Bobby and the Big Valentine

Bobby and the Big Valentine
Author: Timmy Woitas
Publisher: Penguin Group
Total Pages: 33
Release: 2024-12-10
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0593659775

In this charming debut picture book, a young boy makes the biggest, most sparkly valentine that he can for his crush. But how will his grand gesture be received? Fall in love with Bobby and Eddie in this sweet story about Valentine's Day and sharing how much you care! "From the day they’d met, and every day since, it had always been Bobby and Eddie—Eddie and Bobby." Bobby and Eddie do everything together, and that's the way they both like it. But when Bobby starts to have feelings for Eddie beyond friendship, he knows he needs to reveal them—and Valentine's Day is the perfect time! He crafts a valentine fit for someone as special as Eddie, his favorite person. But how will Eddie react when Bobby reveals his crush? Timmy Woitas's tender, relatable text matched with Addy Rivera Sonda's appealing and emotive illustrations make this a perfect pick for Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Way

Valentine's Way
Author: Bobby Valentine
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2021-11-30
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1637580959

A frank and often hilarious account of the baseball life from one of the game’s great iconoclasts. “…the most entertaining baseball book of the year!” —Baseball Almanac From his first year in Rookie ball, when Tommy Lasorda ordered him to send a letter to the Dodgers’ starting shortstop informing him that he should retire early to make way for the young phenom, to appearing in disguise in the Mets’ dugout following an ejection, Bobby Valentine was a lightning rod for mischievous controversy, grabbing headlines wherever he went. Mavericks are seldom welcomed to upset the status quo, and Major League Baseball was no exception. In astonishing detail, Bobby Valentine reflects on the many remarkable moments that comprised his playing and managerial careers. From his wild times as a player in the early seventies, to his transition to coaching with the Mets after a catastrophic injury derailed his playing days; from managing the Texas Rangers in 1985, where he employed sabermetrics and witnessed the beginning of the steroid era, to his iconic stretch at Shea Stadium, when he led the Mets to the 2000 World Series while battling a dysfunctional front office and ownership; from his beloved time in Japan managing the Chiba Lotte Marines, who won the Japan Series, to the absolute disaster of a season in Boston, where he was greeted by a toxic clubhouse and fractured organization. Readers will be intrigued by his off-the-field exploits as well, from his early years as an international ballroom dancing champion to his post-playing days where he may have invented the wrap sandwich and the modern sports bar. Valentine has consistently overcome adversity and reinvented himself, regardless of the playing field. Along the way, he shares stories and insights on memorable moments and iconic personalities, including Nolan Ryan, Ichiro Suzuki, Gary Carter, Mike Piazza, Tom Seaver, Joe Torre, George Steinbrenner, Dustin Pedroia, and David Ortiz. Valentine’s Way is a riveting look back on forty years of baseball, written with a novelist’s mind and a journalist’s memory, and in collaboration with legendary baseball author Peter Golenbock. A once-in-a-generation book that leaves no great story untold, this is an invaluable document for anyone wondering what it’s really like to play and work in the rarified world of Major League Baseball.

The House of Love

The House of Love
Author: Adriana Trigiani
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 41
Release: 2021-12-28
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0593203313

New York Times bestselling adult novelist Adriana Trigiani and beloved illustrator Amy June Bates team up for a heartwarming picture book about a how a family comes together to celebrate Valentine's Day. Mia Valentina Amore loves valentines. After all, her name means My Valentine. When she wakes up on Valentine's Day, it looks like just another morning in the rickety old Amore house in the Blue Ridge mountains of Appalachia. But over the course of the day, her home is transformed into the House of Love. Mia and her mama festoon the halls, build a gumdrop tree, bake cupcakes, and most importantly, make valentines for all six of her siblings. But when Mia doesn't receive her own valentine, she wonders if Mama could have forgotten her. New York Times bestselling novelist and filmmaker Adriana Trigiani has crafted a tender mother-daughter story that celebrates Valentine's Day or any day that brings family together. And acclaimed illustrator Amy June Bates brings warmth and coziness to a story that affirms it doesn't matter where you come from as long as that place is full of love.

