Books with title The Marble Mask

Joe Gunther, a Brattleboro, Vermont, cop, is the head of the new Vermont Bureau of Investigation (VBI), a joint task force charged with statewide responsibility for major crimes. In The Marble Mask, the VBI's first case takes the force north to Stowe, where a 50-year-old corpse has turned up in a crevasse on Mt. Mansfield. Some of the more interesting minor characters in author Archer Mayor's long-running series about the amiable elder sleuth make return appearances here as Joe's teammates--like one-armed Willy, a former wife-beater who's now playing footsie with Sammie Martens, one of Joe's favorite colleagues. When the frozen stiff turns out to be a (formerly) big-time Canadian crime boss named Jean Deschamps, who disappeared after World War II, Joe and his gang cross the border to work with the Mounties, the Sûreté, and the local cops in Sherbrooke, where Deschamps's son Marcel is involved in a turf war with the Hell's Angels and a rival gang of thugs. Old secrets and intrigues come to light while an intricate plan to frame a dying man for a crime half a century old forms an interesting puzzle that's not fully revealed until the last couple of pages.

For years war has touched the Cambodian village where 12-year-old Dara lives. Bombs have gradually destroyed the huts and temple. Recently, soldiers marched into town and burned all the rice seed. Now with nothing to eat, Dara and her family are walking to the border. They have heard of a refugee camp near Thailand, far away from danger. The camp is even better than Dara expected. She has all the food she wants and makes wonderful new friends. Most of all, she finally feels safe. But when fighting breaks out near the settlement, she becomes separated from her family. Suddenly Dara must find new strength from within to go on. Children’s novelist Minfong Ho’s experience working in a refugee camp enables her to create life-like characters in authentic settings. Her tale of a young girl’s bravery in the face of overwhelming odds is an American Bookseller Pick of the Lists.

The astronauts headed to the moon in December 1972 thought they knew what to expect. They would soon be exploring the moon's surface in a lunar rover, traveling farther than anyone before them. They would be collecting soil and rock samples for study back on Earth and could expect to learn about the moon's physical makeup and age. But what they didn't expect came as a huge bonus. The astronauts of Apollo 17 would produce an amazing photograph of planet Earth a lonely globe floating in inky black space. Their stunning Blue Marble image was destined to become one of the most reproduced and recognizable photos in history. And no one is 100 percent sure who took it.

When the frozen body of a murder victim--a smuggler from Quebec and the patriarch of a powerful crime syndicate--turns up on a Vermont mountain, Lieutenant Joe Gunther of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation uncovers links to a priceless mask sculpted by Michelangelo that mysteriously vanished during the World War II Italian campaign. 20,000 first printing.

Freedom Jane McKenzie isn’t good at following the rules. She’s good at getting into trouble - and playing marbles. All she wants is to enter the marble competition at the Autumn Jubilee and show the boys in the neighborhood that she’s the best player. First, Freedom has to convince her mother to let her enter. But there’s a new baby on the way, Freedom’s daddy is drinking too much, her little brother is a handful, and her mother is even more difficult than usual. Freedom learns that when it comes to love, friendship, and family, sometimes there are no rules. Set in 1959, The Marble Queen is a timeless story about growing up.

Joe Gunther, a Brattleboro, Vermont, cop, is the head of the new VermontBureau of Investigation (VBI), a joint task force charged with statewideresponsibility for major crimes. In The Marble Mask, the VBI's first casetakes the force north to Stowe, where a 50-year-old corpse has turned up in acrevasse on Mt. Mansfield. Some of the more interesting minor characters inauthor Archer Mayor's long-running series about the amiable elder sleuth makereturn appearances here as Joe's teammates--like one-armed Willy, a former wife-beater who's now playing footsie with Sammie Martens, one of Joe's favoritecolleagues. When the frozen stiff turns out to be a (formerly) big-time Canadiancrime boss named Jean Deschamps, who disappeared after World War II, Joe and hisgang cross the border to work with the Mounties, the S++ret+¬, and the local copsin Sherbrooke, where Deschamps's son Marcel is involved in a turf war with theHell's Angels and a rival gang of thugs. Old secrets and intrigues come tolight while an intricate plan to frame a dying man for a crime half a centuryold forms an interesting puzzle that's not fully revealed until the last coupleof pages. Mayor excels at painting a picture of a time and place that's as authentic asmaple syrup, and in Joe he's created a Cooperesque character who's almost asenigmatic as the mist-shrouded mountains of his beloved state. Skiers who'veschussed down Stowe's fabled slopes will enjoy Mayor's recreation of the town inits bygone era as well as the description of its renaissance as a majortourist attraction today. Joe doesn't change much from book to book, but that'sfine with Mayor's fans. He's a good cop, a quiet hero, a reliable guy, and his11th appearance in this tightly woven mystery is cause for cheer. --JaneAdams

Fourteen-year-old Logan Grant is the star center for the Westside Wolves bantam hockey team. He has all the skills and all the looks, but he has alienated many of his teammates with his me-first attitude. One night Logan's life is forever changed when a fire sweeps through his house. He survives, but his face and body are badly burned. Too embarrassed to show his deformed face on the ice, Logan believes he'll never play hockey again until he stumbles across an old goalie mask that gives him the courage to get back to the rink. Taunted by the other players, Logan is defended by an unlikely ally, a teammate he once bullied because of his own facial disfigurement.

