Discusses the history, culture, and religion of the Russians, factors encouraging their emigration, and their acceptance as an ethnic group in North America.

Grandparents, aunts and uncles, and children gather at a farm house to celebrate Christmas in the Russian tradition.

The Sabbath candlesticks given to them by their grandmother when they leave Russia help two sisters make it safely to join their father in New York.

It's Backwards Day, so Judy Moody double-dares herself to become Queen of the Good Mood for one whole week. Can she do it? Will the real Judy Moody please stand up? In honor of Backwards Day, Judy Moody decides to turn that frown upside down, make lemonade out of lemons, and be nice to stinky little brothers. In fact, Judy becomes a NOT moody, cool-as-a-cucumber neat freak for one whole entire day. But when her combed hair, matching outfits, and...

"She was the cherished grandmother who sang songs in Russian, loved to roller-skate, and spoke little of her past. But when Granny Dan dies, all that remained was a box, containing an old pair of satin toe shoes, a gold locket, and letters tied with ribbon. It was her legacy, her secret past, waiting to be discovered by the granddaughter who loved her but never really knew her...In 1902, a motherless young girl arrived at a ballet school in St. Petersburg,...

Follows eleven-year-old Masha and her "evil genius" little sister, Sunny, through one very adventurous day, as Masha faces scary situations, meets new people, and gains new insight into life with her hardworking, single mother.

In the small college town of Hayden, Illinois, Morgan and Zhenya have settled into a loveless, stagnant marriage. The suicide of their son, Philip, ten years before has left the pair emotionally dead, lacking even the courage to separate from each other. Their surviving child, Emma, has become a teenage mother and refuses to reveal the identity of her child's father. Into this sullen mix marches Peter Ivanovich Kamenev, Zhenya's exasperating father....

"When Alexei Lebedev finally comes out to his conservative community, it does not go well. That's how he ended up on the rugged Pacific Crest Trail, hoping he can figure out a new life plan in the thousands of miles it'll take to walk the famed hike. He's prepared for rattlesnakes, blisters, and months of solitude. What he's not prepared for is the ray of sunshine named Ben Caravalho. Charismatic and outgoing, Ben's personality and infectious laughter...

"The story of an immigrant family living in Brooklyn's Little Odessa, and the obstinate uncle who resists his family's and their adopted country's promise of a superior life"--