Cue the pretend drum-roll: Keats's parents have a big surprise. No, they're not having a new baby. It's—wait for it, wait for it—a family road trip! Okay, so this is not exactly the birthday present Keats had in mind (no iPod?!), but when Dad parks a rented RV in the Dalinger's driveway, Keats piles in with the rest of his family—and the manny, of course—bound for the open road. From the big skies of farm country to the bright lights of Las Vegas, this, in typical manny fabulousness, is an all-American adventure filled with more Glamour-dos than Glamour-don'ts. But a stopover at the manny's childhood home is making the manny feel not so fabulous. Why can't his parents ever accept him for who he is? And Keats, at first, sees their point. Why does the manny always have to be so interesting? Hit the road for more manny shenanigans, where it's all about Elton John, Diet Coke, and being brave enough to be yourself.

As one of the only highly praised resources on this important topic, this thoughtfully compiled book examines and suggests picture books and chapter books presenting LGBTQ content to children under the age of 12. Highlighting titles for children from infancy to age 11, Rainbow Family Collections examines over 250 children's picture books, informational books, and chapter books with LGBTQ content from around the world. Each entry in Rainbow Family Collections supplies a synopsis of the title's content, lists awards it has received, cites professional reviews, and provides suggestions for librarians considering acquisition. The book also provides a brief historical overview of LGBTQ children's literature along with the major book awards for this genre, tips on planning welcoming spaces and offering effective library service to this population, and a list of criteria for selecting the best books with this content. Interviews with authors and key individuals in LGBTQ children's book publishing are also featured.

About the Author ?Big Adam? was born and raised in Cherokee, North Carolina, and attends Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama. He plans to graduate in May 2003 with a degree in Journalism. He loves to write, go bowling, take long walks alone late at night, read, go to church, cats, driving alone late at night, and is a huge fan of Godzilla, Garfield, and race car driver Jeff Gordon. He also serves as editor of the university newspaper. He started to write at the young age of four when he discovered the wonder of pens and pencils. His first stories were written and illustrated on plain white paper and stapled together. By age nine, he had written a story about a young boy who was the victim of sexual harassment from a babysitter. It was a concept way ahead of his own time and knowledge. His writings soon became more vivid and more chillingly realistic, possibly due to years of child abuse and being harassed at school by both teachers and peers. After one of his stories was discovered in his bedroom, its realism content sent his folks into a fury. They threatened him if he ever wrote something like that ever again, which was nothing more than the truth of what he was going through at the time. After that, he had to write and express himself in secret, when he was certain nobody would know that he was still cultivating his talent as a writer. He was finally removed from this abusive environment when he was 12. A trip to the beach in 1993 sparked his imagination like nothing else. The idea for one of his first novels was born, and it would take him another seven years to finish. That novel, The Writer, appeared in Spring 2001. He has also started several other novels and he vows tofinish all of them.

A Cops Dilemma is all fictional and is both a sequel to the first book and also a stand-alone book. The first books main character picks up his life as a police Officer in the city of Asheville, N C. After a fatal car accident is investigated, the officer deals with out of state insurance men. A young auto mechanic finds money from the wrecked car and due to circumstances leaves town. Eventually, a chase begins in Asheville traveling from the mountains across the state to the coastal town of Beaufort, N C. Scores are soon settled in Beaufort, but the brother of one of the killed bogus insurance men is determined to have revenge.

"I don't want anything to do with her. I'd rather marry her mother than marry her." *** Manny, the perfect heiress to Millicent's fashion house, is constantly pressured by her mother to get married and have a baby. Traumatized by past relationships, she decides to undergo IVF. But what happens when she discovers that there has been a mistake, and she is now carrying the child of the arrogant billionaire Andrew Cooper, who won't let her keep the baby? Will she win this battle for her child? Andrew Cooper, billionaire and CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company, hires a surrogate, but everything goes wrong, and now a woman he despises is carrying his child. He is determined to take the baby from her, even if it means digging into her past.

Stephen Dobyns—whom Stephen King has described as "the best of the best"—is back with a comic suspense novel about a small-time con operation, a pair of combative detectives, and the pride, revenge, and deception that guide us all. Richard Russo meets Elmore Leonard. In the seaport town of New London, Connecticut, newcomer Connor Raposo has just witnessed a gruesome motorcycle accident on Bank Street. At least he thinks it was an accident. A man sliced in half by a reversing dump truck could only be an accident, right? But these days, Connor can’t be sure of anything—his entire line of work is based on games of artful deception. His days at Bounty, Inc., are spent soliciting funds for improbable, bogus charities; its last venture was Free Beagles from Nicotine Addiction, Inc. The new scam is Prom Queens Anonymous, Inc., dedicated to helping former high school celebs transition to humdrum daily grown-up lives; Connor’s target is Angelina Rossi—Pumpkin Queen of 1985, proud beagle owner, and ex-wife of a man named Fat Bob. Meanwhile, Manny Streeter and Benny Vikström are the local detectives assigned to the Bank Street motorcycle wreck, and despite their shared interest of proving each other wrong, the two eventually reach the same conclusion: This death by Harley was Murder One, pure and simple. As the detectives begin asking their questions around town, Connor is looking for similar answers that will determine whether he lives or dies. Among them: Who is Fat Bob, and is he actually dead? Sharply written and entertainingly absurd, Is Fat Bob Dead Yet? is packed with Stephen Dobyns’s trademark characters—whimsical, neurotic, puzzling yet familiar, and impossible to pin down. Dobyns again proves why he is an American master of the suspenseful, all-too-human land of the absurd.

