Together Riley and Champ make a great team. But they stand to lose more at the Founders Day dog show than a blue ribbon. Could they be separated forever?
An engaging look at life and legacy of Muhammad Ali for readers of all ages Muhammad Ali was one of the world’s best-known figures, and this incredible biography delves into precisely why. From his unlikely beginnings as a skinny, young Cassius Clay learning to box at a local gym to becoming the heavyweight champion of the world at the famous “Rumble in the Jungle,” where even the skies let loose with rain right after his victory, Ali has captivated the world. Tonya Bolden’s careful research and elegant telling, paired with R. Gregory Christie’s incredible paintings, make this a book that will inform and inspire readers of all ages. "Bolden's engaging text has a free-verse structure punctuated with enthusiastic exclamations that is enjoyable to read aloud.... The illustrations are striking." —School Library Journal (Starred review)
A picture book about Champ and Major, President-elect Joe Biden's two adorable dogs! Major will be the first shelter dog in the White House, and Champ can't wait to show him around. Champ and Major's dad, Joe Biden, just got a really important job: He's going to be the new president of the United States! Champ is excited to go back to the White House--he got to visit it when his dad was the vice president, before the family adopted Major, and he knows about all the important work that happens there. Major is going to be one of the first rescue dogs to live in the White House, and Champ can't wait to show his little brother around. Soon, Champ and Major will be in their new home, and they're going to bring a lot of fun with them!
Discusses the origins and rules of spelling bees; provides advice on study techniques, word origins, and spelling rules; and offers word lists, drills, and puzzles to aid spellers.
"The lake surface was glass. My girlfriend and I were fishing from our anchored rowboat in about fifteen feet of water, facing the New York shore. 'Ron, what's that?' I turned. About thirty feet away I saw three dark humps ... protruding about two feet above the surface. The humps were perhaps two or three feet apart. They didn't move. We didn't either. We watched in disbelief for about ten seconds. The humps slowly sank into the water. There was no wake, no telltale sign of movement. Unexplained. Eerie. Unsettling." — from the Foreword by Ronald S. Kermani Scotland may have Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster, but we have Champ, the legendary serpent-like monster of Lake Champlain. The first recorded sighting of Champ, in 1609, has been attributed to the lake's namesake, French explorer and cartographer Samuel de Champlain. This is pure myth, but there have been hundreds of sightings since then. Robert E. Bartholomew embarks on his own search, both of the lake firsthand and through period sources and archives—many never before published. Although he finds the trail obscured by sloppy journalism, local leaders motivated by tourism income, and bickering monster hunters, he weighs the evidence to craft a rich, colorful history of Champ. From the nineteenth century, when Champ was a household name, to 1977, when he appeared in Sandra Mansi's controversial photograph, Bartholomew covers it all. Real or imaginary, Champ and his story will fascinate believers and skeptics alike.
The legendary boxer’s personal photographer from 1977–1978 shares fascinating stories and stunning rare photographs. Michael Gaffney traveled the world with Muhammad Ali, covered three fights, took eight thousand photographs, and produced hours of recordings that, pieced together in this book, define and reveal an authentic Ali. Poignant, funny, and brutally honest, this book reveals the struggles of the legendary fighter who fought to stay in the game he loved. This is a dramatic and up-close look at the trilogy of Ali’s fights from 1977–1978: A tough win against Earnie Shavers, a shocking loss to Leon Spinks, and a glorious redemptive comeback victory to win the World Heavyweight Championship for an unprecedented third time, a feat never accomplished before or since. Filled with dramatic photos, The Champ is also a compelling personal journey inside the good heart and courageous spirit of one of the most extraordinary people of our lifetime. “The Champ is one helluva achievement and one helluva book.” —Bert Randolph Sugar, Hall of Fame boxing historian
As a TV wrestler, readers challenge Vampire Vic, five-hundred-pound Awesome Al, and Carl the Colossus and vie for the chance to become the host of a wrestling show or be discovered by movie actor Sylvester Saloon.
Recently recognized by Sports Illustrated as still the best-known athlete in the world, Muhammad Ali has played a fascinating role in American culture, with an influence that has reached far beyond sports. In addition to Ali the boxer, there are Ali the Black Muslim, Ali the cultural icon, Ali the anti-war protestor, Ali the telecelebrity, Ali the narcissist, and more. And it is these various incarnations -- Ali as a window onto his time, our time -- that build upon each other in this book to give us a vivid portrait of one of the greatest protagonists in the ring of public history. As the first book by scholars on the significance of his life and times, Muhammad Ali, the People's Champ is a fresh reassessment of the place of a giant sports idol and the role he has played in American history. Ali both shaped and reflected the times in which he lived. He touched the lives of people in a way unprecedented by almost any sports figure before or since. The contributors conclude that we can have no full understanding of our era without him. A volume in the series Sport and Society, edited by Benjamin G. Rader and Randy Roberts
In the fall of 1865, the United States Army executed Confederate guerrilla Champ Ferguson for his role in murdering fifty-three loyal citizens of Kentucky and Tennessee during the Civil War. Long remembered as the most unforgiving and inglorious warrior of the Confederacy, Ferguson has often been dismissed by historians as a cold-blooded killer. In Confederate Outlaw: Champ Ferguson and the Civil War in Appalachia, biographer Brian D. McKnight demonstrates how such a simple judgment ignores the complexity of this legendary character. In his analysis, McKnight maintains that Ferguson fought the war on personal terms and with an Old Testament mentality regarding the righteousness of his cause. He believed that friends were friends and enemies were enemies—no middle ground existed. As a result, he killed prewar comrades as well as longtime adversaries without regret, all the while knowing that he might one day face his own brother, who served as a Union scout. Ferguson’s continued popularity demonstrates that his bloody legend did not die on the gallows. Widespread rumors endured of his last-minute escape from justice, and over time, the borderland terrorist emerged as a folk hero for many southerners. Numerous authors resurrected and romanticized his story for popular audiences, and even Hollywood used Ferguson’s life to create the composite role played by Clint Eastwood in The Outlaw Josey Wales. McKnight’s study deftly separates the myths from reality and weaves a thoughtful, captivating, and accurate portrait of the Confederacy’s most celebrated guerrilla. An impeccably researched biography, Confederate Outlaw offers an abundance of insight into Ferguson’s wartime motivations, actions, and tactics, and also describes borderland loyalties, guerrilla operations, and military retribution. McKnight concludes that Ferguson, and other irregular warriors operating during the Civil War, saw the conflict as far more of a personal battle than a political one.