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Kid Trailblazers: True Tales of Childhood from Changemakers and Leaders (Kid Legends #8)
by Robin StevensonInspiring, relatable, and totally true biographies tell the childhood stories of a diverse group of trailblazers including Kamala Harris, Greta Thunberg, Ai Weiwei, Benazir Bhutto, Elliot Page, and John Lewis, along with 10 other powerful figures.Featuring kid-friendly text and full-color illustrations, Kid Trailblazers highlights contemporary figures who have led the way in government, social activism, environmental justice, and the arts. Middle-grade readers will learn how these figures got their start as kids just like them, with impactful stories and fun facts such as: • Angela Merkel once won a trip to Moscow, where she bought a Beatles album. • Stacey Abrams and her siblings played pretend as librarians for fun. • Al Gore lived in a hotel as a kid and liked to drop water balloons off the roof! Kid Trailblazers explores the childhood stories of leaders who have taken on the most pressing issues of our time by expressing themselves and challenging the world.
Kid-ventors: 35 Real Kids and their Amazing Inventions
by Kailei PewWhat do swim fins, Popsicles®, Infection-Detecting Stitches, the Braille alphabet, and Taco vs. Burrito all have in common? They were all invented by kids! When Remya Jose had to spend many hours washing her family’s laundry by hand, she invented a pedal powered washing machine that could finish the chore in only 20 minutes! When Tripp Phillips’ Lego creations kept falling apart, he developed a glue strong enough to hold his creations together that would wash off when he was ready to build something new! And when Fatima Al Kaabi didn’t have anyone willing to teach her about robotics, she turned to the internet to teach herself all the skills she needed—and created multiple crowd-pleasing robots in the process! From Popsicles® and swim fins to robots and glitter shooting prosthetics, Kailei Pew's middle grade nonfiction debut is full of fun and inspiring stories, illustrated by Shannon Wright, about real kid inventors who proved that even the youngest people can change the world.
Kidnapped
by Leszli Kalli"It all happened so fast that even now, a month later, I still have trouble believing it, and I have to tell myself over and over again: Leszli, you have been kidnapped." On April 12, 1999, Leszli Kálli boarded a plane in Colombia to work on a kibbutz in Israel, but she never made it. The plane was hijacked by a leftist guerrilla group and forced to land on an abandoned runway in the jungle. Leszli, along with her father and the other passengers, were held hostage for 373 days. Her diary reveals her innermost thoughts, darkest fears, and visions of hope. Leszli vividly presents this painful time in her life: trapped, held at gunpoint, and never knowing if she would live to see another day. Although never close before, the bond between her and her father grows as they provide one another with vital support. Alienated as the only woman in her group, she maintains her guard but finds comfort caring for animals, including a tarantula living beneath her bed. As the pages of her diary unfold, so, too, does the incredible story of one girl's fight for survival against overwhelming odds.
Kidnapped (Penguin Little Black Classics)
by Olaudah Equiano'Cut iron with iron,What makes iron valuable,Big kuku tree and big silk-cotton tree,Fari and Kaunju -' Told and retold since the fourteenth century, this West African epic chronicles the story of the mighty warrior who saves his people and founds an empire. One of 46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Each book gives readers a taste of the Classics' huge range and diversity, with works from around the world and across the centuries - including fables, decadence, heartbreak, tall tales, satire, ghosts, battles and elephants.
Kidnapped by a Client: The Incredible True Story of an Attorney's Fight for Justice
by Sharon R. Muse&“He promised to kill me when he got out. I believed him. If I wanted justice, I had to fight both him and the courts...maybe kill him first. If I didn&’t do something, I was going to die.&” This is not a manufactured dialogue from a thriller but the words of attorney Sharon Muse. They came after she survived an attempted kidnapping, rape, and murder at the hands of Larry Morrison, a former client. On April 7, 2006, Muse miraculously escaped from the sociopathic Morrison, only to find that the threat to her life was just beginning. Ineptitude in the justice system threatened to release Morrison and allow him the opportunity to finish the job, which he adamantly pledged to do. Muse would have to fight at every step to ensure her safety. Muse would act as her own advocate, investigator, legal counsel, and bodyguard in the years following the event. Kidnapped by a Client covers the brutal kidnapping, two trials, two appeals, procedural errors galore, one Supreme Court reversal, and even Muse&’s intricate plan to murder Morrison before he could get to her. Muse would not ultimately execute that plan, and she would emerge victorious in the legal battle thanks to her faith and her own determination and legal acumen. But her safety is not ensured: Morrison is up for parole in 2026. Muse regularly monitors his status. Muse recounts her stranger-than-fiction story in Kidnapped by a Client. Muse analyzes the failures of the legal system, the mistakes she made, the steps she took to protect herself, and how she has coped with trauma. Readers will find not only a compelling narrative, but also insight into how to protect oneself and ensure one&’s own safety and well-being.
