Ben Hunter has a miserable life — M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-E! His sister will only talk to him through text messages, his mom won't let him eat sugar or even go for a bike ride unchaperoned, and a bully at school steals all of his friends. Told in Ben's voice, through entries from his school journal with commentary from his teacher, this very funny and often poignant narrative chronicles an eventful year in the life of a thoughtful fourth grader. Views: 14
A Wayne in a Manger is the hilarious compilation of nativity stories by Gervase Phinn.Discover some wonderfully funny and touching nativity play anecdotes, including children forgetting their lines, ad-libbing, falling of the stage, picking their noses and showing their knickers. One brilliant anecdote tells of an innkeeper who generously says there's plenty of room for Mary and Joseph, while another child, jealous of Joseph's starring role, allows Mary to come in but not Joseph, who can 'push off' ... There's the baby Jesus who suddenly pipes up with 'My name is Tammy, are you my Mommy?' and funniest of all, Mary who tells Joseph, 'I'm having a baby - oh and it's not yours'.Gervase Phinn's A Wayne in a Manger is the perfect gift this Christmas.'Gervase Phinn's memoirs have made him a hero in school staff-rooms' Daily TelegraphGervase Phinn is an author... Views: 14
Chav: (n.) A British insult for white working-class people fixated on street fashions derived from American hip-hop such as imitation gold and fake designer clothing, e.g.,"It's a bruv who wears crap clothing and manky gold jewelry, innit?"16-year-old Shiraz Bailey Wood's days are filled with hoodies, hip-hop, and hanging around outside Claire's Accessories. Her parents work crap jobs and her school is pretty much chav central. There's not much goin' on in the world of this lovable dreamer, and having a brain and a heart of gold only makes it worse. Shiraz loathes being called a chav because she may be poor but she's not trashy, but she can't do much about it-yet. Shiraz is beginning to feel there's a lot more to life than minimum wage and the bling of a souped-up Vauxhall Nova. Told in diary entries over the course of a year attending the unfortunately named "SuperChav Academy" (where she'll do anything to prove she's not a chav), Shiraz's insanely funny voice and spirited narrative shows there is always a way to rise above any obstacle. Views: 14
Twenty-two years ago, Sam and Dean Winchester lost their mother to a mysterious and demonic supernatural force. In the years after, their father, John, taught them about the paranormal evil that lives in the dark corners and on the back roads of America . . . and he taught them how to kill it.
Sam and Dean are headed for Key West, Florida, home to Hemingway, hurricanes, and a whole lot of demons. The tropical town has so many ghouls on the loose that one of its main moneymakers has long been a series of ghost tours. But the tours are no more, not since one of the guides was found dead of an apparent heart attack . . . his face frozen in mid-scream. No one knows what horrors he saw, but the Winchester brothers are about to find out.
Soon they'll be face-to-face with the ghosts of the island's most infamous residents, demons with a hidden agenda, and a mysterious ancient power looking for revenge. It's up to Sam and Dean to save the citizens of Key West . . . before the beautiful island is reduced to nothing more than a pile of bones. Views: 14
When the body of an elderly widow turns up in the desert, Sheriff Joanna Brady searches for a killer among the victim's greedy offspring, her mysterious much younger live-in handyman turned lover, and corrupt local politicians. Views: 14
Fifteen-year-old Mackenzie Hill knows something is up when she arrives home to find her father making a home-cooked dinner, instead of his standard delivery pizza. But nothing prepares her for the bombshell announcement: Mackenzie and her dad, alone since the death of her mother a year ago, are moving to Jerusalem, where her father has taken a position as a visiting professor at a university.The adjustment from life in Canada to life in Israel is dramatic - though it's eased somewhat when Mackenzie is befriended by an American girl in her new school. The biggest shock of all comes when Mackenzie faces the wrath of her new friends, new community, and even her own father after she begins dating a Muslim boy.ReviewThe novel was a great read; I enjoyed learning a little more about this region, people and culture through the book. It was an insightful story. From the Inside FlapWhen 15-year-old Mackenzie Hill and her dad move to Jerusalem, the adjustment from life in Canada to life in Israel is dramatic. The biggest shock of all comes when Mackenzie faces the wrath of her new friends, new community, and even her own father after she begins dating a Muslim boy. Views: 14
The campaign of terror in London begins with a televised death-threat and climaxes in a spectacular, on-the-air takeover of capital radio. One man has been following the terrorists from the beginning. John Huckleston, one of their first victims, is also a top reporter after a hot story - and a lonely man, more than half in love with their seductive, ruthless woman leader. He will be with them at the death... Views: 14
Elsa Morante was born in 1912 to an unconventional family of modest means. She grew up with an independent spirit, a formidable will, and a commitment to writing—she wrote her first poem when she was just two years old. During World War II, Morante and her husband, the celebrated writer Alberto Moravia, were forced to flee occupied Rome—Moravia was half-Jewish (as was she) and wanted by the Fascists—and hide out in a remote mountain hut. After the war, Morante published a series of prize-winning novels, including Arturo's Island and History, a seminal account of the war, which established her as one of the leading Italian writers of her day.
