When Cody and his friends accept a challenge from a local gang to steal a park bench, their main concern is keeping themselves on the gang's good side. Cody learns that the stolen bench had been dedicated to the father of the English teacher who sponsors the school newspaper—the paper that Cody has just started writing for—and he's worried about the consequences. As the gang applies pressure for more from Cody and his friends, he realizes they've crossed a line, and now he has to figure out how to make it right.

Nine-year-old Ben learns some lessons in self-control and sportsmanship when his behavior on the soccer field gets him sent to the bench.

Our stories are all different. True. But hang around long enough and you'll discover our stories may be more alike than you realize. One minute you're enjoying a refreshing afternoon, sipping lemonade on the front porch. With a blink of an eye or perhaps something you've seen brewing in the distance, a catastrophic storm cloud has swept through your being, leaving you ravaged and stunned with the aftermath. The life-as-you-know-it has changed forever, despite your best efforts to avoid it. Unexpected and destructive circumstances launched Rebecca into a crisis of faith that didn't fit the neat package of life she unwittingly believed was her right. Suddenly, the faith she'd clung to as a little girl experienced a head-on collision with reality. She absolutely didn't know what to do.That's when God benched her . . . right next to Himself.Journey with Rebecca to the bench and discover all the treasures awaiting you. Uncover what you can gain when you've lost it all.

Mr. Right has never been so freakin' wrong. I'm a single mom and a cop. When some arrogant superstar thinks he can speed through my town and smirk and charm his way out of a ticket, he's wrong. I wrote the ticket and impounded his car. Then he moved in next door. This muscled up god with his glorious physique, panty-dropping smile and smart mouth is my new neighbor. He hates the 'burbs, but that doesn't seem to stop him from flirting with me every chance he gets. As if strutting around in boxers with his abs and chest on display is enough to make me forget his snide comments and wisecracks. Oh sure, he knows how to turn on the charm... like I'll fall for that. I bet that would make a great story, bagging the cop that gave him the ticket- but I'm not some ditzy arm candy lining up to be the next notch in his bedpost. I don't have time to fool around. It doesn't matter if he's hot, and younger than I am, and just looking at him makes my legs shake. The closer we get, the more I think I misjudged him. Somewhere beneath that arrogant smirk is a good man, maybe even the right man, but my past threatens to shatter us both...

"Historians, sports scholars, and students will refer to Benching Jim Crow for many years to come as the standard source on the integration of intercollegiate sport."ùMark S. Dyreson, author of Making the American Team: Sport, Culture, and the Olympic Experience --

Fifty years in a law profession she loves, twenty-four of which were spent as judge, Nancy Morrison has stories to tell. It is very much a political book, focusing on the need for law reform. Entertaining, at times warm and witty, it is also a memoir that reminds us of dark days. Nancy Morrison's career spanned three provinces and two territories, as a lawyer, arbitrator and judge.

Close cases often present a conflict between two or more rules, and many are not at all clear. In forty-five years as a federal judge, I’ve learned that judging is a more complicated and subtle task. "Benched" is about what a judge really does. Unlike Roberts’ “balls and strikes” disclaimer, I try to reckon with the difficulty of deciding close cases—and why the age-old complaint that too many judges "make law instead of just applying it" is a canard. I also seek to dispel the popular misconception that we judges are just voting our personal preferences. "Benched" also outlines nineteen proposals for improvements in the American system of justice. They cover such diverse topics as police misconduct lawsuits, selection of juries, citizen standing to sue government officials, reviving the independent counsel, and death penalty sentencing. Finally, "Benched" is an account of the life I’ve been fortunate to live.--Prologue.