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- Family Deals with Crisis
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Miracle's Boys
Jacqueline Woodson
Manufacturer: Puffin
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Bronx Masquerade
ASIN: 0142406023 |
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"Sometimes I feel like our life is one big work of art--it's everything" [Charlie] stared down at his bare feet. "And nothing."
"This isn't art," I said. "It's our block! It's our life."
If only, if only... Life is full of poignant hypotheticals for Ty'ree, Charlie, and Lafayette, three brothers who are raising themselves after they lost their father to a drowning accident and their mother to diabetes. Each boy deals with his grief in his own way: the oldest, Ty'ree, has given up his dreams of college to work full time to support the others. Charlie is slipping into a life of crime, and is just back, angry and alienated, from two years at a correctional facility. Lafayette, the youngest brother, has retreated inward, avoiding his friends and blaming himself for his mother's death. These three are struggling against pretty large odds, but "brother to brother to brother," they can survive.
Jacqueline Woodson writes with a sure hand and true understanding of the complexity and depth of young people's lives. Winner of many awards for her novels, including two Coretta Scott King Honors (for From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun and I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This), she tells a captivating, honest story. (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter
Book Description
Lafayette would do anything to have things back the way they used to be—back before their parents died and back before his brother Charlie changed so much. But things have changed and all he can do now is ask why.... Why did Mama have to die? Why does Charlie hate him so much? And how are the three brothers—Miracle's boys—supposed to survive when so much seems to be stacked against them?
Customer Reviews:
Family Deals with Crisis.......2007-06-08
Lafayette's life used to be pretty stable. He never knew his father--he died before Lafayette was born, from hypothermia he got saving a woman and her dog from a frozen-over pond. Even though he had no father, Lafayette was pretty happy living with his mother, his oldest brother Ty'ree and his other older brother, Charlie. Charlie shared a room with Lafayette and was always especially kind to his little brother.
Then when he was twelve, Charlie held up a store. He was caught, and his punishment for this crime was to be sent away to a juvenile detention center--a prison for adolescents. While Charlie was in this detention center, their mother died.
Now Charlie is back at home again, living with Lafayette and Ty'ree, who was old enough to get custody of his two younger brothers when their mother died. But Charlie is radically different from the brother Lafayette used to know. He no longer cares about animals. He is doing badly in school and has started hanging around with a bad group from the neighborhood. Worst of all, he seems to hate Lafayette. He barely speaks to Lafayette, and when he does, it is to say something mean, like that Lafayette was the cause of their mother's death. Lafayette knows that isn't true, but he sometimes feels like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Ty'ree says Charlie is just angry at the world and he tries to keep the peace, but Lafayette knows that something has to change. He just doesn't know if he's the one who will be able to change it.
I loved Ty'ree's character; he was very strong and I would have liked to have had more insight into what he was thinking about his situation. I liked the hopeful ending of the book; it seemed as though things were going to be okay. It was sad, though, to think of Ty'ree having to give up his promising future in order to take care of his brothers.
Miracle Boys.......2007-02-01
Marcus, Vishal, and Nathan. Language Arts Honors A3
Lafayette never got a chance to meet his father; his dad died before Lafayette was even born. Though he misses having a dad to do boy stuff with, Lafayette didn't know the man enough to miss him personally. When his mother dies, though, Lafayette is crushed. He misses her terribly --- every day, with every thought.
Lafayette's oldest brother Ty'ree misses their mother just as much. With both parents gone, Ty'ree is now responsible raising Laf and also looking out for middle brother Charlie who has just returned from doing time in a juvenile detention center. In addition to being full of sorrow, Ty'ree is bitter: If he didn't have to look after his younger brothers, Ty'ree would have been able to attend college. Now, he works like a dog in the mailroom for a big company and is tired all the time from trying to make ends meet. Laf tries not to ask too many questions, or cry too much, or to want things they can't afford. On top of it all, Charlie just keeps acting out and getting in trouble. If he caught by the police again, Charlie and Laf will be made wards of the court.
