Finalist • PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing “An inventive, fast-paced look at what have become our modern shrines in a sports-obsessed society.” —Tom Verducci In this “addictive” (Publishers Weekly) romp, intrepid sportswriter Rafi Kohan finagles access to our most beloved fields to find out just what makes them tick: from old-timer Wrigley, creakily adjusting to the twenty-first century, to the oversized monstrosity of Jerry’s World in Dallas. Investigating harrowing logistics and deeply ingrained traditions, Kohan employs his infectious “wit and style” (Christian Science Monitor) to expose the realities of building and maintaining these commercial cathedrals of sports worship. “Highly compelling” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), The Arena is a must-read for superfans, shameless bandwagoners, athletes, groundskeepers, culture junkies, and anyone who’s ever headed off eagerly to the ballpark to catch a game.
We Get Results We know what it takes to succeed in the classroom and on tests. This book includes strategies that are proven to improve student performance. We provide • content review, detailed lessons, and practice exercises modeled on the skills tested by standardized tests • proven test-taking skills and techniques such as how to determine the main idea of a passage and write answers to open-response questions
Fran has promised to help her granddaughter with a term paper comparing the differences between living in the twentieth century and the twenty-first century. As she writes, Fran can’t help but recall the memories of her life and of the events that shaped who she is. True Love Grows in Brooklyn narrates Fran’s life journey through the changing political and social tides of the twentieth century. She was born and raised in Brooklyn during World War II. This memoir follows her carefree childhood days visiting New York fixtures such as Coney Island, Ebbets Field, and Wolf’s Pond in Staten Island. It tells of her meeting Frank, the love of her life, and of their marriage and powerful relationship. It relates her internal struggles balancing her working life and her motherhood, raising six children. And this story addresses her grief when Frank passes in 1982, just eight days before their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. Fran tells of living thirty-three years after the death of her beloved husband, knowing that their love will never die and some day she will be reunited in heaven.
After a terrifying nightmare, Joseph Paul Robinson wakes in the subway. But stations are named after places on the Monopoly board, all the station exits are blocked, and he's lost his memory. Eventually, he discovers that he is dead. After a bittersweet reunion with his deceased parents, he is left on his own in the Spiritual-Material Afterlife Rapid Transit (SMART) system to find his way to redemption or damnation. While following Joe, we meet others in this complex, fascinating and funny morality tale. There is Luscious "Mack" Brown, the sharecropper, facing a lynch mob in 1931. There is Tony Santini, the Korean War soldier facing his consequences in 1951. There is Effie Parker, the pure-hearted SMART Guide who died rescuing children from a fire in 1870. And there is Mortese the Stalker, a Demon seeking all the souls he can get. In this, his first novel, author Gerald Davis takes us on a ride into an imaginative exploration of the afterlife, inspired by modern accounts of near-death experiences. It is a highly readable parable addressing classic themes of good against evil, of faith, social responsibility, and the decline of American values.
This richly documented and illustrated tale takes readers on a journey along the edges of the country to 12 of its most famous beach towns to reveal the vitality of the American boardwalk as an idea, rather than just a place.