In the long history of mankind's relationship with felines, one cat stands head and shoulders below the rest. Highly inflammable, the glass-jawed Birmingham lurches from one catastrophe to the next. Through encounters with washing machine spin cycles to his lovelorn pursuit of the aggressively uninterested Sammy, Chris Pascoe's hilarious book paints an intimate portrait of the author's calamitous relationship with a cat wholly unsuited to being feline. Persistently molested by an irate sparrow, physically incapable of negotiating the intricacies of the cat-flap and with a near-fatal appreciation of the effects of gravity, Brum nevertheless remains steadfast in his subconscious pursuit of oblivion. Worryingly, these stories are true. Will nine lives be enough?
The exploits of a hapless cat for whom nine lives are not nearly enough In the long history of mankind's relationship with felines, one cat stands head and shoulders below the rest. Highly inflammable, the glass-jawed Birmingham lurches from one catastrophe to the next. Through encounters with washing machine spin cycles to his lovelorn pursuit of the aggressively uninterested Sammy, Chris Pascoe's hilarious book paints an intimate portrait of the author's calamitous relationship with a cat wholly unsuited to being feline. Persistently molested by an irate sparrow, physically incapable of negotiating the intricacies of the cat-flap and with a near-fatal appreciation of the effects of gravity, Brum nevertheless remains steadfast in his subconscious pursuit of oblivion. Worryingly, these stories are true. Will nine lives be enough?
Ticklesome trouble from a talkative teeny-tiny flea is driving a moggy NUTS! And her crazy-kitty capering to rid herself of the pesky pest proves cat. . . astrophic! No amount of scritching, duba-scrub-scrubbing, haircutting or hoovering will dislodge the bothersome bug. But with a helping paw from a feline cousin (a lion) she soon sends her unwelcome guest packing - with a flea in HIS ear. Also from this award-winning team: THE DOG THAT DUG - shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal 1993 and prize-winner of the Critici in Erba Award 1993
On the morning of September 15, 1963, a bomb exploded outside the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young girls. Thirty-two years later, stymied by a code of silence and an imperfect and often racist legal system, only one person, Robert “Dynamite Bob” Chambliss, had been convicted in the murders, though a wider conspiracy was suspected. With many key witnesses and two suspects already dead, there seemed little hope of bringing anyone else to justice. But in 1995 the FBI and local law enforcement reopened the investigation in secret, led by detective Ben Herren of the Birmingham Police Department and special agent Bill Fleming of the FBI. For over a year, Herren and Fleming analyzed the original FBI files on the bombing and activities of the Ku Klux Klan, then began a search for new evidence. Their first interview—with Klansman Bobby Frank Cherry—broke open the case, but not in the way they expected. Told by a longtime officer of the Birmingham Police Department, Last Chance for Justice is the inside story of one of the most infamous crimes of the civil rights era. T. K. Thorne follows the ups and downs of the investigation, detailing how Herren and Fleming identified new witnesses and unearthed lost evidence. With tenacity, humor, dedication, and some luck, the pair encountered the worst and best in human nature on their journey to find justice, and perhaps closure, for the citizens of Birmingham.
The powerful story of an eleven-year-old Black boy determined to stand up for his rights, who's pulled into the action of the 1963 civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama. Rufus Jackson Jones is from Birmingham, the place Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called the most segregated place in the country. A place that in 1963 is full of civil rights activists including Dr. King. The adults are trying to get more attention to their cause—to show that separate is not equal. Rufus’s dad works at the steel factory, and his mom is a cook at the mill, and if they participate in marches, their bosses will fire them. So that’s where the kids decide they will come in: Nobody can fire them! So on a bright May morning in 1963, Rufus and his buddies join thousands of other students to peacefully protest in a local park. There they are met with policemen and firemen, who turn their powerful hoses on them, and that’s where Rufus realizes that they are the fire. And they will not be put out. Shelia Moses gives readers a deeply personal account of one boy’s heroism during what came to be known as the Children’s Crusade in this important novel that highlights a key turning point in the civil rights movement.
