Playing cops was just a game until the bullets were real. The gravy train hasn’t stopped in the hollers of western Virginia for more than thirty years when Stony Shelor starts his junior year at Jubal Early High. Class divides and racism are still the hardened norms as the Eisenhower years draw to a close. Violence lies coiled under the calm surface, ready to strike at any time. On the high school front, the cool boys are taking their wardrobe and music cues from hip TV private dick Peter Gunn, and Dobie Gillis is teaching them how to hit on pretty girls. There’s no help for Stony on the horizon, though. Mary Lou Martin is the girl of his dreams, and she hardly knows Stony exists. In addition, Stony can’t seem to stay out of juvenile court and just may end up in reform school. A long, difficult year stretches out in front of him when a new boy arrives in town. Likeable bullshit artist Jack Newcomb dresses like Peter Gunn, uses moves like Dobie Gillis, and plays pretty good jazz clarinet. Jack draws Stony into his fantasy of being a private detective, and the two boys start hanging around the county sheriff’s office. Accepted as sources of amusement and free labor, the aspiring gumshoes land their first case after the district attorney’s house is burglarized. Later, the boys hatch an ingenious scheme to help the deputies raid an illegal speakeasy and brothel. All the intrigue feels like fun and games to Jack and Stony until a gunfight with a hillbilly boy almost gets them killed. The stakes rise even higher when the boys find themselves facing off against the Ku Klux Klan. -- A.D. Hopkins

An Alabama boy’s innocence is shaken by murder and madness in the 1960s South in this novel by the New York Times–bestselling author of Swan Song. It’s 1964 in idyllic Zephyr, Alabama. People either work for the paper mill up the Tecumseh River, or for the local dairy. It’s a simple life, but it stirs the impressionable imagination of twelve-year-old aspiring writer Cory Mackenson. He’s certain he’s sensed spirits whispering in the churchyard. He’s heard of the weird bootleggers who lurk in the dark outside of town. He’s seen a flood leave Main Street crawling with snakes. Cory thrills to all of it as only a young boy can. Then one morning, while accompanying his father on his milk route, he sees a car careen off the road and slowly sink into fathomless Saxon’s Lake. His father dives into the icy water to rescue the driver, and finds a beaten corpse, naked and handcuffed to the steering wheel—a copper wire tightened around the stranger’s neck. In time, the townsfolk seem to forget all about the unsolved murder. But Cory and his father can’t. Their search for the truth is a journey into a world where innocence and evil collide. What lies before them is the stuff of fear and awe, magic and madness, fantasy and reality. As Cory wades into the deep end of Zephyr and all its mysteries, he’ll discover that while the pleasures of childish things fade away, growing up can be a strange and beautiful ride. “Strongly echoing the childhood-elegies of King and Bradbury, and every bit their equal,” Boy’s Life, a winner of both the Bram Stoker and World Fantasy Awards, represents a brilliant blend of mystery and rich atmosphere, the finest work of one of today’s most accomplished writers (Kirkus Reviews).

I wrote this book in the hope that everybody could share the memories of my father and have a glimpse of the alternative lifestyle to those who lived in the towns and cities at that time. Follow the journey of my father's humble upbringing in the wilds of Norfolk in the thirties and forties amidst nature's playground. I'm sure you will smile and chuckle as you turn the pages and follow the life path of my father, the mischievous boy, turning into the most respected gamekeeper I know. Those of you who grew up in similar backgrounds may recognise the hardships and difficult days, along with the sense of freedom and exploration of that time, which had very few rules and regulations. This book may awaken your own memories of when the countryside was pure, untouched and full of life.

The year was 1849. The wagon train moved slowly along the parched Oregon Trail in the empty desolation that was to become known as southern Wyoming. Martha Bradford was told she must discard either her cast-iron cook stove or her pianola to lighten the burden for the oxen. She has them both unloaded and then refuses to go on any further: “She declared that if the only things that made her life worth living were being left behind, they’d just as well leave both the stove and the pianola, and her with them.” This novel is based on the next six generations of her family and the first ranch settled in that part of the country. Here are real cowboys and cowgirls, Indians of the past and present, a faith-challenged evangelist, a militant suffragette, newspaper owner, and many others, linked together by their hard work, rowdy pleasures, their spiritual beliefs or non-beliefs, and stitched into a panoramic story-quilt representing the dream of the Morning Star and its hopeful annunciation of a new day rising in the Old West.

