front cover of Con Papá / With Papá
Con Papá / With Papá
Frederick Luis Aldama and Nicky Rodriguez
The Ohio State University Press, 2022
¡Con papá todo es posible! Con ilustraciones divertidas e imágenes ricas, este amable libro bilingüe para las edades de 3–8 celebra a los padres, les niñes y la identidad Latinx mientras lleva a los lectores en un viaje de crecimiento y descubrimiento de la niñez. Desde la entrega de las alas del dios serpiente a los brazos seguros de Papá hasta presenciar el tapiz mágico de las estrellas, Con Papá / With Papá nos muestra el mundo a través de los ojos de une niñe, de la mano de Papá, hasta que estén listos para emprender sus propias aventuras.
 
With Papá, anything is possible! With playful illustrations and rich imagery, this gentle bilingual story for ages 3–8 celebrates fathers, children, and Latinx identity as it takes readers on a childhood journey of growth and discovery. From delivery from the serpent god’s wings to Papá’s safe arms to witnessing the magical tapestry of stars, Con Papá / With Papá shows us the world through a child’s eyes, hand in hand with Papá, until they are ready to set off on their own adventures.
[more]

front cover of Les Paul
Les Paul
Guitar Wizard
Bob Jacobson
Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2012

This addition to the Badger Biographies series for young readers tells the story of Les Paul, the legendary “Wizard of Waukesha,” who pioneered the solid body electric guitar, multi-track recording, and many other musical inventions. Fascinated since boyhood with musical technology, the young Les moved from experimenting with his mother’s player piano and phonograph to developing his own amplifier and tinkering with crystal radios.

After leaving his hometown of Waukesha at age 17 to pursue a musical career—a decision his mother supported—the budding jazz guitarist lived in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles, in each city finding a new audience and new musical partnerships. A regular on the radio, Les became a fixture in early television, appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show, and later, a show of his own with partner Mary Ford. Along the way, he overcame numerous physical challenges, including recovery from electric shock and rehabilitation after a horrific car accident—both of which threatened his musical career. And yet, Les Paul pushed musical technology forward more than any other musician of the twentieth century. This Grammy Hall of Fame inductee died in 2009, making Les Paul: Guitar Wizard a timely addition to the series. This lively story is rounded out with sidebars on radio call letters and how an electric guitar works, a full discography, and over 60 historic photographs.

[more]

front cover of The Quiet Hero
The Quiet Hero
A Life of Ryan White
Nelson Price
Indiana Historical Society Press, 2015
In 1985 the eyes of the world turned to the Hoosier State and the attempt by a thirteen-year-old Kokomo, Indiana, teenager to do what seemed to be a simple task—join his fellow classmates at Western Middle School in Russiaville, the school to which his Kokomo neighborhood was assigned. The teenager, Ryan White, however, had been diagnosed with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome from contaminated blood-based products used to treat his hemophilia. “It was my decision,” White said, “to live a normal life, go to school, be with friends, and enjoying day to day activities. It was not going to be easy.” White's words were an understatement, to say the least. His wish to return to school was met with panic by parents and some school officials. The controversy about White and the quiet courage he and his mother, Jeanne, displayed in their battle to have him join his classmates is explored in the eleventh volume in the Indiana Historical Society Press’s Youth Biography Series. The Quiet Hero is written by Nelson Price, who wrote about White’s odyssey during his days as a reporter and columnist for the Indianapolis News. Price goes behind the scenes and brings to light stories and individuals who might have been lost in the media spotlight. After a nine-month court battle, White won the right to return to school, but with concessions. These were not enough for parents of twenty children, who responded by starting their own school. At school, White became the target of slurs and lies, and his locker was vandalized. Although the White family received support from citizens and celebrities around the world, particularly rock singer Elton John, the situation grew so controversial in Kokomo that they moved to Cicero, Indiana—a community that greeted them much differently. In Price’s book, White, who succumbed to his disease in 1990, comes across as a normal teenager who met an impossible situation with uncommon grace, courage, and wisdom. “It was difficult at times, to handle; but I tried to ignore the injustice, because I knew the people were wrong,” White said. “My family and I held no hatred for those people because we realized they were victims of their own ignorance.”
[more]

front cover of Tales from a Free-Range Childhood
Tales from a Free-Range Childhood
Donald Davis
Parkhurst Brothers, Inc., 2022
A cycle of twenty stories, each of which is focused on childhood friends, the antics of his neighborhood and school chums, and the mysteries of adult life seen through a child’s unerring eye.
[more]

front cover of Ugly to Start With
Ugly to Start With
John Michael Cummings
West Virginia University Press, 2011
Jason Stevens is growing up in picturesque, historic Harpers Ferry, West Virginia in the 1970s. Back when the roads are smaller, the cars slower, the people more colorful, and Washington, D.C. is way across the mountains—a winding sixty-five miles away.
 
Jason dreams of going to art school in the city, but he must first survive his teenage years. He witnesses a street artist from Italy charm his mother from the backseat of the family car. He stands up to an abusive husband—and then feels sorry for the jerk. He puts up with his father’s hard-skulled backwoods ways, his grandfather’s showy younger wife, and the fist-throwing schoolmates and eccentric mountain characters that make up Harpers Ferry—all topped off by a basement art project with a girl from the poor side of town.
 
Ugly to Start With punctuates the exuberant highs, bewildering midpoints, and painful lows of growing up, and affirms that adolescent dreams and desires are often fulfilled in surprising ways.
[more]


Send via email Share on Facebook Share on Twitter