A once-booming West Virginia rail town no longer has a working train. The residents left behind in this tiny hamlet look to the mountains that surround them on all sides: The outside world encroaches, and the buildings of the gilded past seem to crumble more every day. These are the stories of outsiders--the down and out. What happens to the young boy whose burgeoning sexuality pushes him to the edge of the forest to explore what might be love with another boy? What happens when one lost soul finally makes it to New York City, yet the reminders of his past life are omnipresent? What happens when an old woman struggles to find a purpose and reinvent herself after decades of living in the shadow of her platonic life partner? What happens to those who dare to live their lives outside of the strict confines of the town's traditional and regimented ways? The characters in The Rope Swing--gay and straight alike--yearn for that which seems so close but impossibly far, the world over the jagged peaks of the mountains.

Six more stories in the branch of Oxford Reading Tree designed for those children who need strongly patterned text and reinforcement of key words.

The teaching notes for the Oxford Reading Tree Biff, Chip and Kipper books are full of practical suggestions for using the storybooks, saving you hours of preparation time. They have been updated in line with the simple view of reading and the renewed Primary Framework for Literacy. They nowinclude guidance for group/guided reading, comprehension and word recognition, and assessment. These replace the existing Teaching Notes and Guided Reading Cards.The storybooks are unchanged, but notes for parents/carers and teaching assistants have been added to the inside covers. These notes replace the existing Take-Home Cards.

My Omaha Obsession takes the reader on an idiosyncratic tour through some of Omaha’s neighborhoods, buildings, architecture, and people, celebrating the city’s unusual history. Rather than covering the city’s best-known sites, Miss Cassette is irresistibly drawn to strange little buildings and glorious large homes that don’t exist anymore as well as to stories of Harkert’s Holsum Hamburgers and the Twenties Club. Piecing together the records of buildings and homes and everything interesting that came after, Miss Cassette shares her observations of the property and its significance to Omaha. She scrutinizes land deeds, insurance maps, tax records, and old newspaper articles to uncover a property’s singular story. Through conversations with fellow detectives and history enthusiasts, she guides readers along her path of hunches, personal interests, mishaps, and more. As a longtime resident of Omaha, Miss Cassette is informed by memories of her youth combined with an enduring curiosity about the city’s offbeat relics and remains. Part memoir and part research guide with a healthy dose of colorful wandering, My Omaha Obsession celebrates the historic built environment and searches for the people who shaped early Omaha.

Synopsis: Delores Wright is the wealthy town matriarch and former elementary school principal and Bo Wells is the custodian who worked under her strict supervision for most of his life. When they find themselves stranded together in the old condemned schoolhouse, their reunion takes a dark turn and they relive their first meeting, decades earlier. It was 1952, when some schools were first integrated in this region nicknamed the “Mississippi of the North”. Bo’s wife, the school’s first black teacher, was found drowned in a nearby river, hanging by her ankle from an old rope swing after it was rumored she had struck a white child. The papers dismissed it as an accident resulting from the “wild and drunken actions of a young colored woman”. When Mrs. Wright reveals that she has dreams about the incident, Bo suspects she knows more than she admits. As the night grows colder and the failing health of Mrs. Wright becomes increasingly evident, Bo tries to understand his wife’s final moments and Mrs. Wright’s role in her death. Cast Size: 1 Senior Male, 1 Senior Female, 1 Male (20s)

"A rare, no-holds-barred documentation of an American teenager's life." —Publishers Weekly Told through the actual diary entries of a real teenage girl, Dear Nobody chronicles Mary Rose's struggles with drug addiction, bullying, and a deadly secret in this raw, authentic book. Her story will inspire you—and remind you that you're not alone. They call me a freak. I'm sick of it. It makes me want dangerous, bad things. Drugs—hard drugs—and people who are bad for me, but I don't care, because I'm so lonely and no matter what their intentions are at least they're talking to me... They say that high school is supposed to be the best time of your life. But what if that's just not true? More than anything, Mary Rose wants to fit in. To be heard. To be loved. And she'll do whatever it takes to make that happen. Even if it costs her her life. Compelling and unflinchingly honest, Dear Nobody is perfect for readers looking for: contemporary young adult nonfiction true stories about drug addiction books like Go Ask Alice and Lucy in the Sky stories that spark conversation about issues teens face

This New York Times bestselling book is filled with hundreds of fun, deceptively simple, budget-friendly ideas for sprucing up your home. With two home renovations under their (tool) belts and millions of hits per month on their blog YoungHouseLove.com, Sherry and John Petersik are home-improvement enthusiasts primed to pass on a slew of projects, tricks, and techniques to do-it-yourselfers of all levels. Packed with 243 tips and ideas—both classic and unexpected—and more than 400 photographs and illustrations, this is a book that readers will return to again and again for the creative projects and easy-to-follow instructions in the relatable voice the Petersiks are known for. Learn to trick out a thrift-store mirror, spice up plain old roller shades, "hack" your Ikea table to create three distinct looks, and so much more.