The story of Willie Mays's rookie year with the Negro American League's Birmingham Black Barons, the Last Negro World Series, and the making of a baseball legend Baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays is one of baseball's endearing greats, a tremendously talented and charismatic center fielder who hit 660 career homeruns, collected 3,283 hits, knocked in 1,903 runs, won 12 Gold Glove Awards and appeared in 24 All-Star games. But before Mays was the "Say Hey Kid", he was just a boy. Willie's Boys is the story of his remarkable 1948 rookie season with the Negro American League's Birmingham Black Barons, who took a risk on a raw but gifted 16-year-old and gave him the experience, confidence, and connections to escape Birmingham's segregation, navigate baseball's institutional racism, and sign with the New York Giants. Willie's Boys offers a character-rich narrative of the apprenticeship Mays had at the hands of a diverse group of savvy veterans who taught him the ways of the game and the world. Sheds new light on the virtually unknown beginnings of a baseball great, not available in other books Captures the first incredible steps of a baseball superstar in his first season with the Negro League's Birmingham Black Barons Introduces the veteran group of Negro League players, including Piper Davis, who gave Mays an incredible apprenticeship season Illuminates the Negro League's last days, drawing on in-depth research and interviews with remaining players Explores the heated rivalry between Mays's Black Barons and Buck O'Neil's Kansas City Monarchs , culminating in the last Negro League World Series Breaks new historical ground on what led the New York Giants to acquire Mays, and why he didn't sign with the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees, or Boston Red Sox Packed with stories and insights, Willie's Boys takes you inside an important part of baseball history and the development of one of the all-time greats ever to play the game.
Recipient of the 2015 PEN New England Award for Nonfiction “The arrival of a significant young nonfiction writer . . . A measured yet bravura performance.” —Dwight Garner, The New York Times James Joyce’s big blue book, Ulysses, ushered in the modernist era and changed the novel for all time. But the genius of Ulysses was also its danger: it omitted absolutely nothing. Joyce, along with some of the most important publishers and writers of his era, had to fight for years to win the freedom to publish it. The Most Dangerous Book tells the remarkable story surrounding Ulysses, from the first stirrings of Joyce’s inspiration in 1904 to the book’s landmark federal obscenity trial in 1933. Written for ardent Joyceans as well as novices who want to get to the heart of the greatest novel of the twentieth century, The Most Dangerous Book is a gripping examination of how the world came to say Yes to Ulysses.
Some of Birmingham Alabama's history has been lost. This book takes a look at this lost history and brings it back to life. Birmingham has many notable historic landmarks today, but so many more are all but forgotten. The Bangor Cave Casino was once a world-renowned speakeasy. The Thomas Jefferson Hotel featured a zeppelin mooring station, drawing lots of attention from tourists. Other significant sites from the past, such as Hillman Hospital and the buildings on the "Heaviest Corner on Earth," are unknown even to natives now. Local author Beverly Crider presents an intriguing and educational tour through these and more hidden treasures.
Madeleine Levy was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome at the age of eight. This is a book about her life growing up and the education system as she experienced it. When she was asked by her nursery school teacher what she wanted to be when she grew up, Madeleine's reply was very different to all the other children's: she wanted to be a cat. Later she was bullied for being different - for being bi-sexual, for having autism, or just for being, as she puts it, a weird goth kid. When I Grow Up I Want to Be a Cat is not just a brilliantly frank memoir but also in part a supportive guide for youngsters with autism and their parents or carers, and in part a critique of the education system whose standardised support Madeleine found lacking. It is a book that genuinely gives the perspective from someone on the autistic spectrum - and not just Madeleine's own voice but the voices of nine other individuals with autism spectrum disorder whom she has interviewed for the book. Whatever your interest in autism or whatever your reason for reading it, When I Grow Up I Want to Be a Cat is an unforgettable read in which Madeleine addresses the highs and the lows of her life with compelling honesty, and which ultimately carries a hugely positive message for anyone who is facing struggles in life just for being different.
