Books with author Jane Springer

In 1884, professional baseball was still in its infancy. The National League was less than a decade old, the National Association (which had been around since 1871) was now defunct, the American Association (which began two years earlier) were nipping at the NL’s heels, and a new league—the Union Association—was in its first year.With all that going on, a hard-playing, hard-drinking club out of tiny Wilmington, Delaware—the Quicksteps—were so dominating their minor-league opponents that they would receive the opportunity of a lifetime.At 51–12, the Quicksteps were easily handling the struggling Eastern League, which was still in its inaugural season. Led by archetypal stars Tommy “Oyster” Burns and Edward “The Only” Nolan, the Quicksteps attacked opponents with a spike-sharpened, rough-and-tumble approach to the game that was only then coming into style, including Nolan’s revolutionary delivery: the curve ball. They clinched the league title with six weeks left in the season, and then did something no other team had ever done before.The UA’s inaugural season wasn’t going as well as they had hoped. Four teams folded before the season’s conclusion, and the red-hot Quicksteps were slated to be promoted to the professional league—something which, then and now, is unheard of—replacing the defunct Philadelphia Keystones.Unfortunately, things did not go as well for Wilmington in the UA as it did in the Eastern League. As the first shots are fired in a near century-long battle for player rights, mass defections, and a comedy of on-field error and misfortune resigned the Quicksteps to a virtually unassailable record for baseball futility. In 18 games, the Quicksteps went 2–16, giving them a .111 winning percentage (compared to their .810 winning percentage in the Eastern League). The UA would fold at seasons’ end—as would the Quicksteps.Loaded with colorful characters, highlight plays, and behind-the-scenes drama, Jon Springer (Mets by the Numbers) tells the forgotten true story of a tumultuous and remarkable summer; a team driven and summarily destroyed by its own dream of success.

Some view the systematic killing, rape, and destruction of homes in Darfur as a grave humanitarian crisis. For others, it’s a clear example of the ultimate crime against humanity — genocide. Who is right? What is genocide? Who are the endangered human beings in today’s world? What is the impact on humanity of wiping out entire groups of people? This thoughtful book helps young readers understand these and other difficult questions. Providing an overview of the history of genocide worldwide, the book explores the paradox that while a person who murders another person can be tried and even executed for the crime, a person who murders hundreds or thousands of people usually goes free. Using case studies of acts of genocide throughout history, the book points out the unique character of each while at the same time establishing important links between them. Most importantly, the book answers the question, What can be done to prevent genocide from happening in the future?

"[The Groundwork Guides] are excellent books, mandatory for school libraries and the increasing body of young people prepared to take ownership of the situations and problems previous generations have left them." -- Globe and Mail Some view the systematic killing, rape and destruction of homes in Darfur as a grave humanitarian crisis. For others, it’s a clear example of the ultimate crime against humanity -- genocide. Who is right? What is genocide? What is the impact on humanity of wiping out entire groups of people? Who are the endangered human beings in today’s world? This thoughtful book helps young readers understand these and other difficult questions. Providing an overview of the history of genocide worldwide, the book explores the paradox that while a person who murders another person can be tried and even executed for the crime, a person who murders hundreds or thousands of people usually goes free. Using case studies the book points out their unique character while at the same time establishing important links between them. Most important, the book answers the question, what can be done to prevent genocide from happening in the future?

Some view the systematic killing, rape, and destruction of homes in Darfur as a grave humanitarian crisis. For others, it’s a clear example of the ultimate crime against humanity — genocide. Who is right? What is genocide? Who are the endangered human beings in today’s world? What is the impact on humanity of wiping out entire groups of people? This thoughtful book helps young readers understand these and other difficult questions. Providing an overview of the history of genocide worldwide, the book explores the paradox that while a person who murders another person can be tried and even executed for the crime, a person who murders hundreds or thousands of people usually goes free. Using case studies of acts of genocide throughout history, the book points out the unique character of each while at the same time establishing important links between them. Most importantly, the book answers the question, What can be done to prevent genocide from happening in the future?

A series of books for Key stages 3 - 4, aimed at secondary school librarians, these 4 titles provide an overview of key and contemporary political and social issues covered at this stage of the curriculum. Ground Work delivers easy to access information and the background behind these sometimes controversial topics in a lively and accessible way. Each book in the series addresses key questions about pressing social issues from: what is climate change and where do we go from here?; globalisation and the widening gap between the rich and the rest of the population; to bridging the gap between different cultures and religions; and the controversial topic of genocide and who is at threat from this ultimate crime against humanity? This book provides an overview of the history of genocide worldwide. As well as answering key questions surrounding this topic such as What is genocide? Where has it happened in the past? and Who is being threatened by genocide today? it also addresses the debates and controversies surrounding the use of this term.

Professional baseball was barely into its adolescence in 1884 when a hard-playing, hard-drinking minor league club out of tiny Wilmington, Delaware—the Quicksteps—got the opportunity of a lifetime.Led by archetypal stars Tommy “Oyster” Burns and Edward “The Only” Nolan, the Quicksteps attacked opponents with a spike-sharpened, rough-and-tumble approach to the game that was only then coming into style, including Nolan’s revolutionary delivery, the curveball. Managed by a wise cricket veteran and bankrolled by a cigar-chewing sporting goods dealer who ran illicit gambling rings by night, the Quicksteps were the talk of the town, playing to an .800 winning percentage in the minors and holding their own in exhibitions with big league clubs.The National League was less than a decade old then, and the American Association, which had been established two years earlier, was nipping at its heels. But when a maverick millionaire named Henry V. Lucas established a third major league that year—the Union Association—the pro game erupted into chaos.When the ensuing battle for players and fans claimed the life of the Union Association’s Philadelphia Keystones, the Quicksteps, in an extraordinary remedy, were abruptly promoted to the league to take their place—team, stadium, and city in a single fell swoop. But their arrival in the majors was anything but a dream come true.As the first shots were fired in a near century-long battle for player rights, mass defections and a comedy of on-field error and misfortune resigned the Quicksteps to a virtually unassailable record for baseball futility.Loaded with colorful characters, highlight plays and behind-the-scenes drama, Once Upon a Team tells the forgotten true story of a tumultuous and remarkable summer; a team driven and summarily destroyed by its own dream of success.

Fifteen years old. Wanted:Dead or Alive"Don't love a spy," warns fifteen year old Pinkerton agent Maddie Bradford, a lonely, rebellious outsider with a mind on fire and a photographic memory. It is 1861, the Civil War has just started and this motherless teen must move with her soldier-father from New Hampshire to Washington, DC; a city at war, packed cheek by jowl with soldiers, Rebel spies, slave catchers, and traitors of all stripes bent on waging a war of destruction against the Union, and President Lincoln himself.Maddie's journal, written in secret, of course, begins with her arrival at her aunt's DC boardinghouse through the first year of the Civil War, a time as Maddie puts it, "full of dips and dangers," when she becomes a fearless Union spy. And then there is the mysterious, maddening Jake Whitestone, a young man who awakens something equally dangerous in Maddie: Love in a time of terror.Civil War historian, author, and lecturer Jane Singer brings her unique voice to Alias Dragonfly.