Adult

Near the start of the 19th century, as the newly established United States looked outward toward the wider world, a group of eminent Protestant ministers formed a grand scheme for gathering the rest of mankind into the redemptive fold of Christianity and “civilization.” Its core element was a special school for “heathen youth” drawn from all parts of the earth. However, when two Cherokee students courted and married local women, public resolve --- and fundamental ideals --- were put to a severe test.

Cotton is so ubiquitous as to be almost invisible, yet understanding its history is key to understanding the origins of modern capitalism. Sven Beckert’s rich, fascinating book tells the story of how, in a remarkably brief period, European entrepreneurs and powerful statesmen recast the world’s most significant manufacturing industry, combining imperial expansion and slave labor with new machines and wage workers to change the world.

In THE GREATEST KNIGHT, renowned historian Thomas Asbridge presents a compelling account of William Marshal's life and times. Asbridge follows Marshal on his journey from rural England onto the battlefields of France, to the desert castles of the Holy Land and the verdant shores of Ireland, charting the unparalleled rise to prominence of a man bound to a code of honour, yet driven by unquenchable ambition.

Waiting to be rediscovered in the British Library is an ancient manuscript of the early Church, copied by an anonymous monk. The manuscript is at least 1,450 years old, possibly dating to the first century. And now, THE LOST GOSPEL provides the first-ever translation from Syriac into English of this unique document that tells the inside story of Jesus’ social, family and political lives.

It is hard to deny that today’s world can seem apathetic toward Christians. Some may look down at their iPhones when we mention God, motion for the check when we bring up church, or casually change the subject when we talk about prayer. In a world full of people whose indifference is greater than their desire to know Christ, how can we dream of growing the church? In CONTAGIOUS DISCIPLE MAKING, David Watson and Paul Watson map out a simple method that has sparked an explosion of homegrown churches in the United States and around the world.

While gaining a behind-the-scenes look at the Great Zoo of China before its grand opening, reptile expert and freelance writer Dr. Cassandra Jane “CJ” Cameron finds herself trapped in a nightmare when the animals overthrow the zookeepers and take control of the premises in a wild way that no one ever could have imagined.

Since 2002, Mohamedou Slahi has been imprisoned at the detention camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. A federal judge ordered his release in March 2010, but the U.S. government fought that decision, and there is no sign that the United States plans to let him go. Three years into his captivity, Slahi began a diary, recounting his life before he disappeared into U.S. custody, "his endless world tour" of imprisonment and interrogation, and his daily life as a Guantánamo prisoner.

DESCENT is the story of a family undone by the disappearance of a daughter who went out for a morning run and didn’t come back. The girl’s vanishing is the beginning of the family’s harrowing journey down increasingly divergent and solitary paths, until all that continues to bind them to each other are the questions they can never bring themselves to ask: At what point does a family stop searching? At what point does a girl stop fighting for her life?

The 20 interlocking vignettes in this slim novel by Yasmina Reza, author of the plays “Art” and “God of Carnage,” focus on the family lives of more than two-dozen characters. Couples bicker over such trivialities as the purchase of the wrong cheese at a grocery store or the playing of a wrong suit in bridge. As in much of Reza’s work, these conflicts are catalysts for larger arguments and the release of long-suppressed resentments.

When her sister's cancer diagnosis derails Elizabeth's picture-perfect life, she must re-imagine her future and reevaluate her past. But can a New York City chef with a painful history settle down with the family she once abandoned...and make peace with the sister who once abandoned her?