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First with your head and then with your heart… So says Hoppie Groenewald, boxing champion, to a seven-year-old boy who dreams of being the welterweight champion of the world. For the young Peekay, it is a piece of advice he will carry with him throughout his life. Born in a South Africa divided by racism and hatred, this one small boy will come to lead all the tribes of Africa. Through enduring friendships with Hymie and Gideon, Peekay gains the strength he needs to win out. And in a final conflict with his childhood enemy, the Judge, Peekay will fight to the death for justice … Bryce Courtenay’s classic bestseller is a story of the triumph of the human spirit – a spellbinding tale of all ages. "It’s hard to imagine a reader delivering his audience so completely to a foreign locale as Humphrey Bower does in this coming-of-age novel." — AudioFile

Release Date: April 01, 1992

The Power of One will change your life! It effectively breaks through the feelings of despair, frustration and alienation we all share about the state of the world and demonstrates how just you alone can transform your neighborhood, workplace or society. By subverting the dominant paradigm of power and leadership, The Power of One shows you how to create a society based on love, compassion, and authenticity. This little book is a revolution in consciousness, and a major milestone on the road to a sustainable future. "The most potent force on the planet today is the power of mobilized people. It is also the one most unused."-from The Power of One.

First with your head and then with your heart… So says Hoppie Groenewald, boxing champion, to a seven-year-old boy who dreams of being the welterweight champion of the world. For the young Peekay, it is a piece of advice he will carry with him throughout his life. Born in a South Africa divided by racism and hatred, this one small boy will come to lead all the tribes of Africa. Through enduring friendships with Hymie and Gideon, Peekay gains the strength he needs to win out. And in a final conflict with his childhood enemy, the Judge, Peekay will fight to the death for justice … Bryce Courtenay’s classic bestseller is a story of the triumph of the human spirit – a spellbinding tale of all ages. "It’s hard to imagine a reader delivering his audience so completely to a foreign locale as Humphrey Bower does in this coming-of-age novel." — AudioFile

Release Date: February 01, 2010

This glimpse of an American family starts in 1869 with the birth of the author's grandfather in New York City (one of 14 children) who became a self-made millionaire by 1900. Although Clarence dies the year before Joan is born, she spends her entire childhood on his estate, which provides both the inspiration and the framework for this story. The Place, which he built in 1906 on the North Jersey Shore, is a magical kingdom filled with special smells and sounds and tastes but one that leaves her unprepared for the real world outside its winding gravel driveway and stone gateposts. Joan's life throughout the 20th century and into the 21st, with 2 successive husbands and 6 children, is set against the historical drama of wars, assassination and 9/11, that leave the nations staggering. Her personal saga of loves, losses and triumphs, with The Place -- a bastion of both privilege and emotional deprivation -- as an ongoing backdrop, is one woman's journey to conscious living. As she cuts through family myth, she learns through considerable struggle and sorrow -- while developing her talent for writing -- where her true voice and self exist. This is a relevant and poignant American story that transcends gender and class. It's a compelling read, giving each of us an opportunity to consider where we have been and where we are heading in our own lives.

Hector Morgumean, the pale and hairless twin, has a unique psychic ability to find anyone’s deepest secret. When he and his brother meet up with a neighborhood friend to uncover an urban legend, they find more than they have bargained for, digging up the secrets of the past. Come to find out, Coney Hill is not your typical set of project apartments, for beneath it was a meeting place for a secret cult called the Gatherers. Now on the return home, a mysterious group has surfaced, butchering teens involved in new age spirituality and framing them as if they had heavy involvement in violent ritual sacrifices. Is this the same group of Gatherers that Hector has unearthed? As the timeline unfolds, the secret of this ancient group is revealed. Solely assembled out of fear they face the power of one boy.

