On Being Different

The groundbreaking work on being homosexual in America—available again only from Penguin Classics and with a new foreword by Dan Savage Originally published in 1971, Merle Miller’s On Being Different is a pioneering and thought-provoking book about being homosexual in the United States. Just two years after the Stonewall riots, Miller wrote a poignant essay for the New York Times Magazine entitled “What It Means To Be a Homosexual” in response to a homophobic article published in Harper’s Magazine. Described as “the most widely read and discussed essay of the decade,” it carried the seed that would blossom into On Being Different—one of the earliest memoirs to affirm the importance of coming out. For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

India is more than a nation state. It is also a unique civilisation with philosophies and cosmologies that are markedly distinct from the dominant culture of our times - the West. India's spiritual traditions spring from dharma which has no exact equivalent in Western frameworks. Unfortunately, in the rush to celebrate the growing popularity of India on the world stage, its civilisational matrix is being co-opted into Western universalism, thereby diluting its distinctiveness and potential. In BEING DIFFERENT: AN INDIAN CHALLENGE TO WESTERN UNIVERSALISM, thinker and philosopher Rajiv Malhotra addresses the challenge of a direct and honest engagement on differences, by reversing the gaze, repositioning India from being the observed to the observer and looking at the West from the dharmic point of view. In doing so, he challenges many hitherto unexamined beliefs that both sides hold about themselves and each other. He highlights that while unique historical revelations are the basis for Western religions, dharma emphasizes self-realization in the body here and now. He also points out the integral unity that underpins dharma's metaphysics and contrasts this with Western thought and history as a synthetic unity. Erudite and engaging, BEING DIFFERENT critiques fashionable reductive translations and analyses the West's anxiety over difference and fixation for order which contrast the creative role of chaos in dharma. It concludes with a rebuttal of Western claims of universalism, while recommending a multi-cultural worldview.

Pablo Pineda is the first European with Down Syndrome to obtain a university degree. A teacher, a writer, and an actor, he radiates charisma and the will to learn. This is his endearing story, which reminds us that the only disability is not understanding that all of us have different abilities. Guided Reading Level: P, Lexile Level: 950L

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • This joyful rhyming book encourages children to value the “different” in all people, leading the way to a kinder world in which the differences in all of us are celebrated and embraced. Macy is a girl who’s a lot like you and me, but she's also quite different, which is a great thing to be. With kindness, grace, and bravery, Macy finds her place in the world, bringing beauty and laughter wherever she goes and leading others to find delight in the unique design of every person. Children are naturally aware of the differences they encounter at school, in their neighborhood, and in other everyday relationships. They just need to be given tools to understand and appreciate what makes us “different,” permission to ask questions about it, and eyes to see and celebrate it in themselves as well as in those around them.

It's okay to need some help. It's okay to be a different color. It's okay to talk about your feelings. It's okay to make a wish... It's Okay to Be Different cleverly delivers the important messages of acceptance, understanding, and confidence in an accessible, child-friendly format featuring Todd Parr's trademark bold, bright colors and silly scenes. Targeted to young children first beginning to read, this book will inspire kids to celebrate their individuality through acceptance of others and self-confidence. Along with the four other bestselling Todd Parr picture books debuting in paperback this season, It's Okay to be Different is designed to encourage early literacy, enhance emotional development, celebrate multiculturalism, and promote character growth.

What’s the difference if she has light skin and yours is a little darker? All that matters is the artwork you create together is as colorful as possible . . . As he did in I Wonder, Upworthy.com and Today Show parenting expert parenting guru Doyin Richards tackles a timely and universal subject—diversity and acceptance—and distills it for the youngest readers. Because what matters most is not our differences, but what we do together as friends, as families, as colleagues, as citizens. Perfect for sharing as a family or in the classroom, What's the Difference? should find a place in homes and in hearts.

In 1895, armed with their faith and their wits, the enterprising Sisters of the Community of the Church opened a tiny Anglican school at Marlton Crescent in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda. One hundred and twenty-five years later, St Michael's Grammar School is one of Australia's top educational institutions, both utterly modern and deeply connected to its history and traditions. The School's values, passed down from the founding Sisters, have linked generations of staff and students in a long line of academic excellence and community service. In this book, Professor Stuart Kells tells the lively story of St Michael's, celebrating the people and moments that have transformed it from its modest, devout origins through to the innovative K-12 institution it is today. Lavishly illustrated with more than 250 photographs and artefacts from the School's archives, The Art of Being Different pays tribute to this special place, on the occasion of its 125th anniversary.

It's OK to Be Different is an awarding winning children's picture book celebrating children who have the courage to be themselves, and accept others as they are. Young readers are drawn in with clever rhymes and cheerful illustrations making this a fun read aloud kid's book that children and adults can enjoy over and over again.