Books published by publisher powerHouse Books

Wonder Girls: Changing Our World is the first photographic book to document groups of activist girls (age 10 to 18) globally. It’s award winning and inspiring!Paola Gianturco and her eleven-year-old granddaughter documented the work of fifteen girl-led nonprofit groups in thirteen countries in Asia and Central Asia, North and Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania. They interviewed and photographed 102 girls. If you think "girls are the future," prepare to be dazzled. These girls are changing our world right now.Groups of activist girls age 10-18 are transforming our world: improving education, health, equality and the environment; stopping child marriage, domestic violence, trafficking and war. Their imagination and courage radiate through their stories, all told in their own words.In this book, you will watch girls lobby U.S. senators; see Mexican girls invent mobile phone apps to solve social problems; meet Malawian girls who convinced Parliament to outlaw child marriage. You will eavesdrop on Ugandan girls as they advocate for girls' rights at a UN meeting. And you will meet other girls as they write blogs, petitions, poetry, create radio shows, videos, invent dances, songs and works of art to promote their causes.Wonder Girls: Changing Our World is a call to action to help these girls accomplish their important work. Alex Sangster's sections, the finale of each chapter, tell you how.The book's Foreword was written by Musimbi Kanyoro, President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women, the world's largest grant- making organization that benefits women and girls internationally.The Global Fund for Women will receive 100% of the authors' royalties from this book.

Primordial Landscapes: Iceland Revealed elegantly explores the diverse and raw beauty of Iceland's extraordinary landscapes through striking images by photographer and naturalist Feodor Pitcairn and the inspired words of geophysicist, author, and poet Ari Trausti Guðmundsson. This collection illuminates topographical phenomenon shaped and crafted by the most powerful natural forces on earth: rain and glacier melt form thunderous waterfalls and rivers that carve at the earth's surface; arctic snow and ice peppering the land and sea with striking shapes and patterns, feeding the climate and water cycles; lava flows from active volcanoes that build vast, textured landforms where life can begin and take hold. These are the beautiful and extraordinary results of our planet's most fundamental geological processes. Pitcairn's passion for photography lies in his desire to convey the truest account possible of the natural environments he explores and strives to protect. Each Primordial Landscapes image was made with a digital Hasselblad camera, delivering superior color, detail, and clarity. A map and index provide intriguing geological and cultural information about the content of the photographs.

Snow Beach is the definitive book of snowboarding in the late 80s and early 90s: action and style on the mountain.In these early years, snowboarding culture was full of rebellious riders: off-season skateboarders and generation X’s outcasts trying to find their way through early adulthood and adolescence. At the same time, the sport was maturing and growing into the mainstream giant it is today. Snow Beach draws on the best photographers of the era to document the lifestyle, fashion, and feats of athleticism that defined the decade.In these tightly cropped action and lifestyle shots, snowboarders flaunt their outsider status as champions of the alternative winter sport. The images in Snow Beach are of snowboarders with grunge, punk, and hip-hop sensibilities. There is a lingering 80s ski flair mixed with the emerging 90s look pioneered by fledgling brands like Burton, Sims, and Ride, showcasing looks that are popular in modern fashion.With about 40 years of history as a seasonal activity, snowboarding has done a sparse job archiving and documenting its own history and there are no definitive books on the subject currently available. Assembled by creative director Alex Dymond and with photo contributions from Bud Fawcett, Dano Pendygrasse, Jon Foster, Trevor Graves, Vianney Tisseau, and many more, along with essay contributors Jesse Huffman and Pat Bridges, Snow Beach is here to set the record straight.

