A house has a face, hills change their shapes, a rainbow reverses its colors, and a balloon takes a boy to the moon. The day is full of surprises! "Bye, Ben," says his sister as Ben's red balloon takes him up, up, up . . . past bees in a tree, a kite on the big hill, and a rainbow in the clouds. When Ben finally reaches the moon, he puts moon rocks in his pockets and comes down again. Now the rainbow, the hill, the kite, the tree, and the bees all wear happy faces. And it's his sister's turn! Colorful cut-paper-and-ink artwork holds humorous surprises for the observant reader. All objects have life and are subject to change, underscoring Ben's sense of joy and wonder. An I Like to Read(R) book. Guided Reading Level D.
Andi and her mum have just moved from Texas to Aldcliffe. To make the situation worse, her beloved Jack Russell, Buddy, had gone missing! How will he find his way home in a new town? Andi will do anything to find him, and soon the whole town is covered in LOST posters. Her new friend Tristan is also determined to help as he lost his cat Lucy months before. Things start to look up when someone phones to say they've found him, but there's plenty more surprises in store for Andi and the Pet Finders!
In 1995, America was in the throes of downsizing fever. Many thousands then, as now, were losing their jobs to the corporate demand of more money for the top, by tightening the belt below. Unable to sell his latest novel, Ben Cheever started to think about what employment opportunities were out there. Selling Ben Cheever is the frank, self-effacing, and enlightening chronicle of his five years in the service industry. As we watch Ben confront his own demons about what a particular job means to him, we are compelled to consider how our egos are affected by not only what we do, but how we do it. Through his experiences, we begin to think about our approach to our own jobs and to confront our fears about what we would do if we didn't have them.
A photographic look into the world of vinyl record collectors—including Questlove—in the most intimate of environments—their record rooms. Compelling photographic essays from photographer Eilon Paz are paired with in-depth and insightful interviews to illustrate what motivates these collectors to keep digging for more records. The reader gets an up close and personal look at a variety of well-known vinyl champions, including Gilles Peterson and King Britt, as well as a glimpse into the collections of known and unknown DJs, producers, record dealers, and everyday enthusiasts. Driven by his love for vinyl records, Paz takes us on a five-year journey unearthing the very soul of the vinyl community.
A swirling 1960s saga of the rise and fall of a true American icon. Rock Foxx is a rock star. But he is not just any rock star - Rock is an outrageous showman whose unprecedented mixed-race, mixed-gender band creates a new, socially conscious kind of music. Then, at the height of his fame, Rock suddenly disappears. In the hands of New Yorker editor Ben Greenman, this pseudo-bio of a fascinating character becomes both highly literary and immensely entertaining, a tale about rock'n'roll and about a complicated but key moment in American history.
A Seattle Stories novel A year after the sudden death of his longtime partner, Ben, Theo Anderson is still grieving. The last thing he's looking for is a new lover. But as Theo soon discovers, sometimes life has other plans. While Theo experiences a powerful physical attraction to fellow gym member Peter, it's his new online friend, Morgan, who provides the intellectual challenge to make him come alive. Morgan is witty, brave, and irreverent, and Theo is ready to take the plunge⦠until he discovers Morgan might be half his age. Theo's late partner was significantly olderâenough to strain Theo's relationship with his familyâand the potential of another relationship being cut short leaves him gunshy. Theo needs to lay Ben's memory to rest, reconcile with his family, and rekindle neglected friendships if he's to start afresh with a new lover. But Theo isn't the only one with a past. His biggest challenge, in living after Ben, might not be his to face.
In the companion to Openly Straight, Ben confronts pressure at school, repression at home, and his passion for two very different people in figuring out what it takes to be Honestly Ben. The companion to the award-winning Openly Straight, called "remarkable...deeply satisfying and as honest as its appealing protagonist" (Booklist). Perfect for fans of David Levithan, Andrew Smith, and John Green!Ben Carver is back to normal. He's working steadily in his classes at the Natick School. He just got elected captain of the baseball team. He's even won a full scholarship to college, if he can keep up his grades. All that foolishness with Rafe Goldberg the past semester is in the past.Except...There's Hannah, the gorgeous girl from the neighboring school, who attracts him and distracts him. There's his mother, whose quiet unhappiness Ben is noticing for the first time. School is harder, the pressure higher, the scholarship almost slipping away. And there's Rafe, funny, kind, dating someone else . . . and maybe the real normal that Ben needs.