Kidnapped: The Tragic Life of J. Paul Getty III
by Charles FoxThis title was previously published as Uncommon YouthThe true account behind the glamorous life and tragic times of J. Paul Getty III, whose kidnapping made headlines in 1973, as seen in Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World and the FX series Trust by Danny BoyleJ. Paul ("Little Paul") Getty III, the grandson of Getty Oil founder J. Paul Getty, may have been cursed by money and privilege from the moment he was born. Falling in with the wrong people and practically abandoned by his famous family, Getty was a child of his international jet set era, moving from Marrakesh to Rome, nightclubs to well-appointed drug dens. His high-profile kidnapping defined the decade—and was permanently memorable for the ear that was mailed to his mother as evidence of the kidnappers' intentions.Kidnapped is richly reported, and includes many interviews with Getty himself conducted from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, that raise new angles about the case. How much did Getty acquiesce to the kidnappers? Why wouldn't his rich-as-Croesus grandfather pay the ransom, which began at the equivalent of $550,000 in lire and bulged to 3.6 million as the months dragged on? Charles Fox began following and researching this story since the days shortly after Getty's disappearance. Fox's writing captures the voices of models and maids, mistresses and mothers, carabinieri and club-owners, drug dealers and drivers, alongside the Getty family members themselves to paint an evocative portrait of an era and one of its most misunderstood participants.
Kidney to Share (The Culture and Politics of Health Care Work)
by Martha Gershun John D. LantosIn Kidney to Share, Martha Gershun tells the story of her decision to donate a kidney to a stranger. She takes readers through the complex process by which such donors are vetted to ensure that they are physically and psychologically fit to take the risk of a major operation. John D. Lantos, a physician and bioethicist, places Gershun's story in the larger context of the history of kidney transplantation and the ethical controversies that surround living donors. Together, they help readers understand the discoveries that made transplantation relatively safe and effective as well as the legal, ethical, and economic policies that make it feasible. Gershun and Lantos explore the steps involved in recovering and allocating organs. They analyze the differences that arise depending on whether the organ comes from a living donor or one who has died. They observe the expertise—and the shortcomings—of doctors, nurses, and other professionals and describe the burdens that we place on people who are willing to donate. In this raw and vivid book, Gershun and Lantos ask us to consider just how far society should go in using one person's healthy body parts in order to save another person.Kidney to Share provides an account of organ donation that is both personal and analytical. The combination of perspectives leads to a profound and compelling exploration of a largely opaque practice. Gershun and Lantos pull back the curtain to offer readers a more transparent view of the fascinating world of organ donation.
Kids Like Me: Voices Of The Immigrant Experience
by Judith M. Blohm Terri LapinskyAs our neighborhoods grow more diverse, a variety of cultures, values and traditions become an important part of our classrooms and schools. In Kids Like Me: Voices of the Immigrant Experience, twenty-six personal narratives celebrate the experiences of young people making new homes in unfamiliar communities - finding common ground as they make new friends, learn different languages and share their unique cultural identities. Kids Like Me personalizes the important themes of cultures and customs, immigration and citizenship and learning to appreciate differences. While written to help youth understand their classmates and friends, Kids Like Me also includes discussion questions, self-directed activities and research ideas for teachers and families that can be used in classrooms, clubs and community settings. Richly illustrated with photos and maps of each home country, the text presents countless opportunities to explore and understand new cultures and new friends.