Release Date: August 17, 2010

A magnum opus and a cause for celebration from one of the world's foremost critics.Beginning his career at Oxford in the 1950s, the ever-incisive John Bayley has been one of the great bulwarks—in the tradition of William Hazlitt and Edmund Wilson—of twentieth-century world literature, and his distinctive sensibility has reshaped tastes and theories more than was previously realized. Here, in The Power of Delight, a volume that has been assembled with the assistance of The New Yorker editor Leo Carey, we see at last the full range of Bayley's life and work, divided into eight sections that include "English Literature, " "Russian Novels, " and "American Poetry." A wide-ranging guide to essential reading, The Power of Delight examines classics, neglected gems, and masterpieces of our time—from Jane Austen to Milan Kundera, Leo Tolstoy to John Ashbery, and from Robert Lowell's messy persona to George Orwell's self-canonization.

Each individual on the frontline in a call center has the power to do two things - make a tremendous difference in a customer's experience with the the organization and contribute significantly to the effective operation of the center. The purpose of this book is to help frontline staff understand their important role in both of these functions and to provide tips to maximize success. The first half of the book focuses on making the most of each customer interaction and the second half outlines the contribution each person makes in the three measures of call center success - service, efficiency, and cost.

Every one of our thoughts is pregnant with the power of the spirit which brought it into being, that power is constantly at work. Knowing this, each one of you has the possibility of becoming a benefactor of mankind; by projecting your thoughts into the farthest reaches of space, you can send out messages of light to help, comfort, enlighten and heal others. He who undertakes this work knowingly and deliberately, gradually penetrates into the mysterious arcana of divine creation. Contents: 1. The Reality of Spiritual Work 2. Thinking the Future 3. Psychic Pollution 4. Thoughts are Living Beings 5. How Thought Produces Material Results 6. Striking a Balance between Matter and Spirit 7. The Strength of the Spirit 8. Rules for Spiritual Work 9. Thoughts as Weapons 10. The Power of Concentration 11. Meditation 12. Creative Prayer 13. Reaching for the Unattainable.

Dneprostroi, a dam and power plant that was one of the most monumental construction projects of the Bolsheviks' First Five-Year Plan, was a milestone in American-Soviet cooperation and the fruit of the labor of more than 60, 000 workers. Little known in the West, Dneprostroi was famous in the USSR--as the largest earth dam in Europe in the 1930s, it represented the first of the giant projects so favored by Stalin. Anne Rassweiler's informative history of this project reveals new aspects of the struggle between Trotsky and Stalin, the debate on the use of foreign advisers, the importance of foreign technology, and the devastating effects of collectivization on the industrial projects of the First Five-Year Plan. Her study also provides insight into the entry of women into the industrial work force and the interaction between party leaders, party membership, and enterprise officials as they sought to realize one of the most ambitious projects in Soviet history.

Release Date: November 03, 1988

Release Date: October 01, 2005

One of the most successful dealmakers in the sports industry presents his unique negotiating strategies"Ron Shapiro's new book is insightful and entertaining. The lessons he learned and the methods he uses should be required reading for anyone whose business relies on the art of negotiation. Ron never forgets that treating people with respect and fairness is the key to success. Ron and Mark have been helping our company for many years-I guess we won't need them anymore-they put it all in their book." -Charles M. Cawley Chief Executive Officer, MBNA America Bank, N.A."In the field of negotiation Ron Shapiro has always been regarded as the quintessence of class and integrity. Predictably, he and Mark Jankowski have written a compelling book filled with anecdotes and insights. The Power of Nice is a fascinating and useful book that is a must read for anyone who wants to build long-term mutually profitable relationships." -Herb Cohen Author, You Can Negotiate Anything"This book taught me everything I ever wanted to know about negotiation-and I use it everyday." -Kirby Puckett Former All-Star Center Fielder and Executive Vice President, Minnesota Twins"Negotiation is not war.Negotiation is not a science. Negotiation is the commerce of information for ultimate gain." -from The Power of NiceThough not a science, negotiating is an art, and in this eye-opening new book, a true master shares his secrets and strategies for success. Ron Shapiro is a corporate lawyer, teacher, and, in what is almost a contradiction in terms, one of today's most respected sports agents. He has worked with baseball's biggest names: Cal Ripken, Jr., Kirby Puckett, Brooks Robinson, Dennis Martinez, Jim Palmer, Eddie Murray, and many others. Rising to-and remaining at-the top of a competitive pool filled with smooth-talking, "sleazeball" sharks, he has succeeded by being, of all things, a nice guy. Now, along with his business partner, lawyer, lecturer, and negotiations expert, Mark Jankowski, Shapiro reveals how anyone who sits down to make a deal can get what they want by exercising the surprising "power of nice." Together, Shapiro and Jankowski have shared their negotiation insights with Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, universities, and government agencies.Though the name of the game in negotiating is to obtain desired results, how you get them is just as important. While many dealmakers play hardball by assuming a winner-take-all, scorched-earth attitude, they do so at the risk of alienating the party opposite them at the negotiating table, thereby losing out on future opportunities. This approach is, as Shapiro and Jankowski tell us, a major strike against effective negotiating, and can-and should-be avoided. By using a kinder, gentler approach that focuses on forming-and keeping-strong business connections, ultimate gain can still be yours: "You can be 'a nice guy' and still get what you're after. In fact, you often get better results, achieve more of your goals, and build longer-term relationships with even greater returns."Drawing on their vast experience in win-win negotiating, as well as such essentials as managing tough situations, handling difficult negotiators, and unlocking deadlocks, the authors take you, step-by-step, through a systematic approach that, when repeated and mastered, will maximize results. Based on "the three Ps, " it consists of: preparing better than the other side; probing so you know what they want and why; and proposing, ideally without going first and revealing too much, but still achieving what you want.Supported by invaluable "portable" negotiation summaries-so you can take the "power of nice" with you-this is must reading for anyone who has to make a deal, whether it's negotiating with a customer, setting a curfew with a teenager, or getting the last seat on an over-sold airplane.

