Triskaidekaphobia: fear of the number 13 If thirteen people sit down at a table, will one die within a year? Why did five U.S. presidents join the Thirteen Club? What is the only major New York hotel that has a thirteenth floor? 
 In 13, a fascinating cultural history-cum-detective story, Nathaniel Lachenmeyer gets to the root of how one superstitionÂ—the fear of the number 13Â—developed among wildly divergent societies. A book about mythmaking, 13 explores why people believe what they believe, and the real reason Friday the 13th is the most unlucky day in the world.

13: The Story of the World's Most Notorious Superstition

Politics & Social Sciences

Lachenmeyer, Nathaniel

Social Sciences

Plume

Domenico Scarlatti, the great Italian composer, enjoys his cat's company when he plays harpsichord. Little does he know, his cat, Pulcinella, also dreams of composing her own music! One day, while chasing a mouse, she tumbles onto the harpsichord. Suddenly, she can't resist the urge to play. When she begins to play, Scarlatti's eyes widen…

Scarlatti's Cat

Children's Books

Animals

Carolrhoda Books ®

The extraordinary story of a young man's struggle to reconstruct his father's past. A devastating mental illness with no known cure, schizophrenia strikes people in the prime of their lives. For Charles Lachenmeyer, its onset was a life-altering event. In 1978, Charles was a happily married professor of sociology who lived in the New York suburbs with his wife and his nine-year-old son, Nathaniel. He seemed to have everything: a promising career, a loving family, and a comfortable home. But underneath his sociable exterior, Charles' world was falling apart. Within a few short years, schizophrenia would cost him everything: his sanity, his career, his family, even the roof over his head. In 1981, Charles and his wife divorced. Haunted by the belief that his wife and the CIA were co-conspirators in a plot to control his thoughts and steal his sociological research, Charles left New York, seeking refuge in cities throughout the Northeast. Over the years, he traveled from city to city, passing in and out of psychiatric hospitals, all the while trying unsuccessfully to return to academia. He continued to correspond with his son, but as Charles' symptoms became more severe, what had once been a close father/son relationship changed dramatically. In 1989, overwhelmed and emotionally drained by his father's erratic behavior and bizarre beliefs, Nathaniel finally broke off all contact, writing: "I can't live in your world, and you can't live in mine." Four years later, Charles was living on the streets. This powerful story is the result of the author's painstaking efforts, upon learning of his father's death in 1995 and his time on the streets, to retrace Charles Lachenmeyer's movements in the years after he left the family, and to find a way into the alien world in which he lived. As Nathaniel Lachenmeyer gradually weaves together the scattered pieces of his father's life, what emerges is the compelling story of a son struggling to understand what happened to his father, and to know the man he became. The Outsider is an unsentimental yet profoundly moving look at one family's experience with mental illness. Rich in imagery and poignant symbolism, and framed by the author's highly personal dialogue with the reader, The Outsider moves beyond more straightforward accounts of mental illness to create a suspenseful and moving account of a son's search for the truth behind his father's haunted, solitary existence. It is a beautifully written memoir of a father's fight to survive with dignity, and a son's struggle to know the father he lost to schizophrenia long before he finally lost him to death.

The Outsider: A Journey Into My Father's Struggle with Madness

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Broadway

An unsentimental yet profoundly moving look at one family’s experience with mental illness. “A haunting, poignant story of a son’s life with, and without, his father. A rare and moving portrait of one of life’s major struggles—the devastation created by severe mental illness.” —John Oldham, M.D., Director of New York State Psychiatric Institute In 1978, Charles Lachenmeyer was a happily married professor of sociology who lived in the New York suburbs with his wife and nine-year-old son, Nathaniel. But within a few short years, schizophrenia—a devastating mental illness with no known cure—would cost him everything: his sanity, his career, his family, even the roof over his head. Upon learning of his father’s death in 1995, Nathaniel set out to search for the truth behind his father’s haunted, solitary existence. Rich in imagery and poignant symbolism, The Outsider is a beautifully written memoir of a father’s struggle to survive with dignity, and a son’s struggle to know the father he lost to schizophrenia long before he finally lost him to death. • Recipient of the Kenneth Johnson Memorial Research Library Book Award • Winner of the 2000 Bell of Hope Award

The Outsider: A Journey Into My Father's Struggle With Madness

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

Crown

This BOOOOOOkcomes with a ghostly surprise. Everyone has heard of haunted houses. You know, the ones that the mailman crosses the street to avoid. But it turns out that books can be haunted too. Of course all books are full of surprises—but The Boo! Book has a spooky one: A ghost! He rearranges the words, flips the pictures upside down, and waits very patiently for his special version of a surprise ending. In the spirit of the classic The Monster at the End of this Book, this clever tale features a pop-up ghost encounter and friendly fun for all ages.

The Boo! Book

Humor

Atheneum Books for Young Readers

13 brings together forgotten history and unknown facts about unlucky 13 to create the compelling story of the rise of a single belief. It is also a book about superstition in general — why people believe what they believe and why they stop believing when they do. 13 draws on history and the range of contemporary superstitions; in so doing, it touches on the fate of mythmaking in general. 13 answers the following questions, among others: When did the 13 superstition begin, and why? Why is Spain divided over whether Tuesday the 13th or Friday the 13th is the traditional unlucky 13th day? What other number superstitions exist in other cultures? Which is the only major hotel in New York City that has a 13th floor? What are the top three conspiracy theories about unlucky 13? What is the Thirteen Club, and why did it count three U.S. presidents among its members?

13: The Story of the World's Most Popular Superstition

Running Press

Told in rhyming couplets, Octopus Escapes is a story that keeps up with Octopus and a security guard who is outsmarted at every turn. A sure bet for read-aloud fun, this entertaining maraud through the amphibious exhibits also includes fun facts about cephalopods. This fun fanciful story is shored up with real information about octopuses and depicts how they move and sneak. With a blend of kid-appeal and fun facts, this engaging story creatively uses sound words, easily enticing repeat readings.

Octopus Escapes!

Charlesbridge

On a small island in Lake Michigan, Edison, a lighthouse keeper, carves a wooden merganser duck that may be just a bit too lifelike to share his home, especially when the duck's mate and three ducklings suddenly appear.

The Decoy

Mitten Pr

With a deft, lively text from Nathaniel Lachenmeyer and eye-popping, painterly art by Simini Blocker, The Singing Rock &amp; Other Brand-New Fairy Tales is the perfect read for kids who love a good yarn―and good comics!
A genie just wants a chance to grant a wish to the frog who accidentally let him out of his lamp―meanwhile, the frog just wants to be left alone. A witch is tormented by the cheerful (and awful) singing of a persistent bard, but when she finally snaps and turns him into a rock, he just keeps on singing―somehow the power of terrible music overcomes all magic. A wizard wants a pet. An ogre just wants to make beautiful art. 
Four original, wry, and utterly charming fairy tales comprise this new collection for young readers.

The Singing Rock & Other Brand-New Fairy Tales

Comics & Graphic Novels

First Second

Shima the Origami Master lives on a mountain in Japan. He isnt lonely, for his beautiful origami animals keep him company.

The Origami Master (Av2 Fiction Readalong 2014)

Arts, Music & Photography

Av2 by Weigl

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Books by Lachenmeyer, Nathaniel