Dismissed by the police as mere adjuncts to or gofers for male gangs, girl gang members are in fact often as emotionally closed off and dangerous as their male counterparts. Carrying razor blades in their mouths and guns in their jackets for defense, they initiate drive-by shootings, carry out car jackings, stomp outsiders who stumble onto or dare to enter the neighborhood, viciously retaliate against other gangs and ferociously guard their home turf. But Sikes also captures the differences that distinguish girl gangs-abortion, teen pregnancy and teen motherhood, endless beatings and the humiliation of being forced to have sex with a lineup of male gangbangers during initiation, haphazardly raising kids in a household of drugs and guns with a part-time boyfriend off gangbanging himself. Veteran journalist Gini Sikes spends a year in the ghettos following the lives of several key gang members in South Central Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Milwaukee. In 8 Ball Chicks, we discover the fear and desperate desire for respect and status that drive girls into gangs in the first place--and the dreams and ambitions that occasionally help them to escape the catch-22 of their existence.

DISCOVER THE TRUTH ABOUT ATLANTIS AND WHERE ATLANTIANS REALLY CAME FROM.UNCOVER THE TRUE REASONS ALL THE PYRAMIDS ACROSS THE GLOBE WERE REALLY BUILD AND BY WHOM.TRAVEL WITH OUR HERO,S "BEN",AND AN ANCIENT ATLANTIAN"KLATO"ACROSS THE WORLD ON A LIFE SAVING JOURNEY TO SAVE OUR PLANET FROM IMPENDING DOOM.DISCOVER PYRAMIDS THAT HAVE BEEN HIDDEN FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS AND THE SECRETS THEY HOLD...10% of all sales goes to W.S.P.A.Worldwide to help abused Donkeys/Horses...

A New York journalist recounts how she took up playing pool as a means of alleviating stress, in a memoir that traces her experiences from her attendance at instructional classes and her attempts to find a team to her unexpected wins and losses.

Fourteen year old Reason Nelson walks a tightrope between the police and the underworld, while getting deeper into drugs, alcohol, and serious crime.

Inner-city black women open their hearts to share the pain of crack addiction and its consequences Behind the Eight Ball: Sex for Crack Cocaine Exchange and Poor Black Women documents an American tragedy that highlights the widening gap between social and economic classes. In their own words, poor black women—nameless, faceless, and marginalized by poverty—share the details of their lives before and after crack cocaine invaded their communities, each recalling the circumstances of her introduction to the drug and her first experience using sex to support her addiction. These candid interviews expose the socioeconomic changes in inner-city neighborhoods that created the perfect conditions for a crack stronghold; the crack cocaine economy's impact on the lives of inner-city residents; and the social and familial consequences of crack addiction among poor, black women. Behind the Eight Ball: Sex for Crack Cocaine Exchange and Poor Black Women places crack addiction, crack-related prostitution and its consequences, STDs, HIV, and pregnancy into the context of the larger social issues of inner-city poverty, race, gender, and class. This unique book reveals the sex-for-crack barter system as evidence of a long-term social exclusion and systemic racism that has worked to destroy the self-image of poor black American women. The women interviewed reflect this negative image, exchanging sex for crack on a regular basis to support their addictions at the risk-and reality-of unplanned pregnancies. “The baby I am carrying now, I don’t know who the father is. There are a few (men) that I had sex with around the time I got pregnant—that day. But which one it is, I don’t know who.” Behind the Eight Ball: Sex for Crack Cocaine Exchange and Poor Black Women examines: why poor black women addicted to crack are disproportionately at risk for sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, and unplanned pregnancies how the social and economic characteristics of poor black communities support crack distribution and consumption how crack use and the exchange of sex for crack damages struggling black families why the care of many children is entrusted to child welfare agencies how and why women are marginalized in the crack culture Behind the Eight Ball: Sex for Crack Cocaine Exchange and Poor Black Women is an insightful and enlightening look at the motivations behind the decision to risk illness, injury, disease, death, and pregnancy to support addiction.

At age eleven, Julia Raine and her best friend Lois use a "magic eight ball" to channel the imaginary voice of Mrs. McCracken, a doll who gives advice on topics from romance to interior decoration, when not exiled to a box in the barn. In high school she gets tips from Jannette, who could be "astral-projected to any high school in Paris or New York, welcomed and ushered to the desk situated in the epicentre of the most popular group of girls". In her twenties, Julia is still looking for the magic answers that will make sense of her world and banish her anxieties about work, family and -- most of all -- sex. Magic Eight Ball follows Julia as she wanders into adulthood, while life deals her one surprise after another. From childhood crushes to accidental motherhood to an unexpected love affair with a woman, Julia's story is told with charm, insight and abundant wit.

Here in a single, compact handbook are all the rules for the myriad forms of pocket billiards. Billiards: The Official Rules and Records Book is complete with detailed instructions on how to play everything from Basic Pocket Billiards to Cut-Throat, together with the rules for tournament games such as Nine Ball and Rotation, and Snooker and Carom games. These are the official rules of billiards from the Billiard Congress of America, the governing body of professional billiards in the United States. A very helpful chapter for the beginner includes professional tips on basic techniques and strategies. Also included are a glossary of billiard terms and a summary of BCA billiards champions.