Newtown


Book Description

"In the vein of Dave Cullen's Columbine, the first comprehensive account of the Sandy Hook tragedy--with exclusive new reporting that chronicles the horrific events of December 14, 2012, including new insight into the dark mind of gunman Adam Lanza. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and a decade's worth of emails from Lanza's mother to close friends that chronicled his slow slide into mental illness, Newtown pieces together the perfect storm that led to this unspeakable act of violence that shattered so many lives. Newtown explores the two central theories that have permeated the media since the attack: some claim Lanza suffered from severe mental illness, while others insist that, far from being a random act of insanity, this was a meticulously thought out, premeditated attack at least two years in the making by a violent video-gamer so obsessed with "glory kills" and researching mass murderers that he was willing to go to any length to attain the top score. Lanza's dark descent from a young boy with adjustment disorders to a calculating killer is interwoven with the Newtown massacre as it unfolded at the time, told from the points of view of eye witnesses, survivors, parents of victims, first responders, and Adam's relatives. A definitive account of a tragedy that shook a nation, Newtown features exclusive material including initial misinformation reported by the media and commentary on how this catastrophic event became a lightning rod for political agendas, much like Columbine did more than a decade ago"--




New Town


Book Description

From a friend and prot�g� of C.S. Lewis, New Town is an irresistible and thought-provoking tale that recounts one man's journey into a true Christian life.




Newtown Alive


Book Description

This book chronicles the history of Sarasota, Florida's African American community - Newtown - that celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2014. It answers questions about many aspects of community life: why the earliest African Americans who came to Sarasota, then a tiny fishing village, first settled in areas near downtown called -Black Bottom- and -over town;- their transition from there to Newtown; how they developed Newtown from swampland into a self-contained community to ensure their own survival during the Jim Crow era; the ways they earned a living, what self-help organizations they formed; their religious and educational traditions; residents' military service, the strong emphasis placed on education; how they succeeded in gaining political representation after filing a federal lawsuit; and much more. Newtown residents fought for civil rights, endured and triumphed over Jim Crow segregation, suffered KKK intimidation and violence, and currently are resisting the stealthy gentrification of their community. Whether you are new to the area, a frequent visitor, an educator, historian or a longtime resident trying to connect the dots in your family tree, you will find these stories of courage, dignity and determination enlightening and empowering!




Claudia & Moth


Book Description

A small girl with a passion for nature turns to her new passion for art as the seasons turn colder. Claudia loves butterflies. Blue ones. Yellow ones. Purple ones with dots. And since she can't take them home, she paints them in all their beautiful colors. But when winter comes, there are no more butterflies to paint...until she finds a little moth. Suddenly, Claudia sees winter in a whole new light.




Practicing Utopia


Book Description

Rosemary Wakeman provides a sweeping history of "new towns"--those created by fiat rather than out of geographic or economic logic and often intended to break with the tendencies of past development. Heralded throughout the twentieth century as solutions to congestion, environmental threats, architectural malaise, and cultural anomie, today they are often seen as sad, pernicious, or merely suburban. Wakeman shows that hundreds of such towns sprang from templates and designs not only in North America and across Europe but around the world, revealing how different cultures dreamed of (re)organizing themselves. Wakeman also illuminates the missteps and unanticipated results of the initial optimistic choices and impulses.




Newtown Creek


Book Description

Once a tidal creek meandering through marshlands rich in herbs, grasses, fish, waterfowl, and oysters, Newtown Creek today is a toxic cesspool that brings up raw sewage every time it rains. A tributary of New York's East River that forms part of the border between Brooklyn and Queens, Newtown Creek has long been at the heart of the city's "industrial backyard," serving as home to numerous industries, storage/warehouse facilities, waste transfer stations, and power plants, and as the dumping ground for unwanted byproducts and toxic waste. Site of a 17-million-gallon underground oil spill that still contaminates the area, Newtown Creek is currently under consideration by the Environmental Protection Agency for designation as a Superfund site, but the creek, whose waterfront is for the most part inaccessible to the public, is still largely unknown to residents and visitors of New York alike. Newtown Creek: A Photographic Survey of New York's Industrial Waterfront is an extensive documentation of this forgotten landscape that shows the evolution of the built environment over five years in more than 230 images. Photographer Anthony Hamboussi followed the creek through the neighborhoods of Hunter's Point, Greenpoint, and Bushwick, shooting over fences and gates where he could not gain access, to record the bare industrial landscape. From the ruins of Morgan Oil and the Newtown Metal Corporation, to the construction of the new water treatment facility, to the footprints of the former Maspeth gas holders, Hamboussi recorded sites that may soon undergo further transformations. His survey captures the creek at a moment in time when gentrification and revitalization are just starting to change the area, providing a glimpse into the history of industrial New York. An insightful essay by Paul Parkhill puts Hamboussi's work into context.




