The Nine Pound Hammer

Download or read book Sparks from a Nine-pound Hammer written by Steve Scafidi and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Levis Reading Prize "Tell me a story / of speed and tell it to me fast for the light is / gaining and I will wake and with this body / break the barrier between what I dream / and what my dreaming means." Sometimes a fact swings down like a hammer and we are changed. The fact of loss, the fact of desire, and all the wild, unruly facts of history hammer down and sparks fly up. This, then, is a collection of facts. In a rushing, rolling style, poems sweep to the edge of falling apart, take great delight in defying that dissolution, and come upon a thing redemptive and clarifying: the fact of love. In a world that "doesn't really care / whether we live or die," Steve Scafidi writes, "tell it you do and why." Against the harrowing fact of death, Scafidi celebrates dream and desire and the sweet erotics of springtime. Witnessing the budding of muscle trees, the nakedness of a lover, and the furious plowing of a river in the month of April amounts to a sensual equivalent of hope. And yet, the facts of history - from Troy to Rome to Montgomery, Alabama - arouse a great dread of our own cruelties. The truth of the South, the poems show, is often a brutal mix of ignorance and force that America learned from the great classical civilizations. From the unthinkable to the quietly heroic, somehow we have emerged. Sparks from a Nine-Pound Hammer celebrates that fact most of all.

Download or read book The Wolf Tree written by John Claude Bemis and published by Random House Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 2010-08-24 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Look no further for the perfect book for boys and girls who love fantasy, adventure, and white-knuckle action! "Can you imagine eternal Darkness, sir?" So asks the sickly stranger who staggers into Peg Leg Nel's birthday party. Before the man dies, he tells Ray and his friends of a Darkness spreading like wildfire across Kansas, turning good people bad and poisoning anyone who tries to escape. It's clear that though the evil Gog is dead, his devilish machine has survived and is growing stronger. Now a full-fledged Rambler, Ray leads his friends on a mission into the heart of darkness. Vital to their success is tracking down the legendary Wolf Tree, rumored to be a pathway to the spirit world. Only with one of the tree's limbs can the Nine Pound Hammer be repaired and the Gog's terrible machine finally destroyed. The search for the Wolf Tree grows desperate as the Darkness spreads, threatening Ray, his friends, and all of humanity. The Wolf Tree is the second fantasy adventure book in John Claude Bemis's series The Clockwork Dark, and adds new layers of myth and magic to Bemis's original take on American tall tales in The Nine Pound Hammer.

Download or read book The Wooden Prince written by John Claude Bemis and published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 2016-03-15 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The automa Pinocchio has always been duty-bound to serve in the floating palace of Venice's emperor. So when Pinocchio finds himself locked in a trunk and delivered to a new master-a wanted criminal and alchemist named Geppetto-he is curious about everything around him. But most curious is the way Pinocchio seems to be changing from a wooden servant into a living, human boy. Before Geppetto and Pinocchio can uncover the mystery surrounding the automa's transformation, Pinocchio is stolen away. Determined to find Geppetto again, Pinocchio begins a harrowing journey across the Empire, where danger in the form of half-beast outlaws and winged airmen abounds for a lost automa. Meanwhile, Princess Lazuli, the daughter of the ruler of a magical kingdom called Abaton, is also on a quest through the emperor's territory. Her father, Prester John, has been captured by the Venetian Empire, and Lazuli is desperate to rescue him. With the emperor's airmen closing in fast, Lazuli learns the only hope for saving her father-and her beloved home-lies in Pinocchio and Geppetto. In a masterful reimagining of Pinocchio, John Claude Bemis weaves an enchanting, thrilling adventure for middle-grade readers in the first installment in the Out of Abaton duology. Praise for The Wooden Prince "Wow! John Claude Bemis hides new magic in old stories." -- Tom Angleberger, New York Times best-selling author of the Origami Yoda series "Young readers will find this reimagined adventure an exhilarating and insightful journey." -- Kirkus Reviews "Pinocchio gets a new look in this curious, complex novel of betrayal, rebellion, and loyalty. . .the world-building is impressive, and the captivating setting will likely attract fantasy, steampunk, and adventure fans alike." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books "Flying lions, fiery salamanders, chimera, sylphs, gnomes, men with wings, and an enormous sea monster all play roles in this fantastical retelling of Pinocchio." -- School Library Journal "Pinocchio's growth is sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes heartwarming, and bound to entrance readers." -- Booklist

Download or read book Bluegrass Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus! written by Wayne Erbsen and published by Native Ground Books & Music. This book was released on 2014-05-26 with total page 131 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beginning banjo lessons have never been more fun! Written for the absolute beginner, this FUN book is guaranteed to help you learn to play bluegrass banjo (How many books come with a personal guarantee by the author?). · Teaches the plain, naked melody to 23 easy bluegrass favorites without the rolls already incorporated into the tune. · Wayne shows simple ways to embellish each melody using easy rolls. · With Wayne’s unique method, you’ll learn to think for yourself! · Learn how to play a song in different ways, rather than memorizing ONE way. · Includes a link to download 99 instructional audio tracks off our website! You WILL learn to play: Bile ‘Em Cabbage Down, Blue Ridge Mountain Blues, Columbus Stockade Blues, Down the Road, Groundhog, Little Maggie, Long Journey Home, Lynchburg Town, Man of Constant Sorrow, My Home’s Across the Blue Ridge Mountains, Nine Pound Hammer, Palms of Victory, Pass Me Not, Poor Ellen Smith, Pretty Polly, Put My Little Shoes Away, Red River Valley, Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms, Shall We Gather at the River, Wabash Cannonball, When I Lay My Burden Down, When the Saints Go Marching In.

Download or read book The Prince Who Fell from the Sky written by John Claude Bemis and published by Random House Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 2012-05-22 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Casseomae's world, the wolves rule the Forest, and the Forest is everywhere. The animals tell stories of the Skinless Ones, whose cities and roads once covered the earth, but the Skinless disappeared long ago. Casseomae is content to live alone, apart from the other bears in her tribe, until one of the ancients' sky vehicles crashes to the ground, and from it emerges a Skinless One, a child. Rather than turn him over to the wolves, Casseomae chooses to protect this human cub, to find someplace safe for him to live. But where among the animals will a human child be safe? And is Casseomae threatening the safety of the Forest and all its tribes by protecting him? Middle-grade fans of postapocalyptic fiction are in for a treat with this fanciful and engaging animal story by the author of the Clockwork Dark trilogy.

Download or read book The White City written by John Claude Bemis and published by Bluefire. This book was released on 2012-08-14 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ray, Conker, and their Rambler friends face the Gog and his machine in a final struggle at the 1893 Chicago Exposition.

Download or read book John Henry Days written by Colson Whitehead and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2009-06-03 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the bestselling, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, a novel that is "funny and wise and sumptuously written" (Jonathan Franzen, The New York Times Book Review). Colson Whitehead’s triumphant novel is on one level a multifaceted retelling of the story of John Henry, the black steel-driver who died outracing a machine designed to replace him. On another level it’s the story of a disaffected, middle-aged black journalist on a mission to set a record for junketeering who attends the annual John Henry Days festival. It is also a high-velocity thrill ride through the tunnel where American legend gives way to American pop culture, replete with p. r. flacks, stamp collectors, blues men , and turn-of-the-century song pluggers. John Henry Days is an acrobatic, intellectually dazzling, and laugh-out-loud funny book that will be read and talked about for years to come. Look for Colson Whitehead’s new novel, Crook Manifesto, coming soon!