New Books and News

Unconventionally Successful:

Out of the Box Thoughts and Actions that Led to Extraordinary Outcomes

Unconventionally Successful is the first book released from a broad grassroots project Christopher Albrecht (2018 New York State Teacher of the Year & 2019 Inductee into the National Teachers Hall of Fame) has published, which uncovers what best practices schools, individuals, and communities need to consider to increase their levels of success. People want our world to be full of successful journeys and results. This book sheds light on many unconventional and potentially unconsidered out of the box thoughts and actions that led to extraordinary outcomes. Entertaining and informative, this novel binds three formats: interview, reflection, and narrative. Albrecht spent three years interviewing hundreds people with a diversity of backgrounds and lifestyles asking them to reflect on their recollections, memories and experiences with teachers and their many impacts on their lives. Focused around eight interviews, the author parallels research on similar historical narratives and reflections. The result is a one of a kind read that uncovers unconventional patterns, unique circumstances, and opportunities, which light the road of joy and happiness that root themselves in our schools and colleges. The patterns Albrecht has discovered and shares in this groundbreaking book have the potential for lifelong effects and impacts on the success of individuals, communities, schools, and the world we live in that are not explicitly obvious. This book is a must-read for all people who enjoy discovering non-linear, unique and creative pathes that lead to innovative ways individuals and groups have found happiness, joy and success.

New Documentary About Mark Twain in Buffalo

Produced with Rise Collaborative

Bonus Commentary

Scribblin' For A Livin':

Mark Twain’s Pivotal Period In Buffalo: Expanded Edition 

by Thomas J. Reigstad

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In August 1869, thirty-three-year-old journalist Samuel Clemens—better known as Mark Twain—moved to Buffalo, New York. At the time, he had high hopes of establishing himself as a successful newspaper editor in the thriving metropolis at the western end of the Erie Canal. 

In this engaging portrait of the famous author at a formative and important juncture of his life, Twain scholar Thomas J. Reigstad details the domestic, social, and professional experiences of Mark Twain while he lived in Buffalo. Based on years of researching historical archives, combing through microfilm, and even interviewing descendants of Buffalonians who knew Twain, Reigstad has uncovered a wealth of fascinating information. 
The book draws a vivid portrait of Twain’s work environment at the Buffalo Morning Express. Colorful anecdotes about his colleagues and his quirky work habits, along with original Twain stories and illustrations not previously reprinted, give readers a new understanding of Twain’s commitment to full-time newspaper work.  

Full of fascinating vignettes from the illustrious writer’s life as well as rare photographs, Scribblin’ for a Livin’ is essential reading for Mark Twain enthusiasts, students and scholars of American literature, and anyone with an interest in the history of Western New York.

Wandering Close to Home: A Gay Son and His Feminist Mother’s Journey to Transform Themselves and Their Family

by Christopher & Linda Drajem

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Linda Drajem grew up in the 1950’s in Buffalo, New York, the oldest child in a Catholic working-class family. She married her high school sweetheart, got pregnant, and watched from the sidelines as women burned their bras and demanded equal rights. But the role of a stay-at-home mom wasn’t as fulfilling as he was led to believe it would be.Linda’s second son Christopher was born in 1968, one year before the Stonewall riots kick-started the modern gay rights movement. He attended Catholic schools, served as an altar boy at mass on Sundays, and had a secret that he was sure would send him to hell for all eternity: he was gay.This book charts the path Christopher and Linda traveled as they realized that the life they were born into just didn’t quite fit. It maps the tentative steps taken by both mother and son to move away from societal, religious and family expectations. Along the way there was challenge and heartache, joy and celebration, and the thrill and exhaustion of parenting. At the end of the day, they forged a path that brought personal satisfaction, a uniquely modern family, and all the comfort of home. 

