Books published by publisher Tsinghua University Press

The Grand Canyon National Park has been called many things, but home isn't often one of them. Yet after years of traveling the globe, Nathaniel Brodie found his home there.Steel on Stone is Brodie's account of living in the canyon during the eight years he worked on a National Park Service trail crew, navigating a vast and unforgiving land. Embedded alongside Brodie and his crew, readers experience precipitous climbs to build trails, dangerous search-and-rescue missions, rockslides, spelunking expeditions, and rafting trips through the canyon on the Colorado River. From Brodie's chronicles of tracking cougars and dodging rampaging pack mules to adjusting to seasons spanning triple-digit heat and inaccessibility during the winter, we learn about the life cycle of this iconic park, whose complex ecosystems coexist with humans, each one seeking a deeply personal experience, and the subcultures and hierarchies that form deep within the canyon. Following in the steps of naturalists like John Wesley Powell and Edward Abbey, Brodie deftly weaves histories and tales from canyon aficionados into his own story. Over time he comes to realize that home is not always a place on a map but instead is deeply defined by the people we encounter, including those who finally call us to move on. Steel on Stone is a love letter to the Grand Canyon and those who have given years of their lives to work its trails so that we may understand and enjoy it today as the transformative landscape we seek.

Tyltyl and Mytyl, two children of lumberjack, have a dream on Christmas Eve: A fairy named Bérylune entrusts them to find a blue bird. During the process of looking for the blue bird, the two children understand that there is no need to have an arduous journey to look for the blue bird as it is at hand. Only willing to make others happy can people get real happiness.

In Tides: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean, writer, sailor, and surfer Jonathan White takes readers across the globe to discover the science and spirit of ocean tides. In the Arctic, White shimmies under the ice with an Inuit elder to hunt for mussels in the dark cavities left behind at low tide; in China, he races the Silver Dragon, a twenty-five-foot tidal bore that crashes eighty miles up the Qiantang River; in France, he interviews the monks that live in the tide-wrapped monastery of Mont Saint-Michel; in Chile and Scotland, he investigates the growth of tidal power generation; and in Panama and Venice, he delves into how the threat of sea level rise is changing human culture—the very old and very new. Tides combines lyrical prose, colorful adventure travel, and provocative scientific inquiry into the elemental, mysterious paradox that keeps our planet’s waters in constant motion. Photographs, scientific figures, line drawings, and sixteen color photos dramatically illustrate this engaging, expert tour of the tides.

University Press returns with another short and captivating portrait of one of history’s most compelling figures, Hillary Clinton.Hillary Clinton is one of the most recognized figures in America. She rose from humble beginnings in Chicago to become a First Lady, senator, Secretary of State, and now, presidential candidate. Clinton is no stranger to scandal. She has made mistakes – many of them public. But she is resilient, tenacious, and smart. Public opinion is strongly divided: her supporters adore her; her detractors abhor her. One thing is certain: The world can’t ignore her.This short book tells the intensely human story of a woman who is changing the world in a way that no one else can.

What better way to learn animal names than with eye-catching works of art. With work from across Latin America and beyond, children will become armchair world travelers and art connoisseurs. This bilingual edition introduces early readers, and earlier listeners, to animals in both English and Spanish.One in the series of bilingual board books called Arte Kids that also includes 1, 2, 3, Si! (an artistic exploration of numbers), Hello Círculos! (featuring shapes in the arts), Colores Everywhere! (colors in art), and Black y Blanco!Art for this book was selected from the collection of the San Antonio Museum of Art, one of the leading art museums in the United States with a collection spanning a broad range of history and world cultures.

Pro basketball player Rasheed Wallace often exclaimed the pragmatic truth “Ball don’t lie!” during a game. It is a protest against a referee’s bad calls. But the slogan, which originated in pickup games, brings the reality of a racialized urban playground into mainstream American popular culture. In Ball Don’t Lie!, Yago Colás traces the various forms of power at work in the intersections between basketball and language from the game’s invention to the present day. He critiques existing popular myths concerning the history of basketball, contextualizes them, and presents an alternative history of the sport inspired by innovations. Colás emphasizes the creative prerogative of players and the ways in which their innovations shape—and are shaped by—broader cultural and social phenomena. Ball Don't Lie! shows that basketball cannot be reduced to a single, fixed or timeless essence but instead is a continually evolving exhibition of physical culture that flexibly adapts to and sparks changes in American society.

ArteKids board books show children the world of art through imaginative paintings, sculpture, photographs, and drawings, with text in English and Spanish. Vamos, Body! Head to Toe in English y Español introduces children to body concepts by connecting them to art in a unique, fun, and colorful way. Cheeks (mejillas), chins (barbillas), and eyes (ojos) are represented by masterful artworks from around the world. Faces (caras) come alive through the paintings of Adan Hernandez, Kehinde Wiley, and Ed Saavedra. Bodies (cuerpos) crawl, sit, and walk in pre-Columbian sculpture and Latin American wood carvings. A child’s hand (mano) strokes his mother’s face in a woodblock print by Taiso Yoshitoshi, and cousins (primas) embrace through a swirl of Barbara Carasco’s screen printed hearts. Madeleine Budnick’s wonderful collages and designs weave together words and images that prove bodies are amazing. (Nuestros cuerpos son increíbles!) Work from the collections of the San Antonio Museum of Art, by masters like José Francisco Borges, Richard Duardo, Roberto de la Selva, Charles Criner, David Martinez, Rojelio Reyes Rodriguez, Grace Albee, and Luis Gonzalez Palma, is incorporated along with phrases and words in English and Spanish, making bilingual learning and art exciting for young learners and their teachers and parents.The ArteKids bilingual board books are made sturdy for little hands and “awesomundo” for bright minds! The series also includes Outside Todo el Dia!, Hello, Círculos!, 1, 2, 3, Sí!, Animal Amigos!, Colores Everywhere!, and Black and Blanco! Vamos, Body! Head to Toe in English y Español invites children to dance and play using language and imagery that ignites their imagination.

