The Toughest Kid We Knew


Book Description

Frank Bergon’s newest work is a thoughtful exploration of the ways that memories of random childhood events become unexpected revelations about life in the West. In many senses this project is a personalized version of Two-Buck Chuck & The Marlboro Man where Bergon explored the ways that a multiethnic and multiracial society shaped, and continues to shape, the day-to-day lived realities of the residents and communities of the San Joaquin Valley. Bergon’s latest book creation, however, is more elegiac in tone, paying tribute to ranching and farming lives that are disappearing under suburban and exurban sprawl, industrial farming, and white-collar job growth.




The Toughest Kid We Knew


Book Description

From critically acclaimed author Frank Bergon comes a new personal narrative about the San Joaquin Valley in California. This intimate companion to Two-Buck Chuck & The Marlboro Man brings us back to an Old West at odds with New West realities where rapid change is a common trait and memories are of rural beauty. Despite the physical transformations wrought by technology and modernity in the twenty-first century, elements of an older way of thinking still remain, and Bergon traces its presence using experiences from his own family and friends. Communal camaraderie, love of the land and its food, and joy in hard work done well describe Western lives ignored or misrepresented in most histories of California and the West. Yet nostalgia does not drive Frank Bergon’s intellectual return to that world. Also prevalent was a culture of fighting, ignorance about alcoholic addiction, brutalizing labor, and a feudal mentality that created a pain better lost and bid good riddance. Through it all, what emerges from his portraits and essays is a revelation of small-town and ranch life in the rural West. A place where the American way of extirpating the past and violently altering the land is accelerated. What Bergon has written is a portrayal of a past and people shaping the country he called home.




Raising Men


Book Description

After Eric Davis spent over 16 years in the military, including a decade in the SEAL Teams, his family was more than used to his absence on deployments and secret missions that could obscure his whereabouts for months at a time. Without a father figure in his own life since the age of fifteen, Eric was desperate to maintain the bonds he’d fought so hard to forge when his children were young—particularly with his son, Jason, because he knew how difficult it was to face the challenge of becoming a man on one’s own. Unfortunately, Eric learned the hard way that Quality Time doesn’t always show up in Quantity Time. Facebook, television, phones, video games, school, jobs, friends—they all got in the way of a real, meaningful father-son relationship. It was time to take action. As a SEAL, Eric learned to innovate and push boundaries, allowing him to function at levels beyond what was expected, comfortable, ordinary, and even imaginable, and he knew that as a father he needed to do the same with his son. Meeting extreme with extreme was the only answer. Using a unique blend of discipline, leadership, adventure, and grace, Eric and his SEAL brothers will teach you how to connect, and reconnect, with your sons and learn how to raise real men—the Navy SEAL way.




Rockit Crew


Book Description

In the summer of 1984 four best friends become hip-hop outcasts and learn about the power of friendship, life, death, and how hard it is to be unique in a town that doesn’t always welcome those who are brave enough to be different.




The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask about Christianity


Book Description

University apologist, director, and popular speaker Alex McFarland has spent the last two decades answering questions about Christian worldview and the Bible from children, teens, and parents. In The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask about Christianity, he summarizes questions today’s children and teens are asking about God, the Bible, and the problem of evil. Alex’s experiences have taught him that how adults answer questions about God is as important as, if not more important than, what kids ask. He provides parents with teaching strategies that will help them reach their children intellectually and spiritually. Today’s kids and teens are looking for authenticity, integrity, and straightforward truth. Alex comes alongside parents and gives them tools to effectively answer not only their children’s toughest academic questions but also the questions that plague their hearts.




The Night Gate


Book Description

There are worlds that exist beyond our dreams…and our nightmares. A brilliant scientist has uncovered a secret that threatens humanity's future. Now his girlfriend is missing, and the voices in his head are back. Since losing his daughter, Emma, seven years ago, Pike Shepard has struggled to maintain a normal life for himself in the coastal community of Blackwater. It’s a quiet life, until a beautiful scientist shows up on his doorstep with a desperate plea for help. Dr. Kate Cassidy has uncovered a new aspect to quantum entanglement: the ability to not just see the multiverse but a way to travel through it. Her device allows them to SideSlip between parallel planes that are at once familiar and quite bizarre, wondrous, and terrifying. Her ability to travel between realities uncovers a dark future for mankind. A man with a dark purpose promises profound evil and a ruthless government agent eager to see them all fail. Unless Kate and Pike can outwit them, the place they call home may never be safe again. Few authors would dare tackle interdimensional travel from a hard-science point of view. Franks does that and does it brilliantly. Slip into this gripping techno-thriller, where the biggest enemy you face might just be yourself. You absolutely won’t want to miss The Night Gate. Grab your copy now!




