**** New edition of the Greenwood Press original of 1979 (which is cited in BCL3), with a new introduction, chapter, and a supplementary bibliography. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

My husband and I lived in Arlington, VA, for 15 years, in a cozy condominium until they retired. While we were there, my husband's health took a slight turn and he spent some time recovering. As he convalesced, he watched the neighbors around the block walk their dogs along the sidewalk from the living room window. Valentine's Day was quickly approaching and I thought to surprise him with a stuffed animal. I ventured out to our department store and purchased a stuffed puppy and some chocolates to comfort him. He was delighted when I presented him this surprise. This small gesture of love seemed to ease the desire for an animate dog. It was actually my husband's illness and passion for dogs, that inspired me to write a series of books under the umbrella of "Buster's Big Adventure's." My first book, "A Puppy's Special Day," is almost true to life. “Buster's Big Surprise” is the second book of five more under this series.

New Milford is located in western Connecticut, in the lower portion of Litchfield County. The original inhabitants of the area were the Potatuck who, along with other tribes, retreated as settlement of the region began--the first in the county being in Woodbury in 1672. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the land that later became New Milford was purchased from the Indians, and the first settler, John Noble, arrived from Massachusetts and built a home here in 1707. As the centuries progressed, so did the town. New Milford became a business center with many mills, shops, taverns, and other services. In stunning images and clear narrative, New Milford traces the history not only of the town itself but also of many of the families whose names are an integral part of the community, among them the Bostwicks, the Heacocks, and the Kings. The book follows the development of the town--its industry, such as New Milford Pottery, its educational facilities, such as Canterbury School, and its familiar places, such as the Wayside Inn.

A breathtaking achievement, this Concise Companion is a suitable crown to the astonishing production in African American literature and criticism that has swept over American literary studies in the last two decades. It offers an enormous range of writers-from Sojourner Truth to Frederick Douglass, from Zora Neale Hurston to Ralph Ellison, and from Toni Morrison to August Wilson. It contains entries on major works (including synopses of novels), such as Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Richard Wright's Native Son, and Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. It also incorporates information on literary characters such as Bigger Thomas, Coffin Ed Johnson, Kunta Kinte, Sula Peace, as well as on character types such as Aunt Jemima, Brer Rabbit, John Henry, Stackolee, and the trickster. Icons of black culture are addressed, including vivid details about the lives of Muhammad Ali, John Coltrane, Marcus Garvey, Jackie Robinson, John Brown, and Harriet Tubman. Here, too, are general articles on poetry, fiction, and drama; on autobiography, slave narratives, Sunday School literature, and oratory; as well as on a wide spectrum of related topics. Compact yet thorough, this handy volume gathers works from a vast array of sources--from the black periodical press to women's clubs--making it one of the most substantial guides available on the growing, exciting world of African American literature.

Few films in the twenty-first century have represented coming-of-age with the beauty and brutality of Bande de Filles (or Girlhood). This book provides an in-depth examination of Céline Sciamma’s film, focusing on its portrayal of female adolescence in contemporary Paris. Motivated by the absence of black female characters in French cinema, Sciamma represents the lives of figures that have passed largely unnoticed on the big screen. While observing the girls’ tough circumstances, Sciamma’s film emphasises the joy and camaraderie found in female friendships. This book places Girlhood in its cinematic as well as its sociocultural context. Pop music, urban violence, and female friendships are all considered here in a book that draws out the complexity of Sciamma’s deceptively simple portrayal of coming-of-age. Thoughtful, concise, and deeply contemporary, this book is perfect for students, scholars, and general readers interested in youth cultures, European cinema, gender, and sexuality.

