Meet "Sweetwater" and "Sundance" — two of the most outrageous and daring jet jockeys ever to sit behind the controls of an F-14. Assigned to the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, these boys are living life to the fullest: harassing Russian recon planes . . . raising hell on shore leave . . . testing the limits of their jets, their commanding officers, and their own reputations as the Navy's best. Sweetwater Gunslinger 201 is a Top Gun novel that tells it like it really is. A high-flying adventure you'll never forget . . .

"ROAD TO GOLD" : WHAT IT TAKES TO EARN THOSE COVETED "WINGS OF GOLD"Celebrating the 100TH Anniversary of Naval AVIATIONBY: Bill "Sweetwater" LaBarge, Navy Carrier Pilot and New York Times Bestselling Author.From basic training to deadly battle in the skies, he followed a path of high risk and proud tradition.Matt "Sweetwater" Sullivan's dream of becoming a Navy pilot could not possibly have prepared him for the body-numbing pace of basic training with a class of bewildered beginners. With grit, verve, and determination, Matt would survive the "Pensacola Pressure-Cooker" and go on to Saufley Field to meet the grueling demands of the Navy's basic flight program.But learning to handle high-altitude crises and hazardous landings was only a prelude to the harrowing night flights, the hair-trigger laser weapons training, dicey test flights from the desk of the Lady Lex, and deadly DEA combat action. Facing down fears and doubts, meeting every challenge, Matt would take every risk, until he could say with a naval aviator's pride that he had gone the distance and earned the right to join the select few who wear the hard-won, coveted Wings of Gold.

Newbery Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Matt de la Peña's Mexican WhiteBoy is a story of friendship, acceptance, and the struggle to find your identity in a world of definitions. Danny's tall and skinny. Even though he’s not built, his arms are long enough to give his pitch a power so fierce any college scout would sign him on the spot. Ninety-five mile an hour fastball, but the boy’s not even on a team. Every time he gets up on the mound he loses it. But at his private school, they don’t expect much else from him. Danny’ s brown. Half-Mexican brown. And growing up in San Diego that close to the border means everyone else knows exactly who he is before he even opens his mouth. Before they find out he can’t speak Spanish, and before they realize his mom has blond hair and blue eyes, they’ve got him pegged. But it works the other way too. And Danny’s convinced it’s his whiteness that sent his father back to Mexico. That’s why he’s spending the summer with his dad’s family. Only, to find himself, he may just have to face the demons he refuses to see--the demons that are right in front of his face. And open up to a friendship he never saw coming. Matt de la Peña's critically acclaimed novel is an intimate and moving story that offers hope to those who least expect it. "[A] first-rate exploration of self-identity."-SLJ "Unique in its gritty realism and honest portrayal of the complexities of life for inner-city teens...De la Peña poignantly conveys the message that, despite obstacles, you must believe in yourself and shape your own future."-The Horn Book Magazine "The baseball scenes...sizzle like Danny's fastball...Danny's struggle to find his place will speak strongly to all teens, but especially to those of mixed race."-Booklist "De la Peña blends sports and street together in a satisfying search for personal identity."-Kirkus Reviews "Mexican WhiteBoy...shows that no matter what obstacles you face, you can still reach your dreams with a positive attitude. This is more than a book about a baseball player--this is a book about life."-Curtis Granderson, New York Mets outfielder An ALA-YALSA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults A Junior Library Guild Selection

Sweetwater and Sundance were the hottest Top Gun fly-boys in the Navy. But the Persian Gulf gave a new meaning to the word "hell." Now on a Top Secret mission, Sweetwater and company are out to destroy Iranian ships laying mines in the gulf. This mission sends a loud message to the leaders of Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Afghnistan, Libya and Pakistan, they better be listening. With their F/A 18 Hornets--and more guts than firepower-- these pilots mean business.

America's strength has always been her people. Never has this strength been more evident than in time of war. From the Revolution on, the history of America at war has always been the history of ordinary men and women doing extraordinary things. But in the past, it has taken years, sometimes even decades, for those heroic men and women to be heard, for their individual stories to be told. In the current era, with electronic media making the news instantaneously available around the world, one would think that would no longer be the case. In America's latest war, the electronic media brought us only the men and women at the top—leaders like General Schwarzkopf, General Kelly, and Pete Williams, the official voice of the Pentagon. But the real stories, the stories of courage under fire, were half a world away—in Khafji and Dhahran, Basra and the barren wastes of the Iraqi desert. The stories were there because America's men and women were there, with M-16s and artillery, in tanks and in attack aircraft, in the tents and in the trenches. Every service was represented—Army, Navy, Air Force, and U.S. Coast Guard. The career soldiers were there and so were the citizen soldiers of the reserves. These are their stories, told in their own way. These are the Desert Voices.

