Ben Franklin loved to swim and, at the age of eleven, he was determined to swim like a fish—fins and all! This fascinating and lively account of young Ben’s earliest invention follows the budding scientist’s journey as he tests and retests his swim fins. That first big splash led Ben to even more innovations and inventions. Includes Franklin quotes, a timeline, bibliography, and source notes.

I was born at the beginning of it all, on the Red side - the Communist side - of the Iron Curtain. Through annotated illustrations, journals, maps, and dreamscapes, Peter Sis shows what life was like for a child who loved to draw, proudly wore the red scarf of a Young Pioneer, stood guard at the giant statue of Stalin, and believed whatever he was told to believe. But adolescence brought questions. Cracks began to appear in the Iron Curtain, and news...

It was at Arrowhead Lodge at Lake of the Ozarks, where Bill Geist spent his summers between high school and college working at this tacky resort. What may have seemed 'just a summer job' became, upon reflection, a transformative era where a cast of eccentric, small-town characters and experiences would make Bill the man he is today. Bill realized it was this time in his life that would shape his sensibilities, his humor, his writing, and ultimately...