Books with author Michael Harris

The Durrell family are immortalised in Gerald Durrell's My Family and Other Animals and its ITV adaptation, The Durrells. But what of the real life Durrells? Why did they go to Corfu in the first place - and what happened to them after they left?The real story of the Durrells is as surprising and fascinating as anything in Gerry's books, and Michael Haag, with his first hand knowledge of the family, is the ideal narrator, drawing on diaries, letters and unpublished autobiographical fragments. The Durrells of Corfu describes the family's upbringing in India and the crisis that brought them to England and then Greece. It recalls the genuine characters they encountered on Corfu - Theodore the biologist, the taxi driver Spiro Halikiopoulos and the prisoner Kosti - as well as the visit of American writer Henry Miller. And Haag has unearthed the story of how the Durrells left Corfu, including Margo's and Larry's last-minute escapes before the War. An extended epilogue looks at the emergence of Larry as a world famous novelist, and Gerry as a naturalist and champion of endangered species, as well as the lives of the rest of the family, their friends and other animals. The book is illustrated with family photos from the Gerald Durrell Archive, many of them reproduced here for the first time.

Recess. A swing set. An argument. A resolution! Michael Hall’s transformative Swing is a celebration of friendship, joy, and kindness. Readers of all ages will look forward to seeing how four unlikely friends navigate their differences. A surprising and standout picture book from the acclaimed and bestselling creator of Red: A Crayon’s Story and Perfect Square. It’s recess! Four letters (O, V, E, and L) race to the playground to claim the swings. In several pages of recess banter and bullying, one letter is told it’s too round, one is from the wrong end of the alphabet, and one is a vowel and therefore not welcome.What does it take to save the day? Kindness . . . and a heavenly and joyful swing. And what do the letters—friends now because of their shared experience—spell when they finally come back to Earth? LOVE. A story about sharing, acceptance, and kindness, this transcendent and colorful picture book will keep readers guessing while also introducing the letters of the alphabet. Swing is for anyone who loves to hop on a swing and fly to the sky.

Michael Dorris has crafted a fierce saga of three generations of Indian women, beset by hardships and torn by angry secrets, yet inextricably joined by the bonds of kinship. Starting in the present day and moving backward, the novel is told in the voices of the three women: fifteen-year-old part-black Rayona; her American Indian mother, Christine, consumed by tenderness and resentment toward those she loves; and the fierce and mysterious Ida, mother and grandmother whose haunting secrets, betrayals, and dreams echo through the years, braiding together the strands of the shared past.

Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award, this moving and poetic fictional story follows two Taíno siblings and their life in the Bahamas during the fateful year of 1492. Morning Girl and Star Boy couldn't be more different. Morning Girl relishes the day and all it has to offer, while her younger brother Star Boy loves the night. As they navigate change on their island, from familial struggles to the arrival of a hurricane, they realize everything that makes them different has the power to bring them closer together. This historical coming of age story thoughtfully portrays Morning Girl and Star Boys' complex sibling bond and life in the Caribbean leading up to the eve of Christopher Columbus' arrival to their home. Told in alternating chapters, this is a rich, lyrical story about an indigenous Caribbean family and the strong bonds of love.

Ingenuity and surprise rule in this funny and colorful companion to Red: A Crayon’s Story written and illustrated by Michael Hall, the New York Times–bestselling creator of My Heart Is Like a Zoo.The crayons are ready to tell the thrilling tale of Frankencrayon. The costumes are made, the roles are cast, the pages are all set—but then disaster strikes. Someone has scribbled on the page! Hideous! Horrifying! The story can’t go on! Try as they might, the crayons can’t erase the scribble, and this picture book must be canceled. Until the crayons playing the title role of Frankencrayon think of a solution, that is. Michael Hall breaks borders and invites readers behind the scenes with his irresistible, clever style and bold artwork. A book about seeing beauty in unexpected places and the magic of storytelling.

SHOCKING, FUNNY, SAD AND RAUNCHYThe biggest and baddest of America’s atmospheric nuclear weapons test series, Redwing mixed saber rattling with mad science, while overlooking its cataclysmic human, geopolitical and ecological effects. But mostly, Redwing just messed with guys’ heads.“A gripping memoir...Leavened by humor, loyalty and pride of accomplishment, this book is a tribute to the resilience, courage and patriotism of the American soldier.” — Henry Kissinger“One of the best books I've ever read! Destined to become a classic.”— John G. Stoessinger, Ph.D., winner of the Bancroft Prize for International Affairs, member of the Council on Foreign Relations, former Acting Director for the Political Affairs Division at the U.N.“Shockingly honest...Deeply personal and politically profound.”— Sen. Charles Schumer“Hard to put down...Touching, horrifying and uproariously funny.”— Dr. Robert Jervis, Adlai E. Stevenson Professor of International Politics, Columbia University“Brilliantly conceived, elegantly rendered and persuasively authentic.”— Robert B. Parker, author of the Spenser and Jesse Stone series“An entertaining read in the bloodline of Catch-22, Harris achieves the oddest of victories: a funny, optimistic story about the H-bomb.”— Publishers Weekly“Absurd and terrifying....Bored, frightened, angry, and sexually frustrated, the men turn cruel, violent and suicidal. Harris' frank and disturbing descriptions of the criminally irresponsible proceedings on Eniwetok and the physical and mental pain he and others endured constitute shocking additions to atomic history.” — Booklist

Ingenuity and surprise rule in this funny and colorful companion to Red: A Crayon’s Story written and illustrated by Michael Hall, the New York Times–bestselling creator of My Heart Is Like a Zoo.The crayons are ready to tell the thrilling tale of Frankencrayon. The costumes are made, the roles are cast, the pages are all set—but then disaster strikes. Someone has scribbled on the page! Hideous! Horrifying! The story can’t go on! Try as they might, the crayons can’t erase the scribble, and this picture book must be canceled. Until the crayons playing the title role of Frankencrayon think of a solution, that is. Michael Hall breaks borders and invites readers behind the scenes with his irresistible, clever style and bold artwork. A book about seeing beauty in unexpected places and the magic of storytelling.