"An 'odyssey of artistic, sexual and spiritual discovery..." ***** (Reader Review)Edmund Payne runs from a job as an art school teacher following suspicions surrounding a relationship with a talented and sensitive schoolboy. As Edmund attempts to reconstruct his journey through the Mediterranean, he recalls friendships, sexual thrills, and lovers along the way. It is primarily a story of a winter's journey into darkness and exile, illuminated only by the Classical landscapes of North Africa, Italy and Greece, until, that is, he finds a new world of light, and love. But, having found a new home, and new love, Edmund must believe in it, and accept it.FULLY REVISED"The Marble Boy is a novel about infatuation and longing: a sensual, sexual pot-boiler of a man waiting to explode, waiting to find true love, waiting to find who he is. It’s a novel brilliantly disguised as a travel book written by a burnt-out middle-aged man, Edmund, with a possibly dodgy past. He writes letters home and we learn there’s distance between those in the past, his ex-wife, particularly. We travel with Edmund through the streets, nature and architecture of Greece and the Mediterranean, and read every vivid detail of his 'journal' and act as tourists overseeing, sometimes literally, his drawings, and his infatuations with the young men he encounters. A strong recommendation." (Reader Review)"This aptly titled book successfully portrays the landscapes, art and architecture and compares them to his past. Depiction of Mediterranean architecture and his interpretations are compelling enough to awaken an urge to see it yourself. His humility about his art, confessions of lust and susceptibility to love left me spellbound and yet curious, given that it's semi-autobiographical. Abrupt, and failure to find a closure is struggle sails through and at last accepts for it to be a continuous process. Looking forward to reading other books of his." **** (Reader Review)"A book for every gay man wondering where his life is heading. Its fragile, melancholic mood resonated beautifully with my own middle-age-crisis state of mind. Part travelogue and part psychoanalysis, The Marble Boy skilfully weaves the protagonist's assessment of his mindset with penetrating examination of his past relationships and lyrical exploration of the often less visited Mediterranean landscape he travels through. Introspective and perceptive, but generally not self-indulgent, beautifully written and compelling; I found it uplifting." ***** (Reader Review)"The Marble Boy by Andrew Daws is a very original work. It's a kind of combination gay sex odyssey/travel diary. Much of the time the writing is absolutely exquisite. The author has the unique ability to make the reader believe for the moment that he is actually visiting these exotic locations. This is a talent often claimed by writers and publishers but rarely achieved. Along the way Edmund has several sexual encounters with younger men. The description of these scenes is insightful, often beautiful and utterly convincing." ***** (Reader Review)

Photographs by Martha Cooper. Packaged with the only other equipment a child would need--the marbles--here is a book steeped in the know-how, culture, lore, and trivia of this simple, easy-to-learn, play-anywhere game. The Marble Book is fun and complete, with its 30 marbles and 2 shooters packed in a drawstring pouch, its extensive marble lingo, over 50 games, and a chapter on collecting. It tells the proper way to shoot, including how to use backspin, how to set up a game, and the best places to play (the dirt, of course, although asphalt and linoleum are pretty good). Then come the games, from Ringer, the official game played at the National Marbles Tournament, to Poison, Dobblers, and Old Bowler, the game favored by Abraham Lincoln. It's everything kids need to knuckle down and play for keepsies. 50,000 copies in print.The Classic Game series have over 317,000 copies in print.

Freedom Jane McKenzie isn't good at following the rules. She doesn't like any of the things that girls are supposed to like. She's good at fishing, getting into trouble--and playing marbles. All she wants is to enter the marble competition at the Autumn Jubilee and show the boys in the neighborhood that she's the best player.If she can't be the Marble King, then she'll be the Marble Queen. First, Freedom has to convince her mother to let her enter. But there's a new baby on the way, Freedom's daddy is drinking too much, her little brother is a handful, and her mother is even more difficult than usual. Freedom learns that when it comes to love, friendship, and family, sometimes there are no rules.Set in 1959, The Marble Queen, a 2013 Colorado Book Award finalist is a timeless story about growing up.The author of The Marble Queen has donated this book to the Worldreader program.