Author Woodson has a wonderful talent for writing about kids in tough situations. You really understand how someone in Laf's position might feel. This is a touching novel about a family trying to stay afloat through some really hard times. Their mother, whose name was Milagro, (Miracle in Spanish) was the center of the family and held them together. Now they must rely on each other while learning to deal with the death of their mother. They already got their one miracle --- can they stick together without one?
This is a quiet novel that you can read quickly. All the action takes place in one day, but it never feels hurried or too busy. If you are looking for a book that makes violence, gang life, and fighting brothers seem dramatic or glamorous, this is not the book for you. But if you want to read a realistic story about how these elements of urban life affect a small, loving family, try reading MIRACLE'S BOYS. Laf has tremendous reserves of kindness and love, and the bravery to show his emotions when he feels them. This whole novel is sometimes very sad, but it ends on a hopeful note. And as is usual with this author's work, it's also very beautiful.
Miracle Boys.......2007-02-01
Marcus, Nathan, and Vishal. Language Arts Honors A3
Lafayette never got a chance to meet his father; his dad died before Lafayette was even born. Though he misses having a dad to do boy stuff with, Lafayette didn't know the man enough to miss him personally. When his mother dies, though, Lafayette is crushed. He misses her terribly --- every day, with every thought.
Lafayette's oldest brother Ty'ree misses their mother just as much. With both parents gone, Ty'ree is now responsible raising Laf and also looking out for middle brother Charlie who has just returned from doing time in a juvenile detention center. In addition to being full of sorrow, Ty'ree is bitter: If he didn't have to look after his younger brothers, Ty'ree would have been able to attend college. Now, he works like a dog in the mailroom for a big company and is tired all the time from trying to make ends meet. Laf tries not to ask too many questions, or cry too much, or to want things they can't afford. On top of it all, Charlie just keeps acting out and getting in trouble. If he caught by the police again, Charlie and Laf will be made wards of the court.
Author Woodson has a wonderful talent for writing about kids in tough situations. You really understand how someone in Laf's position might feel. This is a touching novel about a family trying to stay afloat through some really hard times. Their mother, whose name was Milagro, (Miracle in Spanish) was the center of the family and held them together. Now they must rely on each other while learning to deal with the death of their mother. They already got their one miracle --- can they stick together without one?
This is a quiet novel that you can read quickly. All the action takes place in one day, but it never feels hurried or too busy. If you are looking for a book that makes violence, gang life, and fighting brothers seem dramatic or glamorous, this is not the book for you. But if you want to read a realistic story about how these elements of urban life affect a small, loving family, try reading MIRACLE'S BOYS. Laf has tremendous reserves of kindness and love, and the bravery to show his emotions when he feels them. This whole novel is sometimes very sad, but it ends on a hopeful note. And as is usual with this author's work, it's also very beautiful.
Miracle Boys.......2007-02-01
Marcus, Vishal, and Nathan
Language Arts Honors A3
Miracle Boys
This book is about the challenges 3 orphans must face while growing up. Their mother and father both died. Ty'ree, the oldest, has to work full time and support his entire family. He quit school so he could allow him younger siblings to have normal, healthy lives. Charlie (Newcharlie), the second oldest child, is a very sensible and caring person. But after the tragic deaths of his parents, he changes. He no longer cares about anyone, except himself. He robs things, hurt people, and lie about things. Lafayette, the youngest child, has little hope that his family will soon reunite and become one. As life goes on, Lafayette's past stays in front of him. He wants Charlie to be his old self again, his parents back home alive, and wants Ty'ree's stress of supporting the family to be settled. All he was his God to help him.
One day, Lafayette spends one day learning about how his parents died. He learns that his dad died while Ty'ree was there. He also learns that it wasn't his fault his mother died. But most importantly, Lafayette discovered why Charlie changed from the day his parents died.
Charlie always felt left out. He wanted to be remembered as a fantastic child, but he went to Rahway, juvenile for young children. The last time he saw his mother was when the policemen were taking him there. He felt like he wasn't meant to live and that his life was shredded into pieces that couldn't be put toegther again. But Lafayette soon learns that he might be the key to opening the doors of a new life for Charlie, Ty'ree, and himself.
