In an ultraconservative America of the not-too-distant future when America has become a police state, the annual marathon is the ultimate sports competition. One hundred boys are selected each year to enter a grueling 450-mile marathon walk. The game is simple: maintain a steady walking pace of four miles per hour without stopping. Three warnings and you're out--permanently. The winner will be awarded whatever he wants for the rest of his life; but...

Overview: Winner of the 2000 National Book Award for Poetry, Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000 is the culminating achievement of Lucille's Clifton longstanding poetry career. This long-awaited collection by one of the most distinguished poets writing today includes poems written during the past four years as well as generous selections from Lucille Clifton's award-winning collections Next: New Poems, Quilting and The Terrible Stories....

The year is 1996, and documentary filmmaker Doug Block, fascinated by this new thing called the internet, trains his wry, analytical lens on the burgeoning home page (i.e. blogging) phenomenon. He soon falls under the spell of 21-year old cyber superstar Justin Hall, whose (literally) bare-all online diary spares no details about friends, family, lovers, and, inevitably, Block himself. When Hall goads the filmmaker into keeping his own online diary,...

The final collection of comic strips from the popular syndicated series follows the adventures of Calvin and his stuffed tiger, Hobbes.

Provides an in-depth critical introduction to the short stories of Tobias Wolff. Includes a detailed analyses of every significant story, biographical information, a chronology of the artist's life and works, and a representative selection of critical responses.

The popular comic-strip duo roam their many worlds in search of treasure and adventure, approaching warp speed, fighting off killer bicycles, conducting dad polls, and creating legions of snowmen and other not-so-alien beings.

Provides an in-depth critical introduction to the short stories of Kate Chopin. Includes a detailed analyses of every significant story, biographical information, a chronology of the artist's life and works, and a representative selection of critical responses.

Set in the 1930s, a Texas schoolteacher falls in love with pulp writer Robert H. Howard. The two couldn't be more opposite, sharing almost nothing but their uniquely passionate romance. Official Selection at the **Sundance Film Festival** and **Toronto International Film Festival**.

Presents full-text literary criticism on writers and illustrators for children and young adults. Critical essays are selected from leading sources, including published journals, magazines, books, monographs, reviews, and scholarly papers.