Cellar Dwellers


Book Description

In 1890, baseball's Pittsburgh Alleghenys won a measly 23 games, losing 113. The Cleveland Spiders topped this record when they lost an astonishing 134 games in 1899. Over 100 years later, the 2003 Detroit Tigers stood apart as the only team in baseball history to lose 60 games before July in a season. These stories and more are told in Cellar Dwellers: The Worst Teams in Baseball History, a colorful tribute to the sport's least successful clubs. Cellar Dwellers spans three centuries of professional baseball, recounting the seasons of those teams whose misadventures have largely been forgotten over time. Chapters not only cover the stories of the luckless teams, they also include reams of statistics and detailed player profiles of those who helped the clubs--and those who helped them fail. In addition to the Alleghenys, Spiders, and Tigers, the cellar dwellers of baseball include: -1904 and 1909 Washington Senators -1916 Philadelphia Athletics -1928 and 1941 Philadelphia Phillies -1932 Boston Red Sox -1935 Boston Braves -1939 St. Louis Browns -1952 Pittsburgh Pirates -1962 New York Mets While many books revel in the glories of teams whose exploits have become legendary, the stories found in this volume offer an engaging alternative to the thrill of victory. Embellished with comical and amusing anecdotes alongside historical perspectives, Cellar Dwellers will entertain baseball fans and fascinate those who love baseball history.




Nico Bravo and the Cellar Dwellers


Book Description

All our favorite ancient myths and legends get an epic makeover in Nico Bravo and the Cellar Dwellers, the second volume of Mike Cavallaro's hilarious middle-grade graphic novel series! Got a problem? The seasoned staff at Vulcan's Celestial Supply Shop—a kid named Nico Bravo, a sphinx named Lula, and a unicorn named Buck—have got just the thing for you in their inventory of magical merchandise. Nico’s enemy is finally revealed: Ahriman, God of Evil! Ahriman is fed up with Nico thwarting all his heinous plans and sends a shapeshifter named Orcus to Vulcan’s Celestial Supply Shop on a covert mission to take Nico and his crew down. Orcus mistakenly unleashes a dangerous ‘Misery’ from the God of Misfortune’s pouch, threatening everyone in the Supply Shop, but also discovers the missing link between Nico, the Unicorn Wars, and Reality itself! What will happen to Nico and his friends when all their troubles converge in a desperate battle for the fate of the Universe? *Colors by Jeremy Lawson




Nico Bravo and the Hound of Hades


Book Description

A 2019 New York Public Library Best Books for Kids A 2020 Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List Selection Take another look at your favorite myths and legends in this hillarious new graphic novel by Mike Cavallaro! Got a problem? At Vulcan’s Celestial Supply Shop, you can find the magical merchandise to set things right. The seasoned staff—a kid named Nico Bravo, a sphinx named Lula, and a unicorn named Buck—pride themselves on providing “legendary service and expertise in all areas of the arcane.” But Nico’s world is about to be turned upside down, and it’s all thanks his latest customer: Eowulf, the pint-size descendant of the monster slayer Beowulf. Determined to carry on the family business, this would-be warrior plans to slay Cerberus, the terrifying, three-headed hound of Hades. There’s just one problem—Cerberus is the only thing preventing the hordes of the Underworld from entering the land of the living. Can Nico stop Eowulf from unleashing a zombie apocalypse?




Build Your Own Underground Root Cellar


Book Description

Since 1973, Storey's Country Wisdom Bulletins have offered practical, hands-on instructions designed to help readers master dozens of country living skills quickly and easily. There are now more than 170 titles in this series, and their remarkable popularity reflects the common desire of country and city dwellers alike to cultivate personal independence in everyday life.