Miracle's Boys.......2006-12-29
The book Miracle's Boys by Jacqueline Woodson is about three brothers trying to survive in Harlem. It is hard for them because both of there parents are dead. There dad died of hypothermia after saving a lady and her dog from a frozen lake in central park. Their Mom died in a car accident. Now Ty'ree, Charlie and Lafayette are faced wit the challenge of growing up very quickly.
Ty'ree is the oldest brother who is very smart but had to turn down college to take care of Charlie and Lafayette and keep them out of group homes. Charlie is justified as the bad seed but he has jus had alot of bad breaks and bad influences in his life. Lafayette is the youngest of the three who just wants every thing to go back to normal before his parent died and before Charlie changed.
I'm in favor of this book because although its about struggle and family problems it also has great points in the story when things start to get good for every one and there is some sunshine in there bleak life.
~CoDy~
Book Description
With more than 10,000 members in eighty-two chapters in the United States, the Virgin Islands, and Africa, The 100 Black Men of America is one of the most highly recognized non-profit organizations in the African American community. In this book the "100" shares the successful blueprint of its
Miracles of Mentoring program, from which more than 100,000 kids of all colors have benefited.
In this engaging and heartfelt work, The 100 Black Men of America shows you exactly what you can do to invest in America’s future by mentoring a child.
In a style that is friendly and instructive, National President Thomas W. Dortch, Jr., outlines the how-tos of successful mentoring. Whether you’re on the front line working one-to-one with a mentee, or are part of a collaborative/group mentoring effort,
The Miracles of Mentoring will teach you: the ten tickets of mentoring; how to figure out if mentoring is for you; the five stages of the mentoring relationship; how to create a partnership in your community or workplace.
Also included are inspirational stories from the members of the "100" and their nationwide outreach-the thousands of African American men who give of themselves, "real men giving real time"-and from the young people whose lives have been enriched. A comprehensive resource section of mentoring organizations and programs closes the book.
As Thomas W. Dortch, Jr., President of the "100," says in the Introduction: "When you give of your time, experience, and wisdom to a young person, you're sowing the seeds of pride, confidence, and accomplishment."
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Garden of miracles: a history of the African Inland Mission
Kenneth Richardson
Manufacturer: Published in association with the Africa Inland Mission by Victory P
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
Missions & Missionary Work
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ASIN: 0854760075 |
Book Description
Afro-pessimism has dominated the Africanist literature in the social sciences during the last twenty years. Many works characterized as such deal with what has gone wrong in Africa. In sharp contrast, An African Miracle shows how an African state and its people used their resources to remain free from the dictates of racist South Africa, achieving a high rate of economic growth while maintaining a solid commitment to democracy. The book examines the relationship between the dominant class in Botswana, its leadership, and the state in understanding why Botswana succeeded where other African states with more resources and talent failed.
Amazon.com
Prior to this meticulously researched biography, legendary producer Sam Spiegel had loomed large in countless Hollywood memoirs, but was rarely the subject of close examination. Praiseworthy for negotiating a maze of apocryphal stories and unverified details, Sam Spiegel solves many of the mysteries resulting from the falsehoods of "Spiegelese," for the renowned producer--whose crowning achievements included The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia--was perhaps the most inventive liar to gain prominence in Hollywood. With a refreshing absence of judgment, this unflinching study portrays Spiegel as a consummate manipulator, hedonist, philanderer, absentee father, sexaholic (a foot fetishist who favored young girls well into his '70s), and globetrotting entertainer of the social elite, "incapable of guilt" and so charming that he could achieve miracles (and numerous faked heart attacks, to disarm his detractors) while producing some of the greatest films of Hollywood's post-Golden era.
