It's not every kid who falls out of his grandmother's moving car, is labeled a "vandal" by his hometown newspaper, and covers his face with a handkerchief in World History class but gets a passing grade. Say hello to Larry McCoy, a proud son of Frankfort, Indiana. His high school years were raucous ones with his talent for misbehaving so admired he was voted Class Clown in 1955. His was a world of fun and adventure--playing ball, trying to pull down girls' swimming trunks, emceeing a talent show, lying about damage to dad's car--and a world of wonderful food--breaded tenderloins, strawberry pie, and home-made noodles piled on mashed potatoes. He writes lovingly of his grandmother, of a favorite uncle and of his brother Jim who turned an empty field into a baseball diamond where second base was a cow patty. After high school, McCoy hit some bumps at Indiana University where his social life at first was limited to stocking shelves at the A&P. Still, he probably learned more there than he did in college. A flirtation with Catholicism strained relations with his devout Protestant parents. But goofiness and good times won out after McCoy met Irene Kristoff at I.U. She was smart, pretty, and thought he was funny. Rather than having her head examined, Irene contacted a minister and married Larry. He picked the title, "I Should Have Married My World History Teacher," without consulting his bride of more than 60 years. A very wise move.

This convenient teacher's guide includes perforated, three-hole punched assignments with answers, learning objectives, grading criteria, and short essay questions to help the student comprehend and apply the information presented. The following is included in this complete year of high school British history curriculum: The teacher text has the student questions organized at the back for easy use in testing and reviews The course has been designed with 34 chapters representing 34 weeks of study Each chapter has 5 lessons each, taking approximately 30 minutes a day The final lesson of the week is the exam covering the week's chapter A parent or teacher can grade assignments daily or weekly, and keep track of this in their files This course is designed for the student to practice independent learning. This is a solid educational process to help a student develop a Christian world view and form his/her own understanding of history.

From the Back of the Line: The Views of a Teenager From the 1960s Civil Rights Movement chronicles the life of a young African-American girl who moved from a follower to a leader in human rights. Sixteen-year-old Gloria Ward was arrested four times in 1962 for demonstrating against the ills of segregation and racism in her hometown of Albany, Georgia. With her teenage friends and classmates, she marched behind Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr. Ralph David Abernathy, Sr., Rev. Charles Sherrod, the Honorable Andrew Young, the late Rev. Samuel Wells and other, older leaders. In a widely circulated newspaper article, Gloria was criticized by a white Albany teenager, Kay Smith, who wasn´t shy about expressing her racist opinions. Kay called Gloria "a pawn and a fool" for her involvement in the demonstrations. Kay eventually came to see civil rights in a different light. Although they never met as teenagers, Kay often wondered about Gloria and what had happened to her later in life. Thirty-five years after the newspaper article ran, Kay found Gloria through a mutual friend and apologized for her racist views and statements. Today the two women are close friends. Their story of forgiveness and friendship is just one part of Gloria´s remarkable life story as human rights activist, teacher, wife, mother, and pastor. From the Back of the Line describes Dr. Wright´s experiences growing up during the civil rights era and moving from the back of the line to leadership positions. She has written this book because she wants young people to know their civil rights history and to understand that they can and should move forward. Her story is told with passion, candor, and light humor. She tells it like it was, how she saw and participated in history From the Back of the Line. The book also contains photographs and an appendix containing quotations from notable civil rights leaders, a summary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and recommended reading.

Once again, the State of Arkansas has adopted An Arkansas History for Young People as an official textbook for middle-level and/or junior-high-school Arkansas-history classes. This fourth edition incorporates new research done after extensive consultations with middle-level and junior-high teachers from across the state, curriculum coordinators, literacy coaches, university professors, and students themselves. It includes a multitude of new features and is now full color throughout. This edition has been completely redesigned and now features a modern format and new graphics suitable for many levels of student readers.

While observing exotic animal trainers for her acclaimed book Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched, journalist Amy Sutherland had an epiphany: What if she used these training techniques with the human animals in her own life–namely her dear husband, Scott? In this lively and perceptive book, Sutherland tells how she took the trainers’ lessons home. The next time her forgetful husband stomped through the house in search of his mislaid car keys, she asked herself, “What would a dolphin trainer do?” The answer was: nothing. Trainers reward the behavior they want and, just as important, ignore the behavior they don’t. Rather than appease her mate’s rising temper by joining in the search, or fuel his temper by nagging him to keep better track of his things in the first place, Sutherland kept her mouth shut and her eyes on the dishes she was washing. In short order, Scott found his keys and regained his cool. “I felt like I should throw him a mackerel,” she writes. In time, as she put more training principles into action, she noticed that she became more optimistic and less judgmental, and their twelve-year marriage was better than ever. What started as a goofy experiment had such good results that Sutherland began using the training techniques with all the people in her life, including her mother, her friends, her students, even the clerk at the post office. In the end, the biggest lesson she learned is that the only animal you can truly change is yourself. Full of fun facts, fascinating insights, hilarious anecdotes, and practical tips, What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage describes Sutherland’s Alice-in-Wonderland experience of stumbling into a world where cheetahs walk nicely on leashes and elephants paint with watercolors, and of leaving a new, improved Homo sapiens.

“What the . . .” I was thinking, looking at the huge yellow envelope in front of me. It was addressed to me in bold black Sharpie ink, yet there was no other name to show who had sent it. I was waiting for my brother to pick me up from my late-night sociology class at WVU-P, the local community college in Parkersburg, when I found it. He was about a half an hour late, so I decided to leave my tote bag full of books on one of the cafeteria tables while I went to the restroom. When I got back, there it was—that blindingly bright-yellow envelope that would have surely tempted Pandora to open.