Books with author Mr James Smith

In this coming-of-age debut, a seventeen-year-old boy has one week in the aftermath of a disastrous prank to prove to the authorities, and to himself, that he’s not a worthless jerk who belongs in jail.Moses and his cousin Charlie were best friends, wisecracking pranksters, unstoppable forces of teenage energy—until the night they became accidental arsonists and set in motion a chain of events that left Moses alone, guilt-stricken, and most likely trapped in his dead-end town. Then Moses gets a lucky break: the chance to volunteer as a camp counselor for week and prove that the incident at the bowling alley should be expunged from his record. And since a criminal record and enrollment at Duke are mutually exclusive, he’s determined to get through his community service and get on with his life. But tragedy seems to follow him wherever he goes, and this time, it might just stop him in his tracks.“Unstoppable Moses is radiant; one of those rare debut novels that shines with humor, love, compassion, and hope, with a cast of unforgettable characters that jump off the pages and into your heart. Tyler James Smith is a masterful storyteller.”—Andrew Smith, Printz Honor and Boston Globe-Horn Book Award-winning author of Grasshopper Jungle“When people say reading makes us more empathetic, they are talking about books like Unstoppable Moses by Tyler James Smith. A lyrical, hilarious, so-real-it-hurts debut that reminds us all just how much we have to lose, and why it’s important to never give up. I’m so happy this book is in the world.”—Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock, Morris Honor-winning author of The Smell of Other People’s Houses

Most bridge books teach you the rules. They don't teach you to think. This book teaches you to analyze the bid process, understand the meaning of the leading the first card and communication with your partner. There is no substitute for thinking. Bridge video games are built on implementing these rules and most of the times you win the computer. Why you win the computers? Because it programmed to play according to the rules. An example of a bad rule is the “third-hand-play high” rule. In my book, there are many examples that if you implement that rule automatically, you lose. There is no substitute for thinking, and my book guides you how to do so.

For most of her life, Katira has trained to take on the role of assassin. While it's far from the life she would have chosen, the law known as the Inheritance Proclamation dictates that she must follow in her father's profession. At seventeen, she'll be expected to use her training on a real assignment any day.When new information about an old fugitive brings questions about Kat's past to light, she must make a choice: Prove her loyalties to the Tederan Order and their laws, or become a fugitive to search after answers she may never find.

Paolo calls Rufus "a Mack truck with no one driving." Rufus is the O'Neil family dog, and he shows up one morning with part of a twenty-dollar bill in his teeth. Twelve-year-old Paolo figures that there must be more where that bill came from, and since his cousin Billy needs to repair a bent wheel on his bike, there's a reason for looking. Soon Paolo, his brother Georgie, and Billy end up in the monsignor's garden behind the Cathedral of San Joaquin, but it's not exactly treasure they find, it's a hand that shoots out of the undergrowth to grab Paolo's neck. The search for the stash leads the boys -- sometimes scared spitless -- on many a byway around Orange Grove City, California, in the summer of 1951. And onto the byway of conscience.

Paolo's plan for August in Orange Grove City is to hire out his little brother to the neighbors. Georgie is six; he needs a manager.But then the family dog, Rufus, is stolen.Overnight, Paolo is trying to manage not just Georgie, but their deaf cousin, Billy, who speaks only with his hands; Henry, a strange vacation visitor whom the boys discover living locked in his aunt's attic; and Butter Schwartz, a lonely, half-wild schemer with a paper route. The last two are definite dognapping suspects....To top it all, a girl with a big-time crush on Paolo won't let him be, day or night, crisis or no crisis. For her, missing Rufus is nothing to snaring Paolo, who has met his match as a manager.The solution to the mystery of Rufus, the threat of Theresa, and the future must rest in Billy's hands.

Paolo's plan for August in Orange Grove City is to hire out his little brother to the neighbors. Georgie is six; he needs a manager. But then the family dog, Rufus, is stolen. Overnight, Paolo is trying to manage not just Georgie, but their deaf cousin, Billy, who speaks only with his hands; Henry, a strange vacation visitor whom the boys discover living locked in his aunt's attic; and Butter Schwartz, a lonely, half-wild schemer with a paper route. The last two are definite dognapping suspects.... To top it all, a girl with a big-time crush on Paolo won't let him be, day or night, crisis or no crisis. For her, missing Rufus is nothing to snaring Paolo, who has met his match as a manager. The solution to the mystery of Rufus, the threat of Theresa, and the future must rest in Billy's hands.