As a first-time biographer, Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni (a French journalist who worked as an assistant on Spiegel's final film, 1983's Betrayal) fails to plumb the depths of Spiegel's enigmatic character (so effectively hidden behind his luxurious lifestyle), offering little insight into Spiegel's unique combination of intellect and roguish insincerity. She compensates with a journalist's greatest assets: exacting research and seemingly limitless access to Spiegel's surviving contemporaries, from the late Billy Wilder to On the Waterfront director Elia Kazan and many, many others. The result is a fair and balanced portrait of one of Hollywood's classiest scoundrels, a master thief with impeccable taste and an uncanny instinct for cinematic prestige. --Jeff Shannon
Book Description
The incredible life and times of Hollywood's most iconoclastic producer, the miracle worker who went from penniless refugee to show biz legend, and made possible The African Queen, On the Waterfront, The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia, not to speak of many more, including movies as distinct as Suddenly, Last Summer; Nicholas and Alexandra; The Last Tycoon; and Betrayal; all of them sharing the unique vision that earned Spiegel twenty-five Oscars: star-filled, bigger-than-life, conceived on a vast scale, intensely dramatic, and overwhelmingly ambitious.
In this rich and brilliant biography, Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni, who had the advantage of knowing and working for Spiegel, brings into sharp focus a Hollywood legend who was at once crafty, unscrupulous, mendacious, and equally capable of great charm and petty meanness, who was sentimental and ruthless, a shrewd judge of talent, a gambler on a colossal scale, a man of almost unique artistic vision and courage who was, in the final analysis, that most elusive and rare of movie producers, a genius.
The story of a how a Jewish refugee without a penny to his name managed to produce several of the greatest films of all time is alone worth telling, but Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni has done more; she has drawn the definitive portrait of the man himself -- the elusive, witty, cynical adventurer who, like so many refugees, was able to live, succeed, and raise money everywhere, but who was at home nowhere. Spiegel surrounded himself with luxury and beautiful women but remained a loner despite his countless friends.
Spiegel was mysterious about his origins, prompting Arthur Miller to refer to him as "The Great Gatsby." In reality, he was born of middle-class Jewish parents in the last years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Raised in Jaroslav, in western Galicia, Spiegel left home in his late teens and quickly became a hero of the Hashomer Hatzair, a Zionist youth movement.
Step by step, with immense research and a vast number of interviews, Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni recreates the world of Sam Spiegel's childhood and youth, separating often self-serving fiction from fact. She follows Spiegel's dramatic flight from the Nazis in Berlin, a prison sentence in London, problems with the police in Paris and Mexico City, and finally his arrival in Los Angeles. In America his career languished for a time, though he acquired a reputation for being a supreme "fixer," a brilliant luftmensh on the fringes of Hollywood power, the ultimate party-giver who knew everybody's secrets and was always quick to charm women and take advantage of men. Billy Wilder called him "a modern day Robin Hood, who steals from the rich and steals from the poor."
With a brilliant sense of time and place and a deep understanding of Spiegel's complex personality, Fraser-Cavassoni traces his disasters, successes, romances, friendships, and tangled finances in a narrative that is rich with colorful Spiegel stories, scandals, and bon mots.
The cast of characters in Spiegel's life includes Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Robert De Niro, Barry Diller, David Geffen, Katharine Hepburn, John Huston, Elia Kazan, David Lean, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Mike Nichols, Harold Pinter, Otto Preminger, Elizabeth Taylor, Gore Vidal, Orson Welles, Billy Wilder, Darryl F. Zanuck, bevies of beautiful women, three wives, countless members of high society, and, most important, Sam Spiegel himself -- the last of the great independent film producers who, in the swashbuckling tradition of David O. Selznick and Sam Goldwyn, operated alone, aimed high, and believed, above all, in their own star.
More than a major book about the movie business, Sam Spiegel is an intricate and engrossing biography, comparable in its richness, depth, and attention to detail to A. Scott Berg's acclaimed biography of Samuel Goldwyn. It is a marvelous, once-in-a-lifetime reading experience and an astonishing debut for Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni.
Customer Reviews:
Mediocre at best.......2004-05-06
I have a deep interest for history, especially Hollywood history, and Sam Spiegel is a name that crops up all over the place and, until now, has really garnered very little attention in the way of biography relative to his peers. Natasha Fraser-Cassavoni had a personal relationship with Spiegel (he produced a film based on a play by her stepfather Harold Pinter) and is perhaps as qualified as anyone to write the life story of this great producer.