“The Power of One has everything: suspense, the exotic, violence; mysticism, psychology and magic; schoolboy adventures, drama.”–The New York Times“Unabashedly uplifting . . . asserts forcefully what all of us would like to believe: that the individual, armed with the spirit of independence–‘the power of one’–can prevail.”–Cleveland Plain DealerIn 1939, as Hitler casts his enormous, cruel shadow across the world, the seeds of apartheid take root in South Africa. There, a boy called Peekay is born. His childhood is marked by humiliation and abandonment, yet he vows to survive and conceives heroic dreams–which are nothing compared to what life actually has in store for him. He embarks on an epic journey through a land of tribal superstition and modern prejudice where he will learn the power of words, the power to transform lives, and the power of one.“Totally engrossing . . . [presents] the metamorphosis of a most remarkable young man and the almost spiritual influence he has on others . . . Peekay has both humor and a refreshingly earthy touch, and his adventures, at times, are hair-raising in their suspense.”–Los Angeles Times Book Review“Marvelous . . . It is the people of the sun-baked plains of Africa who tug at the heartstrings in this book. . . . [Bryce] Courtenay draws them all with a fierce and violent love.”–The Washington Post Book World“Impressive.”–Newsday“A compelling tale.”–The Christian Science Monitor

Josie, Perri, and Kat have been inseparable best friends since third grade -- the athlete, the brilliant, acerbic drama queen, and the popular beauty with a heart that is open to all around her. They live in an affluent suburb of Baltimore and enjoy privileges many teenagers are denied. But on the final day of school one of them brings a gun with her. And when the police break down the door of the high school girls' bathroom, locked from the inside, they find two of the friends wounded, one of them critically -- and the third girl is dead. From one of the most acclaimed authors of crime fiction writing today comes a novel breathtaking in its emotional depth -- a riveting, powerful, provocative, and consistently surprising tale of secrets, friendship, and betrayal that brilliantly illuminates a dark and chilling event with startling clarity and unique empathy.

