Andrea Hoffman is an overeducated, underemployed, and unmotivated recent college graduate—until an unexpected robbery blasts her out of her funk and into a job in the finance world of early-1980s Chicago. At first, it seems like a bad fit. But the world of finance has its own weird charm, and she grows increasingly fascinated by the strange language of trading, the complexity of the stock market, and her colleagues, who navigate it all with a ruthless confidence. Even though she has two strikes against her—Jewish and female—Andrea’s quick wit and strong work ethic propel her into an actual sales job and her career takes off. But this is the Wall Street of the eighties, and along with making a lot more money, Andrea adopts a new, fast life of cocktails, cocaine, and casual sex. Drunk on her achievements, she gradually realizes that at some point, she’s going to have to decide what success really means to her.
This book offers a critical anthropological perspective on contemporary childhood in Haiti. It is based on longitudinal ethnographic fieldwork carried out over a period of 13 years with vulnerable children in Haiti. Diane M. Hoffman raises important questions about how interventions by well-meaning foreigners and 'white saviors' often misrepresent Haitian culture and society as deficient, while privileging their own emotions alongside supposedly universal ideas about children that reinforce their own power to define and intervene in Haitian lives. She argues for a new approach to Haitian childhood that centers children's informal learning and self-education alongside indigenous spirituality and constructions of personhood that can resist the hegemony of neo-colonial and neo-liberal forces. Instead of representing the country and its children as a place of "problems to be solved," the book shows the importance prioritizing aspects of Haitian world-views in order to develop a more culturally-informed understanding of childhood in Haiti that can support genuine social change.
Quiet Riot offers an anthropological critique of teaching and learning in two U.S. high schools over a twenty-seven year period. Based on the author's experiences shadowing two average students in 1983 and 2009, it presents detailed observations that powerfully capture the reality of student experiences in school. Despite many changes in schools over this near thirty year period, observations show a remarkable continuity in what goes on in classrooms. This is because the culture of teaching and learning in classrooms has remained relatively unchanged. While teachers are sincere, they also undermine their own efforts in a variety of ways. Students are disengaged not because they do not care, but because the instruction they receive systematically prevents them from engaging at a deep intellectual level with subject matter. Observations in high schools are supplemented with elementary school observations that demonstrate the early trajectories of disengagement that capture many students. The book illustrates the powerful patterning of the culture of teaching and learning in schooling that undermines the true goals of an authentic education.
Stories that affirm the indelible bond among humans and animals The relationships among human and non-human animals go back to the beginning of time—and the ways in which these relationships have evolved (and sometimes not) is the inspiration for this collection of contemporary short fiction, penned by writers from across the globe. This diverse collection of stories explores the ways in which we live among—and often in conflict with—our non-human counterparts. These stories feature animals from the familiar (dogs and cats) to the exotic (elands and emus), and in these stories animals are both the rescuers and the rescued. Within these pages are glimpses of the world through the eyes of a zookeeper, a shelter worker, a penguin researcher, and a neighborhood stray, among many others—all highlighting the ways in which animals and humans understand and challenge one another. Among Animals is a dynamic collection of stories from the world’s most gifted contemporary authors—those who pay close attention to the creatures with whom we share our planet, and who inspire us to pay closer attention as well.
Hoffman believes better communication is the key to better business relationships. This book is about active sending, active receiving and understanding communications in a new light.
The Hoffman kids are back again; this time for seven weeks of adventure at sleepaway camp. Join them as they play all kinds of indoor and outdoor sports including mountain climbing and ziplining as well as participating in tribal warfare and color war! Truly the best summer ever!
My Ominous Adventures at True Blue Farm: The Secret Behind the Mirror is a nostalgic historical fiction with a paranormal twist. The heroine stumbles on a secret that reaches beyond the limits of memory and traditional time limitations. The setting is an eighty-five-acre, turn-of-the-century farm located in the picturesque Blue Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. This narrative journey begins on August 18, 1955, the day that Hurricane Diane made its mark on the forks of the Delaware region of northwestern New Jersey and northeastern Pennsylvania, and transports the reader to a time when infamous gangsters earned a living selling illegal liquor in speakeasies. The author presents the historical facts for the purpose of educating young readers in a manner that is accurate and entertaining. One point is certain: life was a little too ominous, certainly eventful and especially heartwarming at True Blue Farm.
This second novel in the "Triple Trouble Plus One" series for ages 7-12 focuses on 9 year old Maddie whose dream is to make the gymnastic team. At the gym, she must deal with challenges such as bullying and getting injured. Does Maddie have the right stuff to make the Team? A must read for every child who wants to compete in any sport!!
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