The problem is, although his catalog of films can stand alongside that of anyone in the history of the industry, as a person he doesn't really have any particular standout characteristics that make you take any real interest in him beyond his work. Instead he seems to fit the bill as the stereotype of the Hollywood producer and maybe that alone is enough to make him interesting, but it doesn't come across. The best chapters focus on the films, not the man. There's no denying he was very good at what he did, but this book proved a supreme disappointment simply because I came away not knowing anything more than what I could have learned from a basic filmography. Three stars is a more than generous rating but I give it that because the films are worth the analysis.
Disappointing.......2004-01-16
I found this book difficult to read much less follow. I have a great interest in "old" Hollywood and have read many books on the subject. This book would be at the bottom of the list.
French journalist?.......2003-04-06
Astonishing mistake in the Editorial Review above. That Natasha Fraser could be called a "French journalist" boggles the mind, since her father was the British M.P. Hugh Fraser, her mother is Lady Antonia Fraser (herself daughter of the Earl and Countess of Longford), and her mother is married to Harold Pinter! Authors all.
This woman comes from as distinguised a line of BRITISH authors as can be imagined.
Book Description
Shepherd Moon by Rochelle Alers
Tragedy forced Rhianna Campbell to leave the small town of Shepherd, New York, for Los Angeles. Years later she returns to find an angry Emery Sutherland, her former fiancé's brother, who resents her for having left after his twin brother and parents were killed in an auto accident on Christmas Eve. Can Emery find a way to forgive Rhianna? And will these two ever find love in this holiest of seasons?
Wishing on a Starr by Adrianne Byrd
For Gia Hunter, Christmas usually brings unhappy memories. Seventeen years ago her husband was killed in combat. As a teenage mother and widow, she was forced to give up their infant daughter, Starr. In a twist of fate, Starr's adoptive father, Daniel Davis, and Gia have a chance encounter while Christmas shopping, and are smitten with each other. But complications arise when Starr, who has been searching for her biological mother, tries to set Gia up with her widowed adoptive father.
Blind Faith by Kayla Perrin
Trapped for days in her car when it careens off an isolated stretch of road outside of Buffalo, New York, Andrea Dawson has already said her prayers and fallen asleep. Suddenly, she is awakened by a blinding light--not from the great beyond, but rather a flashlight held by her sexy savior, Mark Potter. With both of them looking for something to believe in, has fate brought them together for a reason?
A Christmas Serenade by Janice Sims
Callie Hart can't think of many reasons to feel grateful this Thanksgiving. She's just lost her job as an editor at an Atlanta magazine, and now, traveling home to her family in Charleston, South Carolina, she's got a flat tire. Out of nowhere, a tall, handsome stranger appears to help her. After thanking him, Callie doesn't expect to see him again. But Callie's mother has a plan to bring her closer to home--one that may give a surprising boost to Callie's romantic luck.
Amazon.com
In Miracle at St. Anna, James McBride, author of the bestselling memoir The Color of Water, tells a war story that, like all great tales of conflict, connects the enormous tragedy of war with the intimate stories of individual soldiers. Miracle at St. Anna vividly follows four of the U.S. Army's 92nd Division of all-black buffalo soldiers as they become trapped between forces beyond their control and between worlds. Three of the soldiers have bolted behind enemy lines to rescue their comrade, the colossal, but simple, Private Sam Train. They find themselves stranded between worlds in a remote central Italian village, with the German Army hidden on one side and their racist and largely mismanaged American commanding officers on the other. The strange world of the village floats between myth and reality, where belief in magic coexists with the most horrific acts of war. In the melee that opens the book, the giant Sam Train suddenly comes to believe he can turn invisible, the local miser believes he is cursed with a wealth of rabbits, and each of the other soldiers also exists in a mythical world of his own. But they are all about to be shattered by the Miracle.
McBride illuminates an ironic moment in American history, a time when black soldiers fought bravely for the country whose "freedoms" included Jim Crow laws, segregation, and institutional and widespread personal racism. Miracle at St. Anna puts these intimate stories at the center of the much larger story of the struggle of people of color in this country. Each character is trapped and forced to act as nobly and as bravely as he can in the midst of forces beyond not only his control, but beyond his world. --Paul Ford
Book Description
James McBride's powerful memoir, The Color of Water, was a publishing phenomenon, spending more than two years on the New York Times bestsellers list and becoming required reading in high schools and colleges across the country. Now, in his long-awaited second book, McBride turns his highly acclaimed talent as a storyteller to fiction.