One of the most successful dealmakers in the sports industry presents his unique negotiating strategies"Ron Shapiro's new book is insightful and entertaining. The lessons he learned and the methods he uses should be required reading for anyone whose business relies on the art of negotiation. Ron never forgets that treating people with respect and fairness is the key to success. Ron and Mark have been helping our company for many years-I guess we won't need them anymore-they put it all in their book." -Charles M. Cawley Chief Executive Officer, MBNA America Bank, N.A."In the field of negotiation Ron Shapiro has always been regarded as the quintessence of class and integrity. Predictably, he and Mark Jankowski have written a compelling book filled with anecdotes and insights. The Power of Nice is a fascinating and useful book that is a must read for anyone who wants to build long-term mutually profitable relationships." -Herb Cohen Author, You Can Negotiate Anything"This book taught me everything I ever wanted to know about negotiation-and I use it everyday." -Kirby Puckett Former All-Star Center Fielder and Executive Vice President, Minnesota Twins"Negotiation is not war.Negotiation is not a science. Negotiation is the commerce of information for ultimate gain." -from The Power of NiceThough not a science, negotiating is an art, and in this eye-opening new book, a true master shares his secrets and strategies for success. Ron Shapiro is a corporate lawyer, teacher, and, in what is almost a contradiction in terms, one of today's most respected sports agents. He has worked with baseball's biggest names: Cal Ripken, Jr., Kirby Puckett, Brooks Robinson, Dennis Martinez, Jim Palmer, Eddie Murray, and many others. Rising to-and remaining at-the top of a competitive pool filled with smooth-talking, "sleazeball" sharks, he has succeeded by being, of all things, a nice guy. Now, along with his business partner, lawyer, lecturer, and negotiations expert, Mark Jankowski, Shapiro reveals how anyone who sits down to make a deal can get what they want by exercising the surprising "power of nice." Together, Shapiro and Jankowski have shared their negotiation insights with Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, universities, and government agencies.Though the name of the game in negotiating is to obtain desired results, how you get them is just as important. While many dealmakers play hardball by assuming a winner-take-all, scorched-earth attitude, they do so at the risk of alienating the party opposite them at the negotiating table, thereby losing out on future opportunities. This approach is, as Shapiro and Jankowski tell us, a major strike against effective negotiating, and can-and should-be avoided. By using a kinder, gentler approach that focuses on forming-and keeping-strong business connections, ultimate gain can still be yours: "You can be 'a nice guy' and still get what you're after. In fact, you often get better results, achieve more of your goals, and build longer-term relationships with even greater returns."Drawing on their vast experience in win-win negotiating, as well as such essentials as managing tough situations, handling difficult negotiators, and unlocking deadlocks, the authors take you, step-by-step, through a systematic approach that, when repeated and mastered, will maximize results. Based on "the three Ps, " it consists of: preparing better than the other side; probing so you know what they want and why; and proposing, ideally without going first and revealing too much, but still achieving what you want.Supported by invaluable "portable" negotiation summaries-so you can take the "power of nice" with you-this is must reading for anyone who has to make a deal, whether it's negotiating with a customer, setting a curfew with a teenager, or getting the last seat on an over-sold airplane.

There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else. —Sam Walton What do your customers really want? "More for less, " of course! They want more value, more service, more consistent delivery, more accuracy, and ever more responsiveness.They want less hassle, less bureaucracy, less sales pressure -- and, they want to pay "less" for this "more." Unless you can provide your customers with "more for less, " you can be assured they will find someone else who can, and sooner rather than later. There’s no magic to providing more for less, but it requires a management mindset that’s different from the norm--and that’s precisely what this book is about. The findings in the 2004-2005 Mindset Study, based on exclusive interviews with frontline executives, went into the making of this book. With clarity and insight, Spanyi has penned the definitive guide for business leaders who are determined to deliver more for less to their customers and shareholders.______________________________________________ Andrew Spanyi’s More for Less is the best source of contemporary thinking about business process management. It’s eminently clear and practical, with nary a faddish or false word. This book is just what companies need to improve their operations. --Thomas H. Davenport, President’s Distinguished Professor, Babson College and Academic Director, Process Management Research Center The author has provided clarification on how enterprise processes need to be closely aligned with a company's core vision and business strategies in order to drive step change improvements in efficiency and effectiveness. Spanyi's book helps to "connect the dots" for many leaders who may be confused or not convinced of the value of integrating strategy, processes, metrics, improvement projects, and IT into driving improved bottom line results. --Bill Cantwell, Vice President, Global Supply Chain, Air Products Andrew Spanyi has done it again. I consider myself a seasoned facilitator of improving the business using a combination of Quality strategies and tools. When I read Andrew's book I found myself saying "I knew that" a lot. More frequently I found myself saying, "I never thought of that." His unique way of focusing on Business Process Excellence and the numerous examples of ways to measure your business is a must read. --Jim Pearson, VP of Customer Quality and Six Sigma, EMC Corporation Process is the competitive battleground of today, and how an organization thinks about process, or process orientation, is the sustainable competitive advantage for the 21st century. This book is a great combination of theory and practical examples that can accelerate the development of this new way of managing. --Dr. Kevin McCormack, President, DRK Research During the last twenty years, the business process mindshare of business leaders has waxed and waned. However, Andrew Spanyi has remained steadfast and compelling in his advocacy of the central role processes play in revenue growth, cost reduction, quality improvement, and time compression. Process improvement tools are well-chronicled elsewhere; More for Less adds an important tile to the mosaic by describing why and how leaders can use enterprise-wide process management as a strategic weapon. --Alan Brache, Author of How Organizations Work: Taking A Holistic Approach to Organization Health and co-author of Implementation: How to Transform Strategic Initiatives into Blockbuster Results and co-author of Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space on the Organization Chart. Finally, a sensible book on the conversion to process thinking for managers. Not only is it down to earth and filled with good examples, it recognizes that sometimes what looks easy is hard to implement, due not to its complexity, but to stubborn managerial mindsets. This book will help you change the mindset in your organizatio

