Halima Bashir was born in the remote desert of Darfur, Sudan, and was raised in a loving family that was part of the black African Zaghawa tribe. In a rare privilege for a girl of her village, she attended junior and secondary school in a nearby town. Bashir proved herself academically gifted and went on to study medicine, becoming her tribe’s first qualified doctor, much to the pride of her father.But war had already broken out in Darfur when Dr. Bashir began her practice, and the...

Like the single white eyelash that graces her row of dark lashes-seen by her people as a mark of good fortune-Halima Bashir's story stands out. Tears of the Desert is the first memoir ever written by a woman caught up in the war in Darfur. It is a survivor's tale of a conflicted country, a resilient people, and the uncompromising spirit of a young woman who refused to be silenced.Born into the Zaghawa tribe in the Sudanese desert, Halima was doted on by her father, a cattle herder,...

"I was not always the wife of Osama bin Laden. Once I was an innocent child dreaming little girl dreams."Thus begins this powerful story by Najwa bin Laden, who married her cousin Osama bin Laden at the age of fifteen to become his first wife and the mother to eleven of his children, and her son, Omar bin Laden, the fourth-born son of Osama bin Laden. Together, mother and son tell an extraordinarily powerful story of a man hated by so many yet both loved and feared by his family, w...

Imagine being a thirteen-year-old girl in love with boys, school, family—life itself. Then suddenly, in a matter of hours, your life is shattered by the arrival of a foreign army. You can no longer attend school, have possessions, talk to your neighbors. One day your family has to leave your house behind and move into a crowded ghetto, where you lose all privacy and there isn’t enough food to eat. Still you manage, somehow, to adjust. But there is much, much worse to come …This is ...

The deepest cave on earth was a prize that had remained unclaimed for centuries, long after every other ultimate discovery had been made: both poles by 1912, Everest in 1958, the Challenger Deep in 1961. In 1969 we even walked on the moon. And yet as late as 2000, the earth’s deepest cave—the supercave—remained undiscovered. This is the story of the men and women who risked everything to find it, earning their place in history beside the likes of Peary, Amundsen, Hillary, and Armstrong.

In this incredible true love story, bestselling author Jean Sasson shares Joanna al-Askari's personal journey of fear and fortitude through a Baghdad childhood and life as a Kurdish freedom fighter during the Iran-Iraq War. Inspiring and unforgettable, Love in a Torn Land shares Joanna's passionate and unflagging determination to survive and fight—for love, life, and the freedom of her beloved Kurdistan.

A Holocaust survivor recalls the terrible upheaval her family faced under Nazi occupation in this remarkable memoir that presents a story of cruelty and suffering, but also of hope, faith, perseverance, and love.What is death all about? What is life all about?So wonders thirteen-year-old Elli Friedmann as she fights for her life in a Nazi concentration camp. It wasn’t long ago that Elli led a normal life that included family, friends, school, and t...

A young bride in a village in India obediently marries the man her parents have chosen for her. When she arrives in her new husband's village, she is soon face-to-face with what her future will look like. Her brother-in-law stares at her with hunger, an elder aunt berates her and allows her no joy, and her husband has a job in the far-away city of Bombay.What she doesn't know yet, however, is that she has a gift. A gift that will help her navigate this new life with ease and power....

Life as Zeba knows it could be over for good . . .Zeba Khan is like any other sixteen-year-old girl: enjoying herself, waiting for exam results . . . and dreaming of the day she'll meet her one true love.Except her parents have other plans.In Pakistan for the summer, Zeba's world is shattered. Her future is threatened by an unthinkable - and forced - duty to protect her father's honour.But does she hold the secrets that will help her...

The New York Times calls GROWING UP BIN LADEN: "The most complete account available of the terrorist's immediate family." (May 15, 2011)A true story that few ever believed would come to light, GROWING UP BIN LADEN uncovers startling revelations and hidden secrets carefully guarded by the most wanted terrorist of our lifetime, Osama bin Laden."I was not always the wife of Osama bin Laden. Once I was an innocent child dreaming little girl dreams..."Thus begins this power...

Chanrithy Him felt compelled to tell of surviving life under the Khmer Rouge in a way "worthy of the suffering which I endured as a child."In the Cambodian proverb, "when broken glass floats" is the time when evil triumphs over good. That time began in 1975, when the Khmer Rouge took power in Cambodia and the Him family began their trek through the hell of the "killing fields." In a mesmerizing story, Him vividly recounts a Cambodia where rudimentary labor camps are the norm and te...

Fifteen-year-old Hanna Berkenski journeys from her family's tiny apartment in the Warsaw Ghetto through an awful night spent in a cattle-car with her mother and sister to the welcoming orchestra at Auschwitz where she was to be a violinist for three years.As the train arrives at Auschwitz, flowers, sunshine and music feel like warm welcomes to her. She's been told she'll be spending the next few weeks in a "work camp" until her family can be reunited and relocated. Even the snowfla...