"Robert A. Slayton's Back of the Yards is one of the finest accounts I have ever read on an urban, working-class neighborhood in twentieth-century America. Its focus on family, politics, and worklife is penetrating and its conclusions reinforce an emerging scholarly picture of ordinary people exercising unique forms of power."—John Bodnar, author of The Transplanted: A History of Immigrants in Urban America
He was told he'd never walk again. She was losing hope that she'd ever feel whole again. This is their miraculous true story of defying the impossible. "In my very first impression of Chris, I was blown away by his determination to stay positive, do the work, and trust that God had a bigger story in mind . . . this book is a master class in the power of perseverance." -Tim Tebow Quadriplegics simply do not walk again - yet millions watched as Chris Norton defied incredible odds and took step by impossible step across his graduation stage. With his fiancée Emily by his side, those unbelievable steps became the start of an extraordinary journey for them both. Told from both of their unique perspectives, this moving story invites you to find, as Chris and Emily have, that God can transform our lowest points into life's greatest gifts. In a moment, Chris went from a talented college football player with a promising future to a quadriplegic with a 3 percent chance of ever moving or feeling anything below his neck, much less walking again. Determined to prove the doctors wrong, he pushed himself through grueling, daily workouts to achieve his goal four years later: walking the stage to receive his college diploma with Emily's help, and to the world's astonished applause. Meanwhile, Emily faced her own challenges as she sunk into a deep battle against anxiety and depression, despite her life's outward blessings. Day by day, decision by decision, Chris and Emily committed themselves to taking the extra step, trusting God, and leaning on the help of others. In a story of courageous faith and grit, this extraordinary couple's journey ultimately led them to tackle the seven longest yards - down the wedding aisle and into a new life together. And what a new life it is: Chris and Emily have adopted five beautiful girls and welcomed foster children - seventeen and counting! - into their home and hearts. Let this book be your inspiration for defying your own impossible, and finding joy on the other side.
As Jack the Ripper’s reign of terror in London comes to an end, a new era of depravity sets the stage for the first gripping mystery featuring the detectives of Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad. “If Charles Dickens isn’t somewhere clapping his hands for this one, Wilkie Collins surely is.”—The New York Times Book Review Victorian London—a violent cesspool of squalid sin. The twelve detectives of Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad are expected to solve the thousands of crimes committed in the city each month. Formed after the Metropolitan Police’s spectacular failure in capturing Jack the Ripper, they suffer the brunt of public contempt. But no one can anticipate the brutal murder of one of their own... A Scotland Yard Inspector has been found stuffed in a black steamer trunk at Euston Square Station, his eyes and mouth sewn shut. When Walter Day, the squad’s new hire, is assigned to the case, he finds a strange ally in Dr. Bernard Kingsley, the Yard’s first forensic pathologist. Their grim conclusion: this was not just a random, bizarre murder but in all probability, the first of twelve. The squad itself it being targeted and the devious killer shows no signs of stopping. But Inspector Day has one more surprise, something even more shocking than the crimes: the murderer’s motive.
A major American novel, and arguably the finest work of literature ever to emerge from a US prison, On the Yard is a book of penetrating psychological realism in which Malcolm Braly paints an unforgettable picture of the complex and frightening world of the penitentiary. At its center are the violently intertwined stories of Chilly Willy, in trouble with the law from his earliest years and now the head of the prison’s flourishing black market in drugs and sex, and of Paul, wracked with guilt for the murder of his wife and desperate for some kind of redemption. At once brutal and tender, clear-eyed and rueful, On the Yard presents the penitentiary not as an exotic location, an exception to everyday reality, but as an ordinary place, one every reader will recognize, American to the core.
