The #1 New York Times bestselling memoir that inspiredthe film October Sky, Rocket Boys is a uniquelyAmerican memoir--a powerful, luminous story of coming of age at thedawn of the 1960s, of a mother's love and a father's fears, of agroup of young men who dreamed of launching rockets into outerspace . . . and who made those dreams come true. With the grace of a natural storyteller, NASA engineer Homer Hickampaints a warm, vivid portrait of the harsh West Virginia miningtown of his youth, evoking a time of innocence and promise, whenanything was possible, even in a company town that swallowed itsmen alive. A story of romance and loss, of growing up and gettingout, Homer Hickam's lush, lyrical memoir is a chronicle oftriumph--at once exquisitely written and marvelouslyentertaining. Now with 8 pages of photographs.
If there were a code you could learn that would enable you tobecome a wonderful teacher - of any young person in your life -wouldn't you want to learn it? The Essential 55 collects togetherthe amazingly effective rules that Ron Clark used to become anextraordinary - and award-winning - teacher. Through trial anderror, he has distilled fifty-five ideas that have helped himtransform apathetic students, in some of the most deprived andchallenging circumstances, into prize-winning scholars. Coveringall aspects of life - from the classroom to the world, from humaninteractions to cafeteria manners - Ron Clark shows that withdetermination, discipline and regular rewards, the children youstick by will be the children you eventually admire.
In Strength in What Remains , Tracy Kidder gives us thestory of one man’s inspiring American journey and of the ordinarypeople who helped him, providing brilliant testament to the powerof second chances. Deo arrives in the United States from Burundi insearch of a new life. Having survived a civil war and genocide, helands at JFK airport with two hundred dollars, no English, and nocontacts. He ekes out a precarious existence delivering groceries,living in Central Park, and learning English by readingdictionaries in bookstores. Then Deo begins to meet the strangerswho will change his life, pointing him eventually in the directionof Columbia University, medical school, and a life devoted tohealing. Kidder breaks new ground in telling this unforgettablestory as he travels with Deo back over a turbulent life and showsus what it means to be fully human.