On September 11, the world was shown the face of bravery. As one woman so poignantly put it: “As we ran out, they ran in.” These heroes were doing the job they do each day, protecting more than eight million residents in the 320 square miles that is New York City. That horrible day, we were made heartbreakingly aware of the risks these people take daily, risks their loved ones knew all too well. First-hand witnesses to the heroism of the FDNY, the photographers of the Daily News knew these risks too. They have been covering the life and death situations—the human drama that fire creates—since the founding of the the Daily News in 1919. These seasoned photographers of the Daily News have chased fire trucks in their radio cars since the earliest days of photojournalism, photographing children and animals being rescued from burning buildings and capturing the disbelief on the faces of those gazing at the remnants of their lives going up in smoke. These photographers know intimately the faces of those left behind from covering the all too many funerals, mourning with the families a loss that felt not only across a city of millions, but also acutely within a deeply bonded fraternity across the country. Culled from the archive of the Daily News, consisting of more than six million images, this book represents more than eighty years of the world renowned New York City Fire Department in action, fighting fires, rescuing lives, and bringing peace and order to chaos, fear, and destruction. In the Fire Department of New York, there are more than 11,400 Fire Officers and Firefighters. In addition, the FDNY includes 2,800 EMS and Paramedics personnel. This book is a tribute to their dedication, bravery, and humanity.

“I’ve worked with the best cats around, and Nicky is one of a kind. This sweet and soulful jazz cat followed his dream and came out a winner. I love him and so will the kids!” —Quincy Jones “Nicky the Jazz Cat teaches young people about humor, improvisation, and individuality. His swinging adventures with his special jazz friends will inspire and delight children as they learn. Nicky is one cool cat!” —Wynton Marsalis When a jazz-loving kitten named Nicky meets a legendary trumpet player, he learns how to play jazz and word travels fast—soon all the top musicians hear about this jazz cat and want to play with him. This charming story is illustrated with photographs of Nicky with jazz greats Roy Eldridge, Lionel Hampton, Lena Horne, Quincy Jones, Abbey Lincoln, and Gerry Mulligan as they meet and make friends. The colorful graphics and rhyming text—call and response conversation between Nicky and his new musician friends—reflect the humor, rhythm, and spirit of jazz itself. Nicky the Jazz Cat teaches children about the magic of jazz, the value of friends and mentors, and the power of imagination and originality. Children and adults alike will delight in his journey from curious jazz kitten to acclaimed jazz cat.

The joyful cacophony of color that envelopes visitors to Guatemala may seem misplaced at first. After all, the nation has only recently emerged from a 36-year civil war that destroyed its infrastructure and claimed more than a million lives. But to the authors of ¡Viva Colores!: A Salute to the Indomitable People of Guatemala, it is a vivid expression of a 1,500-year-old spirit that refuses to die. Photographer Paola Gianturco and writer David Hill offer inspirational profiles of a people who have endured and, indeed, gained strength, thanks to the bounty of their land, their beliefs, traditions, and kinship with one another. People like Luis. Luis was orphaned as a small child. The aunt and uncle who took him in sent him into the streets to hawk trinkets and cadge pesos from tourists. He quickly figured out that he could do better if he learned the tourists’ language, so he taught himself English. At 18, he became a licensed tour guide. Five years later, he was begging again, a homeless panhandler, brought low by demon rum. Then he found AA, which helped him get sober and gave him a reason to live. He traveled his country, launching AA programs. Today, he’s a doting grandfather and popular tour guide. Luis’ story is but one of many Gianturco and Hill have discovered in their travels through Guatemala. Readers of their book will enjoy—and be inspired by—many more.

Wonder Girls: Changing Our World is the first photographic book to document groups of activist girls (age 10 to 18) globally. It’s award winning and inspiring!Paola Gianturco and her eleven-year-old granddaughter documented the work of fifteen girl-led nonprofit groups in thirteen countries in Asia and Central Asia, North and Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania. They interviewed and photographed 102 girls. If you think "girls are the future," prepare to be dazzled. These girls are changing our world right now.Groups of activist girls age 10-18 are transforming our world: improving education, health, equality and the environment; stopping child marriage, domestic violence, trafficking and war. Their imagination and courage radiate through their stories, all told in their own words.In this book, you will watch girls lobby U.S. senators; see Mexican girls invent mobile phone apps to solve social problems; meet Malawian girls who convinced Parliament to outlaw child marriage. You will eavesdrop on Ugandan girls as they advocate for girls' rights at a UN meeting. And you will meet other girls as they write blogs, petitions, poetry, create radio shows, videos, invent dances, songs and works of art to promote their causes.Wonder Girls: Changing Our World is a call to action to help these girls accomplish their important work. Alex Sangster's sections, the finale of each chapter, tell you how.The book's Foreword was written by Musimbi Kanyoro, President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women, the world's largest grant- making organization that benefits women and girls internationally.The Global Fund for Women will receive 100% of the authors' royalties from this book.

