Jake Halpern

Peter Kujawinski

"On a distant island where day and night exist on fourteen-year cycles, and the islanders migrate south each sunset, three children get left behind and must find a way off the island before the Night finds them"--

Nightfall

Now in a full-length book, the New York Times Pulitzer Prize–winning graphic story of a refugee family who fled the civil war in Syria to make a new life in America After escaping a Syrian prison, Ibrahim Aldabaan and his family fled the country to seek protection in America. Among the few refugees to receive visas, they finally landed in JFK airport on November 8, 2016, Election Day. The family had reached a safe harbor, but woke up to the world of Donald Trump and a Muslim ban that would sever them from the grandmother, brothers, sisters, and cousins stranded in exile in Jordan. Welcome to the New World tells the Aldabaans’ story. Resettled in Connecticut with little English, few friends, and even less money, the family of seven strive to create something like home. As a blur of language classes, job-training programs, and the fearsome first days of high school (with hijab) give way to normalcy, the Aldabaans are lulled into a sense of security. A white van cruising slowly past the house prompts some unease, which erupts into full terror when the family receives a death threat and is forced to flee and start all over yet again. The America in which the Aldabaans must make their way is by turns kind and ignorant, generous and cruel, uplifting and heartbreaking. Delivered with warmth and intimacy, Welcome to the New World is a wholly original view of the immigrant experience, revealing not only the trials and successes of one family but showing the spirit of a town and a country, for good and bad.

Welcome to the New World

After learning of his ancestral ties to Dormia, a hidden kingdom in the Ural Mountains whose inhabitants possess the ancient power of "wakeful sleeping," twelve-year-old Alfonso sets out on a mission to save the kingdom from destruction, discovering secrets that lurk in his own sleep.

Dormia

"A trip to the underworld of debt collection, where bankers team up with ex-burglars and few rules apply Bad Paper is a riveting expose;, a moving story of an unlikely friendship, and a gritty narrative of how scrappy entrepreneurs profit from our debts. Jake Halpern introduces us to a former banking executive and a former armed robber who become partners and go in quest of "paper"--the uncollected debts that are sold off by banks for pennies on the dollar. As Halpern shows, the world of consumer debt collection is a wild and unregulated shadowland, where operators may misrepresent a debtor's situation, make illegal threats, and even lay claim to debts that are not theirs to collect in the first place. It is a realm of indelible individuals who possess a swagger and vocabulary that even David Mamet could not invent. Halpern follows his collectors as they intimidate competitors with weapons, manage high-pressure call centers, and scheme new ways to benefit from American's debt-industrial complex. He also explores the history of collection agencies and reveals the human cost of a system that leaves hardworking Americans with little opportunity to retire their debts in a reasonable way. The result is a bravura work of storytelling that is also an important consciousness-raiser"--

"Frequent New Yorker contributor Jake Halpern investigates the shadowy, unregulated world of consumer debt collection, focusing on an unlikely friendship between a former banking executive and former armed robber who go in search of "paper," spreadsheets of uncollected debt sold off by banks for pennies on the dollar"--

chasing debt from Wall Street to the underworld

Bad paper

"For the past few years, Jake Halpern has reported on fame for NPR. This book chronicles his journey through the underbelly of Hollywood and launches a broad investigation of America's fascination with the lives of celebrities. Why are sales of magazines like US Weekly skyrocketing while news magazines are down? Why do seemingly normal, educated people pay attention to whom Paris Hilton is currently dating? Halpern visits those most stricken with the obsession: aspiring celebrities, Hollywood insiders, and die-hard fans. He also meets several high-profile celebrities, including The Edge from U2, Rod Stewart, director Ed Zwick, and numerous insiders who rarely grant interviews. He also gathers considerable psychological, sociological, and even biological research from experts about why we want to become famous, why we experience a high when we come in close contact with celebrities, and why fame changes not only celebrities but those closest to them.--From publisher description."--From source other than the Library of Congress

