Frank Carlson Library

"In Ed Young's childhood home in Shanghai, all was not as it seemed: a rocking chair became a horse; a roof became a roller rink; an empty swimming pool became a place for riding scooters and bikes. The house his father built transformed as needed into a place to play hide-and-seek, to eat bamboo shoots, and to be safe. For outside the home's walls, China was at war. Soon the house held not only Ed and his four siblings but also friends, relatives,...

In Kalamazoo, Michigan, eight-year-old Derek Jeter, who dreams of playing for the New York Yankees, learns what it takes to be a champion on and off the field.

From the moment that he first shook up the world in the mid 1950s, Elvis Presley has been one of the most vivid and enduring myths of American culture. Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley is the first biography to go past that myth and present an Elvis beyond the legend. Based on hundreds of interviews and nearly a decade of research, it traces the evolution not just of the man but of the music and of the culture he left utterly transformed,...

Bill Bryson was born in the middle of the American century--1951--in the middle of the United States--Des Moines, Iowa--in the middle of the largest generation in American history--the baby boomers. As one of the funniest writers alive, he is perfectly positioned to mine his all-American childhood for memoir gold. Like millions of his generational peers, Bill Bryson grew up with a rich fantasy life as a superhero. In his case, he ran around his house...

Wait Till Next Yearis the story of a young girl growing up in the suburbs of New York in the 1950s, when owning a single-family home on a tree-lined street meant the realization of dreams, when everyone knew everyone else on the block, and the children gathered in the streets to play from sunup to sundown. The neighborhood was equally divided among Dodger, Giant, and Yankee fans, and the corner stores were the scenes of fierce and affectionate rivalries....

"As Derek and his team tackle playoffs, everyone deals with the pressure in different ways. And practice gets intense! One of Derek's teammates, Avery, starts being especially hard on herself. She isn't even enjoying the game anymore. Can Derek and the rest of the team pull her out of her funk?"--

Written with courage and pride, this is a heart wrenching personal story - the truth as an outstanding young man named Jaylon O'Neal lived it. To read his book is to know what it feels like to be "autistic" and to have grown up with the stigmatism that surrounds it. Chapter after chapter, he gives you a glimpse at what its really like to be "different".

Identical twins Ronde and Tiki Barber's excitement over the approaching state championship football game turns to worry when there is a chicken pox outbreak at Hidden Valley Junior High.

Here, in high style, is the story of a wisecracking adventurer who came of age in the untamed West. A rebel who surprised himself by becoming the most famous American of his time.

Young Abe Lincoln is all dressed up in his best suit and on his way to deliver an important speech. As he walks along, he finds a pig stuck in a mudhole. Abe hates to see any animal suffer. If he helps the pig, his clothes will get muddy. What would people think of a mud-covered speaker? Abe doesn't want to leave the pig stranded, but he has no other nice clothes to wear. So, he continues down the road toward town, feeling guilty. He knows a pig isn't...