In 1960, burgeoning actress and defiant dreamer Lena Spencer opened a small, grassroots coffeehouse in the quaint upstate New York town of Saratoga Springs. Within her then-husband’s plan to start the Caffè as a means for the couple to artistically flourish while “making enough money to retire in Europe” lay the seed of a more impactful cultural contribution that would change music history forever. It was a time in America when a coffeehouse could be something more—a focal point for a different sort of people, radical new ideas, and notably, emerging artists. Caffè Lena’s humble stage regularly welcomed musicians such as a young Bob Dylan in 1961, the singer/activist Bernice Johnson Reagon in 1962, and a pre-”American Pie” Don McLean in 1965. Quickly, Caffè Lena took its place among the nation’s foremost incubators of an American folk movement that inspired a generation of musicians, artists, and thinkers and a country in need of a new vision of equality, freedom, and understanding. Fortunately for posterity, camera shutters were often snapping in time to the music, and so an intimate visual record of Caffè Lena’s early years exists. Now, thanks to years of dedicated digging by the Caffè Lena History Project—to unearth Lena’s secret memoirs, collaborating with photographers to identify and rescue mysterious negatives, and collecting stories from the original artists to highlight these materials—the time has come to share this treasure trove of authentic and rare Americana with the world. Caffè Lena: Inside America’s Legendary Folk Music Coffeehouse brings more than 200 never before seen, evocative images and stories to the public. Early 1960s photographs of Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger and modern-day images of Rufus Wainwright and Patty Larkin blend with rare memorabilia and an oral history derived from more than 100 original interviews of artists who have graced Caffè Lena’s stage over the decades, including Ani DiFranco, Utah Phillips, Dave Van Ronk, Spalding Gray, and other luminaries of the folk, blues, jazz, and theater worlds. This exclusive time capsule chronicling the heyday of Caffè Lena—now the country’s oldest continuously operational folk music coffeehouse—provides an insightful look at the many artists whose poetic lyrics cast a mesmerizing spell over a generation, and who remain beloved today. Alongside the release of Caffè Lena: Inside America’s Legendary Folk Music Coffeehouse, San Francisco’s Tompkins Square label will release the 3-CD box set, ‘Live at Caffè Lena: Music From America’s Legendary Coffeehouse, 1967–2013′ on September 24, 2013. “Caffè Lena holds an important place in the folk and traditional music communities. For me it was the gateway to so many things I hold dear about music.” —Scott Goldman, The GRAMMY Foundation “The story of Caffè Lena is the secret history of the folk-music scene. Lena was a pioneering woman in a man's world and her story needs to be told.” —Holly George-Warren, The Road to Woodstock “Lena Spencer was a rare person with a shining spirit who created a small world of her own. The magic of her Caffè cannot be analyzed, computerized, or explained.” —David Amram, Musician