Based on the historical incident of an unspeakable massacre at the site of St. Anna Di Stazzema, a small village in Tuscany, and on the experiences of the famed Buffalo soldiers from the 92nd Division in Italy during World War II, Miracle of St. Anna is a singular evocation of war, cruelty, passion, and heroism. It is the story of four American Negro soldiers, a band of partisans, and an Italian boy who encounter a miracle-though perhaps the true miracle lies in themselves.
Traversing class, race, and geography, Miracle at St. Anna is above all a hymn to the brotherhood of man and the power to do good that lives in each of us. It reveals to us a little-known but fascinating moment in history through the eyes and imagination of a gifted writer. Like The Color of Water, James McBride's stunning first novel will change the way we perceive ourselves and our world.
Customer Reviews:
Miracle at St. Anna.......2006-11-09
This is a powerful fiction based on experiences of the African American soldiers in Italy near the end of WW2. Written by the author of "The Color of Water", James McBride, it's a story of racism, kindness, war, longing, and redemption. I've read it twice, something I don't often do. Plot, characters, and even language move and dance in this great story. READ IT!
A touch of divinity in war torn Italy.......2005-12-25
James McBride's "Miracle at St. Anna" is a tenderly written, marvelously manufactured and historically and socially relevant story about an incredible incident is a small Tuscany village during World War 2.
The story commences with a brief description of an inexplicable present day murder committed by a Puerto Rican postal worker Hector Negron against one of his customers. We then flashback to Italy in December 1944 in the waning days of the war. A group of 4 American soldiers, members of the fabled Buffalo Soldiers of the 15,000 all black 92nd Division find themselves lost miles away from their lines in the Tuscan mountain valley village of St. Anna di Stazzema. The multilingual Negron is a member of that group including Train, a simple giant of a man, Bishop, a shifty hustler and the cerebral Lt. Stamps.
Train, confused after an aborted skirmish in which he was wounded ambled off into the village and the other men went to find him. Train discovered a dazed and confused young boy injured very badly due to a building collapse and became his guardian, believing the boy was imbued with sacred mystical powers. The men were welcomed by the local villagers who shared their meager provisions with their dark skinned saviors. Little by little we examine the characters both American and Italians through McBride's insightful prose.
The men are cut off from their command but after receiving radio contact are ordered to stay put and if possible capture a German prisoner. A group of Italian partisans known to the villagers enters the town lead by a man called Peppi and his lieutenant Rodolfo, with a German deserter. We learn from the young boy, who gradually recovers from his injuries and begins to talk that the Germans had massacred more than 560 innocent villagers in the church of St. Anna, in reprisal for partisan activity. This fact is corroborated by the partisans. Peppi believes that the slaughter was precipated by a betrayal and endeavors to use the American soldiers to uncover the traitor.
Meanwhile the ragged German troops are mobilizing a huge force to forge a last ditch offensive within this Italian valley region. As the battle reaches the village a startling series of events occurs which makes us believe that there was divine intervention. The reasons for Negron's slaying of the customer become crystal clear.
McBride's novel is an important piece of literature because it accurately describes the prevalent social mores of the time. The black soldiers, while allowed to die for their country, are discriminated against by their superiors. They are for the most part lead by white commanding officers, many of whom are Southern racists. Any black officers are that in just name only and are prevented from making command decisions. McBride successfully integrates his social commentary, with history and spirituality to create a deeply moving tale.
