Showing results by narrator "J. D. Jackson" in All Categories

Last year, 10-year-old Junebug desperately wanted to leave the grimy Auburn Street project where he lived with his mother and sister. Now his dream has come true. They have moved to the other side of New Haven into a safe, new apartment complex. His mother takes care of the elderly residents there. Moving means changes, however. And not all of them are good. There is a bully in his new school who won’t leave him alone. Junebug has to take grumpy old Reverend Ashford for a walk every morning. And he worries about the friendship growing between his mother and the Reverend’s son.

When Macadoo is just a colt, he challenges his father, a huge Belgian stallion, in order to protect his mother and the rest of the herd. From that moment on, Mac knows that his purpose in life is to help and serve others however he can. Though Macadoo endures much adversity - leaving the only home he’s ever known, being separated from his dam, and surviving an auction that for many horses is their final stop before the slaughterhouse - he finds the courage to "walk on" through even the most difficult circumstances.

The Drift is a fast-paced trip through the lurid world of modern hobos. Charles Harmon had a firm grip on the American dream until his mind started to crack. Now he's a know-it-all tramp riding the rails. When a friend asks Charles to help find his missing niece, the trail leads to an unsavory world of drug running and white supremacy.

On the night Chancey is born, a fire star gallops across the sky. But many years of hardship will pass before the orphaned albino Appaloosa can believe the prophecy his dam foretold - that his fire star was a beacon for a horse of profound wisdom and extraordinary potential, one who will eventually change the lives of two children forever. Told through Chancey's eyes in the classic tradition of great horse stories, here is a tale about bravery, destiny, and hope - and about sharing the magic of a second chance.

Nichelle Tramble's first novel, The Dying Ground, was named a Best Book of 2001 by the Chicago Tribune and the San Francisco Chronicle. In this follow-up work, Maceo returns home after drifting for two years. He finds his friends tangled up in a murder case, and he must act fast to save them.

Born a slave in 1776, Gabriel grows up capable and literate only to be taken from his mother and sent to the capital city as a blacksmith’s apprentice. There in the forge, a meeting point for many travelers and news bearers, his work awakens him to the sparks of resistance that are igniting into rebellion around the globe. When he is unable to both defend the love of his life and earn the money to buy her freedom, Gabriel makes a decision: freedom for just his own family would not be enough.

Nine-year-old "Skid" Beaumont's family is stuck in the mud. Following his father's decision to relocate and build a new home, based on a drunken vision that New Orleans would rapidly expand eastwards into the wetlands as a result of the Seventies oil boom, Skid and his brothers grow up in a swampy area of Louisiana. But the constructions stop short, the dream fizzles out, and the Beaumonts find themselves sinking in a soggy corner of 1980s Cold War America.

Life on the farm with Granddaddy is full of hard work, but despite all the chores, Granddaddy always makes time for play, especially fishing trips. Even when there isn't a bite to catch, he reminds young Michael that it takes patience to get what's coming to you. One morning, when Granddaddy heads into town in his fancy suit, Michael knows that something very special must be happening. For the very first time, Granddaddy is allowed to vote, and he couldn't be more proud. But can Michael be patient when it seems that justice just can't come soon enough?

CJ just blew the half-mile relay for his track team, but the race on his mind is the one that’s happening off the field in this short story from all-star author Jacqueline Woodson.

A beautiful book for fathers and their sons. I Love You, My Beautiful Boy is written from a father's perspective, as he watches his son grow from birth to adulthood. This heartfelt story shows the beautiful connection of a father to his son while sharing the joys of watching him grow up, following the son from birth to adulthood in this heartfelt story.

When East, a low-level lookout for a Los Angeles drug organisation, loses his watch house in a police raid, his boss recruits him for a very different job: a road trip - straight down the middle of white, rural America - to assassinate a judge in Wisconsin. Having no choice, East and a crew of untested boys - including his trigger-happy younger brother, Ty - leave the only home they've ever known in a nondescript blue van, with a roll of cash, a map and a gun they shouldn't have. Along the way, the country surprises East.

It's 1996, and in Houston a mayoral election is looming. As usual the campaign focuses on Pleasantville. Axel Hathorne, former chief of police, was all set to become Houston's first black mayor. But his lead is slipping thanks to Sandy Wolcott, a defence lawyer. And then, just as the competition intensifies, a girl goes missing, apparently while canvassing for Axel. And when her body is found, Axel's nephew is charged with her murder.

Wherever your home is, it’s probably not as tough as Gary, Indiana. Gary has been called a lot of things. The Armpit of Chicago. The Land of Robbing Hoods. Hell. For the children of Gary, living often boils down to surviving. Maybe these kids get caught up in games of gin rummy. Maybe they spin tops as a way to scratch something fun out of their desperation. Maybe they stand by helplessly as their tenement buildings go up in flames. Or maybe they get held up at gunpoint by somebody who wants more money than he could steal from his church collection box.

Written after the completion of the first draft of his second novel, this short story featured in Tales of the Jazz Age was written by Fitzgerald and features a man who settled in his love life and the daring, interesting woman who could have been his future.

Nicodemus Dungy is not your ordinary minister. He prefers to work behind the scenes of the pulpit, and his clients pay him handsomely to make sure that what is done in the dark will never see the light. From paternity tests to drug abuse and embezzlement, Nicodemus Dungy has a unique skill set to solve any problem, until he is given the task to find a missing person. What begins as an open and shut case proves to be a serious test of his faith.

This story was going to begin like all the best stories. With a school bus falling from the sky. But no one saw it happen. They were all too busy - Jason Reynolds conjures 10 tales (one per block) about what happens after the dismissal bell rings and brilliantly weaves them into one wickedly funny, piercingly poignant look at the detours we face on the walk home, and in life.

We are here at home now, watching the world through our windows. Outside we see the city we know, but not as we’ve seen it before. The once hustling and bustling streets are empty—well, almost empty. Around the city there are still some people out and about. These are the people keeping us safe, keeping us healthy, keeping our mail and our food delivered, keeping our grocery stores stocked, keeping the whole city going.

Gary Phillips writes hard-hitting crime fiction that grabs listeners from start to finish. In The Warlord of Willow Ridge, O’Conner needs a place to hole up after an especially bloody job. Tooling his sputtering motorcycle into the suburban community of Willow Ridge, he expects to find a place of refuge. Instead, he tumbles headfirst into a world of desperate homeowners, gangs, and violence.

CBS NFL Today anchor James Brown recounts his story of how the decision he made as a young basketball star shaped his life forever.

Dumped by his fiancée, Ferentz Lafargue had a chance encounter with the seminal Stevie Wonder album Songs in the Key of Life. Healed by the songs, Lafargue was inspired to look at how music has shaped his life. In this entertaining memoir, he shares recollections of Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, Kanye West, and many others.