In this grim and darkly humorous novel, social alliances are forged and challenged as each member of a macabre party barricaded in a bar while a race riot rages outside ignores his fears in favor of keeping his tumbler filled to the brim. As the liquor supply starts to dwindle, the novel reaches dramatic intensity, exposing the highs and lows of the human spirit.
Foe over 25 years, charismatic Pentecostal evangelist Brother Tony Leyva used Christianity, the Bible, and his status as a "prophet of God" to gain access to, seduce, and sexually assault the young sons of his enthralled followers in 23 states. Echols strips bare the world of Pentecostals to reveal how impassioned faith and devotion to the "annointed ones" blinded parents to the evil in their midst.
In Tony’s youth, he loved to swim with dolphins and fantasized about visiting a magical place called the Water Kingdom in the deep waters of the ocean. The dolphins taught Tony the martial art of waterbending that allowed him to control and bend water. Tony’s passion for dolphins, waterbending and the Water Kingdom continued into his teen years. Even though Tony was a talented waterbender, he felt confused about his identity, specifically as a gay teenager. Tony was targeted by a bully for being gay. Due to his insecurities, the traumas of being bullied and his inability to heal, Tony succumbed to depression and despair. Tony attempted suicide by drowning. He survived his drowning attempt, but lost his ability to waterbend. At his lowest point, Tony sought support from a Magical Healer who helped him heal. Newly empowered, Tony began his superhero quest, using water magic to reignite his passion for dolphins and to find the Water Kingdom. Will Tony be able to use his water magic to swim again with the dolphins and visit the Water Kingdom?
This “brutal and unflinching” novel of fleeting love in Sin City inspired the film starring Nicholas Cage and Elizabeth Shue (Jay McInerney, author of Bright Lights, Big City). John O’Brien’s debut novel, Leaving Las Vegas, is an emotionally wrenching story of a woman who embraces life and a man who rejects it; a powerful tale of hard luck, hard drinking, and a relationship of tenderness and destruction. An avowed alcoholic, Ben drinks away his family, friends, and, finally, his job. With deliberate resolve, he burns the remnants of his life and heads for Las Vegas to end it all in the last great binge of his hopeless life. On the Strip, he picks up Sera, a prostitute, in what might have become another excess in his self-destructive jag. Instead, their chance meeting becomes a respite on the road to oblivion as they form a bond that is as mysterious as it is immutable.
'B-29!' No other term struck such terror in the hearts of the Japanese public during World War 2 than this single, most-hated name. It was then only natural that the pilots who attempted to shoot these high-flying Boeing bombers out of the skies over Tokyo, Nagasaki, Hiroshima and Kobe should become known as the elite of the Japanese Army Air Force. This book details the exploits of the 'Dragon Slayers' who, flying the very latest single- and twin-engined fighters, exacted a heavy toll on the AAF Boeing bombers using a range of tactics including ramming.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the governor of Maryland, the “compassionate” (People), “startling” (Baltimore Sun), “moving” (Chicago Tribune) true story of two kids with the same name: One went on to be a Rhodes Scholar, decorated combat veteran, White House Fellow, and business leader. The other is serving a life sentence in prison. The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his. In December 2000, the Baltimore Sun ran a small piece about Wes Moore, a local student who had just received a Rhodes Scholarship. The same paper also ran a series of articles about four young men who had allegedly killed a police officer in a spectacularly botched armed robbery. The police were still hunting for two of the suspects who had gone on the lam, a pair of brothers. One was named Wes Moore. Wes just couldn’t shake off the unsettling coincidence, or the inkling that the two shared much more than space in the same newspaper. After following the story of the robbery, the manhunt, and the trial to its conclusion, he wrote a letter to the other Wes, now a convicted murderer serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. His letter tentatively asked the questions that had been haunting him: Who are you? How did this happen? That letter led to a correspondence and relationship that have lasted for several years. Over dozens of letters and prison visits, Wes discovered that the other Wes had had a life not unlike his own: Both had had difficult childhoods, both were fatherless; they’d hung out on similar corners with similar crews, and both had run into trouble with the police. At each stage of their young lives they had come across similar moments of decision, yet their choices would lead them to astonishingly different destinies. Told in alternating dramatic narratives that take readers from heart-wrenching losses to moments of surprising redemption, The Other Wes Moore tells the story of a generation of boys trying to find their way in a hostile world.
From the author of Leaving Las Vegas, “a sensitive and understated novel” about a lonely law clerk yearning for human connection (Booklist). Here is the simple life of Carroll, a middle-aged, unmarried, friendless man whose only joy is watching beautiful women dance. Terribly shy and unable to socialize with the people around him, Carroll’s fascination with the women at his favorite strip club, Indiscretions, is totally innocent. He finds solace in the routine, the rules, and the predictability of the action. But when his desire for a particular dancer takes him one step too far, his entire life threatens to crumble. Since his debut novel Leaving Los Vegas, which was made into the film starring Nicholas Cage and Elizabeth Shue, John O’Brien has been one of the great literary voices of American loners and outcasts. Perhaps his most interior and intense novel, Stripper Lessons is a powerful story of one man’s obsessive search to belong.
A timely and gutsy YA novel based on the Tony and Grammy Award winning musical from Alanis Morissette, Diablo Cody, and Glen Ballard! Swallow it down—what a jagged little pill . . . Jagged Little Pill: The Novel follows the intertwining lives of five teens whose world is changed forever after the events at a party. Adopted Frankie struggles to see eye-to-eye with her mother—who would rather ignore a problem and preserve their “perfect” life than stand up for what’s right. Jo just wants her mom to accept her queer identity—and is totally crushed when Frankie, the only person who really gets her, finds herself infatuated with someone new. Phoenix tries to find his place at the new school and balance wanting to spend time with Frankie but knowing he also has to help out with his sick sister at home. Bella wants to enjoy the end of high school and just head off to college without a hitch. Everyone expects Frankie's brother Nick to be the golden boy, but even though he just got into his dream school, he’s not even sure he's a good person. Each of their stories intersects when Bella is sexually assaulted at a party, and it looks like the perpetrator might get away with it. Moving, heartfelt, and raw, Jagged Little Pill: The Novel draws on the musical’s story and gives readers deeper glimpses of the characters. It’s a story about the power of voicing your pain, standing up for what’s right, and finding healing and connection.
This series of contemporary plays includes structured GCSE assignments for use by individuals or groups. These include questions which involve close reading, writing and discussion. This play places the "Romeo and Juliet" story in a New York gang-warfare context.
If television programming is normally considered a wasteland, then The Sopranos may be thought of as a jungle: richly colored, teeming with life, dark with mystery. The Sopranos on the Couch is a must for all who are already caught up in the excitement, as well as for viewers who are coming to the show for the first time. Yacowar helps us understand exactly why we can't get enough of Tony Soprano and that colorful mafia family that we hate to love and often love to hate!This pop-culture sensation is not only the most controversial series on television, but also the most provocative, thoughtful, and complex. Its language and themes have stretched the norms of commercial television, many characters and phrases having entered our everyday life.The Sopranos on the Couch is the first book to provide a compact, lively, and authoritative examination of each episode and season - the themes, inside jokes, and allusions - thereby putting the series into a broader cultural context.
