The sound of gunfire has ended and wedding bells are ringing. No more fighting. No more wounded soldiers. Now it's on to the 'happily ever after.' Sarah Carter has agreed to marry Tom Majors, but just as the preparations are beginning, someone gets in the way. Dewitt Falor has other plans for Sarah. He wants her to be his bride, and he's willing to fight for her. Tom can withstand the jeers of Dewitt and his friends, but what happens when fighting words turn to flying fists? How can Tom display the qualities of Christ in such a trying situation? Join the action as Tom, Jeff, and Royal discover that a soldier sometimes needs the courage of the battlefield for everyday living even though the war has ended.Bring the Boys Home is the tenth of a ten book series, that tells the story of two close families find themselves on different sides of the Civil War after the fall of Fort Sumter in April 1861. Thirteen year old Leah becomes a helper in the Union army with her father, who... Views: 70
A New York Times Notable Book. Set in the Washington, D.C., suburbs during the summer of the Watergate break-ins, Berne's assured, skillful first novel is about what can happen when a child's accusation is the only lead in a case of sexual assault and murder. A BOOK -OF-THE-MONTH CLUB and QUALITY PAPERBACK BOOK CLUB selection.Amazon.com ReviewA murdered boy, a runaway husband, a family spinning out of control--Suzanne Berne's A Crime in the Neighborhood is no ordinary coming-of-age novel. The narrator of this dark tale of 1970s suburbia is 10-year-old Marsha, who lives with her mother and older twin siblings in a suburb of Washington, D.C. In the spring of 1972, a young boy is molested, murdered, and then dumped behind a shopping mall. That the child was not particularly likeable is just one of Berne's deviations from the expected, as clear-eyed Marsha recalls the boy's many character flaws, even as she relates the details of an undeniably horrifying crime. Though murder is the most visible crime in Marsha's neighborhood, it is by no means the only one; when Marsha's father and aunt run off together, their enormous betrayal sends Marsha's mother into a tailspin and Marsha into a strange dalliance with Mr. Green, the neighbor next door. A Crime in the Neighborhood is a deft and provocative first novel that turns many of the coming-of-age conventions on their heads. There is nothing sepia-tinted about Marsha's recollections of her childhood--the lives of 10-year-olds are mired in the mistakes of adults and the cruelties of other children. The pitiless eye Marsha brings to bear on the friends, family, and acquaintances of her youth makes A Crime in the Neighborhood an unusual and worthwhile read. From School Library JournalYA. In the summer of 1972, a suburban neighborhood of Washington, DC, is rocked by the molestation and murder of a 12-year-old boy. Marsha Eberhardt, then 10, begins to gather clues and information. Told by the adult Marsha, the story uncannily depicts the reasoning and thought processes of a vulnerable and confused girl. As the nation sifts through the Watergate disillusionment and Spring Hill tries to deal with the gruesome murder, Marsha is trying to accept the fact that her father has deserted the family for her mother's youngest sister. Struck by the observational powers of Sherlock Holmes, Marsha decides she will begin recording facts, observations, and clues about her family and neighborhood. When a new neighbor moves in, Marsha begins to record his every movement in her "Evidence" notebook. Anyone who has suffered through a family breakup, or knows someone who has, will relate to the youngster's thoughts and decisions. Dealing with an anger she cannot articulate, the girl becomes caught in a lie she cannot stop herself from telling. The adult Marsha considers the "what if" possibilities that may have prevented an incident that haunts her life, but the child was inexorably caught in the lies that took on a life of their own. A compelling book that will easily capture the imagination of YAs.?Carol DeAngelo, formerly at Fairfax County Public Library, VACopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 70
Chapel Hill college student Maria finds herself in a predicament—unexpectedly pregnant at nineteen. Still reeling from the fresh discovery of her mother's diagnosis with cancer, Maria's decision to give her daughter up for adoption is one that seems to be in everyone's best interest, especially when it comes to light that the child's father hasn't exactly been faithful to her following the birth of her daughter. So when her mother proposes an extended trip to sleepy coastal town Beaufort—the same town that the adoptive couple Maria chose for her daughter just happens to live in—Maria jumps at the chance to escape.Perhaps not surprisingly, Maria finds herself listless and bored soon after her arrival in Beaufort, and a summer job seems like a cure. She has kept close watch on the couple she chose to adopt her daughter—they live mere blocks away—and, as opportunity demands, she accepts a position as their nanny. Maria ingratiates herself into the... Views: 70
"The Last Encounter" is a short story by C. S. Forester, the final chapter in the life of his fictional naval hero, Horatio Hornblower. It was published together with the unfinished novel Hornblower and the Crisis and another short story, "Hornblower and the Widow McCool". Views: 70
Strength and resilience fuel an urban teen's fight for survival in this acclaimed novel from Bil Wright that "delivers a knock-out punch" (Venus Magazine).Fourteen-year-old Louis Bowman lives in a boxing ring—a housing project circa 1968—and is fighting "just to get to the end of the round." Sharing the ring is his mother, Jeanette Stamps, a ferociously stubborn woman battling for her own dreams to be realized; his stepfather, Ben Stamps, the would-be savior, who becomes the sparring partner to them both; and the enigmatic Ray Anthony Robinson, the neighborhood "hoodlum" in purple polyester pants, who sets young Louis's heart spinning with the first stirrings of sexual longing. Bil Wright deftly evokes an unrelenting world with quirky humor and a clear-eyed perspective in this "deeply felt coming-of-age novel" that "reads like the best of memoirs" (School Library Journal). Views: 70
Invent nothing, deny nothing, speak up, stand up, stay out of school. With these words, one of our most brilliantly iconoclastic playwrights takes on the art of profession of acting, in a book that is as shocking as it is practical, as witty as it is instructive, and as irreverent as it is inspiring.Acting schools, “interpretation,” “sense memory,” “The Method”—David Mamet takes a jackhammer to the idols of contemporary acting, while revealing the true heroism and nobility of the craft. He shows actors how to undertake auditions and rehearsals, deal with agents and directors, engage audiences, and stay faithful to the script, while rejecting the temptations that seduce so many of their colleagues. Bracing in its clarity, exhilarating in its common sense, True and False is invaluable.From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 70
Lee and his best friends, Billy and Bella, head off on a class trip to the County Fair. But when they arrive, there are some very strange characters hanging around. Could they have anything to do with all the robberies around town? The vampire friends decide that it's up to them to get to the bottom of the mystery!Peter Bently is the author of several books for children and enjoys visiting schools and sharing his writing. He lives in England with his wife and two children.Chris Harrison studied illustration at the University of Plymouth in England. The Vampire School series is his first work for children. Views: 70
Peter Ho Davies is a young writer of unusually worldly perspective. Born in Britain to Welsh and Chinese parents, he writes stories that not only reflect his multinational heritage, but delight in odd juxtapositions. In tales that travel from Coventry to Kuala Lumpur, from the past to the present, and from hilarity to tragedy, American bandits herd ostriches in Patagonia, British soldiers confront Zulus in Natal, and John Wayne leads the way for local revolutionaries in Southeast Asia. These are stories in which small lives are affected by consequential events. In "A Union," a prolonged strike at a Welsh slate quarry plays mystifying tricks of time on a couple expecting a baby. In "The Silver Screen," ragtag rebels join a communist revolution with all the flair of the Keystone Kops. In the heartbreaking title story, a rural community in North Wales copes with the accidental death of a child and learns the reaches of guilt. With their deep vein of humanism and pointed humor, the... Views: 70
