The Land of the Rising Sun is shining brightly across the American cultural landscape. Recent films such as Lost in Translation and Memoirs of a Geisha seem to have made everyone an expert on Japan, even if they've never been there. But the only way for a Westerner to get to know the real Japan is to become a part of it. Kate T. Williamson did just that, spending a year experiencing, studying, and reflecting on her adopted home. She brings her keen observations to us in A Year in Japan, a dramatically different look at a delightfully different way of life. Avoiding the usual clichés -- Japan's polite society, its unusual fashion trends, its crowded subways -- Williamson focuses on some lesser-known aspects of the country and culture. In stunning watercolors and piquant texts, she explains the terms used to order various amounts of tofu, the electric rugs found in many Japanese homes, and how to distinguish a maiko from a geisha. She observes sumo wrestlers in traditional garb as they use ATMs, the wonders of "Santaful World" at a Kyoto department store, and the temple carpenters who spend each Sunday dancing to rockabilly. A Year in Japan is a colorful journey to the beauty, poetry, and quirkiness of modern Japan -- a book not just to look at but to experience....

The follow-up to the best-selling HELLO KITTY EVERYWHERE!

A warm summer breeze-
on this perfect afternoon
I catch a pink cloud.

Join Hello Kitty as she celebrates the joy and wonder of the seasons! The follow-up to the best-selling HELLO KITTY EVERYWHERE!, this new, whimsical collection also features clever haiku written by Hello Kitty herself! Featuring inventive photographs of Hello Kitty in a variety of hilarious poses and exotic locations, HELLO KITTY FOR ALL SEASONS will delight 'tweens, teens, poets, collectors, and more. From sunbathing on the beach in the heat of summer, to frolicking in the snow on a chilly winter day, this photographic journey is full of enough love and adventure to last all year round! ...

After graduating from college and spending a magical year abroad writing our best-selling A Year in Japan, Kate T. Williamson felt ready for anything. But, like many a postgraduate, she needed some time to figure out just what that anything was. Her parents' house in Pennsylvania seemed like the perfect place for a brief layover, but twenty-three months later, Williamson was still contemplating the past and the future, while explaining to curious neighbors that, at present, her life was 'at a crossroads.'

At a Crossroads is a unique graphic memoir about the common, yet little-discussed, 'boomerang years.' With sharp wit and expressive drawings, Williamson illustrates the joys, disappointments, comforts, and embarrassments of life back home with mom and dad. Highlights and low points include celebrating her twenty-fourth birthday at a Hall & Oates concert with her mother; noticing the train sounds from her bedroom for the first time; battling an infestation of squirrels; discovering that the ballet class she has signed up for is actually for children, and attending anyway; getting mail from her college crush, who has developed an interest in taxidermy; wearing a chain-mail belt of her own creation to her cousin's Renaissance-themed wedding. Moving from season to season, Williamson uses her delightful illustrations and vivid descriptions to discover the beauty and truth inside every hilarious episode. At a Crossroads is a book for young and old alike, or for anyone contemplating the little things worth noting in the times of our lives we often erase from our histories....