“The poster made you cool, You didn’t make the poster cool.” –Charles Barkley, Basketball Hall of Famer From Poster Boys: How the Costacos Brothers Built a Wall Art Empire Rediscover your childhood sense of awe with the Costacos Brothers’ official collection of the iconic sports posters that adorned the bedrooms of a generation. John and Tock Costacos share stories of the hard work, luck, giant prop baseball bats, wild animals, explosives, Ferraris, and semi-automatic weapons that forged an indelible bond between fans and their NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL idols. With more than 100 posters and never-before-seen outtakes and concept art, Walls of Fame: The Unforgettable Sports Posters of the Costacos Brothers is an extraordinary look back at the golden age of sports heroes. More than 100 posters are featured, including: * Brian Bosworth: The Land of Boz (Seattle Seahawks) * Michael Jordan: Space (Chicago Bulls) * Jose Canseco & Mark McGwire: The Bash Brothers (Oakland A’s) * Bo Jackson: Black & Blue (Los Angeles Raiders & Kansas City Royals) * Aaron Judge: Judgement Time (New York Yankees) * Magic Johnson & Wayne Gretzky: L.A. Story (L.A. Lakers & L.A. Kings) * Roger Clemons: The Rocket (Boston Red Sox) * Lawrence Taylor: The Terminator (New York Giants) * Sergei Fedorov: From Russia with Love (Detroit Red Wings) * Charles Barkley: Get Off My Backboard (Philadelphia 76ers) * Jim McMahon & Walter Payton: Chicago Vice (Chicago Bears) * Dave Winfield: Class (New York Yankees) * Larry Bird: Legend (Boston Celtics) * Troy Aikman: Strong Arm of the Law (Dallas Cowboys) * Kirby Puckett: Wrecking Ball (Minnesota Twins) * Dominique Wilkins: The Highlight Zone (Atlanta Hawks) * Jerry Rice: Goldfingers (San Francisco 49ers) * Ken Griffey Jr. & Ken Griffey Sr.: The Next Generation (Seattle Mariners & Cincinnati Reds) * Shawn Kemp & Jeff Ament: Slam & Jam (Seattle SuperSonics & Pearl Jam) * John Elway: The Rifleman (Denver Broncos) * Kevin Mitchell: Batman (San Francisco Giants) * Luc Robitaille: Cool Hand Luc (L.A. Kings) * Shaquille O’Neal: Rim Shaker (Orlando Magic) * Christian Okoye: Nigerian Nightmare (Kansas City Chiefs) * Don Majkowski: Majik Man (Green Bay Packers) * Kirk Gibson: Big Game Hunter (L.A. Dodgers) * Patrick Ewing: Madison Square Guardian (New York Knicks) * Reggie White: Minister of Defense (Philadelphia Eagles) * Andre Dawson: The Hawk (Chicago Cubs) . . . and more!

The most fabulous nine-year-old cowgirl in Texas is back in this heartwarming and hilarious sequel to The Magnificent Mya Tibbs: Spirit Week Showdown! Perfect for fans of Clementine and Ivy and Bean. Nine-year-old Mya Tibbs is in a triple heap of trouble. As the Tibbs household prepares for the new baby, Mya is extra excited to spend time with her mom watching their favorite Annie Oakley marathon before her new sister arrives. Until she’s cornered into a bet with her number-one enemy, Naomi Jackson, that she can beat her in the famous fourth-grade Wall of Fame Game—which means Mya is stuck studying every night instead of hanging out with Mom. As if that wasn’t enough, Mya just entered Bluebonnet’s annual chili cook-off, even though she doesn’t know how to cook! Holy moly! Can Mya find a way to beat Naomi, win the chili cook-off, and get some special mom/daughter time before it’s too late?

