounts the complex relationship between a child with autism and his family as he steps out into the real world alone for the first time. This personal narrative of a mother’s perpetually tested hope is a universal story of how our children grow up and how we learn to let go and reclaim our lives, no matter how hard that may be.

Stand-alone debut Next Stop is a heartfelt graphic-novel from award-winning illustrator Debbie Fong that tackles tough topics with warmth and humor. Pia is a soft-spoken middle schooler whose life is turned upside down after the loss of her younger brother, followed by her parents’ decision to move to a new town. In an effort to get her mind off of the troubles at home, Pia goes on a bus tour with a family friend, stopping at weird and wacky roadside attractions. The final destination: a mysterious underground lake. The locals say it has magical powers; Pia won’t admit she believes in it, but she’s holding on to hope that the waters may hold the answer to mending her broken family. The trip is much more than the final stop. The friendships that Pia makes along the way are just as valuable as the destination itself. Next Stop explores grief, resilience, and learning how to laugh again. Debbie Fong weaves together an incredibly strong debut filled with humor and heart, with a splash of mystery and magic.

An eye-opening investigation of the growing phenomenon of "Relos," the professionals for whom relocation is a way of life Drive through the newest subdivisions of Atlanta, Dallas, or Denver, and you'll notice an unusual similarity in the layout of the houses, the models of the cars, the pastimes of the stay-at-home moms. But this is not your grandparents' suburbia, "the little houses made of ticky-tacky"—these houses go for half a million dollars and up, and no one stays longer than three or four years. You have entered the land of Relos, the mid-level executives for a growing number of American companies, whose livelihoods depend on their willingness to uproot their families in pursuit of professional success. Together they constitute a new social class, well-off but insecure, well traveled but insular. Peter T. Kilborn, a longtime reporter for The New York Times, takes us inside the lives of American Relos, showing how their distinctive pressures and values affect not only their own families and communities but also the country as a whole. As Relo culture becomes the norm for these workers, more and more Americans—no matter their jobs or the economy's booms and busts—will call Relovilles "home."

We are all on a roller coaster ride. We are all passengers on a runaway train. We are drivers under the influence, of something: love, hate, ambivalence, jealousy, lust, some element of emotion, unbridled passion. We are all careening toward the abyss. We are all on a crash course with isolation, desperation. We are all trapped in burning buildings. We are always just one step away from hell. Heaven & Hell reside within us. Which one, do you think, is behind door number two. These poems provide a roadmap to hell. Good luck on your journey.

The late Reverend C. M. Kelly witnessed thirty-four executions while he served as the chaplain for the South Carolina State Penitentiary. Sue Logue, a school teacher, was the first woman ever electrocuted in South Carolinawith a dispute over three dollars leading to eight deaths. From Sue Logue to George Stinney Jr., a fourteen-year-old black youth who was executed for the murder of two white girlshis conviction now overturned in 2014Rev. Kellys powerful accounts reflect the uneven social conditions of the twenties, thirties, and forties. In Next Stop, Eternity, author Charles Kelly shares both the history and moving personal accounts of the thirty-four executions his father C. M. Kelly witnessed during his death-house ministry in South Carolina. Rev. Kellys ministry had a profound effect on those who were put to death, and the hope is that these stories shine a light on the crimes and punishments of this eraan era of racial tensions and controversy about the death penalty. As much about compassion, grace, and understanding as they are about justice, criminal history, and the law, Rev. Kellys stories and personal accountsalong with his sons careful historyprovide a compelling and engaging window into a charged time of American history, both social and legal. These stories illustrate the unjust racial conditions that were so prevalent during the 1940s and the extreme brutality of which human beings are capable, regardless of ethnicity, creed, or color.