De La Salle High School in Concord, California, is home to perhaps the greatest dynasty in sports history. At age 23, Coach Bob Ladouceur launched a legend, "The Streak," with no teaching or head-coaching experience, and with his teams amassed the highest winning percentage in all of football history with 138 consecutive victories. This book takes readers behind the scenes, closely following individual players, as Ladouceur guides his team through the most daunting schedule in school history, the 2002 season. Numerous interviews with major-league coaches such as Bill Walsh, Steve Mariucci, and John Gruden show the depth of respect accorded to Ladouceur and his methods and philosophies. Written with full cooperation from the coach and including dozens of photographs, this book is perfect for anyone interested in the factors behind phenomenal team success.

"Dr. Roland Q. Leavall was a great administrator, a dynamic preacher, a compassionate evangelist, and an effective teacher of evangelism. Among Southern Baptists, he stood tall as a great denominational statesman. All who knew him are in his debt. This book is a welcome addition to our memories." -Dr. Joe H. Cothen, former vice president of Academic Affairs for the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary This biography depicts the impressive career and personal struggles of a great influence in the Southern Baptist tradition. Roland Q. Leavell served as a minister, evangelist, author, and seminary president. Leavell's life started as one in search of acceptance and purpose. As the eighth of nine boys, his poverty-stricken parents were not overjoyed at his birth, but Leavell soon earned his place in the family. He likewise felt a need to earn his place in God's service. As a young minister, Leavell ventured into the small country towns of Mississippi to establish churches and missions, later guiding their growth. This type of evangelistic work attracted the attention of the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Leavell was asked to lead a department that would teach churches how to evangelize. Leavell's leadership and organizational skills made him a perfect candidate for president of the Baptist Bible Institute in New Orleans. He was unanimously elected and made dramatic improvements. Seeing the need for a larger school, he sold the cramped campus in the Garden District. He raised funds and moved across town to the present spacious Gentilly campus. It became an accredited seminary which is now the second largest in the world. Although Leavell's life was full of spiritual and personal struggles, his focus on God's work remained his primary focus. His ultimate success can be attributed to his capacity to inspire and lead others.

EllRay Jakes finally grows up (a little) by playing basketball in this ninth book in the series. There's a new game in town—basketball! Or in Ellray's case, pre-basketball. Coach Havens has all the third graders dribbling, passing, and shooting, and he's quick to compliment EllRay's skills. No one else seems to notice them, however, and as 'the shortest kid in the class,' EllRay is still chosen last for teams at recess. What's a short guy gotta do to get noticed?? When EllRay comes up with a plan that involves the off-limits teacher's lounge, everyone does a double take! PRAISE FOR THE ELLRAY JAKES SERIES: "Warner is a dead-on observer of playground politics, and has a great ear for dialogue."—School Library Journal on EllRay Jakes Is Not a Chicken! "...ideal for reluctant readers."—Booklist on EllRay Jakes Is Not a Chicken! "Young readers can identify with EllRay, who is neither a bad seed nor a goody-two-shoes; he and his sense of humor are just right."—Kirkus on EllRay Jakes Is a Rock Star! "The EllRay Jakes stories are just right for his real-life peers."—Kirkus on EllRay Jakes Walks the Plank

In 1978, strong-willed yet idiosyncratic Steve Wiggins follows his father’s military footsteps and enrolls in South Carolina Military Academy, a bastion of Southern principles and severe discipline. The academy only recently allowed black cadets to attend and is in the early stages of a policy enforcement against the upperclassmen’s notorious hazing. The students whisper about Steve when he passes, and their words follow him like shadows of the palmetto trees swaying in the breeze. In Charleston, South Carolina, where the Confederacy and slave trade cast a shadow over the city’s history, the mayor begins an ambitious new project that attempts to bring the city out of the dark. While on campus, Steve stumbles into a moral dilemma to either expose a situation or remain silent to safeguard his secret. When Steve returns home, he notices a change in Charleston. The faces from his childhood are absent from church. There is a new pastor. Steve is no longer speaking to his girlfriend. He feels exasperated and in need of someone to talk to. At home, he wears a smile, and his parents take pride in him for dedicating himself to such a disciplined life. Standing Tall highlights an African American’s experience in a marginalized environment with pervasive Southern ideology. While attending a military academy is a difficult trial, it teaches important lessons, including but not limited to stoicism, perseverance, and tenacity.