New in Town


Book Description

An Amazon Best Book of the Month One fine morning, the people of Puddletrunk wake up to find their bridge has collapsed. They are not surprised. After all, termites have destroyed the last 200 or so bridges. Luckily, the people of Puddletrunk have a bridge-building expert in their town: the fabulous Mortimer Gulch, who will gladly rebuild their bridge for a pretty penny. But when a newcomer to Puddletrunk does not want to pay for the repairs, Mortimer is displeased. To make matters worse, this unusual foreigner has some innovative ideas that threaten to upend Mortimer Gulch's entire business . . . Here is a whimsical yet timely picture book allegory about what new people with new ideas can bring to communities.




New Towns for the Twenty-First Century


Book Description

New towns—large, comprehensively planned developments on newly urbanized land—boast a mix of spaces that, in their ideal form, provide opportunities for all of the activities of daily life. From garden cities to science cities, new capitals to large military facilities, hundreds were built in the twentieth century and their approaches to planning and development were influential far beyond the new towns themselves. Although new towns are notoriously difficult to execute and their popularity has waxed and waned, major new town initiatives are increasing around the globe, notably in East Asia, South Asia, and Africa. New Towns for the Twenty-First Century considers the ideals behind new-town development, the practice of building them, and their outcomes. A roster of international and interdisciplinary contributors examines their design, planning, finances, management, governance, quality of life, and sustainability. Case studies provide histories of new towns in the United States, Asia, Africa, and Europe and impart lessons learned from practitioners. The volume identifies opportunities afforded by new towns for confronting future challenges related to climate change, urban population growth, affordable housing, economic development, and quality of life. Featuring inventories of classic new towns, twentieth-century new towns with populations over 30,000, and twenty-first-century new towns, the volume is a valuable resource for governments, policy makers, and real estate developers as well as planners, designers, and educators. Contributors: Sandy Apgar, Sai Balakrishnan, JaapJan Berg, Paul Buckhurst, Felipe Correa, Carl Duke, Reid Ewing, Ann Forsyth, Robert Freestone, Shikyo Fu, Pascaline Gaborit, Elie Gamburg, Alexander Garvin, David R. Godschalk, Tony Green, ChengHe Guan, Rachel Keeton, Steven Kellenberg, Kyung-Min Kim, Gene Kohn, Todd Mansfield, Robert W. Marans, Robert Nelson, Pike Oliver, Richard Peiser, Michelle Provoost, Peter G. Rowe, Jongpil Ryu, Andrew Stokols, Adam Tanaka, Jamie von Klemperer, Fulong Wu, Ying Xu, Anthony Gar-On Yeh, Chaobin Zhou.




Boom Town


Book Description

A brilliant, kaleidoscopic narrative of Oklahoma City—a great American story of civics, basketball, and destiny, from award-winning journalist Sam Anderson NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • NPR • Chicago Tribune • San Francisco Chronicle • The Economist • Deadspin Oklahoma City was born from chaos. It was founded in a bizarre but momentous “Land Run” in 1889, when thousands of people lined up along the borders of Oklahoma Territory and rushed in at noon to stake their claims. Since then, it has been a city torn between the wild energy that drives its outsized ambitions, and the forces of order that seek sustainable progress. Nowhere was this dynamic better realized than in the drama of the Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team’s 2012-13 season, when the Thunder’s brilliant general manager, Sam Presti, ignited a firestorm by trading future superstar James Harden just days before the first game. Presti’s all-in gamble on “the Process”—the patient, methodical management style that dictated the trade as the team’s best hope for long-term greatness—kicked off a pivotal year in the city’s history, one that would include pitched battles over urban planning, a series of cataclysmic tornadoes, and the frenzied hope that an NBA championship might finally deliver the glory of which the city had always dreamed. Boom Town announces the arrival of an exciting literary voice. Sam Anderson, former book critic for New York magazine and now a staff writer at the New York Times magazine, unfolds an idiosyncratic mix of American history, sports reporting, urban studies, gonzo memoir, and much more to tell the strange but compelling story of an American city whose unique mix of geography and history make it a fascinating microcosm of the democratic experiment. Filled with characters ranging from NBA superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook; to Flaming Lips oddball frontman Wayne Coyne; to legendary Great Plains meteorologist Gary England; to Stanley Draper, Oklahoma City's would-be Robert Moses; to civil rights activist Clara Luper; to the citizens and public servants who survived the notorious 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building, Boom Town offers a remarkable look at the urban tapestry woven from control and chaos, sports and civics.