Papi

Papi
Author: David Ortiz
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2017-05-16
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0544814541

The Red Sox Hall of Famer and World Series MVP tells the story of his life and career in a sports memoir that “lives up to its ‘no-holds-barred’ billing” (Washington Post). David “Big Papi” Ortiz is a baseball icon and one of the most popular figures ever to play the game. A star player with the Boston Red Sox for fifteen years, Ortiz helped to win three World Series, bringing back a storied franchise from “never wins” to “always wins.” As he launched balls into the stands again and again, he helped silence the naysayers while capturing the imaginations of millions of fans. Ortiz made Boston and the Red Sox his home, his place of work, and his legacy. In Papi, Ortiz tells his story in his own words, opening up as never before. The result is a revelatory tale of a storied career—all told by a legendary player with a lot to say at the end of his time in the game. This edition of Papi includes a new afterword. “Baseball fans of all loyalties will enjoy learning about [Ortiz’s] unique experiences in and out of the game.” —Library Journal “The rise of Ortiz from scrap-heap bench player to Hall of Famer is an unlikely and entertaining story, and engagingly told.” —Washington Post

Read To Me ~ Stories of Christ-like Character

Read To Me ~ Stories of Christ-like Character
Author: Grammy Leigh
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 147
Release: 2014-03-27
Genre:
ISBN: 0979461286

Read to me Stories of Christ-like Character was written for family reading time. Family togetherness time should start with the reading of books. Grammy Leigh wrote the stories so that you would have character building epics to read to your children when they want a story; and then for them to read to you when they are able. She hopes that you enjoy sharing them as much as she enjoyed writing them.

Yells for Ourselves

Yells for Ourselves
Author: Matthew Callan
Publisher: Inkshares
Total Pages: 374
Release: 2019-03-12
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1947848496

During the 1990s, as New York was transformed from a crumbling city into a vibrant metropolis, the New York Mets were anything but vibrant. Beginning in 1999, the team waged a battle to recapture the hearts of New York baseball fans from their crosstown rivals, and they came closer to succeeding than anyone dared dream. At the same time, mayor Rudy Giuliani—architect of this new New York and those rivals’ biggest cheerleader—was engaged in his own battles to win a Senate seat and to save his sagging legacy as savior of the city. Yells For Ourselves chronicles the 1999 and 2000 seasons of the New York Mets, and explores how local and national politics were interwoven with the obsessions of a baseball-mad city. It paints a picture of this forgotten time in the history of baseball and New York, when new ballparks, rapid expansion, and “enhanced training methods” caused a home run explosion; when rising free agent salaries separated teams into the Haves and Have Nots; and when a politico’s answer to the question Mets or Yankees? could make global headlines. Above all, Yells For Ourselves captures what happened when an underdog struggled to find an identity in a city with no room left for lovable losers.

The Boston Globe Story of the Red Sox

The Boston Globe Story of the Red Sox
Author: The Boston Globe
Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal
Total Pages: 682
Release: 2023-03-07
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0762482087

Experience the illustrious and passionate history of the Boston Red Sox, one of the most storied franchises in baseball, as it happened through the articles, features, and lens of their hometown and national news outlet, The Boston Globe. The Boston Red Sox are the most winning baseball team in the 21st century with four World Series titles, and they're not slowing down any time soon. Two of the most prominent organizations in Boston, The Boston Globe and the Boston Red Sox, combine to share a tour de force history of the heralded baseball franchise from the very beginning in 1901, when they were known as the Boston Americans. The Boston Globe Story of the Red Sox includes more than 300 articles chronicling the team's rich history as told through the best sports writing and coverage from the beloved Globe reporters, led by veteran sports columnist and an EPPY Award finalist Chad Finn. Relive some of the biggest moments in franchise history, such as their first baseball title ever in 1901, Carlton Fisk's wave home run in 1975, David Ortiz's postseason heroics, and the most dominant Red Sox team ever in 2018. With a foreword from beloved former Sox pitcher and broadcaster, Dennis Eckersley, and Illustrated throughout with hundreds of photographs through every era, and updated through 2022, this beautiful archive celebrates two beloved organizations, and shares the hometown story of one of the world's most popular baseball teams.