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The Book of Origins:

Rude Tales from the Big Bang to the Big Now

by Lawrence Millman

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Lawrence Millman’s The Book of Origins is a rattle-your-brains collection of tales in the tradition of George Carlin, Jonathan Swift, and Italo Calvino, but not Jane Austen or Henry James. In its pages, you will learn about a highly moral man who refuses to marry his grandmother, God’s failure as a Supreme Being and his subsequent retirement, a man given a prison sentence for writing a novel, a U.S. president who decides to attack other countries because he’s horny, a barely educated Middle American who’s offered the Nobel Prize in Physics, and numerous other undocumented incidents in our planet’s history.

My Other Country: Nineteen Years in Bolivia

by Jim Schultz

Many people dream of living outside their country, to see the world through different eyes. Among those who do, many just move for a short time or transplant themselves to a place not so different than home. Then there is Bolivia. My Other Country is a family memoir, the story of a young couple from San Francisco who moved to a valley in the Andes and stayed for almost two decades. It is a story about a family coming together, about falling into the center of a South American revolution, and about a handcrafted life in a very different place.

Dark Riddle

by Deborah Madar

The Grate (Great) Book of Homophones

by Kathleen Mancuso

Illustrated by Isabella Krawczyk

The Grate/Great Book of Homophones has whimsical, colorful illustrations. The author’s fun play on words will delight young readers while educating them at the same time.

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“The bright, colorful illustrations and fun play on words will delight young readers while educating them at the same time.”- Laura S. Attendance office.

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“Isabella’s illustrations are whimsical and fun. Kathleen, with her years of experience working with elementary students, has a knack for writing children’s books.” - Maureen H. school nurse

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“The words of the author and the pictures of the illustrator of this wonderfully fun and educational book compliment each other perfectly.”- Sue K., First Grade Teacher

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“A fun way to learn about homophones! I’m happy to weigh in!”- Marilyn, Pre-K Teacher

The Nun and the Priest:

Love, Celibacy & Passion

by Evelyn McLean Brady 

Now, when celibacy for Roman Catholic priests is being questioned as never before,Evelyn McLean Brady shares a memoir of her own lived experience. Based on her journals andFather Hugh Brady’s love letters written from 1965-1970, Evelyn intimately chronicles theinterior conflict between her desire to become a Catholic nun to “live only for God to serveothers” and the unexpected attraction she feels for the handsome, charismatic Father Brady.When this novice and priest finally confess their feelings for each other, the mystery of humanlove unfolds, as do tests and trials they could not have imagined. The tension between Evelynand her mother also adds unexpected turns and detours to the tale. In the tradition of Abelard andHeloise and St. Francis and St. Clare, this is a love story of two celibates who desire to followthe ways of God yet are lured by the pull of the human heart.

       Watch the Documentary about

           Jimmy Slattery

     Produced by Rise Collaborative

Running With Buffalo

by Michael Farrell

Joseph P. Cahan doesn't want much. The recent college grad wants to see his first published story en route to a writing career. He wants to pursue this path in his New York hometown, aside his Irish family and life-long friends who live for football, stout and the Stones. He wants to move on from a tumultuous Dylan-soundtracked romance that had to end. It's not much—but he wants it all. Unfortunately, in the nine months following his 2001 graduation, Cahan finds these seemingly simplistic desires not so easy to realize. Told through the voice of an idealistic Cahan, Running with Buffalo is about understanding a present that longs for the past, while perpetually trying to figure out an uncertain and frightening future. It’s a humorous and heartfelt testimonial about life's fearsome complexities, unanticipated changes, and the simple truths that could quell the intensity of it all. It’s about the uneven journey to find a place to call home. And for Cahan, it's about running with Buffalo.

When a child goes “bad,” who, or what, is to blame? Until the day that sixteen-year-old Luke Clayton commits a heinous crime and then takes his own life, his mother never questions his serious nature and dependability. Luke leaves no explanation for his horrendous actions and no suicide note, but inside the dead teen’s jacket is a short story. His devastated mother and the author of that story become unlikely partners as they plumb the depths of Luke's shadowy journey from good son to evil murderer.