Kids Make History: A New Look At America's Story
by Elspeth Leacock Susan Washburn Buckley Randy JonesFeel what it is like to participate in history as you follow in the footsteps of the young men and women who lived it. You will survive a harsh James Towne winter and battle the Redcoats in a Long Island cornfield; you will carry letters on the Pony Express and plant crops with Laura Ingalls; you will stow away on a whaling ship and help in the defense after the attack on Pearl Harbor. With hundreds of visual and verbal facts, each story in Kids Make History has been thoroughly researched and meticulously illustrated.
Kids Who Rule: The Remarkable Lives of Five Child Monarchs
by Charis CotterThey were queens. They were kings. They were kids. Lots of kids dream of becoming royalty. But being a child monarch is not all glory and bossing people around. Behold Kids Who Rule and discover the startling realities of five junior rulers from history. Boy king Tutankhamun was crowned pharaoh of Egypt at age nine. Groomed to lead armies, his homework involved firing arrows from a moving chariot. Mary Queen of Scots became royalty at only six days old. She grew up fleeing bad-tempered King Henry VIII who saw her as a child bride for his son. Other child monarchs profiled: Queen Christina of Sweden (1626 to 1689); Puyi, Last Emperor of China (1906 to 1967); The current Dalai Lama of Tibet (1935 to present). Each chapter focuses on a different ruler by offering a dramatic episode from their regal childhood, eye-opening elements of their country's history, and an "End of the Story" section on how their life played out. Complete with intriguing sidebars, Kids Who Rule is a crowning achievement of non-fiction storytelling.
Kids with Courage: True Stories About Young People Making A Difference
by Barbara A. LewisMeet 18 remarkable kids with the courage to speak out, fight back, come to the rescue, and stand up for their beliefs. As fun to read as fiction, these exciting true stories prove that anyone, at any age, in any life circumstance, can make a real difference in the world.
Kids' Letters to President Obama
by Bill Adler Jr.A charming non-partisan collection of more than 200 letters highlighting children's thoughts and perspectives on the historic victory of President Barack Obama and what lies ahead.
Kidstory: 50 Children and Young People Who Shook Up the World (Stories That Shook Up the World)
by Tom AdamsLearn about fifty amazing kids who changed the world in this beautifully illustrated collection of inspiring short biographies sure to empower and motivate in equal measure.You don't have to be an adult to make a difference! This volume is the perfect introduction to just some of the incredible young people from all over the world who have influenced a cultural, political, or social change throughout history. From Louis Braille to Greta Thunberg, Pelé to Malala Yousafzai, these activists, inventors, artists, and athletes broke new ground with their passion, courage, and creativity. Each lavishly illustrated spread features inspiring words from all of these young people and the true stories behind how their actions and achievements that shook up the world.
Kieran Read - Straight 8: The Autobiography
by Kieran ReadSHORTLISTED FOR INTERNATIONAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR AT THE 2020 TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS.As Kieran Read calls time on his distinguished New Zealand career at the end of the Rugby World Cup, this is the open and honest life story of one of rugby's greatest players, a legendary All Black and a two-time World Cup winner.Kieran Read first played for the All Blacks as a 23-year-old in 2008 and since then has amassed more than a century of Test appearances in the famous jersey. Now, after a stellar provincial, club and international career - including back-to-back World Cup victories - the New Zealand captain writes openly and honestly about his time in the game.Read takes to these pages with his trademark determination, lifting the lid on the unique pressures of succeeding as captain the most celebrated All Black of all time (Richie McCaw). He outlines the decisions that molded his career and uncovers the skills of the coaches who shaped him, while offering readers an inside account of how the world's greatest team functions and thrives.Read unpacks the emotional toll of injury and the ignominy of defeat, neatly illustrating the intense experience of representing a rugby-obsessed nation while delivering a masterclass in how to manage the many demands on the mind and on the body.Forthright and frank, Read's well-respected views on the game and its future are a must-read for rugby fans, and his take on the myriad personalities and the peccadilloes of his team-mates, coaches and opponents will be sure to surprise and delight. From the playing fields of Papakura to the summit of the sport, Read has faced every challenge head on. His life story if no exception.