The Black Butterfly & Miracles........2005-12-22
There is much action in this book, but the Black Butterfly and his episode during WWII is worth telling. Peppi Grotta used that nickname during the war in Tuscany for the butterfly at the olive groves in the area where his family lived. He is a bold fighter who believes in revenge. After a "spy" (like Mary Saratt in 1863) was tortured to death and hanged by the Germans, the Black Butterfly (an avenger) "spreads his wings for the very first time." Six weeks later, he got his revenge on the SS Commander, doing the same to him which he'd done to the woman, and displaying the abused corpse in the same piazza for just enough time between the two sunsets in one day once a year (only minutes) for the locales to know what had occurred. He became legend as "a man who never forgets his friends, who punishes his enemies...." It was rumored that he went to America after the war and owned a jazz nightclub in Harlem filled with black butterflies.
"The Little Battle of the Bulge" took place on Christmas Day, 1944, at St. Anna di Stazzema, where 560 Italians died in a massacre. Rodolfo Berelli had killed Peppi, making it appear as a suicide. The money paid to him for arranging the murder of the Black Butterfly got him to America by boat as one of the many immigrants after the war. He took the name Randy Mitchell as he settled in Kingston, New York, working as a mechanic.
Almost forty years later, right before Christmas, 1983, his fate took him into the post office at 34th Street in Manhatten for a twenty-cent stamp. The elderly postal clerk named Hector. who'd suffered physically and emotionally in the St. Anna incident, recognized the enemy and shot that hated face off -- right there in the post office. At his apartment, a missing statue's head of the Primavera from the Santa Trinita Bridge in Rome is found.
The Black Butterfly had exacted his revenge, even from death, as he had promised. Hector was rescued by a wealthy Italian whose money and power had him relocated to the Scychelles Island off the coast of South Africa to live out his life in peace. His rescuer had been there at St. Anna where Hector's ordeal and survival was the first miracle. "Safety leaves no room for miracles and miracles, he had learned, were the only sure thing in life." After several days of repressing his war memories, he and his guard told each other their remembrances of Tuscany. "They both realized they had finally found what each was looking for. They had found yet another miracle, and they were finally free of the last one."
Inspired by real events and real people, this book reveals a little known, but historical, incident as overheard from his Uncle Henry's tales of what he had experienced long ago and far away. To write it as fiction, he let his imagination soar like the butterfly, making a strange but believeable war story to beat all. He gives a different twist to WWII and the kamikazees but, mainly, he believes in miracles. We all need a miracle or two, no matter how mundane our daily lives may be. James McBride previously wrote a memoir, THE COLOR OF WATER, as a tribute to his mother.
Triumph of the Spirit.......2005-01-06
Rarely have I encountered a book that moved me as much as James McBride's Miracle at St. Anna. Not only should it be declared an American classic, every college should make it part of their freshman reading list.
McBride engages the seldom mentioned subject of black combat soldiers in World War II. Four members of the famed 92nd Infantry Division (the Buffalo Soldiers), find themselves trapped behind enemy lines in Tuscany. Surrounded by Germans, the quartet rescues a small Italian boy who proves to be the catalyst in each man's quest for courage, love, sacrifice, and honor. The poignancy of their battle is emphasized by the ambivalence they each experience over fighting for freedoms in Europe that they are not afforded in their own country. Each man accepts the challenge, albeit reluctantly at times, exhibiting a depth of character and humanity previously unknown to them.
McBride weaves a theme of invisibility into the story that translates into the moral invincibility of the main characters. McBride has studied and practiced his craft well. I can honestly say that I feel privileged to have read his work. I hope to see more novels from him in the future.
A wonderful story of a forgotten piece of WW2 history.......2004-12-17
I had read "The Color of Water" several years ago, and I was curious to see how James McBride would handle fiction. I was not disappointed. McBride brings to life his four soldiers from the Buffalo division, men who were pawns in a white man's war, who tasted freedom of a sort they would not know when they would get back to America--if they would make it alive. The relationship between Train and the little boy was just magical, and the various subplots all made perfect sense. I can't wait for my children (now 9 and 11) to be old enough to read this book!
Book Description
This collection features poems from Al-Azzawi's six previous Arabic poetry collections and many new poems. Springing from classical Arabic poetry, his poems speak to political exile, -cultural marginalization, and Middle Eastern and Western histories and mythologies. Al-Azzawi employs -humor, melancholy and tenderness to celebrate new worlds of possibility.
