Uplifting, inspirational story of nine young men from the University of Washington who took the gold medal for rowing at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Sons of loggers, farmers, and miners with grit and determination, they overcame many disadvantages of their impoverished circumstances during the Depression era to row to victory.
The main character of the story is Joe Rantz , a member of the team who faced unbelievable hardships including the loss of his mother, the rejection by his stepmother, and finally the abandonment of his parents at a very young age, but who still persevered on to row for Washington.
The book captures a fascinating slice of history of the Depression time period and the Germans preparations of the games with Hitler at the helm.
Gripping account of perseverance and teamwork that captures the heart.
Two orphans' stories from different generations intertwine as they clean the elderly woman’s attic and memories from the boxes and trunks unlock the stories of her life when she was sent on one of the country’s Orphan Trains in the 1920’s. Niamh tells her story as a 91 year-old woman to the young foster teenager, whose story parallels Niamh's and the two find a strong bond through their shared connection. An uplifting story of perseverance and hope.
The story about a heart-broken college student in the 1970’s who gets away from New England and takes a job in North Carolina at a seaside amusement park called “Joyland” with a dark past. There he enters a new world that alters his life forever. The beginning of the book reads like a memoir and later develops into a murder mystery. Actually it’s a lot of things: part love story, part coming of age, part ghost story. One of Stephen King’s “softer” novels without the elements of horror as his others. Entertaining all the way through.
A laugh-out loud story with a lot of heart. A once famous architect, Bernadette Fox, who has become an agoraphobic recluse in recent years, disappears the day before her family is about to take a trip to Antarctica. Eighth-grade daughter Bee goes on the hunt for her mother by gathering all kinds of documents from and about her mother in hopes of finding her. The story views Bernadette through the eyes of the many people who know her based on narrative, emails, faxes. conversations, and letters. The book is full of satire as it targets corporate culture, Microsoft Corp. specifically as well as social climbing and life in Seattle.