STAT: Standing Tall And Talented-- A slam-dunk new fiction series from NBA superstar Amar'e Stoudemire! Eleven-year-old Amar'e Stoudemire has a lot going on. He loves to go skateboarding in the park. He takes his school work very seriously. He helps out with his dad's landscaping company. And he likes to play basketball with his best friends-but just for fun. When a group of older kids start disrespecting his boys on their neighborhood basketball court, there is only one solution. Amar'e must step in and use his athletic ability and intelligence to save the day. This experience leads Amar'e to realize that basketball is his true passion.Based on the life of All-Star NBA sensation Amar'e Stoudemire, who overcame many obstacles to become one of the most popular figures in sports today. Amar'e is just as versatile in his off the court life as he is on. He is devoted to several charities. He promotes literacy and education. He is a media darling. And he has an amazing story to tell in this heartfelt, accessible middle-grade series.

Corporal Andy Reid was an ordinary soldier, serving in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. But his life changed for ever on Tuesday 13 October 2009, when he was blown up by a Taliban improved explosive device (IED). Evacuated to the UK, it was touch-and-go whether he would survive. He had lost both legs and his right arm, while the index finger of his left hand was almost completely removed. Yet survive he did and less than a month after being blown up, he was reunited with his patrol back in Warminster. From there he went on to have a pair of prosthetic legs fitted, and this allowed him to go on a cruise with his fiancee Claire in 2010. In the same year, he was nominated for and won the Sun's Military Award. In between he has cycled from Land's End to John O'Groats, skydived and made a number of appearances on behalf of service charities. Andy's story demonstrates how, with patience, courage and determination, hope can triumph over despair. He is not seeking pity or admiration. But he does want to make sure that we, the general public, know, as much as someone who has not been there or been through it themselves can ever know, what operations in Afghanistan are like, what happens to those who get injured and what future they might have. This is the incredible story of a truly inspirational man.

Integrity is an important trait for children to develop—especially as they grow, learn, and have more opportunities to make choices for themselves. With this encouraging book, support children in knowing right from wrong, making positive decisions, keeping promises, and staying true to themselves. Back matter includes advice for teaching integrity at home, at school, and in childcare. Being the Best Me Series: From the author of the popular Learning to Get Along® books comes a one-of-a-kind character-development series. Each of the first six books in the Being the Best Me! series helps children learn, understand, and develop attitudes and positive character traits that strengthen self-confidence and a sense of purpose. Each book focuses on a specific attitude or character trait—optimism, self-esteem, assertiveness, resilience, integrity, and forgiveness. Also included are discussion questions, games, activities, and additional information for adults. Filled with diversity, these social story books will be welcome in school, home, and childcare settings.

Thomas OReiley, a wealthy and highly successful San Francisco businessman had spent five desperate, daunting years as a young man isolated on a South Pacific island. After his audacious return to San Francisco in 1896, OReiley married the only girl he had ever cherished, the beautiful Amanda McPherson. During these early years of the twentieth century, the United States is busy flexing its newly-found muscles, from the far-Western Pacific through Central America to the Caribbean. Meanwhile, prominent politicians and scandalous entrepreneurs were determined to sabotage one of the United States greatest engineering feats, the construction of the inter-ocean canal through the Isthmus of Panama. This loose alliance of vicious men and formidable politicians employ inside sources, corruption and murder in a daring conspiracy to satisfy their greed. OReiley is gradually drawn into a covert effort to prevent the assassination of President Theodore Roosevelt. But OReiley is troubled by his life and the trappings of success that camouflage his own uncertainties, longings and suppressed yearnings. His efforts to acknowledge and confront his passions and wanderlust lead to near-tragedy in the high Sierras. They are avoided only through his rediscovery of peace and solitude, his total acceptance by a ranching family and the mysterious encounter with a fugitive Indian shaman in the California Sierras that thrusts his life in a new direction.

As a powerfully built, third-year tight end with the Buffalo Bills, Kevin Everett had it all: a promising NFL future, a beautiful girlfriend whom he planned to marry, and an engaging personality that made him one of his team's most popular players. He also had a wonderful family that included his devoted mother and his three adoring younger sisters, for whom he had recently purchased a home in suburban Houston, Texas. And then, in a fraction of a second, his life was changed forever when he was paralyzed while making a tackle against the Denver Broncos in the 2007 season opener.

In the spring of 2005, Tom Benford seemed to have it all: a successful career, a loving family and dreams of retirement. Then lightning struck: his daughter, Andrea, was diagnosed with small-cell ovarian cancer. Standing Tall is the story of Tom and Andrea's year together: the laughter, the tears, and most importantly, the lessons learned through a debilitating illness. Told lovingly through a father's eyes, Standing Tall is the story of family, love and a parent holding on -- then letting go.