Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman won the hearts of readers everywhere with his moving story of adopting an abandoned puppy named Lava from a hellish corner of Iraq. He opened the door for other soldiers to bring dogs home, and in From Baghdad to America, Kopelman once again leads the pack with his observations on the emotional repercussions of war.Here, for the first time, Kopelman holds nothing back as he responds to the question, Why did you save a dog instead of a perso...

When Marines enter an abandoned house in Fallujah, Iraq, and hear a suspicious noise, they clench their weapons, edge around the corner, and prepare to open fire. What they find during the U.S.–led attack on the “most dangerous city on Earth” in late 2004, however, is not an insurgent but a puppy left behind when most of the city’s residents fled. Despite military law forbidding pets, the Marines de-flea the pup with kerosene, de-worm him with chewing tobacco, and fill him up on Meals Read...

An ultimately uplifting lesson on life and love that only a special bond can bring.What happens when the indelible bond between a man and a dog formed in the harshest of conditions is put the test?Moving and uplifting, here is the long-awaited updated edition of The New York Times best-selling From Baghdad with Love.Lt. Col. Jay Kopelman went to extraordinary lengths to bring back to America the puppy his combat-hardened Marines rescued in war-torn Fallujah—called t...

Love and hope often arrive in the strangest places and in the strangest ways. During his tour of duty in Iraq, LtCol Jay Kopelman of the U.S. Marines endured the emotional stress common for those involved in bloody battles for freedom. Although the rules forbid pets, Kopelman and his comrades adopted an abandoned puppy left behind after the battle for Fallujah. The dog (named Lava) befriended the Marines and journalists, and was eventually smuggled out of Iraq by the soldiers with the help...

Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman won the hearts of readers with his moving story of adopting an abandoned puppy named Lava in a hellish corner of Iraq. For this Marine and his comrades, the puppy served as an important emotional touchstone in a grim and seemingly endless war.Kopelman now writes about what it's like to be home. He credits his canine best friend with finding his wife—in the park, Lava began playing with her dog and the two owners met—and for keeping him sane as he rea...

Vets and Pets tells fifteen emotional and entertaining stories of the incredible bonds between wounded warriors, veterans, and other service members and their service and companion animals. Whether these special relationships are with dogs, cats, horses, pigs, or even birds of prey, readers will discover how these remarkable animals help veterans return to civilian life and live independently while simultaneously bringing joy and confidence into their lives.Tyler struggled...

A witty and warm memoir about growing up with the help of a very special cat—from Helen Brown, internationally bestselling author of Cleo and other tales of the beloved cats in her life . . .Who was the first pet you ever loved?The youngest daughter of an eccentric engineer and a musical theater fanatic, Helen Brown grew up in the New Zealand coastal town of New Plymouth in a crumbling castle overrun by nature, and oversha...

The unforgettable inspiring memoir of one extraordinary doctor who is saving lives in a most unconventional way, Ask Me Why I Hurt is the touching and revealing first-person account of the remarkable work of Dr. Randy Christensen. Trained as a pediatrician, he works not in a typical hospital setting but, rather, in a 38-foot Winnebago that has been refitted as a doctor's office on wheels. His patients are the city's homeless adolescents and children.In the shadow of one af...

From Internet sensation Anna Akana comes a candid and poignant collection of essays about love, loss, and chasing adulthood.In 2007, Anna Akana lost her teen sister, Kristina, to suicide. In the months that followed, she realized that the one thing helping her process her grief and begin to heal was comedy. So she began making YouTube videos as a form of creative expression and as a way to connect with others. Ten years later, Anna has more than a million subscribe...

In this touching account, veteran New York Times reporter Joseph Berger describes how his own family of Polish Jews—with one son born at the close of World War II and the other in a "displaced persons" camp outside Berlin—managed against all odds to make a life for themselves in the utterly foreign landscape of post–World War II America. Paying eloquent homage to his parents' extraordinary courage, luck, and hard work while illuminating as never before the experience of 140,000 refugees wh...

A witty memoir that weaves an authentic coming-of-age tale into a bold portrait of New York’s working-class women.Fifth-generation New Yorker, third-generation bartender, and first-generation author Tara Clancy was raised in three wildly divergent homes: a converted boat shed in working class Queens, a geriatric commune of feisty, Brooklyn-born Italians, and a sprawling Hamptons estate she visited every other weekend. This childhood triptych comes to life in Th...

A book guaranteed to touch anyone who has ever had a beloved pet…From instant New York Times bestseller, Dr. Nick Trout comes another touching and heartfelt story from the front lines of veterinary medicine—the story of two dogs who forever changed the way he thought about life, death, fate and love.Helen is an older cocker spaniel found neglected and abandoned in a restaurant parking lot one rainy night. Despite her mangy condition and terrible sm...