Most Popular Books by Mitch Weiss

On February 17, Landing Craft Infantry 449 was among a dozen gunboats helping to prepare the area for their invasion two days later. From the towering slopes of Mount Suribachi, Japanese forces opened fire, forcing the U.S. commanders to recalculate battlefield plans. They shelled and bombed the newly discovered enemy positions. It was a move that saved countless lives two days later, when tens of thousands of Marines stormed the beach at the Battle of Iwo Jima. Mitch Weiss'' The Heart of Hell is the untold story of the crew of Landing Craft Infantry 449.

In a remote, enemy-held valley in Afghanistan, a Special Forces team planned to scale a steep mountain to surprise and capture a terrorist leader. But before they found the target, the target found them… The team was caught in a deadly ambush that not only threatened their lives, but the entire mission. The elite soldiers fought huddled for hours on a small rock ledge as rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine-gun fire rained down on them. With total disregard for their own safety, they tended to their wounded and kept fighting to stay alive. When the battle finally ended, ten soldiers had earned Silver Stars—the Army’s third highest award for combat valor. It was the most Silver Stars awarded to any unit in one battle since Vietnam. Based on dozens of interviews with those who were there, No Way Out is a compelling narrative of an epic battle that not only tested the soldiers’ mettle but serves as a cautionary tale. Be careful what you ask a soldier to do because they will die trying to accomplish their mission.

New York’s Broadway theatre scene has long been viewed as the “top of the heap” in the world theatre community. Taking lessons from the very best, this innovative guide delves into the business side of the renowned industry to explain just how its system functions. For anyone interested in pursuing a career on Broadway, or who wants to grow a theatre in any other part of the world, The Business of Broadway offers an in-depth analysis of the infrastructure at the core of successful theatre. Manager/producer Mitch Weiss and actor/writer Perri Gaffney take readers behind the scenes to reveal what the audience—and even the players and many producers—don’t know about how Broadway works, describing more than 200 jobs that become available for every show. A variety of performers, producers, managers, and others involved with the Broadway network share valuable personal experience in interviews discussing what made a show a hit or a miss, and how some of the rules, regulations, and practices that are in place today were pioneered. Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don''t aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.

The hilarious Noodlehead Brothers Mac and Mac return in this easy-to-read graphic novel by best-selling author-illustrator Tedd Arnold and two award-winning storytellers. Mac and Mac, as gullible as ever, decide that since fish live in schools, they must be smart. The fish in this funny story certainly are smart enough to outwit Mac and Mac--and so is their friend Meatball, who shows them how to get a bigger boat. But there''s something fishy about his suggestion. . . Illustrated by Tedd Arnold, whose Fly Guy series is a kid favorite, this graphic novel is perfect for comic fans and reluctant readers, with short, funny chapters following Mac and Mac through ridiculous adventures. Full of wordplay, jokes, and slapstick humor, the Noodlehead series is sure to delight. Based on traditional world folktales and stories of fools, the Noodleheads also encourage critical thinking, inviting kids to use their noodles- spotting the holes in the brothers'' grand plans, and anticipating how things will go awry. Source notes from professional storytellers Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss provide more information about the traditional stories that inspired Mac and Mac''s mishaps, showing how these comic motifs feature in folklore and legends all around the world and offering opportunities for further reading. This easy-to-read series, including the Geisel Honor book Noodleheads See the Future, is an accessible introduction to stories of fools, and a great next read for fans of the Fly Guy books. A Junior Library Guild selection!

Law, taxes, and finances.

When a stingy baker insists that his poor neighbor pay for the smells he has been enjoying, a clever judge rules in his favor and determines exactly the right fine.

At the outset of the Vietnam War, the Army created an experimental fighting unit that became known as "Tiger Force." The Tigers were to be made up of the cream of the crop-the very best and bravest soldiers the American military could offer. They would be given a long leash, allowed to operate in the field with less supervision. Their mission was to seek out enemy compounds and hiding places so that bombing runs could be accurately targeted. They were to go where no troops had gone, to become one with the jungle, to leave themselves behind and get deep inside the enemy''s mind. The experiment went terribly wrong. What happened during the seven months Tiger Force descended into the abyss is the stuff of nightmares. Their crimes were uncountable, their madness beyond imagination-so much so that for almost four decades, the story of Tiger Force was covered up under orders that stretched all the way to the White House. Records were scrubbed, documents were destroyed, men were told to say nothing.But one person didn''t follow orders. The product of years of investigative reporting, interviews around the world, and the discovery of an astonishing array of classified information, Tiger Force is a masterpiece of journalism. Winners of the Pulitzer Prize for their Tiger Force reporting, Michael Sallah and Mitch Weiss have uncovered the last great secret of the Vietnam War.