As public education declined and many Americans despaired of their children's future, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jonathan Freedman volunteered as a writing mentor in some of California's toughest innercity schools. He discovered a program called AVID that gave him hope. In this work of creative non-fiction, Mr. Freedman interweaves the lives of AVID's founder, Mary Catherine Swanson, and six of her original AVID students over a 20-year period, from 1980 to 2000. With powerful personalities, explosive conflicts, and compelling action, Wall of Fame portrays the dramatic story of how one teacher in one classroom created a pragmatic program that has propelled thousands of students to college. This story of determination, courage, and hope inspires a new generation of teachers, students, and parents to fight for change from the bottom up.

A hilarious and spunky new heroine in the vein of the heroines of such beloved books as Ramona the Pest, Ivy and Bean, and Clementine, from Crystal Allen—the acclaimed author of How Lamar’s Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy. Nine-year-old Mya Tibbs is boot-scootin’ excited for the best week of the whole school year—SPIRIT WEEK! She and her megapopular best friend, Naomi Jackson, even made a pinky promise to be Spirit Week partners so they can win the big prize: special VIP tickets to the Fall Festival! But when the partner picking goes horribly wrong, Mya gets paired with Mean Connie Tate—the biggest bully in school. And she can’t get out of it. Good gravy. Now Naomi is friend-ending mad at Mya for breaking a promise—even though Mya couldn’t help it—and everyone at school is calling Mya names. Can Mya work with Mean Connie to win the VIP tickets and get her best friend back?

A national bestseller, this extraordinary work of investigative reporting uncovers the identities, and the remarkable stories, of the CIA secret agents who died anonymously in the service of their country. In the entrance of the CIA headquarters looms a huge marble wall into which seventy-one stars are carved-each representing an agent who has died in the line of duty. Official CIA records only name thirty-five of them, however. Undeterred by claims that revealing the identities of these "nameless stars" might compromise national security, Ted Gup sorted through thousands of documents and interviewed over 400 CIA officers in his attempt to bring their long-hidden stories to light. The result of this extraordinary work of investigation is a surprising glimpse at the real lives of secret agents, and an unprecedented history of the most compelling—and controversial—department of the US government.

From Brooklyn to the Olympics follows Mel Rosen from the streets of Brooklyn during the 1930s–’40s to his selection as head coach for United States track and field for the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics. The book describes how a Jewish kid from Brighton Beach, New York, followed his dream to become the head track and field coach at Auburn University for twenty-eight years. Rosen coached seven Olympians and 143 All-Americans and guided Auburn’s track and field team to four consecutive SEC Conference indoor championships. Rosen was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, the U.S. Track and Field Hall of Fame, and the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and Auburn University named its new track the Hutsell-Rosen Track. Author Craig Darch interviewed many of Rosen’s former athletes and fellow coaches. Included in the book are comments from football/baseball superstar Bo Jackson, legendary football coach Pat Dye, and Olympic medalists Harvey Glance, Willie Smith, and Carl Lewis. The book details Rosen’s coaching career during the turbulent era of the 1950s and ’60s. Lively vignettes highlight Auburn sports history, Alabama history, Jews in the South, and the Olympics.

Biographical profiles and fun factoids of 100 of the most memorable names in baseball history. The names I'm profiling here are divided into four groups (admittedly a few of these players could qualify for more than one category):?Baseball Poets/Men of (Few Different) Letters: Players with rhyming names and/or alliterative names.?Dirty Names Done Dirt Cheap: Players with scatological or otherwise naughty names.?Sounds Good to Me: Players with mellifluous/melodious names.?No Focus Group Convened: Players whose names don't fall into one of the prior three categories, or ones that might involve us questioning the intentions of the player's parents.Each player profile within has the following:?general demographic information (name they played under, their full name at birth, date of birth/death, years active in the majors, positions played, etc.)?etymology/definition of each part of their given name?baseball biography (generally, how they made it to the majors, what they did while they were there)?best day (a recap of a great day in their major league career)?the wonder of his name (why his name is memorable to me/us)?not to be confused with (names that sound and/or look like the player's name)?fun anagrams (anagrams of their given names, just because I can)?ephemera (factoids, tidbits, trivia about the player, details regarding their parents, their family and their life after baseball)