Most Popular Books by Rebecca Paley

The stunning true story of Bergdorf Goodman’s legendary personal shopper Eighty-six-year-old Betty Halbreich is a true original who could have stepped straight out of Stephen Sondheim’s repertoire. She has spent nearly forty years as the legendary personal shopper at Bergdorf Goodman, where she works with socialites, stars, and ordinary women off the street. She has helped many find their true selves through fashion, frank advice, and her own brand of wisdom. She is trusted by the most discriminating persons—including Hollywood’s top stylists—to tell them what looks best. But Halbreich’s personal transformation from cosseted young girl to fearless truth teller is the greatest makeover of her career.

Provides information to help boys better understand puberty and the challenges of growing up, and includes tips, quizzes, and answers to questions.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An eye-opening, no-holds-barred memoir about life in the Church of Scientology, now with a new afterword by the author—the outspoken actress and star of the A&E docuseries Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath Leah Remini has never been the type to hold her tongue. That willingness to speak her mind, stand her ground, and rattle the occasional cage has enabled this tough-talking girl from Brooklyn to forge an enduring and successful career in Hollywood. But being a troublemaker has come at a cost. That was never more evident than in 2013, when Remini loudly and publicly broke with the Church of Scientology. Now, in this frank, funny, poignant memoir, the former King of Queens star opens up about that experience for the first time, revealing the in-depth details of her painful split with the church and its controversial practices. Indoctrinated into the church as a child while living with her mother and sister in New York, Remini eventually moved to Los Angeles, where her dreams of becoming an actress and advancing Scientology’s causes grew increasingly intertwined. As an adult, she found the success she’d worked so hard for, and with it a prominent place in the hierarchy of celebrity Scientologists alongside people such as Tom Cruise, Scientology’s most high-profile adherent. Remini spent time directly with Cruise and was included among the guests at his 2006 wedding to Katie Holmes. But when she began to raise questions about some of the church’s actions, she found herself a target. In the end, she was declared by the church to be a threat to their organization and therefore a “Suppressive Person,” and as a result, all of her fellow parishioners—including members of her own family—were told to disconnect from her. Forever. Bold, brash, and bravely confessional, Troublemaker chronicles Leah Remini’s remarkable journey toward emotional and spiritual freedom, both for herself and for her family. This is a memoir designed to reveal the hard-won truths of a life lived honestly—from an author unafraid of the consequences. Praise for Troublemaker “An aggressively honest memoir . . . Troublemaker is the most raw and revealing Scientology memoir to date.”—Entertainment Weekly “Leah’s story is a juicy, inside-Hollywood read, but it’s more than that. It’s a moving story about the value of questioning authority and how one woman survived a profound crisis of faith.”—People

“Graham’s honest new book chronicles the making of a body-positive icon . . . the story behind the success story. Often charming and inspirational.” —Vogue Voluptuous beauty Ashley Graham has been modeling professionally since the age of thirteen. Discovered at a shopping mall in Nebraska, her stunning face and sexy curves have graced the covers of top magazines, including Cosmopolitan and British Vogue, and she was the first size 14 model to appear on the front of the wildly popular Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. The face of brands such as H&M Studio, she is also a judge for the latest season of America’s Next Top Model. And that’s only the beginning for this extraordinary talent. A woman who proves that when it comes to beauty, size is just a number, Ashley is the voice for the body positivity movement today and a role model for all women—no matter their individual body type, shape, or weight. In this collection of insightful, provocative essays illustrated with a dozen photos, Ashley shares her perspective on how ideas around body image are evolving—and how we still have work to do; the fun—and stress—of a career in the fashion world; her life before modeling; and her path to accepting her size without limiting her dreams—defying rigid industry standards and naysayers who told her it couldn’t be done. As she talks about her successes and setbacks, Ashley offers support for every woman coming to terms with who she is, bolsters her self-confidence, and motivates her to be her strongest, healthiest, and most beautiful self. “Evocative.” —The Cut “Positive, understanding, and uplifting.” —Booklist

Born Joel David Katz in 1930''s Cleveland, Grey began his life in the theater at the age of nine, starring in local productions of touring Broadway hits. The search for the spotlight took him from the Cleveland Playhouse to seedy, gangster-filled nightclubs in Chicago, and finally to the lights of Broadway and the dizzying glamour of Hollywood. Coming of age in a time when being yourself tended to be not only difficult but also dangerous, sometimes an artists'' hardest role is being himself. This is a portrait of an artist coming to terms with his evolving identity.

Be inspired by the magnetic young principal who “stands on the front line of the fight to educate America''s children." (Brandon Stanton, author of Humans of New York ) and the book that Essence calls "Essential reading." In 2010, Nadia Lopez started her middle-grade public school, Mott Hall Bridges Academy, in one of America’s poorest communities, in a record heat wave—and crime wave. Everything was an uphill battle—to get the school approved, to recruit faculty and students, to solve a million new problems every day, from violent crime to vanishing supplies—but Lopez was determined to break the downward spiral that had trapped too many inner-city children. The lessons came fast: unengaged teachers, wayward students, and the educational system itself, rarely in tune with the already disadvantaged and underprepared. Things were at a low ebb for everyone when one of her students told a photographer that his principal, “Ms. Lopez,” was the person who most influenced his life. The posting on Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York site was the pebble that started a lucky landslide for Lopez and her team. Lopez found herself in the national spotlight and headed for a meeting with President Obama, as well as the beneficiary of a million-dollar campaign for the school, to fund her next dream: a field trip for her students to visit another school—Harvard. The Bridge to Brilliance is a book filled with common sense and caring that will carry her message to communities and classrooms far from Brooklyn. As she says, modestly, “There are hundreds of Ms. Lopezes around this country doing good work for kids. This honors all of them.”