When Deana Murphy died she told God she would do anything if he would let her come back. Deana didn’t realize what she was getting herself into. God granted her request, but in the form of a Deal. He had a mission for Deana that would change everything. Follow Deana as she takes on this mission with full commitment.Deana is sent on a path that will require her absolute faith and devotion. She is tasked with stopping a high school massacre that would destroy many lives. She will have to move hundreds of miles away from any family or friends; she will have to leave urban Tampa and acclimate to rural Dothan Georgia.One element of God’s mission is for Deana to help heal a broken family in this small town. Part of the deal is that Deana has to get the man of God’s choosing to marry her, and she has no say on who this man is. Her faith keeps her going and what starts as a mandate develops into an amazing love story.This is a story of family and faith, love and inner strength, healing and conquering obstacles, and an absolute triumph of the human spirit.

There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else. —Sam Walton What do your customers really want? "More for less, " of course! They want more value, more service, more consistent delivery, more accuracy, and ever more responsiveness.They want less hassle, less bureaucracy, less sales pressure -- and, they want to pay "less" for this "more." Unless you can provide your customers with "more for less, " you can be assured they will find someone else who can, and sooner rather than later. There’s no magic to providing more for less, but it requires a management mindset that’s different from the norm--and that’s precisely what this book is about. The findings in the 2004-2005 Mindset Study, based on exclusive interviews with frontline executives, went into the making of this book. With clarity and insight, Spanyi has penned the definitive guide for business leaders who are determined to deliver more for less to their customers and shareholders.______________________________________________ Andrew Spanyi’s More for Less is the best source of contemporary thinking about business process management. It’s eminently clear and practical, with nary a faddish or false word. This book is just what companies need to improve their operations. --Thomas H. Davenport, President’s Distinguished Professor, Babson College and Academic Director, Process Management Research Center The author has provided clarification on how enterprise processes need to be closely aligned with a company's core vision and business strategies in order to drive step change improvements in efficiency and effectiveness. Spanyi's book helps to "connect the dots" for many leaders who may be confused or not convinced of the value of integrating strategy, processes, metrics, improvement projects, and IT into driving improved bottom line results. --Bill Cantwell, Vice President, Global Supply Chain, Air Products Andrew Spanyi has done it again. I consider myself a seasoned facilitator of improving the business using a combination of Quality strategies and tools. When I read Andrew's book I found myself saying "I knew that" a lot. More frequently I found myself saying, "I never thought of that." His unique way of focusing on Business Process Excellence and the numerous examples of ways to measure your business is a must read. --Jim Pearson, VP of Customer Quality and Six Sigma, EMC Corporation Process is the competitive battleground of today, and how an organization thinks about process, or process orientation, is the sustainable competitive advantage for the 21st century. This book is a great combination of theory and practical examples that can accelerate the development of this new way of managing. --Dr. Kevin McCormack, President, DRK Research During the last twenty years, the business process mindshare of business leaders has waxed and waned. However, Andrew Spanyi has remained steadfast and compelling in his advocacy of the central role processes play in revenue growth, cost reduction, quality improvement, and time compression. Process improvement tools are well-chronicled elsewhere; More for Less adds an important tile to the mosaic by describing why and how leaders can use enterprise-wide process management as a strategic weapon. --Alan Brache, Author of How Organizations Work: Taking A Holistic Approach to Organization Health and co-author of Implementation: How to Transform Strategic Initiatives into Blockbuster Results and co-author of Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space on the Organization Chart. Finally, a sensible book on the conversion to process thinking for managers. Not only is it down to earth and filled with good examples, it recognizes that sometimes what looks easy is hard to implement, due not to its complexity, but to stubborn managerial mindsets. This book will help you change the mindset in your organizatio

