Books with author John Baines

Wednesday, September 5, 1973: The first day of Karl Shoemaker's senior year in stifling Lightsburg, Ohio. For years, Karl's been part of what he calls "the Madman Underground" - a group of kids forced (for no apparent reason) to attend group therapy during school hours. Karl has decided that senior year is going to be different. He is going to get out of the Madman Underground for good. He is going to act - and be - Normal. But Normal, of course, is relative. Karl has five after-school jobs, one dead father, one seriously unhinged drunk mother . . . and a huge attitude. Welcome to a gritty, uncensored rollercoaster ride, narrated by the singular Karl Shoemaker.

In December 2017, author John Barnes discovered a manuscript he’d written thirty years before and forgotten. It described an eventful 1987 trip by rail into mainland China. His stateside marriage was failing and his career in jeopardy. He needed a successful meeting in Wuhan with a mysterious Mr. Lu. Wuhan flights were canceled due to bad weather, so Barnes took the train. His journey began in Canton on China’s southern coast and ended 23 hours and 900 miles later at Wuhan in central China. The author uses his 30-year-old journey like a Rosetta Stone to understand who he is then and who he is now. In the telling, Wuhan Train becomes not only one man’s journey into a once poor and dispirited China’s past but a parallel journey into the author’s self.

It is the year 2129 . . . and fame is all that matters Susan and her friends are celebutantes. Their lives are powered by media awareness, fed by engineered meals, and underscored by cynicism. Everyone has a rating; the more viewers who ID you, the better. So Susan and her almost-boyfriend Derlock cook up a surefire plan: the nine of them will visit a Mars-bound spaceship and stow away. Their survival will be a media sensation, boosting their ratings across the globe. There's only one problem: Derlock is a sociopath. Breakneck narrative, pointed cultural commentary, warm heart, accurate science, a kickass heroine, and a ticking clock . . . who could ask for more?

"The Catcher in the Rye meets On the Road"*-The Printz Honor book is a classic in the making! September 1973: The beginning of Karl Shoemaker's senior year in stifling Lightsburg, Ohio. For years, Karl's been part of "the Madman Underground"- kids forced to attend group therapy during school. Karl has decided that he is going to get out of the Madman Underground for good. He is going to act-and be-Normal. But Normal, of course, is relative. Karl has two after-school jobs, one dead father, one seriously unhinged drunk mother . . . and a huge attitude. Welcome to a gritty, uncensored rollercoaster ride, narrated by the singular Karl Shoemaker. *The Horn Book

This Printz Honor book is a classic in the making. September 1973: The beginning of Karl Shoemaker's senior year in stifling Lightsburg, Ohio. For years, Karl's been part of "the Madman Underground"-kids forced to attend group therapy during school. Karl has decided that he is going to get out of the Madman Underground for good. He is going to act-and be-Normal. But Normal, of course, is relative. Karl has two after-school jobs, one dead father, one seriously unhinged drunk mother...and a huge attitude. Welcome to a gritty, uncensored roller-coaster ride, narrated by the singular Karl Shoemaker.