Serene was a word you could put to Brooklyn, New York. Especially in the summer of 1912. Somber, as a word, was better. But it did not apply to Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Prairie was lovely and Shenandoah had a beautiful sound, but you couldn't fit those words into Brooklyn. Serene was the only word for it; especially on a Saturday afternoon in summer. Late in the afternoon the sun slanted down into the mossy yard belonging to Francie Nolan's house,...

"When Nicholas Nickleby is left penniless after his father's death, he appeals to his wealthy uncle to help him find work and to protect his mother and sister"--Page 4 of cover.

Kozol returns to the scene of his prize-winning books Rachel and her children and Amazing Grace, and to the children he's portrayed there, to share their journeys and unexpected victories as they grow into adulthood.

"Set in Brooklyn in the 1920's Tomorrow will be better tells the story of Margy Shannon, a shy, joyfully optimistic young woman just out of school who lives with her parents and witnesses how a lifetime of hard work and poverty has worn them down. Determined not to end up like them, Margy takes refuge in her dreams of a better life. Her goals are simple: to find a husband she loves, have children, and live in a nice home. When she meets Frankie Malone,...

Tuvia, an impoverished porter, encounters a green-garbed stranger with bright pink skin who promises him "seven good years," to commence whenever he chooses. Tuvia's wife, Sorka, wants them to begin immediately; magically, a pile of gold appears behind the family hut. The seven years fly by. When the benefactor returns to tell Tuvia that time's up, he's surprised the couple still wear tattered garments and reside in their shabby hut; the gold is still...

Includes the favorite redemption tale of misanthrope Ebenezer Scrooge as well as such holiday pieces as "The Chimes," "The Cricket on the Hearth," "The Battle of Life" and "The Haunted Man."

When low-born, country girl Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbervilles, a series of tragedies befalls her as she comes under the influence of the manipulative Alec D'Urberville.