Emotion is one of the defining forces in our lives. It lies at the very heart of many of our most important experiences and memories. Not surprisingly, the worlds of business and marketing have long drawn on the power of emotion to influence consumer impulses and brand loyalty. Yet beyond the obvious emotions evoked by an inspirational Nike ad or an affecting Hallmark commercial lies an emotional universe that is less conspicuous, even transparent, yet no less influential. In this definitive work, two marketing experts provide a highly original, entertaining and anecdote-rich account of the marketing power of emotion. The primordial force behind motivation and persuasion, emotions enter into all decisions involving tradeoffs and are thus especially relevant to consumer decision-making. The Marketing Power of Emotion traces the manner in which companies rely on emotion to connect with consumers, develop new products, improve their strategic position, and increase brand recognition. Synthesizing key research in a variety of scientific fields, the authors cover the role of mood in persuasion; affect-driven consumer behavior; choice processes; associationism (how consumers develop positive and negative associations with a product); the importance of consistency; response prediction; and emotional response manipulation, among a host of other topics. Importantly, the centrality of emotion in developing brand loyalty is explored in depth. Essential reading for executives and middle management alike, as well as all students and scholars of consumer behavior, The Marketing Power of Emotion is the most authoritative statement yet on this critically important aspect of business strategy.

In this 30-day companion workbook to There's No Such Thing as "Business" Ethics, bestselling author John C. Maxwell demonstrates how we can live with integrity by using the Golden Rule as our standard-in business and in life. In fact, Maxwell suggests the higher standard of exceeding the Golden Rule-by treating people better than they treat us, helping those who cannot help us, doing right when it is natural to do wrong, and keeping promises, even when it hurts. An ethics guide for any situation, each "day" of The Power of One offers a Drilling Down section which features a case study or story that illustrates the day's topic, Summarizing Principles on the subject, penetrating questions for Making Evaluation, and points of application for Taking Action. Maxwell reveals the factors that can "tarnish" the Golden Rule and teaches how to develop the Midas touch in personal integrity.

Cultural history on a grand scale, this immensely readable book—the summation of decades of study by one of the world's great scholars of the book—is the story of writing from its very beginnings to its recent transformations through technology.Traversing four millennia, Martin offers a chronicle of writing as a cultural system, a means of communication, and a history of technologies. He shows how the written word originated, how it spread, and how it figured in the evolution of civilization. Using as his center the role of printing in making the written way of thinking dominant, Martin examines the interactions of individuals and cultures to produce new forms of "writing" in the many senses of authorship, language rendition, and script.Martin looks at how much the development of writing owed to practical necessity, and how much to religious and social systems of symbols. He describes the precursors to writing and reveals their place in early civilization as mnemonic devices in service of the spoken word. The tenacity of the oral tradition plays a surprisingly important part in this story, Martin notes, and even as late as the eighteenth century educated individuals were trained in classical rhetoric and preferred to rely on the arts of memory. Finally, Martin discusses the changes to writing wrought by the electronic revolution, offering invaluable insights into the influence these new technologies have had on children born into the computer age.

