Time is the Great Depression.1930’s.Unmarried teen-ager chooses life for her unborn son despite many difficulties. .Cross-eyed and pudgy, he is teased a lot (hence book’s title) .Mother must give him up, elderly grandparents are only choice. They proceed to raise him through trials and errors, some serious, some humorous. Conservative farm folks from the Ozarks, they apply old fashioned rules of character which shape his life, while others in the little Ozark town keep him on the proper path. At the end of the story he is on his way to college, first person in his family to do so and is reunited with his mother in the night of her death.

The first book in a series about a ten-year-old boys misadventures in Spain.

Young Rupert, with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and experience, has been raised in complete isolation from the world by his enigmatic grandparents. His life takes an extraordinary turn when a violent storm uncovers a long-concealed treasure. In the aftermath of the storm, his grandparents vanish. Completely alone, the bewildered boy seizes upon the opportunity to leave his forest home at last. Out in the wider world, Rupert encounters new friends and learns that the kingdom's beloved royal family has been slain by brutal usurpers, who now rule the land with cunning and cruelty. But astonishing revelations convince Rupert that he has a pivotal role in restoring justice to the land. As Rupert and his comrades face imprisonment, bloody skirmishes, desperate conditions, and alluring yet sinister encounters, the darkest moments may reveal astonishing wonders. Unfolding events take on a deeper meaning as Rupert's mysterious gifts guide him toward shattering revelations and truths about his identity and his destiny.

An enchanting literary debut—already an international best-seller. At the height of Mao’s infamous Cultural Revolution, two boys are among hundreds of thousands exiled to the countryside for “re-education.” The narrator and his best friend, Luo, guilty of being the sons of doctors, find themselves in a remote village where, among the peasants of Phoenix mountain, they are made to cart buckets of excrement up and down precipitous winding paths. Their meager distractions include a violin—as well as, before long, the beautiful daughter of the local tailor. But it is when the two discover a hidden stash of Western classics in Chinese translation that their re-education takes its most surprising turn. While ingeniously concealing their forbidden treasure, the boys find transit to worlds they had thought lost forever. And after listening to their dangerously seductive retellings of Balzac, even the Little Seamstress will be forever transformed. From within the hopelessness and terror of one of the darkest passages in human history, Dai Sijie has fashioned a beguiling and unexpected story about the resilience of the human spirit, the wonder of romantic awakening and the magical power of storytelling.

Adam Moore describes how he suffered a serious brain injury and recovered with medical help and family support.

Amazing Amber is a superhero who uses her laser eyes to save her friends from Pie-throwing Pete. But when Pie-throwing Pete invents a new pie-throwing machine, Amazing Amber discovers that she has a lazy laser eye. Can Dr Teddy help her save the day once again?