From culture shock to cone-shell poison, what better way to experience the highs and lows of global ocean travel than through the words of the captain's mate, mother of two teenaged boys. Lona Gray chronicled every aspect of their sailing adventure from how to find and prepare meals, how to repair engines, how to avoid monsoons, how to educate teenagers, and how to stay sane living in small quarters far from all the comforts of stateside living. Through Lona's words, we see and feel Captain Bobby's frustrations and triumphs, we meet their new friends, and we experience the rush of unexpected weather. "Caught by the Lure of the Sea is a compelling and realistic account for anyone considering taking the leap of faith to follow a romantic dream." -Cathie Katz, author of Sierra Club's Nature a Day at a Time: An Uncommon Look At Common Wildlife. "If you've ever dreamt of sailing around the world, family in tow, this is the vicarious trip of a lifetime." -Carole Kotkin, co-author MMMMiami-Tempting Tropical Tastes for Home Cooks Everywhere; food editor Travellady.com and free-lance travel writer. " you should read the adventures of Bobbie and Lona Gray aboard the sailing vessel Immanuel they met priests and pirates and braved stormy seas to bring you a story you'll not forget." -John A. Brennan, former Commodore of the Coconut Grove Sailing Club

Fairy tale «miracle-boy» is the story of a little boy who went on a journey to different planets. Having flown on the air ship to Earth, the miracle-boy has met with Lusei and her friends and all children has invited to the native planet the heat. There, in distant space, young travelers had an interesting acquaintance with a distant planet. As friends have spent time, what they had to endure away from the earth and their unusual return home to you, dear my young readers, to find out.

Book Summary Benjamin and Tammi Townsend were still searching for their parents. What had happened to them. They had found out that their parents were not deceased and were still alive. After defeating the evil Koranga during their first quest they must defeat the evil Nobunaga to get closer to finding their parents in this new quest. They must find the special samurai sword that will help them defeat all the evil that they encounter. They must travel through a portal that leads them to Old Japan. Benjamin and Tammi had learned along their second quest that they had gained new powers that were not common to the mortal man. These powers were different then the ones they had obtained during their first quest. They would need to use these powers along with the help of others to defeat Nobunaga. What will Benjamin and Tammi do and will their new powers defeat the evil Nobunaga? How will they find the portal that leads them back to Old Japan? Will they find their parents this time or will they have to wait for another quest?

Unsolicited Encounters: The Guardian Angel takes place in Macon County, Georgia. Grandpa George is telling his seventeen year-old grandson, John, a story about what happened to him when he turned seventeen, and what will soon be happening in his grandson's life. Back in the 1930s during the Great Depression, the typical Southern farm family had no indoor plumbing, electricity, or running water. Grandpa George worked on Mr. Higgonbottom's farm since he was twelve years old. Mr. Higgonbottom had a wife and four children who lived in the same house that Grandpa lives in now. Charles Higgonbottom was also the president of the town bank. A God-fearing man, he was forced to join the Ku Klux Khan. The KKK went around terrorizing colored folks and Jews. When they tried to burn down Grandpa's house, Mr. Higgonbottom put a stop to it. Afterward, the banker was killed by the KKK. Grandpa George said that after Charles Higgonbottom died, he went to heaven, but God sent him back to be George's guardian angel. While Grandpa tells the story of his life, Mr. Higgonbottom is sitting next to him. But the angel is not alone. There is a lady sitting next to his grandson.She is John's guardian angel and he is about to meet her. Bonita McNickles Buie lives in Brookhaven, Mississippi, and is the grandmother of three. This is her third book. She was inspired to write the story after hearing about a former member of the Klan who regretted his actions and wanted forgiveness before his death. Publisher's website: http: //sbpra.com/BonitaMcNicklesBui

It was the beginning of summer and Jay was looking forward to going to stay with his cousin, Timberlin, on his grandpa’s farm. Grandpa has a 100-acre farm in Supply, North Carolina. There are a lot of things to do on the farm. There are cows to feed, ducks to feed, horses to feed and brush, and chickens to feed and gather the eggs for grandma to cook. Grandma cooks some for breakfast and she uses some in the cakes she bakes. There is even a fishpond on the farm. The boys love to catch fish for grandma to cook. There are many trails for the boys to ride on in the back part of the farm. Grandpa has several things for the boys to ride. There are four wheelers, dirt bikes, tractors, horses, and a golf cart. Grandma has an old bloodhound dog, named Rocky. He loves to ride in the golf cart. Every time Rocky sees the golf cart move, he come running and jumps in.

Michael Rosen's seven-year-old son Ripton one day decided to join a pick-up game of baseball with some older kids in the park. At the end of the game Ripton asked his new friends if they wanted to come back to his house for snacks and Nintendo. Over time, five of the boys -- all black and Hispanic, from the impoverished neighborhood across the park -- became a fixture in the Rosens' home and eventually started referring to Michael and his wife Leslie as their parents. The boys began to see the Rosens as more than just an arcade of middle-class creature comforts; the Rosens began to learn the full stories of the boys' fractured lives. Soon Michael and Leslie decided that their responsibility, like that of parents everywhere, was to help all their boys get a start in life. So began a turbulent learning experience all round, beautifully and movingly depicted in What Else But Home. It's a quest to escape the previously inevitable, a test of the resilience of a newly assembled family, a love story unlike any other, and a celebration of the fact that, whatever our differences, baseball and commitment can help us bridge them.