First in a new series featuring FBI agent Manny Tanno- a Native American returning to the reservation home he thought he left behind. The body of local Native American land developer Jason Red Cloud is found on the site for his new resort on the Pine Ridge Reservation. A war club is lodged in his skull-appearing as if someone may have performed a ritual at the crime scene. FBI Special Agent Manny Tanno arrives in Pine Ridge to find that not everything has changed since he left. His former rival, now in charge of the Tribal Police, is just as bitter as ever, and has no intention of making Manny's life easy. And the spirit of Red Cloud haunting Manny's dreams is not much help either, leaving him on his own in hunting down a cold-blooded killer-and one misstep could send him down the spirit road as well..

Manny and John is a fun-filled, insightful look into the boyhood of John the Baptist, and his younger cousin, Emmanuel, or Manny for short. Manny is better known by his adult title, Jesus Christ - the Messiah. Honing in on a short period in time after Mannys presentation at the temple, a well-known story found in the book of Luke, the author imagines what boys the age of 13 would do in Palestine. The most likely answer is, what boys have been doing for ages. They wrestled, climbed trees, threw rocks, dared each other to eat bugs, and generally had a grand old time while making a nuisance of themselves to adults and girls. The story begins as the boys are part of a caravan heading to Nazareth from Jerusalem. Boys will be boys, and the author (being one himself) is capable of providing what is probably a fairly accurate description of conversations they might have had. After arriving in Nazareth, they work with Joseph in his carpenters shop, play with other boys, and then have great adventures. The crux of the story is the discovery of a cave, subsequent capture by soldiers, dealings with zealots and the impact of all of these on the town of Nazareth. The author has woven events and people from the ministry of Jesus as an adult into the story, and has hoped to portray some of the thoughts the young savior might have had. It is an honest story in addition to adventures and a sense of fun, there is sorrow, regret and pain. The reader will find that the author has managed to truly transport one from the here and now. Any book that is capable of drawing the reader in, making the reader a part of the story is worth reading. This book does so on an emotional and spiritual level. One of the most difficult parts to tackle was based on the divinity of Jesus. As stated in the Bible, He was wholly human, and wholly divine. As an adult, His ministry was comprised of miracles, prophecy and wisdom unlike any other. Yet, how did this relate to His boyhood? As a boy, did He perform miracles? Did He heal members of His family or neighbors of their illnesses? Was He able to just be a good son to His earthly father? The author sought not to answer some of these types of questions, but to give an insight into how they might have been answered. One of the questions that arose was, how does an innocent mistake fit in? Is that a sin? Since Jesus was without sin as an adult, He must have been without sin as a boy. But boys are so full of energy, of living life to the fullest that all boys make mistakes from time to time. Could Jesus have, in His humanity, made a mistake that was tantamount to a sin, yet still remain sinless? Again, the author wrote honestly about boys, while at the same time maintaining the reverence he feels for his Savior. Hollywood has normally portrayed Jesus as a 6-foot, blue-eyed and with a British accent. It is easy to believe the divinity of Christ in that portrayal. The reality is that He was probably very middle-Eastern looking dark hair, eyes and skin. Again, seeking to be as realistic as possible in the portrayal of Jesus as a boy, the author researched the times and societies for authenticity of the story. The habits and mores of the citizens of Nazareth are documented with a true accuracy. As a historical novel, this book relates a first-class tale in a well-written and well-received fashion. The author conceived of the idea while deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in the spring of 2003. As a career Marine, his first focus was mission accomplishment for himself and his unit. But the impact of living in a middle-eastern desert, much the same way as Moses or David might have lived, lead to the first draft of this story. He was able to study and observe the culture of the nomadic desert people. Tents are still very much in use as homes; camels and horses are the means of transportatio

An unhappy boy finds solace among the old. He is Josh, 16, whose father beats him and whose mother drinks. To escape his dismal home life he steals into an old people's home to talk to residents who look forward to his visits. A first novel.

Aimed at librarians and readers' advisors who serve teens, this is a guide to outstanding reads for GLBTQ teens, for straight teens with an interest in the subject, and for GLBTQ friends and family. It provides some 300 fiction and nonfiction suggestions. Aimed at librarians and readers' advisors who serve teens, this is a guide to outstanding reads for GLBTQ teens, for straight teens with an interest in the subject, and for GLBTQ friends and family. It provides some 300 fiction and nonfiction suggestions, including poetry, drama, and graphic novels; and organizes them according to genre, subgenre and theme. Each entry includes a brief description of the work, a code for the type of characters it includes (G, L, B, T, and Q), indication of reading level, and full bibliographic information. Award-winners and titles that have audio and film versions are indicated. Lists of keywords follow the entries. Resources for further study enhance the volume, making this an indispensable guide for any library that serves teens.