Sent on a mission to New York he gets involved in a wild journey that takes him in and out of stolen cars, freight trains, and buses. By the time he returns home to Texas, Norwood has met his true love, Rita Lee, on a bus; befriended the second shortest midget in show business and “the world's smallest perfect fat man†?; and helped Joann “the chicken with a college education,†? realize her true potential in life. As with all Portis’ fiction, the tone is cool, sympathetic, and funny.

In the United States, as in many parts of the world, people are discriminated against based on the color of their skin. This type of skin tone bias, or colorism, is both related to and distinct from discrimination on the basis of race, with which it is often conflated. Preferential treatment of lighter skin tones over darker occurs within racial and ethnic groups as well as between them. While America has made progress in issues of race over the past decades, discrimination on the basis of color continues to be a constant and often unremarked part of life. In Color Matters, Kimberly Jade Norwood has collected the most up-to-date research on this insidious form of discrimination, including perspectives from the disciplines of history, law, sociology, and psychology. Anchored with historical chapters that show how the influence and legacy of slavery have shaped the treatment of skin color in American society, the contributors to this volume bring to light the ways in which colorism affects us all--influencing what we wear, who we see on television, and even which child we might pick to adopt. Sure to be an eye-opening collection for anyone curious about how race and color continue to affect society, Color Matters provides students of race in America with wide-ranging overview of a crucial topic.

"The book that goes inside a General Motors Corporation automotive assembly plant, all the way to the factory floor. Here is the story of the men and women of the Norwood Assembly Plant, all the way from the first car produced in 1923 to the 8 millionth and the last car off the line in 1987. From the 'B' body to the 'F' car in never before revealed photographs, production data, and personal recollections, all providing a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the automotive industry during the halcyon era of domestic automotive production."--Back cover.

Introduction: America's Business with China -- Founding a Free, Trading Republic -- The Paradox of a Pacific Policy -- Troubled Waters -- Sovereign Rights, or America's First Opium Problem -- The Empire's New Roads -- This Slave Trade of the Nineteenth Century -- A Propped-Open Door -- Death of a Trade, Birth of a Market.

The Norwood Nanny Chronicles begin . . . When American orphan, Bree, arrives at Norwood College—the elite English training ground of nannies to the world’s rich and powerful—she knows that making it through the first year to land a spot in the coveted certificate program is the key to her future. She also knows she can’t go it alone, bonding quickly with her groupmates: an errant (and broke) nobleman, son of one of England’s oldest families; the ambitious and whip-smart daughter of a self-made immigrant; and the ditzy, husband-hunting daughter of a disgraced playboy aristocrat. What none of them realize is that there is more to Norwood than meets the eye: the school itself may unlock the secrets of Bree’s own shadowy past, and the classmates’ very lives will depend on their ability to work together to meet the dangers ahead.