William Morgan, a tough-talking ex-paratrooper, stunned family and friends when in 1957 he left Ohio to join freedom fighters in the mountains of Cuba. He led one band of guerrillas, and Che Guevara another, and together they swept through the country, ultimately forcing corrupt dictator Fulgencio Batista from power. In just a year of fighting, the American revolutionary had altered the landscape of the Cold War. But Morgan believed they were fighting to liberate Cuba. Then Fidel Castro canceled elections, seized properties, and imprisoned Morgan’s fellow freedom fighters. Even Morgan’s own house mysteriously blew up. But The Comandante is about more than just the revolution. It’s the story of two people in love, pressured by government agents and mobsters vying to control a nation that soon brought the world to the brink of nuclear destruction. In the mountains, Morgan met Olga Rodriguez, a beautiful, fiery nurse, whom he soon married. Together, amid their firestorm romance, they decided to take a stand and take back the government from Castro and Guevara. The newlyweds began running arms to prepare for a counterrevolution, soon caught in a cloak-and-dagger web among Castro’s forces; the Mob, which controlled Havana; and the CIA’s preparations for the Bay of Pigs Invasion. But one of Morgan’s guards betrayed him to Castro, who threw the counterrevolutionary in prison, placing his wife and their two daughters under house arrest. The couple smuggled secret messages to each other until Olga ultimately escaped by drugging her captors. Before she could free her husband, though, a junta tribunal tried and sentenced him to death by firing squad. Drawing on declassified FBI, CIA, and Army intelligence records as well as Olga’s diaries, Pulitzer Prize–winning authors Michael Sallah and Mitch Weiss skillfully reveal the inner workings of the Cuban Revolution while detailing the incredible love story of a rebel nurse and an American street hero who left their mark on history.

From the author who brought you Fly Guy comes an easy-to-read graphic novel about two very funny brothers—“great fun for newly independent readers and graphic novel newbies” (School Library Journal) Mac and Mac, who love pie and hate making their beds, are hollow-headed. "See in here? Nothing! Zippo! Nada!" Mac explains. That’s why they''re so easy to fool—and their clever friend Meatball isn''t afraid to take advantage of that fact. Illustrated by Tedd Arnold, whose Fly Guy series is a kid favorite, this graphic novel is perfect for comic fans and reluctant readers, with short, funny chapters following Mac and Mac through ridiculous adventures. Full of wordplay, jokes, and slapstick humor, the Noodlehead series is sure to delight. Based on traditional world folktales and stories of fools, the Noodleheads also encourage critical thinking, inviting kids to use their noodles—spotting the holes in the brothers'' grand plans, and anticipating how things will go awry. Source notes from professional storytellers Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss provide more information about the traditional stories that inspired Mac and Mac''s mishaps, showing how these comic motifs feature in folklore and legends all around the world and offering opportunities for further reading. This easy-to-read series, including the Geisel Honor book Noodleheads See the Future, is an accessible introduction to stories of fools, and a great next read for fans of the Fly Guy books.

Mac and Mac may be noodles with empty heads, but they have big ideas: building a fortress! This vibrantly colorful graphic novel for easy readers hits the nail on the head with comedy. The Noodlehead brothers are back from the library with a joke book, a fantasy novel, and a dream: to build their very own Fortress of Doom. If they can stop bickering for long enough. And if they can defend it from their wily friend Meatball. Jump right in with this fourth title in an easy-to-read graphic novel series about more than two hollow pastas trying to have fun. Award-winning storytellers Mitch Weiss and Martha Hamilton join Tedd Arnold, author of the Fly Guy series, to create a masterpiece of hilarity. This easy-to-read series, including the Geisel Honor book Noodleheads See the Future, is an accessible introduction to stories of fools, and a great next read for fans of the Fly Guy books. With short, funny chapters full of wordplay, jokes, and slapstick humor, the Noodleheads series is sure to delight. Based on traditional world folktales and stories of fools, the Noodleheads also encourage critical thinking, inviting kids to use their noodles- spotting the holes in the brothers'' grand plans, and anticipating how things will go awry. An ILA-CBC Children''s Choice!