An Impossible Dream Story

An Impossible Dream Story
Author: J. V. Petretta
Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2011-10
Genre: Cycling
ISBN: 1457506807

"Vinny tells his roller-coaster story with passion and humor, inviting all of us to join his bicycle ride through the many winding paths of his life. Coming out, growing up, serving his country and fighting for others against all odds: This journey gives hope to anyone on the front line of our equality struggle." Lt. Dan Choi West Point Graduate, Iraq War Veteran and Infantry Officer, honorably discharged for telling the truth and starting a group of West Point LGBT Graduates. An accomplished, aging man is preparing for yet another dream-to conduct the first known bicycle-book tour (which will require peddling both miles and books.) Who will believe 2,500 miles is possible for a man with gravely serious medical issues-at age sixty-five? Witnessing the lifetime spiritual journey of Vinny Pirelli, starting at age six with his very first bicycle, you track his development of being the only boy among many siblings, through growing pains of adolescence and teen years. He struggles with, and represses homosexual tendencies, putting his emotions into bicycling and writing songs. As a young adult, Vinny proves successful at whatever he attempts-even in building a family with the first girl he had sexual feelings for. As a ten-year Army leader, he learns hard lessons of losing friendships, love and trust, with the ultimate betrayal of his own father. J.V. Petretta is a graduate of U. of Maryland, European Division. He is a ten-year U.S. Army Veteran with three overseas tours, including Vietnam. After his honorable discharge, he received a Meritorious Service Medal for distinguished service as 1st Armored Division's Nuclear Control Chief. In addition to earning numerous business accolades, he organized and conducted a 5,000 mile bicycle tour in 1995, bringing critical awareness and funding for AIDS. Author's proceeds from the sale of this book will be divided among selected cycling and LGBT advocate groups, and his own future work in Africa. Contact: [email protected]

Rock N Roll Gold Rush

Rock N Roll Gold Rush
Author: Maury Dean
Publisher: Algora Publishing
Total Pages: 728
Release: 2003
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0875862071

This monster Rock-n-Roll survey focuses on the songs and the vibrant personalities who create them, for college audiences and the general public. Dean published the world's first history of Rock in 1966. Here, in his ebullient style, he buzzes through piles of musical singles from the whole last half century, describing what is fun about each major and minor hit, pointing out what elements were exciting or new or significant in the development of musical styles. He relates some tantalizing tidbits about the earlier musical heritage that artists have drawn upon in crafting ever more amazing evolutions of rock music. This snappy, witty and informative album has universal appeal, doubling as a coffee-table trivia treasure and a college-level popular music history text. It includes hundreds of photos, chapter questions, and an extensive index. Reader-friendly and informationally complete, it covers soft rock, heavy metal, rhythm & blues, country rock and classic oldies, all with tender loving care, for the specialist and casual listener alike. Its mini-portraits of the artists who move so many hearts (and feet), the photos and the insightful sound bites get to the essence of each song and each musician's contribution to the music of our age. The single-song focus makes the book unique. It's a playlist for R'n'R professors and the general public, written with a collegiate vocabulary, tight organization and a respect for all. "Hearing Elvis for the first time was like busting out of jail." - Bob Dylan That being said, no one is being incited, here, to bust out of jail or to emulate the quixotic habits of rock stars. "There's nothing in here to hide from the kids, the clergy or grandma." Gold Rush can be used as a university or community college text, but most people will grab it for the sheer pleasure of reading about everyone's favorites. Great gift for Rock enthusiasts. Gold Rush is the first book of its kind to feature a celebration of the great single songs of the rock era and beyond. Gold Rush takes thousands of songs, spanning three centuries, and brings them back uniquely as if they came out just yesterday. Gold Rush unites the Anglo-American and later worldwide spirit of Rock and Roll in a tapestry of interconnected melodies and adventures. As Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide helps you select videos at Blockbuster, so Gold Rush is a powerful playlist for your music collection, with many new and fascinating photos of favorite stars. Gold Rush explains the most important stories behind the songs you picked to be played, the songs that 'went gold,' from the 1897 Alaska/Klondike Gold Rush to the #1 songs of today and beyond.