We Want Fish Sticks


Book Description

The NHL’s New York Islanders were struggling. After winning four straight Stanley Cups in the early 1980s, the Islanders had suffered an embarrassing sweep by their geographic rivals, the New York Rangers, in the first round of the 1994 playoffs. Hoping for a new start, the Islanders swapped out their distinctive logo, which featured the letters NY and a map of Long Island, for a cartoon fisherman wearing a rain slicker and gripping a hockey stick. The new logo immediately drew comparisons to the mascot for Gorton’s frozen seafood, and opposing fans taunted the team with chants of “We want fish sticks!” During a rebranding process that lasted three torturous seasons, the Islanders unveiled a new mascot, new uniforms, new players, a new coach, and a new owner that were supposed to signal a return to championship glory. Instead, the team and its fans endured a twenty-eight-month span more humiliating than what most franchises witness over twenty-eight years. The Islanders thought they had traded for a star player to inaugurate the fisherman era, but he initially refused to report and sulked until the general manager banished him. Fans beat up the new mascot in the stands. The new coach shoved and spit at players. The Islanders were sold to a supposed billionaire who promised to buy elite players; he turned out to be a con artist and was sent to prison. We Want Fish Sticks examines this era through period sources and interviews with the people who lived it.




The Mighty West


Book Description

In 2016 the Western Bulldogs stunned the AFL world by winning the Premiership -- the club's first since 1954, and only its second ever. It was an unprecedented rise to success, capped by a stunning Grand Final victory that left players and fans alike shedding tears of joy. The Mighty West chronicles the experience of the team and of the fans -- a tale of family and belonging, western suburbs tribalism, and the romance of sport.




Fewer, Better Things


Book Description

From the former director of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, a timely and passionate case for the role of the well-designed object in the digital age. Curator and scholar Glenn Adamson opens Fewer, Better Things by contrasting his beloved childhood teddy bear to the smartphones and digital tablets children have today. He laments that many children and adults are losing touch with the material objects that have nurtured human development for thousands of years. The objects are still here, but we seem to care less and know less about them. In his presentations to groups, he often asks an audience member what he or she knows about the chair the person is sitting in. Few people know much more than whether it's made of wood, plastic, or metal. If we know little about how things are made, it's hard to remain connected to the world around us. Fewer, Better Things explores the history of craft in its many forms, explaining how raw materials, tools, design, and technique come together to produce beauty and utility in handmade or manufactured items. Whether describing the implements used in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, the use of woodworking tools, or the use of new fabrication technologies, Adamson writes expertly and lovingly about the aesthetics of objects, and the care and attention that goes into producing them. Reading this wise and elegant book is a truly transformative experience.




Right Here, Right Now


Book Description

Upon receiving his execution date, one of the thousands of men living on death row in the United States had an epiphany: “All there ever is, is this moment. You, me, all of us, right here, right now, this minute, that's love.” Right Here, Right Now collects the powerful, first-person stories of dozens of men on death rows across the country. From childhood experiences living with poverty, hunger, and violence to mental illness and police misconduct to coming to terms with their executions, these men outline their struggle to maintain their connection to society and sustain the humanity that incarceration and its daily insults attempt to extinguish. By offering their hopes, dreams, aspirations, fears, failures, and wounds, the men challenge us to reconsider whether our current justice system offers actual justice or simply perpetuates the social injustices that obscure our shared humanity.




Nico Bravo and the Trial of Vulcan


Book Description

All our favorite ancient myths and legends get an epic makeover in Nico Bravo and the Trial of Vulcan, the third volume of Mike Cavallaro's hilarious graphic novel series! Got a problem? The seasoned staff at Vulcan's Celestial Supply Shop—a kid named Nico Bravo, a sphinx named Lula, and a unicorn named Buck—have got just the thing in their inventory of magical merchandise. Vulcan is on trial, accused by the evil Ahriman of breaking the Cosmic Rule—interfering in the plans of a fellow god! His only hope is finding five powerful artifacts scattered across the globe. But is there more to this quest than meets the eye?




Baby Steps to Success


Book Description

The same skills that Coach Vince Lombardi used to turn the Green Bay Packers from cellar dwellers to world champions.