In his book Stories from the Old Yard: Book One, the Murders, J. M. Fitzmaurice chronicles two decades of brutal murder inside the MAX-custody federal penitentiaries at Lompoc, California, and other Bureau of Prisons facilities. From Lompoc to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and Florence, Colorado, to Marion, Illinois, Fitzmaurice reveals the backstory behind the brutal killings carried out in medieval fashion by deadly prison gangs and ruthless predators on the federal penitentiary circuit. Interlaced with humanity, humor, and compassion, Stories from the Old Yard is much more than regurgitated investigative reports—it captures the courage and heroism of the young men and women who risk their lives daily to protect one another and Convict Nation alike! Some of these BOP staff gave their lives in this mission, and Fitzmaurice pays them the tribute they earned by making the ultimate sacrifice! The afterword includes a sneak peek from book two, More Stories from the Old Yard!
Award-winning landscape architect Billy Goodnick is here to help you plan the perfect outdoor environment, unique to your family's lifestyle. The book is brimming with design secrets and money-saving tips, with an emphasis on low maintenance, enjoyability, and just plain beauty.--
Located in the back of the Union Stockyards, a history of Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood offers a glimpse into the lives of its large immigrant population.
“Taylor Kitching’s rousing debut puts you right on the fifty-yard line of a vital historical moment.” —Chris Grabenstein, New York Times bestselling author of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Perfect for readers of Christopher Paul Curtis’s Bud, Not Buddy and Vince Vawter’s Paperboy, Yard War explores race relations during the Civil Rights Movement from the perspective of a boy who accidentally sets off a “yard war” when he invites his maid’s son to play football on his front lawn. Trip Westbrook has spent his first twelve years far from the struggle for civil rights going on in Mississippi. The one black person he knows well is Willie Jane, the family maid, who has been a second mother to him. When Trip invites her son, Dee, to play football in the yard, he discovers the ugly side of his smiling neighbors. Trip’s old pals stop coming by. He is bullied, his house is defaced, and his family is threatened. The Westbrooks will be forced to choose between doing the right thing or losing the only home Trip has ever known. Who knew that playing football in the yard could have such consequences? This engaging, honest, and hopeful novel is full of memorable characters, and brings the civil rights–era South alive for young readers. “Trip is a fine character. 1964 Mississippi leaps to life in this book.” —Gennifer Choldenko, Newbery Honor winning author of Al Capone Does My Shirts “A captivating story about standing up for your friends. I loved seeing Trip learn how hard it can be to do the right thing.” —Kristin Levine, author of The Lions of Little Rock and The Paper Cowboy “Trip’s journey is a sensitive account about how one person can slowly make a difference.” —Booklist “A challenging but worthwhile portrait of a very difficult period in American history.” —SLJ
New York City's largest and oldest industrial facility, thehistoric Brooklyn Navy Yard occupies 250-acres on the EastRiver between the Williamsburg and Manhattan Bridges, andis presently one of New York City's major industrial sites. Oneof the last remnants of Brooklyn's industrial supremacy, theYard has experienced tremendous change: functioning from theage of wind to that of diesel. As a cradle of naval evolution,the Yard has had to reinvent itself constantly, and this is madeevident by the presence of buildings and structures spanningfrom the 1830s to the 1950s. The Navy Yard was shut downin 1966 and reopened again in 1971 when the City of NewYork bought it with the intention of redevelopment. Great shipsare still repaired there, and the Yard, now an industrial parkwith a variety of manufacturers and light industries, functionsas a refuge from a city that has mostly forgotten that a mixedeconomy is a key to its survival. The Brooklyn Navy Yard, the first monograph by JohnBartelstone, offers a quiet and striking look at the Yard asa time capsule of industrial New York. The Yard today is afusion of the sublime and the practical, with eerie abandonedelements existing side by side with vibrant businesses.Bartelstone's camera is partial to the former. The imagesshow a place out of time, where World War II New York is stillpalpable. Bartelstone has been photographing the buildingsand structures of the Yard since 1994. His photographs areneither a history of the Navy Yard nor a depiction of its role asa modern industrial park; the book instead offers a structuredimpression of a dreamscape.
A collection of rare panoramic photographs taken by Cirkut cameras during the early twentieth century offers an evocative portrait of America at the turn of the last century, capturing a variety of scenic vistas, group photographs, and seminal events, ranging from the construction of the Panama Canal to an early race at the Indianapolis Speedway.