The Power of One: Heroes Forging America's Civic Reawakening from Sea to Shining Sea There's a new civic trend in America. The best estimates are that it began in the early eighties, but it's been growing even stronger in the new millennium. After a fifty-year stretch of less than effective, government-supplied social programs, unsung citizen heroes are now challenging the conventional wisdom, applying common sense to the country's social problems and creating more effective solutions! The Power of One uncovers the true stories behind some of the country's most fascinating grassroots innovators. They range from businessmen to teenagers and housewives to the clergy. Crime, welfare dependency, and housing shortages are motivating these people to give up their high-paying jobs, their personal lives, and even personal safety to pursue their passion for coming to the rescue of their fellow human beings. Thanks in large part to the Internet, the inventions of these grassroots organizers are being replicated and "civic-franchised" across the country, even around the globe. How effective are these new ideas and why haven't we heard more about them? How are they financed? The Power of One explores these and other questions about America's new civic culture. Those skeptical about the health of the nation's cities might be surprised to learn that social change is possible, even without a high price tag. The only challenges are ways to give these successful civic solutions broader exposure, a financial boost, and a speedier route to replication into more neighborhoods and cities. Can an ordinary person pioneer a social cure? Absolutely! The 26 accounts in this book are the proof. America owes a great deal to its unsung "civic architects.' Their altruism, ingenuity, and compassion are restoring lives and saving millions in taxpayer dollars as they revitalize neighborhoods, support troubled youth, and liberate those going through life transitions. These secular and faith-based solutions are soon to become the social templates for restoring America's twenty-first century towns and cities from sea to shining sea!

“The Power of One has everything: suspense, the exotic, violence; mysticism, psychology and magic; schoolboy adventures, drama.”–The New York Times“Unabashedly uplifting . . . asserts forcefully what all of us would like to believe: that the individual, armed with the spirit of independence–‘the power of one’–can prevail.”–Cleveland Plain DealerIn 1939, as Hitler casts his enormous, cruel shadow across the world, the seeds of apartheid take root in South Africa. There, a boy called Peekay is born. His childhood is marked by humiliation and abandonment, yet he vows to survive and conceives heroic dreams–which are nothing compared to what life actually has in store for him. He embarks on an epic journey through a land of tribal superstition and modern prejudice where he will learn the power of words, the power to transform lives, and the power of one.“Totally engrossing . . . [presents] the metamorpho

Release Date: June 01, 1988

“The Power of One has everything: suspense, the exotic, violence; mysticism, psychology and magic; schoolboy adventures, drama.”–The New York Times“Unabashedly uplifting . . . asserts forcefully what all of us would like to believe: that the individual, armed with the spirit of independence–‘the power of one’–can prevail.”–Cleveland Plain DealerIn 1939, as Hitler casts his enormous, cruel shadow across the world, the seeds of apartheid take root in South Africa. There, a boy called Peekay is born. His childhood is marked by humiliation and abandonment, yet he vows to survive and conceives heroic dreams–which are nothing compared to what life actually has in store for him. He embarks on an epic journey through a land of tribal superstition and modern prejudice where he will learn the power of words, the power to transform lives, and the power of one.“Totally engrossing . . . [presents] the metamorphosis of a most remarkable young man and the almost spiritual influence he has on others . . . Peekay has both humor and a refreshingly earthy touch, and his adventures, at times, are hair-raising in their suspense.”–Los Angeles Times Book Review“Marvelous . . . It is the people of the sun-baked plains of Africa who tug at the heartstrings in this book. . . . [Bryce] Courtenay draws them all with a fierce and violent love.”–The Washington Post Book World“Impressive.”–Newsday“A compelling tale.”–The Christian Science Monitor

Josie, Perri, and Kat have been inseparable best friends since third grade -- the athlete, the brilliant, acerbic drama queen, and the popular beauty with a heart that is open to all around her. They live in an affluent suburb of Baltimore and enjoy privileges many teenagers are denied. But on the final day of school one of them brings a gun with her. And when the police break down the door of the high school girls' bathroom, locked from the inside, they find two of the friends wounded, one of them critically -- and the third girl is dead. From one of the most acclaimed authors of crime fiction writing today comes a novel breathtaking in its emotional depth -- a riveting, powerful, provocative, and consistently surprising tale of secrets, friendship, and betrayal that brilliantly illuminates a dark and chilling event with startling clarity and unique empathy.

Release Date: July 19, 2005