Fadhil Al-Azzawi was born in 1940 in Kirkuk, Iraq. By the time he was -fifteen, he was publishing poems in the leading Arab literary magazines in Beirut and Baghdad. Al-Azzawi -currently lives in London.
Khaled Mattawa (Translator) is the author of a -collection of poetry, Ismailia Eclipse, and the translator of two books of contemporary Arabic poetry, Hatif Janabi's Questions and Their Retinue and Saddi Youssef's Without an Alphabet, Without a Face.
Customer Reviews:
CAN'T PUT DOWN.......2006-01-01
This book is to die for...after all the disasters that occurred in 2005 that devistated so many lives makes you wonder...But this book will inspire you to have faith and to believe that miracles do happen. I would recommend this book to anyone!!
(RAW Rating: 4.5) - Feeling like Christmas.......2005-12-31
There are four enchanting stories which will enhance the real meaning of the season and the blessing of miracles.
"Shepherd Moon" by Rochelle Alers tells of Rhianna, a young woman who fled her hometown when her fiancé was killed in an automobile accident. The face of his twin brother was too painful a reminder of what she had lost. Ten years later Rhianna returns home because of a family illness and runs into her fiancé's twin brother and also her past. Now Rhianna can bring closure to her loss and accept the real reason she fled Shepherd, New York.
"Wishing on a Starr" by Adrianne Byrd shares the turmoil seventeen-year-old Gia suffered when she became a widow and a single mother in a matter of months. But Gia never saw her daughter, her aunt saw to that. The loss of her child forced Gia to leave Talboton, GA for New York City. Almost fourteen years later Gia still longs for her child and wants to do something about it. In a crowded department store, Gia bumps into Daniel Davis and his thirteen- year-old daughter, Starr. There is an immediate attraction between the two, and an answer to a wish even Gia could not have imagined.
"Blind Faith" by Kayla Perrin revisits Andrea and Mark, a couple who ended their relationship because Mark was snubbed by Andrea's parents. Years later Andrea's family has fallen on hard times, but Mark has excelled and is an entrepreneur. Their chance meeting is cordial but strained, still Mark is intrigued. An impromptu visit, a near fatal accident, and some blind faith are what Mark needed to propel him past his hesitancy about capturing his holiday miracle.
My favorite, "A Christmas Serenade" by Janice Simms, brings a world traveled concert pianist back to his roots in Charleston, South Carolina in search of himself. The best friend of his deceased mother welcomes him with open arms and southern hospitality. But this motherly matchmaker offers Jack so much more. She shares information about his parents and tapes of performances by her daughter, Callie. Callie is also a pianist, a blues singer and a magazine editor. When Callie and Jack meet the holiday suddenly feels and sounds majestic. But Callie is afraid that the difference between their respective backgrounds may be a problem.
THE SEASON OF MIRACLES is a Christmas Anthology filled with promise and hope. Grab a cup of eggnog, get comfortable on the couch and experience the joy of holiday love. This one will delight the heart.
Reviewed by aNN
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers
Great book in the tradition of heartwarming Christmas tales.......2005-12-30
This book helped me to remember the true meaning behind Christmas and the value of embracing the spirit of giving.
A book of hope.......2005-12-30
There are times when you read a book at just the right time in your life and this is one of those books and times. Hurricane Katrina took so much away from Biloxi MS, but more than anything material, it took away the hope and spirit of so many, myself included. The holiday season started out so bleakly and I admit that I just wanted it to be over, but when you have children you know you have to find the strength to make it as wonderful as possible. It was a struggle until I read A Season of Miracles. I started the book and before I knew it I could feel myself smiling and just feeling good about everything. This book made me believe in miracles again but most of all the miracle of a better tomorrow. It makes you feel so good inside and you cannot help but feel a little sad when you come to the last page, as you feel as if you are leaving behind friends you have come to know and care about. This book is a miracle in itself and one which I will read over and over again.
You Will Believe in Miracles!.......2005-12-28
This book was awesome! All of these authors are phenomenal and their stories in this book were great and very touching. I am a big fan of all four so I knew even before I purchased this book that I would love it and I did! Each story made me believe that Miracles can happen if you open your heart and believe.
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