Kieran Read - Straight 8: The Autobiography
by Kieran ReadSHORTLISTED FOR INTERNATIONAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR AT THE 2020 TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS.As Kieran Read calls time on his distinguished New Zealand career at the end of the Rugby World Cup, this is the open and honest life story of one of rugby's greatest players, a legendary All Black and a two-time World Cup winner.Kieran Read first played for the All Blacks as a 23-year-old in 2008 and since then has amassed more than a century of Test appearances in the famous jersey. Now, after a stellar provincial, club and international career - including back-to-back World Cup victories - the New Zealand captain writes openly and honestly about his time in the game.Read takes to these pages with his trademark determination, lifting the lid on the unique pressures of succeeding as captain the most celebrated All Black of all time (Richie McCaw). He outlines the decisions that molded his career and uncovers the skills of the coaches who shaped him, while offering readers an inside account of how the world's greatest team functions and thrives.Read unpacks the emotional toll of injury and the ignominy of defeat, neatly illustrating the intense experience of representing a rugby-obsessed nation while delivering a masterclass in how to manage the many demands on the mind and on the body.Forthright and frank, Read's well-respected views on the game and its future are a must-read for rugby fans, and his take on the myriad personalities and the peccadilloes of his team-mates, coaches and opponents will be sure to surprise and delight. From the playing fields of Papakura to the summit of the sport, Read has faced every challenge head on. His life story if no exception.
Kieran Read - Straight 8: The Autobiography
by Kieran ReadSHORTLISTED FOR INTERNATIONAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR AT THE 2020 TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS.As Kieran Read prepares to call time on his distinguished New Zealand career at the end of the Rugby World Cup, this is the open and honest life story of one of rugby's greatest players, a legendary All Black and a two-time World Cup winner.Kieran Read first played for the All Blacks as a 23-year-old in 2008 and since then has amassed more than a century of Test appearances in the famous jersey. Now, after a stellar provincial, club and international career - including back-to-back World Cup victories - the New Zealand captain writes openly and honestly about his time in the game.Read takes to these pages with his trademark determination, lifting the lid on the unique pressures of succeeding as captain the most celebrated All Black of all time (Richie McCaw). He outlines the decisions that molded his career and uncovers the skills of the coaches who shaped him, while offering readers an inside account of how the world's greatest team functions and thrives.Read unpacks the emotional toll of injury and the ignominy of defeat, neatly illustrating the intense experience of representing a rugby-obsessed nation while delivering a masterclass in how to manage the many demands on the mind and on the body.Forthright and frank, Read's well-respected views on the game and its future are a must-read for rugby fans, and his take on the myriad personalities and the peccadilloes of his team-mates, coaches and opponents will be sure to surprise and delight. From the playing fields of Papakura to the summit of the sport, Read has faced every challenge head on. His life story if no exception.
Kierkegaard's Muse: The Mystery of Regine Olsen
by Joakim GarffThe first biography of Kierkegaard's literary muse and one-time fiancée, from the author of the definitive biography of the philosopherKierkegaard's Muse, the first biography of Regine Olsen (1822–1904), the literary inspiration and one-time fiancée of Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, is a moving portrait of a long romantic fever that had momentous literary consequences. Drawing on more than one hundred previously unknown letters by Regine that acclaimed Kierkegaard biographer Joakim Garff discovered by chance, the book tells the story of Kierkegaard and Regine's mysterious relationship more fully and vividly than ever before, shedding new light on her influence on his life and writings.Like Dante's Beatrice, Regine is one of the great muses of literary history. Kierkegaard proposed to her in 1840, but broke off the engagement a year later. After their break, they saw each other strikingly often, inside dimly lit churches, on the streets of Copenhagen, and on the paths along the old city ramparts, passing by without uttering a word.Despite or because of their separation in life, Kierkegaard made Regine his literary life companion, "that single individual" to whom he dedicated all his works. Garff shows how Regine became a poetic presence in the frequent erotic conflicts found throughout Kierkegaard's writings, from the famous "Seducer's Diary" account of their relationship to diary entries made shortly before his death in 1855. In turn, Regine remained preoccupied with Kierkegaard until her own death almost fifty years later, and her newly discovered letters, written to her sister Cornelia, reveal for the first time a woman of flesh and blood.A psychologically acute narrative that is as gripping as a novel, Kierkegaard's Muse is an unforgettable account of a wild, strange, and poignant romance that made an indelible mark on literary history.Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.
