If the Walls Could Talk

If the Walls Could Talk
Author: Jane O'Connor
Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2004-09-01
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780689868634

In case you've ever wondered, the walls at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue have eyes and ears -- and, what's more, they don't miss a thing. Now, listen up because the walls have a thing or two to tell you! During President John Tyler's presidency, the White House was such a mess that it was called the "Public Shabby House." President William Howard Taft was so large that he had to have a jumbo-size bathtub installed -- one big enough for four people. President Andrew Jackson's "open door" policy at the White House resulted in 20,000 people showing up for his inauguration party. (The new president escaped to the quiet of a nearby hotel!) President Abraham Lincoln didn't mind at all that his younger sons, Tad and Willie, kept pet goats in their White House bedrooms. Children all across the country sent in their own money to build an indoor swimming pool for wheelchair-bound President Franklin D. Roosevelt so that he could exercise. President Harry S. Truman knew it was time to renovate the White House after a leg on his daughter's piano broke right through the floor. Hear these funny, surprising stories and more about the most famous home in America and the extraordinary families who have lived in it.

If Cars Could Talk

If Cars Could Talk
Author: William H. Fain Jr.
Publisher: Balcony Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2012-09-05
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 9781890449582

If Cars Could Talk examines urban environments, how they are born, change, and die, and offers fresh approaches to unlocking our cities great potential. More than half of the world's population lives in a city and that number stands to increase. Crafted with the tools gleaned during the author's 40 years of working as an urban designer around the world, Fain's message could not be more timely. More than a mere urban fix-it book, If Cars Could Talk presents a call to action to city builders everywhere that major issues threaten our cities and failure to confront them will diminish the quality of life for a majority of the human population. This collection of hard-hitting, focused essays advances the understanding of the importance of community participation, sustainability, and the creation of rich urban neighborhoods. A must-read for city-lovers, professional and amateur alike.

Delicious Foods

Delicious Foods
Author: James Hannaham
Publisher: Little, Brown
Total Pages: 415
Release: 2015-03-17
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0316284920

Held captive by her employers -- and by her own demons -- on a mysterious farm, a widow struggles to reunite with her young son in this uniquely American story of freedom, perseverance, and survival. Darlene, once an exemplary wife and a loving mother to her young son, Eddie, finds herself devastated by the unforeseen death of her husband. Unable to cope with her grief, she turns to drugs, and quickly forms an addiction. One day she disappears without a trace. Unbeknownst to eleven-year-old Eddie, now left behind in a panic-stricken search for her, Darlene has been lured away with false promises of a good job and a rosy life. A shady company named Delicious Foods shuttles her to a remote farm, where she is held captive, performing hard labor in the fields to pay off the supposed debt for her food, lodging, and the constant stream of drugs the farm provides to her and the other unfortunates imprisoned there. In Delicious Foods, James Hannaham tells the gripping story of three unforgettable characters: a mother, her son, and the drug that threatens to destroy them. Through Darlene's haunted struggle to reunite with Eddie, through the efforts of both to triumph over those who would enslave them, and through the irreverent and mischievous voice of the drug that narrates Darlene's travails, Hannaham's daring and shape-shifting prose infuses this harrowing experience with grace and humor. The desperate circumstances that test the unshakeable bond between this mother and son unfold into myth, and Hannaham's treatment of their ordeal spills over with compassion. Along the way we experience a tale at once contemporary and historical that wrestles with timeless questions of love and freedom, forgiveness and redemption, tenacity and the will to survive.

If Dinosaurs Could Talk for Me

If Dinosaurs Could Talk for Me
Author: Corey Egbert
Publisher: Sweetwater Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2021-09
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9781462140725

For shy Ben, recess is a great time to climb trees and draw dinosaurs, but it's not an easy time to make friends. He wishes he could be as brave and bold as a Pachycephalosaurus when a new girl named Sophie comes to school, and Ben discovers that she draws dinosaurs too! Can Ben be brave and make a new friend? Following Ben's example, your little ones will find courage and confidence through these relatable characters from bestselling illustrator Corey Egbert!

If Dogs Could Talk

If Dogs Could Talk
Author: Vilmos Csányi
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2005-12-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780865477292

An internationally renowned specialist in the scientific study of animal behavior explores the bonds between dogs and humans and shows that by observing the cognitive behavior of dogs, a great deal can be learned about how the human mind works.

If Nights Could Talk

If Nights Could Talk
Author: Marsha Recknagel
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2010-04-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1429979631

If Nights Could Talk is a rich gothic story of a Southern family, a tale of wealth and emotional need that spans generations. Marsha Recknagel's memoir begins with the surprise appearance of her 16-year-old nephew, Jamie, who arrives on her doorstep and into her ordered, childless life. Fleeing a chaotic home run by Marsha's unstable younger brother and his wife, Jamie is an ominous creature-and the center of an ongoing family tug-of-war. For Marsha, to open the door is to risk opening herself up to the pain of the past. Reluctantly she takes him in. Thus begins the painful, terrifying, and extraordinary process of unraveling the damage inflicted by her family on one of its own.