the hidden truths behind America's favorite addiction

Fame junkies

Ever since returning from Dormia, Alfonso has enjoyed sleeping in a bed like a normal person. No more waking up at the top of a tree or the edge of a cliff. In fact, no sleepwalking at all. But then, while visiting France on a class trip, Alfonso feels that strange and familiar pull of sleep. Upon waking, he finds himself in the belly of a ship headed to Egypt. In his backpack are a few old books and a vial of medicine he stole while asleep. Something is calling Alfonso back to Dormia. Perhaps it’s the Founding Tree? Or perhaps it's the man he sees in his dreams—the one who looks just like his deceased father? Whatever it is, Alfonso is powerless to resist. Storytellers Jake Halpern and Peter Kujawinski take Alfonso on another fantastical quest to Dormia—and beyond—to a vast underground world that holds the answer to a terrifying message: Let me tell you of a dark shadow tree and the world's end.

World's End

Orphaned Wren and her friend Alec live on Edgeland, where the dead are prepared for the afterlife, but when they are accidentally sucked into the Drain, they find something unimaginable.

Edgeland

Tochter der Flut

Why do more people watch American Idol than the nightly news? What is it about Paris Hilton’s dating life that lures us so? Why do teenage girls — when given the option of “pressing a magic button and becoming either stronger, smarter, famous, or more beautiful” — predominantly opt for fame? In this entertaining and enlightening book, Jake Halpern explores the fascinating and often dark implications of America’s obsession with fame. He travels to a Hollywood home for aspiring child actors and enrolls in a program that trains celebrity assistants. He visits the offices of Us Weekly and a laboratory where monkeys give up food to stare at pictures of dominant members of their group. The book culminates in Halpern’s encounter with Rod Stewart’s biggest fan, a woman from Pittsburgh who nominated the singer for Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Fame Junkies reveals how psychology, technology, and even evolution conspire to make the world of red carpets and velvet ropes so enthralling to all of us on the outside looking in.

The Hidden Truths Behind America's Favorite Addiction

Fame Junkies

After learning that his presumed-dead father may still be alive, Alfonso Perplexon, now fifteen years old, takes on the dangerous task of returning to the land of Dormia to search for him.

After learning of his ancestral ties to Dormia, a hidden kingdom whose inhabitants possess the ancient power of "wakeful sleeping," Alfonso sets out to save the kingdom from destruction, discovering secrets that lurk in his own sleep.

Profiles five perpetually threatened American towns, from a snowbound high-rise in Alaska to a hurricane-stricken island near Louisiana, offering insight into why people choose to live near ongoing natural threats.

Dispatches from the Underwater Town, the Lava-Side Inn, and Other Extreme Locales

Braving Home

An analytical study of America's rabid fascination with the lives of celebrities draws on numerous personal interviews--with fans, Hollywood insiders, and would-be celebrities--to examine the psychological, sociological, and biological roots of the obsession, as well as its implications for modern life. By the author of Braving Home. Reprint.

The Federal Trade Commission receives more complaints about rogue debt collecting than about any activity besides identity theft. Dramatically and entertainingly, Bad Paper reveals why. It tells the story of Aaron Siegel, a former banking executive, and Brandon Wilson, a former armed robber, who become partners and go in quest of "paper"—the uncollected debts that are sold off by banks for pennies on the dollar. As Aaron and Brandon learn, the world of consumer debt collection is an unregulated shadowland where operators often make unwarranted threats and even collect debts that are not theirs. Introducing an unforgettable cast of strivers and rogues, Jake Halpern chronicles their lives as they manage high-pressure call centers, hunt for paper in Las Vegas casinos, and meet in parked cars to sell the social security numbers and account information of unsuspecting consumers. He also tracks a "package" of debt that is stolen by unscrupulous collectors, leading to a dramatic showdown with guns in a Buffalo corner store. Along the way, he reveals the human cost of a system that compounds the troubles of hardworking Americans and permits banks to ignore their former customers. The result is a vital exposé that is also a bravura feat of storytelling.

Jake Halpern

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