Sidelines is an insider's look at the fascinating world of high-school football, and, beyond that, it is also about the death and rebirth of the American community. Stuart Albright uses football to explore our nation's complicated history of race and public education and to explain why some communities continue to thrive while others are slowly dying away. Sidelines tells the story of nine very different communities across North Carolina, from deep in the Appalachian Mountains where a team...

Sid Ellison believes that he's left Durham, NC, for good. He lives a safe, quiet life in the Appalachian Mountains teaching high school English. But when his older brother, Tyrell, is charged with the murder of a Pakistani woman, Sid has no choice but to confront his troubled past. With ambitious scope, Bull City moves from the gritty tobacco factories of Durham to Pakistan and finally to the inner-city streets of Boston before returning to the South for a dramatic and unexpected climax.

Camden, New Jersey, is quite possibly the most troubled and dangerous city in America. But a far different story lies beneath this cold surface. It is a story of hope, of voices struggling desperately against deaf ears. In the summer of 1999, a college student named Stuart Albright arrived in Camden full of youthful idealism and a naïve sense of justice. Blessed Returns is the moving, deeply personal account of a young man's coming-of-age amidst a tumultuous and life-changing summer. Albri...

A mother prays for a Christmas miracle to to bring romance into her troubled son's life in this heartwarming small town romance."How could you not believe in angels after reading this wonderful holiday story?" ―Sherryl Woods, New York Times bestselling authorDear Reader,I've been wishing for a miracle for my oldest boy, Stone, and this Christmas my prayers might just be answered!Her name is Lark, a...

**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A moving memoir about the legendary author’s relationship with her own mother.Emma Watson’s Our Shared Shelf Book Club Pick!**The story of Maya Angelou’s extraordinary life has been chronicled in her multiple bestselling autobiographies. But now, at last, the legendary author shares the deepest personal story of her life: her relationship with her mother.For the first time, Angelou reveals the triumphs and struggles of being th...

" One Shot at Forever is powerful, inspirational. . . This isn't merely a book about baseball. It's a book about heart." -- Jeff Pearlman, New York Times bestselling author of Boys Will Be Boys and The Bad Guys WonIn 1971, a small-town high school baseball team from rural Illinois, playing with hand-me-down uniforms and peace signs on their hats, defied convention and the odds. Led by an English teacher with no coaching experience...

Katarina Bishop and W.W. Hale the Fifth were born to lead very different lives - her family are criminal masterminds, while he comes from an apparently perfect dynasty. But both families know how to stay under the radar while getting - or stealing - whatever they want.When Hale unexpectedly inherits his grandmother's billion-dollar corporation, he quickly learns that there's no place for Kat and their old heists in his new role. But Kat won't let him go that easily, especially afte...

In the tradition of Lisa Unger’s Beautiful Lies and Nancy Pickard’s The Scent of Rain and Lightning comes a twisting, riveting novel of shifting trust and shattered lives. Lie Still delves deep into the heart of an opulent Southern town, where gossip is currency and secrets kill.When Emily Page and her husband move from Manhattan to the wealthy enclave of Clairmont, Texas, she hopes she can finally escape her haunted past—and outrun the n...

Former NBA star and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Kareem Abdul-Jabbar explores his 50-year friendship with Coach John Wooden, one of the most enduring and meaningful relationships in sports history.When future NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was still an eighteen-year-old high school basketball prospect from New York City named Lew Alcindor, he accepted a scholarship from UCLA largely on the strength of Coach John Wooden's reputation as a winner. It turned...

A New York Times Book Review EDITORS' CHOICE.From the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of Motherless Brooklyn, comes the vividly told story of Dylan Ebdus growing up white and motherless in downtown Brooklyn in the 1970s. In a neighborhood where the entertainments include muggings along with games of stoopball, Dylan has one friend, a black teenager, also motherless, named Mingus Rude. Through the knitting and unraveling of the bo...

Leadership isn’t about winning; it’s about helping people succeed in life. That's the message of John Wooden, one of college basketball's greatest coaches. His UCLA Bruins piled up a record that may never be surpassed. Wooden saw himself primarily as a teacher, argues this short-form book, and his sense of values and priorities was his bedrock. Leaders everywhere can improve their game by following his example.

Rejoice, ye merry Mavericks!As Christmas approaches, we here at The Rust Creek Falls Rambler thought we’d reward our devoted followers with a blind item guaranteed to put a little extra jingle in your stockings. Which rugged Rust Creek Traub has been spotted canoodling with a very pregnant lady of the Crawford kind? Astute readers will guess we’re talking about divorced rancher Dallas Traub, who rescued expectant shopkeeper Nina Crawford from a snowy car wreck a few weeks back....