A larger-than-life new biography of country music legend and philanthropist Dolly Parton.In Ain't Nobody's Fool: The Life and Times of Dolly Parton, Martha Ackmann chronicles the life of an American Original. From her impoverished childhood in the Smoky Mountains to international stardom as a singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman, and philanthropist, Dolly Parton has exceeded everyone's expectations except her own. During a time when the Beat...

Documenting multiple challenges at every turn—as a target for racism from society at large and sexism both inside and outside of the Negro League—this is the unique story of the first woman to play professional baseball on a men's team, breaking barriers in sports while believing, "There's got to be a first in everything. Maybe it will be me." Highlighting aggressive and resourceful behaviors, the text explains that as players began to leave the Negro League for major league teams, Toni St...

For readers of The Astronaut Wives Club, The Mercury 13 reveals the little-known true story of the remarkable women who trained for NASA space flight.In 1961, just as NASA launched its first man into space, a group of women underwent secret testing in the hopes of becoming America’s first female astronauts. They passed the same battery of tests at the legendary Lovelace Foundation as did the Mercury 7 astronauts, but they were summarily dismissed by the bo...

A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, this engaging, insightful portrayal of Emily Dickinson sheds new light on one of American literature’s most enigmatic figures.On August 3, 1845, young Emily Dickinson declared, “All things are ready” and with this resolute statement, her life as a poet began. Despite spending her days almost entirely “at home” (the occupation listed on her death certificate), Dickinson’s interior world was extraordinary. She lo...

**“Narrator [Hannah] Church delivers a performance that is both tender and resonant. Her warm, emotionally nuanced voice draws listeners into the heart of Parton’s journey, capturing not just the facts of her life, but the spirit behind them. Church’s pacing is thoughtful and deliberate, allowing the emotional weight of Dolly’s struggles and triumphs to fully land.” — Booklist (Starred Review)A larger-than-life new biography of country music legend and philanthropist Dolly...

On August 3, 1845, young Emily Dickinson declared, “All things are ready” and with this resolute statement,her life as a poet began. Despite spending her days almost entirely “at home” (the occupation listed on her deathcertificate), Dickinson’s interior world was extraordinary. She loved passionately, was hesitant about publication,embraced seclusion, and created 1,789 poems that she tucked into a dresser drawer.In These Fevered Days, Martha Ackmann unravels t...

The #1 New York Times bestsellerThe phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America’s greatest achievements in space. Soon to be a major motion picture starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kirsten Dunst, and Kevin Costner.Before John Glenn orbited the earth, or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as “human computers” used pencils, slide rules...

A government investigator looks into the cover-up of a deadly plane crash in this aviation thriller from the New York Times–bestselling author of Lockout.In the control tower at Kansas City International Airport, all the radar displays are red. But for the experienced pilots of North America Airlines, the thunderstorms aren't the problem: NAA has been cutting costs to stave off bankruptcy, and will do anything to keep their planes in the air. Unfor...

From the co-creator of the landmark series Twin Peaks, the story millions of fans have been waiting to get their hands on for more than 25 long years.The Secret History of Twin Peaks by Mark Frost enlarges the world of the original series, placing the unexplained phenomena that unfolded there into a vastly layered, wide-ranging history, beginning with the journals of Lewis and Clark and ending with the shocking events that closed the finale. The perfect wa...

The former launch commentator "offers a personal—and sometimes painful—look back at one of the darkest chapters in US human spaceflight" (Space.com).On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Seventy-three seconds after launch, the fiery breach of a solid motor joint caused a rupture of the propellant tanks, and a stunned nation watched as flames engulfed the craft, killing all seven crew members on ...

David Maraniss tells the epic story of Vietnam and the sixties through the events of a few gripping, passionate days of war and peace in October 1967.With meticulous and captivating detail, They Marched Into Sunlight brings that catastrophic time back to life while examining questions about the meaning of dissent and the official manipulation of truth—issues that are as relevant today as they were decades ago.In a seamless narrative, Maraniss weave...

On February 1, 2003, the unthinkable happened. The space shuttle Columbia disintegrated 37 miles above Texas, seven brave astronauts were killed and America's space program, always an eyeblink from disaster, suffered its second catastrophic in-flight failure. Unlike the Challenger disaster 17 years earlier, Columbia's destruction left the nation one failure away from the potential abandonment of human space exploration. Media coverage in the immediate aftermath focused on ...