"...substantial contribution to African-American Studies and women's studies." --Mississippi Quarterly "A bravura performance by an accomplished scholar... it strikes a perfect balance between insightful literary analysis and historical investigation." --Eighteenth-Century Studies "... an impressive study of a wide range of writers.... Foster's work is both scholarly and accessible. Her prose is economical and direct, making this book enjoyable as well as instructive." --Belles Lettres "... an impressively wide-ranging discussion of texts and contexts... " --Signs "Foster has written a fine book that provides the reader with a context for understanding the importance of the written word for women who chose to 'set the record straight'." --Journal of American History "... fascinating, meticulously researched... Likely to prove seminal in the field... highly recommended... " --Library Journal " Written by Herself comprises a volume of remarkable female characters whose desires for social change often made them catalysts for spiritual awakening in their own times." --MultiCultural Review "... an outstanding piece of scholarship... Foster's book offers deeply intelligent, provocative, totally accessible analysis of a tradition and of writers still not sufficiently read and taught." --American Literature "Well written and thoroughly researched. Highly recommended... " --Choice The first comprehensive cultural history of literature by African American women prior to the 20th century. From the oral histories of Alice, a slave born in 1686, to the literary tradition that included Jarena Lee and Octavia Victoria Rogers Albert, this literature was argument, designed to correct or to instruct an audience often ignorant about or even hostile to black women.

In the continuing life of Buster, he takes a walk around the neighborhood, hoping to share his favorite blue ball with other dogs. He realizes that there is a park down the street where he lives. As he goes into the park, he hears a running stream and goes toward it. As he gets closer, he loses his footing and down into the water he goes, along with his favorite blue ball. Across the stream, sat a golden retriever named Rodney. He sees Buster slip into the fast running water and desperately tries to save himself. When Rodney hears Buster's cry for help, he quickly dives into the water and pulls Buster out. As they sit together and dry off, Buster realizes that this is the kind of friend he could ask anything that is troubling him. Rodney who is much wiser than Buster shares his insight about life and some lessons Buster needs to learn.

Wrought by a childhood replete with trying circumstances and telling experiences (conveyed in Frances Smith's earlier book), and in tandem with resultant beliefs and attitudes she held toward herself and the world she was about to enter, the commencement of legal adulthood also removed any buttressing protection minority provided. Too many confused and self-critical assessments would ill-serve this demoiselle. In time, those same assessments would transform into extremely harmful and life-threatening situations. Surviving would become a lifestyle for the author, which would shape not only her world but that of those whom she held most dear. Ms. Smith's adulthood was remarkable because of the duality consistently displayed between her professional abilities and achievements and her personal descent into depreciation and decline. This descent was birthed by a mentally imprinted sense of desperation inseminated by prevailing dogma, the flawed conclusions of youthful minds, and unattended hurts and breaches. This tale is a cautionary account. Similar to the brutality of a gauntlet one is forced to run, a few key choices in the life of this young woman vaulted her into a sort of awful test. Not failing would require overcoming deeply rooted beliefs and fears that sucked her backward in a downward spiral. Failing the test would mean no escape from an existence that was the antithesis of living. Scores of challenges the author faced in her adult life were nearly fantastical, so grueling and perverse were they. If any hope of victory existed, this woman's constitution must contain an extraordinary will to persevere and survive. Would the author discover that quality within herself, or would defeat ultimately claim her? This narrative relates what could be argued as the predictable plunge the author made into the depths, given the memories, messages, and conclusions in which she was cloaked as she debuted as an adult, already wearied from her life up to that point. This tale also abounds in efforts equally mesmerizing, which the principal made to try to save herself. There is no way to imagine the unspeakable journey that was Ms. Smith's adulthood. This story is simply a must read.

The Journey Continues -- is the third part of the trilogy about two serial killers. The book begins as one of the serial killers at long last finds his intended victim. Because of the pressure caused by a true crime book about two serial killers in Southern California specifically the High Desert he is determined to find the second serial killer. The book continues as he leaves messages for the authorities that hes back and he makes his own search simply because he needs a place to hide. He stumbled upon the underground modernized mine and realized he found his place and the mine served his purpose. He, however, had to prove himself. The story continues as the survivors are victimized again. They work with the authorities to stop the carnage. The story deals with families, authorities, victims, trust, love, and fear. Those who are thrown together, but still find comfort in helping one another.

In addition to revealing much about the military and the social history of the era, these letters show how ordinary people reacted to conditions beyond their control and how they coped with the pursuant hardships and strains."--BOOK JACKET.