What better way to learn how to count than with eye-catching works of art? From fanciful folk Mexican puppets, Egyptian eyes, and lively masks to golden antiquities, Olmec era sculpture, and European paintings, children will become armchair world travelers while being introduced to the world of art and learning how to count from one to ten. This bilingual edition also introduces children at a young age to both English and Spanish.The first in the series of bilingual board books called Arte Kids that also includes Hello Círculos! (an artistic exploration of shapes) and Colores Everywhere! (featuring colors in the arts).Art for all the Arte Kids books was selected from the collection of the San Antonio Museum of Art, one of the leading art museums in the United States with a collection spanning a broad range of history and world cultures.Winner of the Moonbeam Children's Book Award Gold Medal (best board book)Winner of the International Latino Book Awards (best educational children's bilingual book, 2nd place)Winner of the Foreword Magazine Best Children's Book Award (picture books, finalist)

What better way to learn colors than with eye-catching works of art? With art from across Latin America and beyond, children will become armchair world travelers and art connoisseurs. This bilingual edition introduces early readers, and earlier listeners, to colors in both English and Spanish.One in the series of bilingual board books called Arte Kids that also includes 1, 2, 3, Si! (an artistic exploration of numbers) and Hello Círculos! (featuring shapes in the arts).Art for this book was selected from the collection of the San Antonio Museum of Art, one of the leading art museums in the United States with a collection spanning a broad range of history and world cultures.

Raised in the squalor of a New York tenement until he was 10 years old, Nelson Díaz saw his life change when his family moved to a brand-new high-rise project in West Harlem in the 1950s. That experience, along with lessons learned as the only Latino law student at Temple University, would drive him throughout his life as a lawyer and activist, fighting for the expansion of rights for all Americans. “No soy de aquí ni de allá” is a mantra for Puerto Ricans who feel like foreigners wherever they are and who seek a place for themselves. In his inspiring autobiography, Not from Here, Not from There, Díaz tells the story of his struggles and triumphs as his perspective widened from the New York streets and law school classrooms to the halls of power in Philadelphia and Washington, DC. Whether as a leader in economic development, a pioneer in court reform, or a champion of fair housing, Díaz has never stopped advocating for others. Díaz was happy to be the first Latino to “do something,” but he never wanted to be the last. This story of an outsider who worked his way to the inside offers powerful lessons on finding a place in the world by creating spaces where everyone is welcome.

Jesus: The BiographyReligion and worship in some form has probably always been part of man’s history. Whether that worship was directed at the seen, the unseen, the known or the unknown, cultures across the world have generally worshipped something or someone.When we think of the best stories of the gods of Ancient Greece and Rome, we naturally think of the human heroes and heroines and the trials they faced at the hands of the gods and goddesses who ruled from the heaven of clouds high atop Mount Olympus. Hercules, Perseus, and Jason and the Argonauts have all thrilled us with their strength and courage, their adventures and their indomitable spirits.Virtually every conceivable area of life and physicality was covered by one god or another, and some of the names of these gods and human heroes remain part of our modern vernacular. A person might be referred to as a Narcissist or might perform a Herculean feat of bravery.But when we think of the god, Jesus, we think of pain and suffering alongside kindness and tolerance. Although this may seem no different than the gods of Ancient Greece and may perhaps be seen as just another story, Jesus remains today as one of the most influential people of all time.Do the stories live on because of man’s fascination with immortality? Or is it because of man’s need to believe there is more to our existence than what we experience on Earth? Perhaps we believe that we are close to the edge of creation and all we need to do is lift the veil to witness the secrets therein.And just like the gods of Ancient Greece and Rome, who were believed to have been not much different from mortals except for their immortality, Jesus is believed to have been man and god, mortal and immortal. Classical literature relates stories of ancient gods as though it were invincible truth, much like the stories of Jesus. Both are filled with lessons, morals and values and like all stories handed down through generations, some stories conflict in the telling. But if you ask any Bible scholar, they will tell you there is no conflict in that book. Each story in the Old Testament bears out a corresponding story in the New Testament, with analogies and riddles only the most faithful can discern. These stories reflect the culture of the time of Jesus’s life and beyond and demonstrate the spirit that is the best and worst of mankind.All creation stories have a beginning, and the beginning of stories about ancient gods begins in the void, just like that of the Old Testament. The early philosophical thinker, Pherecydes, alluded to the fact that we might be given an opportunity to be reborn as souls to another human life. There is not much discrepancy among ancient writers; all creation stories seem to follow the same path; the world was created from nothing from which came the elements who bore the gods that eventually created and ruled the world of men.But the story of Jesus, which fits impeccably into the Bible, begins in the middle – the middle of the book. Thousands of years passed between the first Old Testament writings and the documentation of Jesus in the New Testament, but there is no documentation of his life that was actually written during his lifetime. Any historical information we have about him was written well after his death and it’s all contained within a guidebook, the Holy Bible, written by his followers. These accounts of his life, death and actions have been altered through dozens of generations, translations, adulterations, and even censorship by later Church authorities and kings.Add to this the documentation of local people who were not followers of this rabbi, such as the Sanhedrin council and the Roman government, and we have a somewhat conflicting picture of events as they happened then.Jesus: The Biography