A Boy in the Water


Book Description

**Winner of the William Hill 2018 Sports Book of the Year Award** A Sunday Times Book of the Year and Telegraph Best Book of 2018 'Extraordinary' Clare Balding The poignant, life-affirming story of a determined boy, a visionary coach, and how the dream of a record-breaking Channel swim became reality Eltham, South London. 1984: the hot fug of the swimming pool and the slow splashing of a boy learning to swim but not yet wanting to take his foot off the bottom. Fast-forward four years. Photographers and family wait on the shingle beach as a boy in a bright orange hat and grease-smeared goggles swims the last few metres from France to England. He has been in the water for twelve agonizing hours, encouraged at each stroke by his coach, John Bullet, who has become a second father. This is the story of a remarkable friendship between a coach and a boy, and a love letter to the intensity and freedom of childhood.




Boy in the Water


Book Description

Another bucolic fall in northern New Hampshire, and the semester is under way at Bishop’s Hill Academy. But this year the start of school has been less than tranquil. The new headmaster, Jim Hawthorne, has liberal ideas that the staff find far from welcome; eloquent as he is on the subject of honor, rumor has it he’s taken this job to escape his past. And Hawthorne isn’t the only uneasy newcomer. There’s Jessica Weaver, a stripper at fifteen, and Frank LeBrun, a replacement cook who’s a bit too quick with a dirty joke. All three have secrets to conceal, memories to suppress. Serene on the surface, the ivy-clad, tree-lined campus gives few clues to the school’s history of special privileges, petty corruptions, and hidden allegiances. And as winter closes in, students, teachers, and staff get an education in savagery and murder. With his uncanny awareness of the intricacies of human nature, the acclaimed author of The Church of Dead Girls once again probes the daily life of an ordinary community to reveal the depths of good and evil.




Boy Underwater


Book Description

SELECTED AS WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE MONTH SHORTLISTED FOR THE CARNEGIE AWARD A heart-breaking, heart-warming novel for everyone of 10 and older – this book will probably make you cry, and will definitely make you laugh.




One Boy, No Water


Book Description

When you're allergic to water, growing up in Hawaii isn't always paradise. Everybody loves Jay. I love my brother, too. Sometimes I wish I could be him--a surfing star instead of the weird kid allergic to water, the Blalahs' favorite punching bag. But that's not the worst of it. In the middle of the night, I dream. There's a mysterious girl who lives in a magical place and acts like she knows me better than I know myself. We hide from the Man with Too Many Teeth. Some nights I wake up with my heart pounding and the urge to eat raw meat. It's just a dream, right? But then I saw him, the Man with Too Many Teeth, walking along the reef at Piko Point. Not even Jay can protect me now. __________________ One Boy, No Water is Book 1 in the Niuhi Shark Saga trilogy. Told from an indigenous perspective and set in a contemporary Hawaiian world where all the Hawaiian myths and legends are real, the series explores belonging, adoption, being different, bullying, defining family, and learning to turn weaknesses into strengths. Through the series, Zader discovers he's not really a boy allergic to water; he's something much more special, dangerous, and powerful. His adoptive brother Jay discovers what happens when the golden surfing star falls from his pedestal and has to choose to make the long climb back from serious injury. It's the ties that bind and support the brothers that allow them to create their own destinies. As typical local islanders, characters use common Hawaiian and Pidgin words and phrases. The meaning is usually clear from the context, but there is also a Hawaiian & Pidgin Glossary for additional support. Each chapter begins with a related island word or phrase and its definitions. A Discussion Guide for book club or classroom use is included. Free additional classroom support materials are available on www.NiuhiSharkSaga.com. One Boy, No Water, Book 1 in the Niuhi Shark Saga, was a 2017 Nene Award Nominee. The Nene Award is Hawaii's Children's Choice Book Award recognizing outstanding literary works.




A Long Walk to Water


Book Description

When the Sudanese civil war reaches his village in 1985, 11-year-old Salva becomes separated from his family and must walk with other Dinka tribe members through southern Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya in search of safe haven. Based on the life of Salva Dut, who, after emigrating to America in 1996, began a project to dig water wells in Sudan. By a Newbery Medal-winning author.




The Drowning Boy's Guide to Water


Book Description

Cameron Barnett's debut poetry collection, selected by Ada Limón as winner of the 2017 Rising Writer Contest




Walking for Water


Book Description

A young boy finds a way to help his sister go to school. Victor and his twin sister, Linesi, are close. Only, now that they are eight years old, she is no longer able to go to school with him. Linesi, like the other older girls in their community, must walk to the river to get water five times a day to help their mother farm. But Victor is learning about equality in school. He’s beginning to realize how boys and girls are not treated equally. And that’s not fair to his sister. So Victor comes up with a plan to help. Can one boy make a difference in an unequal world? It turns out, he can!




Ice Boy


Book Description

Tired of helping others cool their drinks, Ice Boy proceeds to sneak out of the freezer and heads to the beach, where his edges begin to blur.




The Color of Water


Book Description

From the New York Times bestselling author of Deacon King Kong and The Good Lord Bird, winner of the National Book Award for Fiction: The modern classic that Oprah.com calls one of the best memoirs of a generation and that launched James McBride's literary career. More than two years on The New York Times bestseller list. As a boy in Brooklyn's Red Hook projects, James McBride knew his mother was different. But when he asked her about it, she'd simply say 'I'm light-skinned.' Later he wondered if he was different too, and asked his mother if he was black or white. 'You're a human being! Educate yourself or you'll be a nobody!' she snapped back. And when James asked about God, she told him 'God is the color of water.' This is the remarkable story of an eccentric and determined woman: a rabbi's daughter, born in Poland and raised in the Deep South who fled to Harlem, married a black preacher, founded a Baptist church and put twelve children through college. A celebration of resilience, faith and forgiveness, The Color of Water is an eloquent exploration of what family really means.




Brave in the Water


Book Description

Are you afraid to put your face in the water? So is Diante. He would like to play in the pool with other children. He's not afraid to hang upside down, though, and he's surprised to learn his grandma is. Can Diante help Grandma and become brave in the water?