Kierkegaard: A Single Life
by Stephen BackhouseDiscover a new understanding of Kierkegaard’s thought and his life, a story filled with romance, betrayal, humor, and riots. Kierkegaard, like Einstein and Freud, is one of those geniuses whose ideas permeate the culture and shape our world even when relatively few people have read their works. That lack of familiarity with the real Kierkegaard is about to change. This lucid new biography by scholar Stephen Backhouse presents the genius as well as the acutely sensitive man behind the brilliant books. Scholarly and accessible, Kierkegaard: A Single Life introduces his many guises—the thinker, the lover, the recluse, the writer, the controversialist—in prose so compelling it reads like a novel. One chapter examines Kierkegaard’s influence on our greatest cultural icons—Kafka, Barth, Bonhoeffer, Camus, and Martin Luther King Jr., to name only a few. A useful appendix presents an overview of each of Kierkegaard’s works, for the scholar and lay reader alike.
Kierkegaard: A Very Short Introduction
by Patrick GardinerScholars have largely misunderstood Soren Kierkegaard, remembering him chiefly in connection with the development of existentialist philosophy in this century. In a short and unhappy life, he wrote many books and articles on literary, satirical, religious and psychological themes, but the diversity and idiosyncratic style of his writing have contributed to a misunderstanding of his ideas. In this book--the only introduction to the full range of Kierkegaard's thought--Patrick Gardiner demonstrates how Kierkegaard developed his ideas and examines his thoughts in light of the doctrines on society developed by his contemporaries Marx and Feuerbach. Finally, he assesses the profound importance of Kierkegaard's ideas on the development of modern ways of thinking.
Kika And Me: How One Extraordinary Guide Dog Changed My World
by Amit PatelAmit Patel is working as a trauma doctor when a rare condition causes him to lose his sight within thirty-six hours. Totally dependent on others and terrified of stepping outside with a white cane after he's assaulted, he hits rock bottom. He refuses to leave home on his own for three months. With the support of his wife Seema he slowly adapts to his new situation, but how could life ever be the way it was? Then his guide dog Kika comes along.... <p><p> But Kika’s stubbornness almost puts her guide dog training in jeopardy – could her quirky personality be a perfect match for someone? Meanwhile Amit has reservations – can he trust a dog with his safety? Paired together in 2015, they start on a journey, learning to trust each other before taking to the streets of London and beyond. The partnership not only gives Amit a renewed lease of life but a new best friend. Then, after a video of an irate commuter rudely asking Amit to step aside on an escalator goes viral, he sets out with Kika by his side to spread a message of positivity and inclusivity, showing that nothing will hold them back. <p> From the challenges of travelling when blind to becoming a parent for the first time, Kika & Me is the moving, heart-warming and inspirational story of Amit’s sight-loss journey and how one guide dog changed his world.
Kiki Man Ray: Art, Love and Rivalry in 1920s Paris
by Mark BraudeThe story of Alice Prin, aka Kiki -- who captivated 1920s Paris -- and her tumultuous relationship with photographer Man RayThough many have never heard her name, Alice Prin - Kiki de Montparnasse - was the icon of 1920s Paris. She captivated as a ground-breaking nightclub performer, wrote a bestselling memoir, sold out exhibitions of her paintings, and shared drinks with the likes of Pablo Picasso, Peggy Guggenheim, Marcel Duchamp and Gertrude Stein. She also shepherded along the career of the then-unknown American photographer: Man Ray.Following Kiki in the years between 1921 and 1929, when she lived and worked with Man Ray, Kiki Man Ray charts their decade-long entanglement and reveals how Man Ray - always the unabashed careerist - went on to become one of the most famous photographers of the twentieth century, enjoying wealth and fame, while Kiki's legacy was lost.But this isn't a story of an overbearing male genius and his defeated muse. During the 1920s it was Kiki, not Man Ray, who was the brighter of the two rising stars and a powerful figure among the close-knit community of models, painters, writers and café wastrels who made their homes in gritty Montparnasse. Following the couple as they created art, struggled for power and competed for fame, Kiki Man Ray illuminates for the first time Kiki's seminal influence on the culture of 1920s Paris, and challenges ideas about artists and muses, and the lines separating the two.(P) 2022 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