Aos 86 anos, Betty Halbreich é uma figura única no mundo da moda. Há quase quatro décadas comanda o departamento de compras personalizadas – ou personal shopping, como Betty prefere não chamar – da loja Bergdorf Goodman, ícone do consumo de luxo na Quinta Avenida. Meticulosa, impecável e deliciosamente engraçada, Betty é conhecida por não ter medo de abrir o jogo com as clientes. Já vestiu desde uma primeira-dama dos Estados Unidos até personagens de séries como Sex and the City e Girls, além das próprias estilistas que abastecem suas araras. Em Um brinde a isso, Betty fala não só da tão atraente carreira, mas também do momento mais duro em que precisou se encarar no espelho: separada e com dois filhos, ela entrou em depressão e tentou o suicídio. Um emprego de vendedora na Bergdorf Goodman a ajudou a se reencontrar, porém seu talento para vestir os outros era inversamente proporcional à inclinação para as vendas. Realocada como personal shopper, Betty deu a volta por cima e levou junto inúmeras clientes que também se reencontraram com seus conselhos e exemplo. Combinando deliciosas memórias de compras, moda e celebridades fashion – sem citar nomes, claro – com capítulos intensos e tocantes sobre sua vida pessoal, Betty mostra que o verdadeiro estilo de uma mulher não está impresso nos cortes, tecidos e etiquetas que ela veste, mas na história que ela tem para contar. E a história de Betty é maravilhosamente inspiradora. “Uma vida repleta de acontecimentos, bem no centro da indústria da moda.” Publishers Weekly “Existe um princípio pragmático por trás da forma como Betty veste as pessoas. É muito inclusivo. Tem lugar para todo mundo no processo dela. Betty consegue transitar no universo da moda, mas também sabe baixar um pouco a bola desse universo.” Lena Dunham

Recounts life in early colonial America leading up to the famous tea tax protest that pushed the colonies and the British closer to war, using the stories of Felicity Merriman and how she became caught in between the two sides of the American Revolution.

Introduces the students of Ever After High--the children of popular fairy tale characters--and includes character profiles, highlights from "best moments of the year," and fantastical stories.

An introduction to dogs that provides statistics and facts about more than twenty-five of the most popular dog breeds.

"Superstar sports agent J. B. Bernstein went to India to run a televised pitching contest, teach the winners about baseball, and get them recruited by Major League Baseball--changing forever the lives of two young men and their families back home, as well as his own"--

The A Girl Named series tells the stories of how ordinary American girls grew up to be extraordinary American women. It took a lot of determination, courage, and confidence to become the first woman to be nominated for president by a major political party. A Girl Named Hillary tells of the defining moments that made up her childhood and adolescence.

This study addressed media framing of environmental policy in the United States (US) and the effect that popular frames and biases have on public attitudes toward water-related regulations. In recent years, the Clean Water Rule, a proposed change to the 1972 Clean Water Act, generated deep partisan divide over the historically bipartisan law. While hydrological scientists and environmentalists largely considered the Clean Water Rule a crucial policy for effective protection of US waters, the reaction from industry representatives and conservative politicians was swift and furious. Legislative and judicial battles subsequently played out the news. Scholars have demonstrated that the news can influence public opinion on policy issues – particularly on science-based topics such as water policy. To better understand media coverage and its effect on the audience, I developed a two-pronged approach in this thesis. First, using a media content analysis, I examined news coverage of the Clean Water Rule in the most popular online media sources, including partisan websites such as the conservative Breitbart News and the more liberal Huffington Post. In the second step of the approach, I conducted a framing experiment on US-based students. To test the effect that common frames and biases found in the content analysis have on attitudes toward the Clean Water Rule and Clean Water Act, I compared reactions to two opposing news frames– a “pro-environment” frame and an “anti-regulation” frame. Additionally, I examined the influence of personalisation (i.e. attributing the Clean Water Rule to either President Barack Obama or President Donald Trump) on partisan attitudes towards the Rule. This study found that the news media frequently elevates conflict over substance when covering the Clean Water Rule. Furthermore, conflict-driven, negative frames decreased likely support for the Clean Water Rule and the Clean Water Act as a whole. Associating the Rule with either former-President Barack Obama or President Donald Trump seemingly produced a shift in support for the Clean Water Rule/Act that is split on partisan grounds. Conservatives are more likely to support the Rule when it is attributed to Trump than Obama, and liberals are less likely to support the Rule when it is attributed to Trump than any other association.

Nisem prva, ki se je scientološkemu gibanju uprla in ga zapustila. Že številni so podvomili o veri, ki prerada obsoja in kaže s prstom na svoje privržence, ki jih kar naprej molze, da darujejo prihranke in še več, zatem pa jih nažene, čeprav so v scientologijo predano verjeli. Prav tej scientološki cerkvi bi rada povedala naslednje: knjigo sem napisala, ker čutim, da je moja dolžnost razkriti krivice in hinavščino, ki so jih utrpeli tisti, ki so odšli pred mano. Tisti, ki ste jim z ustrahovanjem zavezali jezike. Ta knjiga je tudi moj osebni upor proti nestrpnosti, ki sem ji bila priča, s katero sem živela in pri njej predolgo sodelovala. Leah Remini, znana ameriška igralka, je pripadala razvpiti scientološki cerkvi, ki ima slavne privržence, kot sta Tom Cruise in John Travolta. Brez dlake na jeziku in z veliko humorja opisuje svojo pot do uspeha, vzpone in padce ter čudaštva, ki jih je v cerkvi doživela kot njena članica in odpadnica, saj je scientologijo zapustila leta 2013. Navdušila vas bo s svojo izjemno življenjsko zgodbo in odstrla pogled v hollywoodsko zakulisje, pri tem pa predvsem zelo zelo zabavala.