Excerpt from The Booandik Tribe of South Australian Aborigines: A Sketch of Their Habits, Customs, Legends, and LanguageThe above lists do not restrict the selection of a wife, but bear upon the food a man might eat. It was considered wrong to kill or use for food animals of the same totem as cne's self. When forced by hunger, one might break this rule by formally expressing sorrow for having to eat one's friends, and no evil results followed but sickness and death were the penalties of wilful wrongdoing in this particular.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

What happens when dragons begin to whisper their stories? Born from raw clay and crafted into art, magical dragon pots began to tell their tales to their creator, potter and first-time author Susan Smith James, with mysterious and wonderful results. From the Night Dragon, the Ice Dragon, the Smoke Dragon and more, each dragon has gifted us with tales of their secret and magnificent world, beautifully embellished by the photography of James’ dragon pottery. Their meditative stories offer themes of love, beauty, and wisdom, inviting us into the secret lair of their hearts. From a dream of shape-shifting to receiving a message to “live in magic,” Dancing Dragon Magic was born. If you crave dragon knowledge, want to experience their world and perspective, and want to set your spirit free, this enchanting book is for you.

Cape Breton Tales by Harry James SmithSummer comes late along the Cape Breton shore; and even while it stays there is something a little diffident and ticklish about it, as if each clear warm day might perhaps be the last. Though by early June the fields are in their first emerald, there are no flowers yet. The little convent girls who carry the banners at the head of the Corpus Christi procession at Arichat wear wreaths of artificial lilies of the valley and marguerites over their white veils, and often enough their teeth chatter with cold before the completion of the long march—out from the church portals westward by the populous street, then up through the steep open fields to the old Calvary on top of the hill, then back to the church along the grass-grown upper road, far above the roofs, in full view of the wide bay.Despite some discomforts, the procession is a very great event; every house along the route is decked out with bunting or flags or a bright home-made carpet, hung from a window. Pots of tall geraniums in scarlet bloom have been set out on the steps; and numbers of little evergreen trees, or birches newly in leaf, have been brought in from the country and bound to the fences. Along the roadside are gathered all the Acadians from the neighboring parishes, devoutly gay, enchanted with the pious spectacle. The choir, following after the richly canopied Sacrament and swinging censers, are chanting psalms of benediction and thanksgiving; banners and flags and veils flutter in the wind; the harbor, ice-bound so many months, is flecked with dancing white-caps and purple shadows: surely summer cannot be far off."When once the ice has done passing down there," they say—"which may happen any time now—you will see! Perhaps all in a day the change will come. The fog that creeps in so cold at night—it will all be sucked up; the sky will be clear as glass down to the very edge of the water. Ah, the fine season it will be!"That is the way summer arrives on the Acadian shore: everything bursting pell-mell into bloom; daisies and buttercups and August flowers rioting in the fields, lilacs and roses shedding their fragrance in sheltered gardens; and over all the world a drench of unspeakable sunlight.You could never forget your first sight of Arichat if you entered its narrow harbor at this divine moment. Steep, low hills, destitute of trees, set a singularly definite sky-line just behind; and the town runs—dawdles, rather—in a thin, wavering band for some miles sheer on the edge of the water. Eight or ten wharves, some of them fallen into dilapidation, jut out at intervals from clumps of weatherbeaten storehouses; and a few small vessels, it may be, are lying up alongside or anchored idly off shore. Only the occasional sound of a creaking block or of a wagon rattling by on the hard roadway breaks the silence.

It's September, the first week of school at John Muir Junior High School, and Paolo has a lot on his mind. He's thinking about finding a place of his own with his brother Georgie and his cousin Billy, running away part-time -- which means they are running away, but still come back home to eat and sleep and read the paper. He's thinking about the upcoming Halloween/All Saints' Day/Mexican Day of the Dead/Chinese Lantern Night carnival, and what booth he, Georgie, and Billy would like to man. He's thinking about Communism and the atom bomb, just like everyone else in Orange Grove, California, in 1951. But most of all, he's thinking about Billy and Veronica, a Chinese girl in his class, who have both become victims of some ofthe community's ignorant but deep-seated ideas about who should be hanging out with whom. And it's this last thought that Paolo, even with Georgie and Billy's help, can't quite figure out. Suddenly, the boys have a real reason to be running away, and maybe not just part-time.