Before Game Change there was What It Takes, a ride along the 1988 campaign trail and “possibly the best [book] ever written about an American election” (NPR). Written by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and New York Times–bestselling author Richard Ben Cramer, What It Takes is “a perfect-pitch rendering of the emotions, the intensity, the anguish, and the emptiness of what may have been the last normal two-party campaign in American history” (Time). An up-close, in-depth look at six candidates—George H. W. “Poppy” Bush, Bob Dole, Joe Biden, Michael Dukakis, Richard Gephardt, and Gary Hart—this account of the 1988 US presidential campaign explores a unique moment in history, with details on everything from Bush at the Astrodome to Hart’s Donna Rice scandal. Cramer also addresses the question we find ourselves pondering every four years: How do presumably ordinary people acquire that mixture of ambition, stamina, and pure shamelessness that allows them to throw their hat in the ring as a candidate for leadership of the free world? Exhaustively researched from thousands of hours of interviews, What It Takes creates powerful portraits of these Republican and Democratic contenders, and the consultants, donors, journalists, handlers, and hangers-on who surround them, as they meet, greet, and strategize their way through primary season chasing the nomination, resulting in “a hipped-up amalgam of Teddy White, Tom Wolfe, and Norman Mailer” (Los Angeles Times Book Review). With timeless insight that helps us understand the current state of the nation, this “ultimate insider’s book on presidential politics” explores what helps these people survive, what makes them prosper, what drives them, and ultimately, what drives our government—human beings, in all their flawed glory (San Francisco Chronicle).
‘This powerful memoir by the former EastEnders star will touch even the hardest heart’ The Sun At 2.30 in the morning of 29 June 2008, Brooke Kinsella received a phone call. It was her sister Jade, telling her that their beloved brother Ben had been stabbed while out celebrating finishing his GCSEs. The Kinsella family's shock soon turned to grief when Ben lost his fight for life later that day, surrounded by those who love him. Too upset at the time to speak about Ben's senseless murder, and with Ben's killers now convicted and behind bars, the former EastEnders actress is able to reveal her full story in this heartbreaking and beautifully written memoir that celebrates the life of a young man whose future was so cruelly stolen from him. Beginning with Ben's death an ending with the aftermath of the trial of his killers, the book is an extremely personal and powerful portrait of loss in the age of knife crime. From their first Christmas without Ben to facing the accused in court for the first time, Brooke writes in detail about the devastation that was caused in one night and which has changed her and her family's life forever. It is a powerfully moving and brave exploration of grief. ‘The actress Brooke Kinsella writes in raw detail about the stabbing of her young brother Ben – and the extraordinary effect of the grief, guilt and anger that engulfed her family’ Mail on Sunday?
The Comeback Kid will be the first biography of Robert Downey Jr. A Detailed and authoritative account of the life, career, stardom and controversy of Robert Downey JR – one of Hollywood’s most popular, and gifted, actors of recent times. A behind-the-scenes look on the making of his most famous and infamous movies, talking to the people closest to him, from actors and directors to those he has encountered during his trips to the dark side. “I’ve always felt like an outsider in this industry. Because I’m so insane I guess.” – Robert Downey Jr. Robert Downey Jr’s life isn’t a movie – but it could be. Now one of the biggest box office stars in the world thanks to Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes, he’s come a long way since his early days as a rising actor amidst the Brat Pack of the Eighties, as well as stints on Saturday Night Live and Ally McBeal. His incredible journey has also encompassed prison and drug addiction – experiences which left him just one bad choice away from death. Funny, definitive and entertaining, this is the first book that dares to glimpse inside the psyche of a brilliant and complex icon of our times.