Tedd Arnold—the guy who does Fly Guy—and his storyteller friends are bringing folktale tomfoolery into the 21st Century, with this Geisel Honor-winning companion to Noodlehead Nightmares. Although Mac and Mac are as hollow-headed as, well, noodles, they''re always coming up with brilliant schemes. For instance, they''re absolutely certain Mom will bake them a cake if they gather some firewood for her. But when their friend Meatball offers to trade them a handful of firewood seeds, the gullible brothers can''t foresee what will happen next. . . Illustrated by Tedd Arnold, whose Fly Guy series is a kid favorite, this graphic novel is perfect for comic fans and reluctant readers, with short, funny chapters following Mac and Mac through ridiculous adventures. Full of wordplay, jokes, and slapstick humor, the Noodlehead series is sure to delight. Based on traditional world folktales and stories of fools, the Noodleheads also encourage critical thinking, inviting kids to use their noodles– spotting the holes in the brothers'' grand plans, and anticipating how things will go awry. Source notes from professional storytellers Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss provide more information about the traditional stories that inspired Mac and Mac''s mishaps, showing how these comic motifs feature in folklore and legends all around the world and offering opportunities for further reading. This easy-to-read series is an accessible introduction to stories of fools, and a great next read for fans of the Fly Guy books. A Junior Library Guild selection!

A collection of folktales, primarily from the United States, as well as one adaptation and two original stories, each followed by tips for novice storytellers.

You''ll laugh out loud when Mac and Mac try to hatch a kitten. . . out of a watermelon. This easy-to-read intro to graphic novels is perfect for "fans of all things goofy" according to School Library Journal. Twin brothers Mac and Mac are soooo lucky. How lucky are they? When they get hit on the head with an acorn, they''re lucky that little acorns and not big watermelons grow on trees. When their frenemy Meatball gives them a bag full of bees, they''re lucky that Mom has just built a beehive to put them in. And when their watermelon DOESN''T hatch a kitten, they''re lucky that there''s another way to get a pet. Illustrated by Tedd Arnold, whose Fly Guy series is a kid favorite, this fifth book in the Noodleheads graphic novel series is perfect for comic fans and reluctant readers, with short, funny chapters following Mac and Mac through ridiculous adventures. Full of wordplay, jokes, and slapstick humor, the Noodlehead series is sure to delight. Based on traditional world folktales and stories of fools, the Noodleheads also encourage critical thinking, inviting kids to use their noodles- spotting the holes in the brothers'' grand plans, and anticipating how things will go awry. Source notes from professional storytellers Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss provide more information about the traditional stories that inspired Mac and Mac''s mishaps, showing how these comic motifs feature in folklore and legends all around the world and offering opportunities for further reading. A Junior Library Guild Selection!

Taking it easy is easy peasy, until Mac and Mac give it a try! This colorful graphic novel will have 1st and 2nd grade independent readers laughing out loud at Noodleheads’ funny adventures. Mac and Mac want to take it easy and eat their favorite pie, but making pie isn’t as easy as eating it! Or is it? Along the way they their friends and mom give them tricks to make it as easy as…well pie! But the boys’ shenanigans make things harder than they need to be. Will Mac and Mac get to have their pie and eat it too? This seventh book in the Noodleheads graphic novel series is perfect for comic fans and reluctant readers. Short chapters--full of wordplay, jokes, and slapstick humor--follow Mac and Mac through their funny adventures. It is co-written and illustrated by Tedd Arnold, known for his popular Fly Guy series. Based on traditional world folktales and stories of fools, the Noodleheads encourage critical thinking. They invite readers to use their noodles to spot holes in the brothers'' grand plans. Source notes by co-authors Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss, professional storytellers known as Beauty and the Beast, provide information about the traditional stories that inspired Mac and Mac''s mishaps and give suggestions for further reading. This easy-to-read series, including the Geisel Honor book Noodleheads See the Future, is an accessible introduction to stories of fools, and a great next read for fans of the Fly Guy books. A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

*An NPR Best Book of the Year* A PopSugar Best True Crime Book of 2020 “I can’t imagine a more important book.”—Jeff Guinn, New York Times bestselling author An explosive investigation into Word of Faith Fellowship, a secretive evangelical cult whose charismatic female leader is a master of manipulation In 1979, a fiery preacher named Jane Whaley attracted a small group of followers with a promise that she could turn their lives around. In the years since, Whaley’s following has expanded to include thousands of congregants across three continents. In their eyes she’s a prophet. And to disobey her means eternal damnation. The control Whaley exerts is absolute: she decides what her followers study, where they work, whom they can marry—even when they can have sex. Based on hundreds of interviews, secretly recorded conversations, and thousands of pages of documents, Pulitzer Prize winner Mitch Weiss and Holbrook Mohr’s Broken Faith is a terrifying portrait of life inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, and the harrowing account of one family who escaped after two decades.