Lily Tuck's elegant and unusual biography also evokes the heady time during the postwar years when Rome was the film capital of the world and Morante's counted among her circle of friends the filmmakers Pier Paolo Pasolini, Luchino Visconti, and the young Bernardo Bertolucci. A charismatic and beautiful woman, Morante had a series of love affairs—most unhappy—as well as friendships with such famous literary luminaries as Carlo Levi, Italo Calvino, and Natalia Ginzburg. As a couple, Morante and Moravia—the Beauvoir-Sartre of Italy—captivated the nation with their intense and mutual admiration, their arguments, and their passion.
Wonderfully researched with the cooperation of the Morante Estate, filled with personal interviews, and written in graceful and succinct prose, Woman of Rome introduces the American reader to a woman of fierce intelligence, powerful imagination, and original talent. Views: 14
A young man is killed in Miami's Bicentennial Park. Two shots -- one a through-and-through -- and on his body a quantity of coke is found. It would be easy to mark down his killing as gang related or a drug deal gone bad. While the simplest explanation may be the best, it does not follow that it is always true. There is something about the angles of the bullets that killed him that are off...and why take his gun and money, and leave the drugs? And who would have the skill to carry all of this out without leaving a path in the grass?A serial bomber has been spreading terror across the western states. The FBI has been on his trail for years, but always one day too late, leaving frustrated agents to sweep through bombed sites, looking for leads. A search of an Albuquerque motel and its Dumpsters has led the agent-in-charge to Miami, hoping this time he will not need the services of the Miami-Dade Crime Lab. A bomb set in a house kills a doctor and all of his family. If this is th... Views: 14
Where the Domino Fell recounts the history of American involvement in Vietnam from the end of World War II, clarifying the political aims, military strategy, and social and economic factors that contributed to the participants' actions. Provides an accessible, concise narrative history of the Vietnam conflictA new final chapter examines Vietnam through the lens of Oliver Stone’s films and opens up a discussion of the War in popular culture A chronology, a glossary, and a bibliography all serve as helpful reference points for studentsFrom Publishers WeeklyAccording to the authors of this compact history of the war and its aftermath, what began as a righteous crusade to save Southeast Asia from communism ended up as "a face-saving game to get out of an impossible mess without looking bad." Olson and Roberts (history professors at Sam Houston State University in Texas and Purdue University in Indiana, respectively) chronicle the course of the first and second Indochina wars from the Vietnamese, French and American points of view, tracing the U.S. commitment from the earliest OSS aid mission in 1945 to the humiliating pullout in '73. The book is highly readable, succinct in style and full of surprises: Ho Chi Minh's prediction that Americans' inherent impatience would doom their effort in the end; reviews of postwar Vietnamese movies about the anti-imperialist struggle; an analysis of America's efforts to come to terms with the defeat in Southeast Asia as reflected in popular culture. The authors are blunt, occasionally arbitrary in their opinions, arguing, for instance, that the most effective U.S. pacification effort was the Marines' CAP program, a promising but relatively minor affair prematurely canceled. Photos. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. Review"Where the Domino Fell is a very well informed and well documented critique of U. S. policy in Vietnam. From the opening years of U.S. involvement in Indochina during the Truman administration, down to the final withdrawal in the mid-1970s, the authors have provided an in-depth and topically balanced analysis of how and why the United States became involved in Vietnam and of the strategy debates that occurred over how to win the war…. An impressive achievement."–William J. Duiker, Ho Chi Minh (2000) Sacred War: Nationalism, and Intervention, and the Lessons of Vietnam (1995) Views: 14
**A searing, raw memoir of depression that is ultimately uplifting and inspiring.**
A successful magazine editor and prize-winning journalist, Sally Brampton launched *Elle* magazine in the UK in 1985. But behind the successful, glamorous career was a story that many of her friends and colleagues knew nothing about—her ongoing struggle with severe depression and alcoholism. Brampton's is a candid, tremendously honest telling of how she was finally able to "address the elephant in the room," and of a culture that sends the overriding message that people who suffer from depression are somehow responsible for their own illness. She offers readers a unique perspective of depression from the inside that is at times wrenching, but ultimately inspirational, as it charts her own coming back to life. Beyond her personal story, Brampton offers practical advice to all those affected by this illness. This book will resonate with any person whose life has been haunted by depression, at the same time offering help and understanding to those whose loved ones suffer from this debilitating condition.
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### From Publishers Weekly
A British fashion industry insider, Brampton wrote for *Vogue* and the *Observer* before launching *Elle* magazine in the U.K. By midlife, she had a successful, creative career, many close friends and a lovely daughter. Everything was going fabulously—until she fell apart. A paralyzing depression gripped her so intensely, she finally acknowledged that she needed to be institutionalized. Unfortunately, she was one of the many with treatment-resistant depression—high-tech pharmaceuticals just didn't work for her. As she cycled in and out of mental wards, survived suicide attempts and tried countless therapies, she learned a lot about depression—the stigma surrounding it, how it's triggered, the range of available therapies. With unflinching honesty, she describes her own experiences as well as sharing her research, letting readers take from it what you need and leave the rest. Brampton is particularly good at describing the currently favored therapies, like cognitive behavioral therapy, positive psychology and cognitive mindfulness behavioral therapy. Her openness to all sorts of treatment, including acupuncture, is refreshing, as is the ease with which she advises friends and family on how to be most helpful. Brampton's story is accessible and endearing. *(June)* Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
### About the Author
**Sally Brampton** lives in London and is a highly acclaimed novelist, columnist, and journalist. She also teaches fashion at the Fashion Institute. Views: 14
