Papa Joes Boys

The book is basically a boys' adventure story set in a very adult world. It offers an insight into the deprivation suffered by African youths, who bear the brunt of the social aggravation caused by the leadership of many of the continent's nations. Tito, the main character of the story is among the lucky minority privileged to find an escape from the quagmire by virtue of natural ability - in his case, football - and fate. However, he runs into a gridlock of events in alien Europe caused by culture shock, discrimination and crime, often making him wish he were back in his squalid habitat. The beautiful game of football and its big-time European variety is the vehicle in which the characters in the book travel through a landscape of love, hate, rivalry, camaraderie, sadness and joy.

From Elvis and a hound dog wearing matching tuxedos and the comic adventures of artificially produced bands to elaborate music videos and contrived reality-show contests, television--as this critical look brilliantly shows--has done a superb job of presenting the energy of rock in a fabulously entertaining but patently "fake" manner. The dichotomy of "fake" and "real" music as it is portrayed on television is presented in detail through many generations of rock music: the Monkees shared the charts with the Beatles, Tupac and Slayer fans voted for corny American Idols, and shows like" Shindig! "and "Soul Train "somehow captured the unhinged energy of rock far more effectively than most long-haired guitar-smashing acts. Also shown is how TV has often delighted in breaking the rules while still mostly playing by them: Bo Diddley defied Ed Sullivan and sang rock and roll after he had been told not to, the Chipmunks' subversive antics prepared kids for punk rock, and things got out of hand when" Saturday Night Live "invited punk kids to attend a taping of the band Fear. Every aspect of the idiosyncratic history of rock and TV and their peculiar relationship is covered, including cartoon rock, music programming for African American audiences, punk on television, Michael Jackson's life on TV, and the tortured history of MTV and its progeny.

This book features the stories of Reds players from the Greater Cincinnati area spanning nearly 150 years.

The little men of Plumfield are now grown and making their ways in the world. But even as their pursuits take them far from home, "Mother" Jo March continues to play an inspiring and steadying role in their lives. Through adventures great and small, Tommy, Emil, Demi, Nat, Dan, and the rest of the March children experience love and loss, but never forget the lessons they learned from Meg, Jo, and Amy March—the little women who have guided them from childhood. Be it mystery, romance, drama, comedy, politics, or history, great literature stands the test of time. ClassicJoe proudly brings literary classics to today's digital readers, connecting those who love to read with authors whose work continues to get people talking. Look for other fiction and non-fiction classics from ClassicJoe.

Michael is twelve years old and has never known anything but foster homes in inner-city Detroit. When relatives are located in a small Tennessee town, he is sent to live with them. Hurt and angry, feeling that no one wants him, Michael strikes out at a lonely horse in a back pasture. Little did he know that it was a champion barrel-racing horse. Sparks Twister Doc was the kind of barrel horse all barrel racers hoped to have, yet he was hated by his owner and sentenced to a far back pasture to live out his days. Running for Home is a horse story for the whole family. A homeless boy and a forgotten horse are brought together by an act of anger. Though wary of each other at first, they form a bond of love and trust that yields miraculous results. Join them as they go on a journey that is filled with fun, compelling characters, both animal and human, to complete a quest only a homeless boy and a hopeless horse can accomplish.

In 1959, twenty-nine-year-old Berry Gordy, who had already given up on his dream to be a champion boxer, borrowed eight hundred dollars from his family and started a record company. A run-down bungalow sandwiched between a funeral home and a beauty shop in a poor Detroit neighborhood served as his headquarters. The building’s entrance was adorned with a large sign that improbably boasted “Hitsville U.S.A.” The kitchen served as the control room, the garage became the two-track studio, the living room was reserved for bookkeeping, and sales were handled in the dining room. Soon word spread that any youngster with a streak of talent should visit the only record label that Detroit had seen in years. The company’s name was Motown. Motown cuts through decades of unsubstantiated rumors and speculation to tell the true behind-the-scenes narrative of America’s most exciting musical dynasty. It follows the company and its amazing roster of stars from the tumultuous growth years in Detroit, to the drama and intrigue of Hollywood in the 1970s, to resurgence in 2002. Set against the civil rights movement, the decay of America’s northern industrial cities, and the social upheaval of the 1960s, Motown is a tale of the incredible entrepreneurship of Berry Gordy. But it also features the moving stories of kids from Detroit’s inner-city projects who achieved remarkable success and then, in many cases, found themselves fighting the demons that so often come with stardom—drugs, jealousy, sexual indulgence, greed, and uncontrollable ambition. Motown features an extraordinary cast of characters, including Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, and Stevie Wonder. They are presented as they lived and worked: a clan of friends, lovers, competitors, and sometimes vicious foes. Motown reveals how the hopes and dreams of each affected the lives of the others and illustrates why this singular story is a made-in-America Greek tragedy, the rise and fall of a supremely talented yet completely dysfunctional extended family. Based on numerous original interviews and extensive documentation, Motown benefits particularly from the thousands of pages of files crammed into the basement of downtown Detroit’s Wayne County Courthouse. Those court records provide the unofficial—and hitherto largely untold—history of Motown and its stars, since almost every relationship between departing singers, songwriters, producers, and the label ended up in litigation. From its peaks in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Motown controlled the pop charts and its stars were sought after even by the Beatles, through the inexorable slide caused by their failure to handle their stardom, Motown is a riveting and troubling look inside a music label that provided the unofficial soundtrack to an entire generation.

Steamer has one day to save the Palace, protect the memory of his first love, and rescue his two cats. As hurricanes, earthquakes, simmering volcanos and big men disguised as tourists threaten the little town of Hilo, Steamer's slightly off-focus neighbors and a mysterious young woman with child arrive to set things...almost straight.