Kiki Man Ray: Art, Love and Rivalry in 1920s Paris
by Mark Braude'Exuberantly entertaining' NYT Book Review'Mark Braude's writing and subject make this book irresistible, as was Kiki herself.' Jim Jarmusch'A delightful, marvelously readable, meticulously-researched romp of a book, Kiki Man Ray brings to life not just the kaleidoscopically talented Kiki herself, but the endlessly fascinating Montparnasse milieu over which she reigned.' Whitney Scharer, author of THE AGE OF LIGHTThough many have never heard her name, Alice Prin - Kiki de Montparnasse - was the icon of 1920s Paris. She captivated as a ground-breaking nightclub performer, wrote a bestselling memoir, sold out exhibitions of her paintings, and shared drinks and ideas with the likes of Pablo Picasso, Peggy Guggenheim, and Marcel Duchamp. She also shepherded along the career of a then-unknown American photographer: Man Ray.Following Kiki in the years between 1921 and 1929, when she lived and worked with Man Ray, Kiki Man Ray charts their complicated entanglement and reveals how Man Ray - always the unabashed careerist - went on to become one of the most famous photographers of the twentieth century, enjoying wealth and prestige, while Kiki's legacy was lost.But this isn't a story of an overbearing male genius and his defeated muse. During the 1920s it was Kiki, not Man Ray, who was the brighter of the two rising stars and a powerful figure among the close-knit community of models, painters, writers and café wastrels who made their homes in gritty Montparnasse. Following the couple as they created art, struggled for power and competed for fame, Kiki Man Ray illuminates for the first time Kiki's seminal influence on the culture of 1920s Paris, and challenges ideas about artists and muses, and the lines separating the two.'Kiki de Montparnasse was more than a muse - she was a vivacious, independent woman whose talent and magnetism helped make Paris the center of the art world in the 1920s. In Mark Braude's riveting cultural history, the Queen of Montparnasse rises again. This is a lively and compassionate tribute to the chanteuse, model, and portraitist who held center stage in her life, and who inspired some of the finest Surrealist art of the twentieth century.' Heather Clark, author of Pulitzer Prize-finalist Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath
Kiki Man Ray: Art, Love, and Rivalry in 1920s Paris
by Mark BraudeA dazzling portrait of Paris’s forgotten artist and cabaret star, whose incandescent life asks us to see the history of modern art in new ways. In freewheeling 1920s Paris, Kiki de Montparnasse captivated as a nightclub performer, sold out gallery showings of her paintings, starred in Surrealist films, and shared drinks and ideas with the likes of Jean Cocteau and Marcel Duchamp. Her best-selling memoir—featuring an introduction by Ernest Hemingway—made front-page news in France and was immediately banned in America. All before she turned thirty. Kiki was once the symbol of bohemian Paris. But if she is remembered today, it is only for posing for several now-celebrated male artists, including Amedeo Modigliani and Alexander Calder, and especially photographer Man Ray. Why has Man Ray’s legacy endured while Kiki has become a footnote? Kiki and Man Ray met in 1921 during a chance encounter at a café. What followed was an explosive decade-long connection, both professional and romantic, during which the couple grew and experimented as artists, competed for fame, and created many of the shocking images that cemented Man Ray’s reputation as one of the great artists of the modern era. The works they made together, including the Surrealist icons Le Violon d’Ingres and Noire et blanche, now set records at auction. Charting their volatile relationship, award-winning historian Mark Braude illuminates for the first time Kiki’s seminal influence not only on Man Ray’s art, but on the culture of 1920s Paris and beyond. As provocative and magnetically irresistible as Kiki herself, Kiki Man Ray is the story of an exceptional life that will challenge ideas about artists and muses—and the lines separating the two.