In 1960, burgeoning actress and defiant dreamer Lena Spencer opened a small, grassroots coffeehouse in the quaint upstate New York town of Saratoga Springs. Within her then-husband’s plan to start the Caffè as a means for the couple to artistically flourish while “making enough money to retire in Europe” lay the seed of a more impactful cultural contribution that would change music history forever. It was a time in America when a coffeehouse could be something more—a focal point for a different sort of people, radical new ideas, and notably, emerging artists. Caffè Lena’s humble stage regularly welcomed musicians such as a young Bob Dylan in 1961, the singer/activist Bernice Johnson Reagon in 1962, and a pre-”American Pie” Don McLean in 1965. Quickly, Caffè Lena took its place among the nation’s foremost incubators of an American folk movement that inspired a generation of musicians, artists, and thinkers and a country in need of a new vision of equality, freedom, and understanding. Fortunately for posterity, camera shutters were often snapping in time to the music, and so an intimate visual record of Caffè Lena’s early years exists. Now, thanks to years of dedicated digging by the Caffè Lena History Project—to unearth Lena’s secret memoirs, collaborating with photographers to identify and rescue mysterious negatives, and collecting stories from the original artists to highlight these materials—the time has come to share this treasure trove of authentic and rare Americana with the world. Caffè Lena: Inside America’s Legendary Folk Music Coffeehouse brings more than 200 never before seen, evocative images and stories to the public. Early 1960s photographs of Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger and modern-day images of Rufus Wainwright and Patty Larkin blend with rare memorabilia and an oral history derived from more than 100 original interviews of artists who have graced Caffè Lena’s stage over the decades, including Ani DiFranco, Utah Phillips, Dave Van Ronk, Spalding Gray, and other luminaries of the folk, blues, jazz, and theater worlds. This exclusive time capsule chronicling the heyday of Caffè Lena—now the country’s oldest continuously operational folk music coffeehouse—provides an insightful look at the many artists whose poetic lyrics cast a mesmerizing spell over a generation, and who remain beloved today. Alongside the release of Caffè Lena: Inside America’s Legendary Folk Music Coffeehouse, San Francisco’s Tompkins Square label will release the 3-CD box set, ‘Live at Caffè Lena: Music From America’s Legendary Coffeehouse, 1967–2013′ on September 24, 2013. “Caffè Lena holds an important place in the folk and traditional music communities. For me it was the gateway to so many things I hold dear about music.” —Scott Goldman, The GRAMMY Foundation “The story of Caffè Lena is the secret history of the folk-music scene. Lena was a pioneering woman in a man's world and her story needs to be told.” —Holly George-Warren, The Road to Woodstock “Lena Spencer was a rare person with a shining spirit who created a small world of her own. The magic of her Caffè cannot be analyzed, computerized, or explained.” —David Amram, Musician

Is there anything more alluring than lips bathed in crimson red? An icon of untold pleasures, they’re synonymous with style, sex, and even scandal. Whether pursed or provocatively parted, lips have undeniable visual power, while lipstick remains a timeless symbol of glamour and sensuality. Blow Me a Kiss offers a dazzling look at our fascination with lips and the myriad ways they’ve been depicted in paintings, film, and photography.Acclaimed author and style innovator Alice Harris curates a unique collection of photographs and works of art that celebrate lips of different shapes and sizes, tones and textures, and their power and influence on our culture. Packed with more than 80 color and black-and-white pictures, Blow Me a Kiss presents stunning images by Andy Warhol, David LaChapelle, Francesco Clemente, Lillian Bassman, Elizabeth Peyton, Alex Katz, Cindy Sherman, Louise Bourgeois, Roy Lichtenstein, Man Ray, Elliott Erwitt, Jeff Koons, Elinor Carucci, Bert Stern, William Klein, Mario Sorrenti, and many other groundbreaking visual artists who’ve depicted lips at work and lips at play, from lips caught in quiet repose, to lips locked in a lustful embrace, to the lipstick stained remains of an ephemeral kiss.Blow Me a Kiss spotlights lips so legendary that they speak for themselves from a range of famous personalities that have long seduced and spellbound audiences of every generation including music luminaries like Mick Jagger and Tina Turner and an international array of beautiful women from Marlene Dietrich, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor to Lindsay Lohan, Cindy Crawford, and Lana Del Rey. Blow Me a Kiss is a compelling chronicle of the impact a beautiful set of lips has had on modern visual culture.