Do you want to be famous? Mac and Mac do. How? By doing the impossible! You''ll laugh out loud at the funny adventures in this comic-style book. First they decide to walk around the world. But when Mom says it''s too far for them to go, they decide to count the stars. They reach a bazillion when they see that some of the stars have fallen into Mom''s washtub. Mac and Mac rescue the fallen stars, but then lose count. They decide to count grains of sand instead. Then . . . while counting grains of sand, they realize THEY''VE WALKED AROUND THE WORLD!!! This sixth book in the Noodleheads graphic novel series is perfect for comic fans and reluctant readers. Short chapters--full of wordplay, jokes, and slapstick humor--follow Mac and Mac through their funny adventures. It is co-written and illustrated by Tedd Arnold, known for his popular Fly Guy series. Based on traditional world folktales and stories of fools, the Noodleheads encourage critical thinking. They invite readers to use their noodles to spot holes in the brothers'' grand plans. Source notes by co-authors Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss, professional storytellers known as Beauty and the Beast, provide information about the traditional stories that inspired Mac and Mac''s mishaps and give suggestions for further reading. This easy-to-read series, including the Geisel Honor book Noodleheads See the Future, is an accessible introduction to stories of fools, and a great next read for fans of the Fly Guy books. A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Two cats. One cake. Who will get to enjoy the tasty dessert? A fun, simple story that kindergarteners and first graders can read on their own. This is mine! No, this is mine! When a cake falls off a cart at the bakery, two cats claim it. A clever fox offers to help them share, but bit by bit eats the cake all up himself! With easy-to-read dialogue and cheerful art, The Cats and the Cake will have children laughing and reading at the same time. This book has been officially leveled by using the Fountas & Pinnell Text Level GradientTM leveling system. The award-winning I Like to Read® series focuses on guided reading levels A through G, based upon Fountas and Pinnell standards. Acclaimed author-illustrators--including winners of Caldecott, Theodor Seuss Geisel, and Coretta Scott King honors--create original, high-quality illustrations that support comprehension of simple text and are fun for kids to read again and again with their parents, teachers or on their own!

Read Along or Enhanced eBook: In this delightful story of perseverance and survival from Russia, two frog sisters learn the truth of that old saying, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over,” or, “The opera isn’t over until the fat frog sinks.”

Presents a retelling of a traditional Bengali tale in which a kind and generous Indian barber, pressed by his father then his wife to earn more money, cleverly persuades a ghost to bring him riches.

The hunt for Ernesto “Che” Guevera was one of the first successful U.S. Special Forces missions in history. Using government reports and documents, as well as eyewitness accounts, Hunting Che tells the untold story of how the infamous revolutionary was captured—a mission later duplicated in Afghanistan and Iraq. As one of the architects of the Cuban Revolution, Guevera had become famous for supporting and organizing similar insurgencies in Africa and Latin America. When he turned his attention to Bolivia in 1967, the Pentagon made a decision: Che had to be stopped. Major Ralph “Pappy” Shelton was called upon to lead the mission. Much was unknown about Che’s force in Bolivia, and the stakes were high. With a handpicked team of Green Berets, Shelton turned Bolivian peasants into a trained fighting and intelligence-gathering force. Hunting Che follows Shelton’s American team and the newly formed Bolivian Rangers through the hunt to Che’s eventual capture and execution. With the White House and the Pentagon monitoring every move, Shelton and his team helped prevent another Communist threat from taking root in the West. INCLUDES PHOTOS

Read Along or Enhanced eBook: When Tree Kangaroo and Koala dig a well to get some water, Tree Kangaroo ends up doing all of the work and Koala ends up with a stumpy tail in this origin story from Australia.

Read Along or Enhanced eBook: When Goat, Rooster, and Donkey decide to try their hand at farming, Donkey learns the price of being greedy and discovers that the truth will always come out in the end.

Presents a retelling of a traditional Italian tale in which a kindly Genoese merchant, richly rewarded for solving an irritating problem for the king of the Spice Islands, causes a greedy rival to try and gain a fortune in the same way.

Read Along or Enhanced eBook: This story is a retelling of a traditional Bengali tale in which a kind and generous Indian barber, pressed by his father and then his wife to earn more money, cleverly persuades a ghost to bring him riches.

Did you ever look carefully at a spider''s web? If their purpose is strictly to catch flies, why do spiders weave such beautiful, intricate webs? Did you ever wonder what causes thunder? Why is the sea salty? How did tigers get their stripes? In this collection of delightful tales from around the world and through the ages, each story explains why an animal, plant, or natural object looks or acts the way it does.

"Presents concrete methods of incorporating storytelling by students of all ages into classroom practice to help teachers meet U.S. education standards of reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and visually representing"--Provided by publisher.

A collection of stories from around the world, with background information and tips on how to tell each tale.