"FREEDOM DOES NOT COME FREE" In today's society, individuals feel they have earned the right to sit in classrooms and learn, earned the right to vote and have a sense of entitlement. Without a Veteran, whether active duty or retired is someone who, at one point in their life signed a blank check made payable to The United States of America, for an amount of, up to and including my life. That is honor and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it... It's your responsibility to be a good citizens, our military has paid the price so that you can have your Freedom and it is their self-sacrifice that has made this country possible. Don't forget it !!!! The Bitterness of War Remains.... Long after the Sweetness Of Victory is Forgotten Out of the frying pan------- into the Persian Gulf. Sweetwater and Sundance were the hottest Top Gun fly-boys in the Navy. But the Persian Gulf gave a new meaning to the word "hell." Now on a Top Secret mission, Sweetwater and company are out to destroy Iranian ships laying mines in the gulf. This mission sends a loud message to the leaders of Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Afghnistan, Libya and Pakistan, they better be listening. With their F/A 18 Hornets--and more guts than firepower--- these pilots mean business. They're the Navy's best, taking on the worst job of their careers. Sweetwater's always like a challenge---- This time, he's got it.. Hornet's Nest

From William H. LaBarge, Author of Four National Bestselling Books and Co-Author of Aviation Book of The Year: "SWEETWATER GUNSLINGER 201" The news is grim. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, has threatened to attack Iran if they don’t stop enriching uranium. United States interests back the threat. In LaBarge’s latest novel, “Lightning Strikes Twice”, U.S. Navy pilots, aboard the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), CAPT “Sweetwater” Sullivan and LT “BigHands” Johnson, are called upon to carry out the impossible mission of deterring the Iranian threat under daunting circumstances. "Lightning Strikes Twice", is a action-packed story dealing with today's current events. The covert operation during the story is called, "Rolling Thunder". The story deals with the Bushehr Nuclear Plant in Iran, the Newest Stealth Fighter F-35C, the CIA, Navy SEALS, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, the world's longest Sniper kill shot and an SSGN Nuclear Submarine with the SHED. This electrifying story is bigger than today's political winds on Capitol Hill. The F-35C has the most advanced Integrated Senor Fusing Technology and Multispectral Electro-Optical Targeting capability in the world, this jaw-dropping story is a fast-paced political thriller. "In Lightning Strikes Twice Bill LaBarge shares his life and experiences in Naval Aviation, both the spell binding operations and the bawdy life ashore, and projects those forward through the eyes of the Commander of the Air Group in the USS Ronald Reagan. What follows is a fictional military response to the nuclear threat from the Iranians and the story of the warriors, their courage, and their sacrifices and their brilliance in execution. All this while coping with the nastiest elements of the environment while landing on REAGAN in storm tossed seas. A story that could someday prove to be more truth than fiction." --Vern Clark, Admiral, USN (Ret.)

When an FBI agent on a spiritual quest of his own is tasked with finding whoever critically wounded a fellow agent's wife, he uncovers a world of Russian organized crime, neo-Nazis, and sex slavery.

Booklist Top of the List Reference Source The heir and successor to Eric Partridge's brilliant magnum opus, The Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, this two-volume New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English is the definitive record of post WWII slang. Containing over 60,000 entries, this new edition of the authoritative work on slang details the slang and unconventional English of the English-speaking world since 1945, and through the first decade of the new millennium, with the same thorough, intense, and lively scholarship that characterized Partridge's own work. Unique, exciting and, at times, hilariously shocking, key features include: unprecedented coverage of World English, with equal prominence given to American and British English slang, and entries included from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, South Africa, Ireland, and the Caribbean emphasis on post-World War II slang and unconventional English published sources given for each entry, often including an early or significant example of the term’s use in print. hundreds of thousands of citations from popular literature, newspapers, magazines, movies, and songs illustrating usage of the headwords dating information for each headword in the tradition of Partridge, commentary on the term’s origins and meaning New to this edition: A new preface noting slang trends of the last five years Over 1,000 new entries from the US, UK and Australia New terms from the language of social networking Many entries now revised to include new dating, new citations from written sources and new glosses The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English is a spectacular resource infused with humour and learning – it’s rude, it’s delightful, and it’s a prize for anyone with a love of language.