Books with author James Lincoln COLLIER

Young Daniel Arabus and his mother are slaves in the house of Captain Ivers of Stratford, Connecticut. By law they should be free, since Daniel's father fought in the Revolutionary army and earned enough in soldiers' notes to buy his family's freedom.But now Daniel's father is dead, and Mrs. Ivers has taken the notes from his mother. When Daniel bravely steals the notes back, a furious Captain Ivers forces him aboard a ship bound for the West Indies--and certain slavery. Even if Daniel can manage to jump ship in New York, will he be able to travel the long and dangerous road to freedom?

At thirteen, George Stable still hasn't made his mark on the world. Oh, he plays the guitar and sings a little. And he appeared on television for six whole seconds once. A couple of years ago, he even wrote a sort of book, called The Teddy Bear Habit. But nothing really exciting has happened to him. But now, it looks as if his big chance has finally come. This agent of his, Woody Woodward, who discovered him during his six-second TV career, has come up with a plan to make him a hot new guitar-playing teenage star--"George Stable, The Boy Next Door." Never mind that George has spent his entire life in Greenwich Village, which is not exactly where you'd find your typical "Boy Next Door." As Woody says, it's the image that counts. Of course, there are a few problems to be ironed out. His pop isn't too hot on the idea, and is packing George off to stay with his uncle and creepy cousin Sinclair in upstate New York, while he spends a month in Paris. And Woody's bosses at the record company still have to buy the idea. There's this strange, bug-eyed guy everyone calls Superman who has to give the go-ahead…

Willy Freeman's life changes forever when she witnesses her father's death at the hands of the Redcoats and returns home to find that the British have taken her mother as a prisoner to New York City.Willy, disguised as a boy, begins her long search for her mother and luckily finds a haven at the famous Fraunces Tavern. But even with the help of Sam Fraunces and her fellow worker, Horace, Willy knows that to be black, female, and free leaves her open to danger at every turn. What will tomorrow bring?

Life at Deacon Smith’s Home for Waifs would be completely dreary if it weren’t for Possum’s best friend, Billy, who "thinks up lies faster than he can talk." When Billy hears that gold is hidden in the mountains, he escapes from the orphanage, taking Possum with him. The two runaways embark on a journey through the Western frontier in search of the gold. In the process, they get tangled up in a murder, spy on a lunatic, and barely manage to keep ahead of the law. Filled with colorful characters, plot twists, and dramatic scenery of the old west, this is an exciting new adventure story in the tradition of Huckleberry Finn.

One thing we can be sure of is that jazz was invented in America.From the small sunlit barns that dotted the Louisiana countryside around the turn of the century to the booming nightspots in New York in the 1920s, America has always been the home of jazz. But how did jazz get started? Who were its first musicians? And what was it about America that made it the birthplace of this century's greatest music?Newbery Honor-winner and jazz critic James Lincoln Collier tackles these questions and others, tracing the history and evolution of jazz in America. Beginning with the African tribal music transported here by slaves, Collier reveals the roots of jazz in gospel and ragtime before launching into a discussion of Dixieland, swing, bebop, the cool school, free jazz, and fusion. Along the way, we meet the great personalities who shaped the music: giants like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, who brought jazz into the mainstream; mavericks like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, who toyed with its sound and structure; and avant-gardists like Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane, who revolutionized and reinvented jazz.In this lively, sometimes controversial photo-filled account, Collier shows us how jazz became an international craze, all the while remaining as American as apple pie.

[MP3-CD audiobook format in Vinyl case. *NOTE: The MP3-CD format requires a compatible audio CD player.][Read by Kirby Heyborne] In this rousing coming-of-age story set on the American frontier, one ornery twelve-year-old has a lot to learn if he's to survive his new life as a mountain man. Having run away after hitting Pa in a bout of rage, Jesse decides to fend for himself. Too much uncontrollable anger and inexplicable emotion since Ma went away have taken their toll. All he wants now is to be left alone. At first, every day on the mountain is a struggle. Beset by hunger and cold, fear and loneliness, Jesse stubbornly and defiantly refuses to concede defeat. Gradually, he learns to hunt, to skin and cure animal pelts, to build a cabin . . . all skills necessary to life in the wilderness. He takes on a mad mountaineer and even helps kill a bear. In so doing, Jesse slowly gains confidence and insight beyond his years. ''I was watching me turn myself into a mountain man.'' An action-packed adventure proves a provocative voyage of self-discovery as one young boy observes the best and worst in nature, people, and himself.

Nick Hodges had always been a troublesome boy. Growing up an orphan in his Uncle Jack's care in a small New England town wasn't easy. Everyone was a little wary, a little watchful-a little too watchful. One day, while Nick is walking in the woods, a neighbor thinks she sees him miles from where he actually is. Soon a series of events reinforcing Nick's hotheaded reputation unfold. The incidents become increasingly serious until, finally, Nick is the scapegoat for a much more sinister crime, one that he wouldn't even think of committing. As he uncovers history of the town's influenza epidemic, and as he observes a strange occurrence in the graveyard, Nick begins to suspect something out of the ordinary is happening. And when he sees a figure running in the woods wearing the mirror image of his own shirt, Nick starts to piece together some of the answers-answers no one could have imagined. James Lincoln Collier has written a haunting story of a boy and his reflection-and what happens when two souls want to inhabit the same living body.