Leagues Books

The collaboration of experienced social workers Judith Lee and Danielle Nisivoccia, Walk A Mile In My Shoes: A Book About Biological Parents For Foster Parents And Social Workers is a powerful, meaningful, 85-page treatise on understanding the feelings of biological parents and their children when children must be transferred to foster care. A "user friendly" guidebook to easing the transition and helping all parties understand one another better, Walk A Mile In My Shoes is highly recommended both for social workers and for foster parents engaged in a necessary, difficult and sometimes painful process.

Waterloo, Iowa is about 65 Miles from where the movie "Field of Dreams" was filmed. This book tells a story of a town that is trying to hold onto their little piece of the dream.

This is an engrossing, behind the scenes look at a minor-league team struggling to survive in a city that had "pro ball" for 95 years. I found it to be a real page-turner, in the sense that I was rooting for the town of Waterloo to hold on to their piece of the Major Leagues (by the way - the Minor Leagues are "pro-ball", in case you didn't know - I didn't!).

I must confess I could not take the suspense, and searched on Google to see if Waterloo still had a minor-league franchise.

It also provides a great look at the life of a minor-leaguer in the early 90's - gritty Bull Durham style!

Highly recommended!

Chickering has produced a masterful account of the rise of the pan-german league and its discontents for german society. for those of you who just don- know, this book outlines why people develop all sorts of silly ideas and how they can somehow be taken seriously.

germans, especially lawyers from the Rheinland, had some strange ideas, fo scho!
rasciological, biological, castrophicalogical, leading to all sorts of facists tendencies from WWI (peace to the homies in Belgium, Poland, and Russia) to those castrated lapdogs of the NS-Zeit.

Great book. Check out his stuff on WWI. wicked smart.

This book may be the most interesting and most painstakingly researched minor league history ever published. Mr. Gaunt has captured the spirit of baseball in the towns of Eastern North Carolina and the important role the game played in the lives of fans there. This book covers the league history from it's inception in 1934 as a semi-pro league for college players to its entry into true professional baseball in 1937. The league quickly became one of the most respected Class D leagues in the entire country for its high level of play. The Coastal Plain League shut down for the duration of World War II but returned in 1946 and achieved even greater glory over the following few seasons. The author covers all aspects of the league from the great players and teams, to the colorful stories and legendary characters, to the reasons for the eventual demise of the league following the 1952 season. A must-read for those interested in the history of the game or anyone who just wants a good read.

Few things are worse than seeing a childhood pastime fade away in later generations, especially if that pastime had a positive impact on you while growing up. For me, it's the increasing disinterest in libraries and reading, seen in countless funding cuts and the dominance of the Internet as a research tool for elementary and middle school students.

For author Mark O'Neal, it's the demise of a form of our national pastime - Little League baseball. Not content to sit by for this loss of competition and team spirit, O'Neal has tried to find out why it's losing ground in his book "What Happened to Little League Baseball in the Inner-City?" The end result is a personal and sociological study of the sport's urban decline, with reasoned suggestions as opposed to simple griping about how things used to be.

O'Neal draws on his first-hand experience growing up in the south side of Chicago, backing up his claims with various newspaper and research articles. The blame for the decline of inner-city baseball, according to his research, falls heavily on the decline of black family structure through welfare and drug use, privatization of the sport by wealthy sponsors and an overriding interest in basketball among black youths.

Though O'Neal's book is short on academic support (likely because this is one of the only studies made of the topic) each of his arguments are well-written and feasible. O'Neal is able to link the single-parent trend to the lack of dedicated coaches, college scholarship availability to baseball's long-term survival and the decline of factories to families available to participate.

While several of his arguments place the blame for the sport's decline on the inner city population, the tone is logical rather than accusatory and suggests that since they created the problems, they can fix them. His solutions are a bit too broad - get more affordable coaches, increase Major League involvement and promote black college baseball - but they are focused correctly and leave the door open for more specific reactions.

The troubles of the inner city are problems that one 50-page book won't solve, but it can serve as one of many tools to patch them up. O'Neal promises on the book's back cover that "What Happened to Little League Baseball" will be followed with a series of studies, and if they come close to his first analysis urban renewal may be closer than expected.

It's great to have resources such as this one to help foster children! This book includes a story about a 9 year old girl who is put into a foster home and separated from her younger brother. Also included are ways to help foster children. -Cynthia Miller Lovell, author of The Star: A story to help young children understand foster care, and Questions & Activities for The Star: A handbook for foster parents

As a mental health therapist, I have found this book helpful for both parents and children. Children find it easier to ask questions after reading or listening to this book and parents seemed comforted by this clear, calm and sensitive explanation of sexual abuse. This book tells children what they can do if they or their friend has been abused. I often use this book when a parent is afraid their child has been a victim, but they don't know where to start the process of talking to their child.

I am reordering two of these books as my last copy got borrowed and passed around between relatives in one family. I don't want to be without a copy for me or the other clinicians at my clinic.

This book was written by my late father Stan Kaplan who passed away in March of 1990, he was a huge baseball fan and was so proud of this book. If anyone has any more copies, please do not hesitate to contact me or if you have any questions about this publication. It is a great book for a baseball fan who loves statistics and to know "Who was on first!", Best Wishes - Jeffrey Kaplan

This is one of those glorious books for baseball's figure filberts. The volume provides for the lifetime records of well over 700 major league players (including their minor league records!). It is a statistical treasure trove!

What about Julio Lugo? You can trace his minor leagure record from Auburn of the New York-Penn league in 1995 (.291 batting average) to 1998 at Kissimmee in the Florida State League (.303) to his major league record (e.g., .275 in 2003 with Tampa Bay).

Pitchers, of course, are included. Especially intriguing is the huge amount of space taken up by Jesse Orosco--from his 1978 debut with Elizabethtown in the Appalachian league (1.13 ERA) to an 8.00 ERA with New York and Minnesota in 2003.

It's just a lot of fun to rifle through the pages and reacquaint oneself with the complete records of players from A (e.g., Bobby Abreu) to Z (e.g., Todd Zeile).

So, all in all, this franchise publication--into its 90 plus years of existence--remains a rich resource for the serious baseball fan.

The Wild Wild West: Cuisine From The Land Of Cactus & Cowboys is a veritable showcase of Texas-style cooking. Featuring recipes contributed by members of The Junior League of Odessa, Texas, this 278-page "family friendly" cookbook collection ranges from Lone Star Fondue; Indian Tea; Caldillo (Mexican Stew); and Texas' Best Chick-N-Dumplings; to Campfire Corn; Fake Fried Chicken; Lone Star Spiced and Smoked Ribs; and Cow Patty Nut Clusters, The Wild Wild West offers robust fare for any and all occasions from weekday family dining to special celebratory get-togethers with family, friends, and neighbors.