I Never Knew I Belonged to God Because I Never Felt I Belonged to Anyone


Book Description

I Never Knew I Belonged to God Because I Never Felt I Belonged to Anyone by: Demetria M. Kelly Demetria M. Kelly’s book, I Never Knew I Belonged to God Because I Never Felt I Belonged to Anyone, is about her struggles in life and how she applied God to her life but always felt alone until she realized God was with her and providing for her the whole time. Demetria may not have had the answers she always wanted, but she had everything she needed. Her aim is to get young mothers to understand how much they need God in their lives, especially when raising children as single parents. They are not alone because there are other single mothers going through the same thing, but God is with us. Demetria hopes that young mothers take away from this book to keep fighting, keep their heads up, and keep God in their lives.




Elevator Babies


Book Description

Before the internet, when moms sent kids out to play and they didnt come home until dinnertime, one boy embarks on a unique coming-of-age journey filled with lessons as he embraces the joys and struggles of growing up during a time when adventures were plentiful and the freedom to explore was a way of life in every neighborhood. As his path leads him into the midst of a legendary rock war with his cousins, a quick draw lesson from a sharpshooter, a lucky break on the basketball court, and a showdown with an unredeemable bully, the narrator triumphs at facing his fears, learns what a true friend really is, and comes to understand that, in reality, life sometimes means failure. Through the innocence of youth, all that accompanies adolescence, and the humor that inevitably arises from growing pains, the narrator soon realizes that a life filled with adventure, mistakes, and even disappointment is a life well lived. Elevator Babies compassionately captures a young mans journey through childhood and towards adulthood as he embraces the escapades and travails that come with a simpler time in America.




A View from the Bench


Book Description

Recruited for his combination of size and speed, George Mills had the potential to become an outstanding college football player--but it never happened. A View from the Bench reveals the reality behind the glamour of college football and the tough experiences in the life of a benchwarmer. Mills was a solid player who loved the game, but he had only one shot in nearly five years at making Nebraska's starting team. He found little time or energy left for academics after hours of drills, weight lifting, and team meetings. Now, with complete candor, Mills lays bare the true weight of emphasis in the "student-athlete" dichotomy. Free from anger or malice, Mills tells of his struggle to come to terms with a sports career of "mediocrity." A View from the Bench is an honest reflection of the experiences of so many overlooked players. It will be meaningful to anyone who has watched or played competitive sports.




One of the Boys


Book Description

One of the Boys: Masculinity, Homophobia, and Modern Manhood takes a fresh look at the formation of modern male sexual identities. You will find that homophobia is not only widespread, but that it takes diverse forms and has far-reaching behavioral and social consequences. The new concept of “homophobic passage,” which is part of the development of all young men, will enlighten you as to the proposed “causes” of homosexuality and heterosexuality. One of the Boys will help you discover how the passage of young males from childhood to adulthood plays an important role in formation of the modern adult male self in gay and straight men. As a result, this knowledge will allow you to offer relevant services to clients who are struggling with societal stereotypes and identity issues. From this informative book, you will discover how homophobia plays a role in the increase in violence experienced by gay men and lesbians in our culture today. To help you offer improved services, One of the Boys discusses why homophobia is widespread, takes diverse forms, and has far-reaching behavioral and social consequences by: examining the school playground and its many effects on children’s peer groups to discover how profoundly names like “crybaby” and “poofter” can impact a child’s development learning that children often cannot escape harmful labels and stereotypes at home and realizing how it impacts a child’s developing sense of self discovering the media’s influence on role models and realizing the important role television and magazines play in providing information about homosexuality and homophobia realizing the heavy pressure homophobia exerts on men and how it shapes their relationships with women and other men, how emotionally close they allow themselves to get to people, how affectionate they are, and with whom they have sexual relations Through One of the Boys, you will gain valuable insight into the masculinity of the men interviewed and how it was shaped in order for you to develop a greater understanding of men and the many influences of society as a whole. This unique study investigates the development of homophobia and the meanings and significances people associate with it to help you understand how and where homophobia originates in our society.