Books with author Michael Kracht

In this “sharp-eyed account of a nearly forgotten African-American sports legend” (Publishers Weekly)—the remarkable Major Taylor who became the world’s fastest bicyclist at the height of the Jim Crow era—“Kranish has done historians and fans a service by reminding us that such immortals as Joe Louis, Jesse Owens, Serena Williams and Tiger Woods all followed in Major Taylor’s wake” (The Washington Post).In the 1890s, the nation’s promise of equality had failed spectacularly. While slavery had ended with the Civil War, the Jim Crow laws still separated blacks from whites, and the excesses of the Gilded Age created an elite upper class. When Major Taylor, a young black man, announced he wanted to compete in the nation’s most popular and mostly white man’s sport, cycling, Birdie Munger, a white cyclist who once was the world’s fastest man, declared that he could help turn the young black athlete into a champion. Twelve years before boxer Jack Johnson and fifty years before baseball player Jackie Robinson, Taylor faced racism at nearly every turn—especially by whites who feared he would disprove their stereotypes of blacks. In The World’s Fastest Man, years in the writing, investigative journalist Michael Kranish reveals new information about Major Taylor based on a rare interview with his daughter and other never-before-uncovered details from Taylor’s life. Kranish shows how Taylor indeed became a world champion, traveled the world, was the toast of Paris, and was one of the most chronicled black men of his day. From a moment in time just before the arrival of the automobile when bicycles were king, the populace was booming with immigrants, and enormous societal changes were about to take place, “both inspiring and heartbreaking, this is an essential contribution to sports history” (Booklist, starred review). The World’s Fastest Man “restores the memory of one of the first black athletes to overcome the drag of racism and achieve national renown” (The New York Times Book Review).

Gregory, a failed inventor, is also a keen gardener. He loves flowers and likes to create new varieties of his own. It is a pity that these flowers also come with a very unusual aroma. His green tulips with pink spots stink of cow dung; his brown roses with orange stripes smell of roast beef; his grey daffodils with purple dots smell of pickled onions and his black dahlias with red ziz-zags pong of sweaty arm-pits. Living amongst the blue petunias that smell of petrol fumes is a strange looking weed that has the power to heal. So when Edith gets struck down with the deadly moo-ing disease, Gregory has high hopes of curing her with the help of the mighty weed - only to discover that it has uprooted itself and run away!Racing against the clock, can Gregory find the mighty weed and save Edith before it is too late? An amusing tale for children between the ages of 8 to 11 that many adults will also find amusing.

Did you know that there exists in the world, millions of tiny little clouds of luck that circle the earth every minute, of every day, of every year? And did you know that if you happen to get in the way of one of these floating luck clouds then, for as long as the cloud is passing through you, your luck will change? Sometimes forever?A young boy named Tommy, finds a way of capturing a luck cloud with the aim of unfairly influencing his luck. Some people might call this cheating. But Tommy soon learns that luck can be bad as well as good.A delightful story that adults will enjoy reading out loud to their children. For children aged 6 - 8 years old.