Along These Lines is designed to better prepare developmental writing students for their next writing courses by offering constant reinforcement of... the writing process. Filled with exercises and activities both individual and collaborative, this text involves students in the process of learning to write through reading, listening, practicing, and experiencing. The text begins with the principles of grammar and progresses to the writing process for a paragraph. It includes a chapter on Writing from Reading, provides tips for writing answers to essay exam questions, and has topical, thought-provoking readings to engage students' interest.

Along These Lines: Writing Sentences and Paragraphs, 5/e  prepares developmental writing students for success in future composition courses by... offering thorough grammar instruction and in-depth coverage/reinforcement of the writing process. Filled with individual and collaborative exercises as well as practical writing applications, the text begins with the principles of grammar and progresses to comprehensive chapters on crafting paragraphs and short essays. ATL/S&P also includes a chapter on “Writing from Reading,” incorporates appealing visuals, offers  topical, thought-provoking readings, and  provides numerous writing options to engage students as they sharpen their critical- thinking and writing skills.

A powerful, coming-of-age debut novel from a bright new literary voice. Set against the closing years of the Cold War, Constance Squires's debut novel... introduces the family of Army Major Collins, as told through the eyes of Lucinda Collins-the vibrant, headstrong eldest daughter. In spare, heart-wrenchingly beautiful prose, Squires offers us a rare glimpse into the experiences and sacrifices of an American military family-a powerful story that reveals what it really means to fight for the things we believe in and to defend the ones we love.

In this remarkable dual memoir, film legend Martin Sheen and accomplished actor/filmmaker Emilio Estevez recount their lives as father and son. In... alternating chapters—and in voices that are as eloquent as they are different—they tell stories spanning more than fifty years of family history, and reflect on their journeys into two different kinds of faith. At twenty-one, still a struggling actor living hand to mouth, Martin and his wife, Janet, welcomed their firstborn, Emilio, an experience of profound joy for the young couple, who soon had three more children: Ramon, Charlie, and Renée. As Martin’s career moved from stage to screen, the family moved from New York City to Malibu, while traveling together to film locations around the world, from Mexico for Catch-22 to Colorado for Badlands to the Philippines for the legendary Apocalypse Now shoot. As the firstborn, Emilio had a special relationship with Martin: They often mirrored each other’s passions and sometimes clashed in their differences. After Martin and Emilio traveled together to India for the movie Gandhi, each felt the beginnings of a spiritual awakening that soon led Martin back to his Catholic roots, and eventually led both men to Spain, from where Martin’s father had emigrated to the United States. Along the famed Camino de Santiago pilgrimage path, Emilio directed Martin in their acclaimed film, The Way, bringing three generations of Estevez men together in the region of Spain where Martin’s father was born, and near where Emilio’s own son had moved to marry and live. With vivid, behind-the-scenes anecdotes of this multitalented father’s and son’s work with other notable actors and directors, Along the Way is a striking, stirring, funny story—a family saga that readers will recognize as universal in its rebellions and regrets, aspirations and triumphs. Strikingly candid, searchingly honest, this heartfelt portrait reveals two strong-minded, admirable men of many important roles, perhaps the greatest of which are as fathers and sons.

From Newbery medalist Linda Sue Park, an emotional novel based on a true story. Nya goes to the pond to fetch water for her family. She walks eight... hours every day. Salva walks away from his war-torn village. He is a “lost boy” refugee, destined to cover Africa on foot, searching for his family and safety. Two young people . . . two stories. One country: Sudan. This mesmerizing dual narrative follows two threads—one unfolding in 2008 and one in 1985—with one hopeful message: that even in a troubled country, determined survivors may find the future they are hoping for.

In his fourth novel, New York Times-bestselling author Nick Hornby mines the hearts and psyches of four lost souls who connect just when they've reached... the end of the line. Meet Martin, JJ, Jess, and Maureen. Four people who come together on New Year's Eve: a former TV talk show host, a musician, a teenage girl, and a mother. Three are British, one is American. They encounter one another on the roof of Topper's House, a London destination famous as the last stop for those ready to end their lives. In four distinct and riveting first-person voices, Nick Hornby tells a story of four individuals confronting the limits of choice, circumstance, and their own mortality. This is a tale of connections made and missed, punishing regrets, and the grace of second chances. Intense, hilarious, provocative, and moving, A Long Way Down is a novel about suicide that is, surprisingly, full of life.

An inspirational and moving memoir from a woman who survived the Rwandan genocide and uses her experiences to become an agent of changeLeah Chishugi... grew up in eastern Congo but moved at the age of 17 to Kigali, the Rwandan capital, to work as a model. She married and had a son. When in 1994 she was caught up in the horrific conflict, she escaped only after being left for dead under a pile of corpses. She fled with her son to Uganda, then South Africa, where she was miraculously reunited with her husband whom she believed dead. Leah finally settled in the UK where she was granted asylum and became a nurse. After her mother died, Leah decided to set up a charity to help the women and children of eastern Congo—victims of continuing war atrocities. This is a deeply courageous narrative of one woman's survival of personal trauma and finding a greater purpose in life through devotion to the service of others.

My new friends have begun to suspect I haven't told them the full story of my life."Why did you leave Sierra Leone?""Because there is a war.""You mean,... you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?""Yes, all the time.""Cool."I smile a little."You should tell us about it sometime.""Yes, sometime."This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them.What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived.In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now twenty-five years old, tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. This is a rare and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty.

This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty... conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them. What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived.In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now twenty-five years old, tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts.   This is a rare and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty."My new friends have begun to suspect I haven't told them the full story of my life. 'Why did you leave Sierra Leone?' 'Because there is a war.' 'You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?' 'Yes, all the time.' 'Cool.' I smile a little. 'You should tell us about it sometime.' 'Yes, sometime.'"

From the time she was a toddler, Lou Ann Walker was the ears and voice for her deaf parents. Their family life was warm and loving, but outside the... home, they faced a world that misunderstood and often rejected them.

The Finest family in Sweet Water, The Forresters are known for their gatherings, and Mrs. Forrester, to be an enchanting hostess. Neil Herbert, finds... himself at the Forester estate playing with friends, and he falls in love with Mrs. Forrester, and what she represents. As he grows up, he finds it increasingly harder to keep his boyhood image of her, and she does nothing to help.

Marian Forrester is the symbolic flower of the Old American West. She draws her strength from that solid foundation, bringing delight and beauty to her... elderly husband, to the small town of Sweet Water where they live, to the prairie land itself, and to the young narrator of her story, Neil Herbert. All are bewitched by her brilliance and grace, and all are ultimately betrayed. For Marian longs for "life on any terms," and in fulfilling herself, she loses all she loved and all who loved her. This, Willa Cather's most perfect novel, is not only a portrait of a troubling beauty, but also a haunting evocation of a noble age slipping irrevocably into the past.

A portrait of a woman who reflects the conventions of her age even as she defies them and whose transformations embody the decline and coarsening of the... American frontier.