Kilgore Rangerettes
by O. Rufus LovettWhether she knows it or not, every girl who has ever dreamed of taking her place in a line of high-kicking dancers on a football field at halftime has been inspired by the Kilgore College Rangerettes, the world's first precision dance drill team. Founded in Kilgore, Texas, in 1939-1940 by the incomparable Gussie Nell Davis, the Rangerettes have performed for national and international audiences, appearing frequently at events such as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and major football bowl games across the nation, including the New Year's Cotton Bowl Classic in Dallas each year since 1951. An icon of Americana, the red-white-and-blue clad Rangerettes have drawn the attention of numerous photographers and writers seeking to understand the enduring appeal of a group that some might view as anachronistic. O. Rufus Lovett, a fine art photographer who has taught at Kilgore College for more than thirty years, began photographing the 'Rettes in 1989. His interpretive photo essay in this book expresses his fascination with "the glamour of the Rangerettes' performances juxtaposed with the small-town atmosphere, football turf, metal bleachers, chain-link fences, and asphalt and concrete environment. " In Lovett's masterfully composed photographs, the Rangerette performances captivate with their multiplicity of "shapes, patterns, and designs. " While Lovett treats the 'Rettes as an artistic subject, he also captures the esprit de corps that keeps the girls smiling even when they have to march on icy pavement and prompts their mothers to wear T-shirts that proudly proclaim "Rette Mom. " An affectionate, yet unsentimental and occasionally irreverent portrait, Kilgore Rangerettes beautifully conveys the timeless quality of this unique subculture of young American womanhood.
Kill 'Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul
by James McbrideNational Book Award winner James McBride goes in search of the "real" James Brown after receiving a tip that promises to uncover the man behind the myth. His surprising journey illuminates not only our understanding of this immensely troubled, misunderstood, and complicated soul genius but the ways in which our cultural heritage has been shaped by Brown's legacy. Kill 'Em and Leave is more than a book about James Brown. Brown's rough-and-tumble life, through McBride's lens, is an unsettling metaphor for American life: the tension between North and South, black and white, rich and poor. McBride's travels take him to forgotten corners of Brown's never-before-revealed history: the country town where Brown's family and thousands of others were displaced by America's largest nuclear power bomb-making facility; a South Carolina field where a long-forgotten cousin recounts, in the dead of night, a fuller history of Brown's sharecropping childhood, which until now has been a mystery. McBride seeks out the American expatriate in England who co-created the James Brown sound, visits the trusted right-hand manager who worked with Brown for forty-one years, and interviews Brown's most influential nonmusical creation, his "adopted son," the Reverend Al Sharpton. He describes the stirring visit of Michael Jackson to the Augusta, Georgia, funeral home where the King of Pop sat up all night with the body of his musical godfather, spends hours talking with Brown's first wife, and lays bare the Dickensian legal contest over James Brown's estate, a fight that has consumed careers; prevented any money from reaching the poor schoolchildren in Georgia and South Carolina, as instructed in his will; cost Brown's estate millions in legal fees; and left James Brown's body to lie for more than eight years in a gilded coffin in his daughter's yard in South Carolina. James McBride is one of the most distinctive and electric literary voices in America today, and part of the pleasure of his narrative is being in his presence, coming to understand Brown through McBride's own insights as a black musician with Southern roots. Kill 'Em and Leave is a song unearthing and celebrating James Brown's great legacy: the cultural landscape of America today. Praise for Kill 'Em and Leave"Thoughtful and probing . . . with great warmth, insight and frequent wit. The results are partisan and enthusiastic, and they helped this listener think about the work in a new way. . . . James McBride's welcome elucidation . . . is clear, deeply felt and unmistakable."--Rick Moody, The New York Times Book Review "[McBride] turns out to also be the biographer of James Brown we've all been waiting for. . . . McBride's true subject is race and poverty in a country that doesn't want to hear about it, unless compelled by a voice that demands to be heard."--Boris Kachka, New York "The definitive look at one of the greatest, most important entertainers, The Godfather, Da Number One Soul Brother, Mr. Please, Please Himself--JAMES BROWN."--Spike Lee "James McBride on James Brown is the matchup we've been waiting for, a musician who came up hard in Brooklyn with JB hooks lodged in his brain, a monster ear for the truth, and the chops to write it."--Gerri Hirshey, author of Nowhere to Run: The Story of Soul Music "An unconventional and fascinating portrait of Soul Brother No. 1 and the significance of his rise and fall in American culture."--Kirkus ReviewsFrom the Hardcover edition.