A Chinese boy struggles to adapt to American life—and discovers baseball. Despite his impulsive and curious nature, twelve-year-old Leon is determined to follow the Emperor’s rules—to live with an American family, study hard, and return home to modernize China. But he also must keep the braid that shows his loyalty—and resist such forbidden American temptations as baseball. As Leon overcomes teasing and makes friends, his elder brother becomes increasingly alienated. Eventually, Leon faces a tough decision, torn between his loyalty to his birth country—and his growing love for his new home. The Forbidden Temptation of Baseball is a lively, poignant, and nuanced novel based on a little-known episode from history, when 120 boys were sent to New England by the Emperor of China in the 1870s. This story dramatizes both the rigid expectations and the wrenching alienation felt by many foreign children in America today—and richly captures that tension between love and hate that is culture shock. It gives American readers a glimpse into what it feels like to be a foreigner in the United States and will spark thoughtful discussions.

A Riveting Memoir of Cross-Cultural Romance at a Pivotal Moment in History When China opened its doors in the 1980s, it shocked the world by allowing private enterprise and free markets. As a foreign correspondent for BusinessWeek, Dori Jones Yang was among the first American journalists to cover China under Deng Xiaoping, who dared to defy Maoist doctrine as he rushed to catch up with richer nations. Fluent in Mandarin, she got to know ordinary Chinese people—who were embracing opportunities that had once been unimaginable in China. This deeply personal story follows her rise from rookie reporter to experienced journalist. Her cross-cultural romance gave her deeper insights into how Deng’s reforms led to hopes for better lives. This euphoria—shared by American businesses and Chinese citizens alike—reached its peak in 1989, when peaceful protestors filled Tiananmen Square, demanding democracy. On the ground in Beijing, Dori lived that hope, as well as the despair that followed. You’ll be inspired by this book of empowerment about a young woman from Ohio who pushed aside barriers to become a foreign correspondent and then persevered despite setbacks. Written in a time when China’s rapid rise is setting off fears in Washington, this book offers insight into the daring policies that started it all.

Athletic and strong willed, Princess Emmajin's determined to do what no woman has done before: become a warrior in the army of her grandfather, the Great Khan Khubilai. In the Mongol world the only way to achieve respect is to show bravery and win glory on the battlefield. The last thing she wants is the distraction of the foreigner Marco Polo, who challenges her beliefs in the gardens of Xanadu. Marco has no skills in the "manly arts" of the Mongols: horse racing, archery, and wrestling. Still, he charms the Khan with his wit and story-telling. Emmajin sees a different Marco as they travel across 13th-century China, hunting 'dragons' and fighting elephant-back warriors. Now she faces a different battle as she struggles with her attraction towards Marco and her incredible goal of winning fame as a soldier.

Former Yankee batboy, Bill "Hondo" Hongach, who had his first book published while still in high school at age 18, takes the reader on a journey of what goes on behind the scenes of America's National Pastime.The book opens with the author being beaten so badly by Pete Rose's right-hand man, ironically, with a Pete Rose bat, that he ends up in a coma for four days. Jack Lang, who was in charge of the Baseball Writers Assoc. and wrote dozens of baseball books himself before being put into the Hall of Fame, wrote that this was the best baseball book he ever read! He simply put it "...I could not put it down until I had finished reading the entire book." For one to see and know the "The Dark Sides of Baseball" is, in essence, to have the perspective that very few baseball fans get to experience. To become close on a personal basis with some of the greats of the game is rare and unique. "The Dark Sides of Baseball" is a glimpse that the public is not privy to or ever get to encounter.The book tells a tale of how a teenage boy chased his love of baseball, from interviewing sports greats, becoming a Yankee batboy the last two years at the original Yankee Stadium in 1972 & 1973, at the age of 18 having his first baseball book published while still a batboy and leading to the end of the Topps' Baseball Card monopoly, while still going to school.His close relationship with Mickey Mantle and Pete Rose would show him the troubled and positive sides of the game, that the public were never shown. The stories are endless as to what goes on in a clubhouse and what it is like to have these great athletes together for a baseball card show.Every baseball fan can watch a game and look up the stats. "The Dark Sides of Baseball" lets you see what goes on in the dugout, the clubhouse and off the field.

These contemporary novels feature girls who face everyday challenges and more serious problems as they approach their teen years. In figuring out how to cope when life is less than perfect, they begin to understand what growing up is all about.Jinna Zhang is a bright, thoughtful, and imaginative 12-year-old Chinese girl. But when she is overcome by shyness at her new American school, she loses her ability to speak and retreats into an inner fairy-tale world.

Tom Gallagher is in a tight spot. The fate of the Dillontown team rests on the outcome of one baseball game, winner take all. If Tom's team loses, they lose their field too. But how can they possibly win? Just when everything seems hopeless, a mysterious boy named Cruz de la Cruz rides into town and claims to know the secret of hitting. Not to mention the secrets of Dante Del Gato, Dillontown's greatest hitter ever. Since he walked away from the game years ago, Del Gato hasn't spoken a word to anyone. But now he might be Tom's only hope for saving his hometown. From the award-winning author of Over the Wall and Choosing Up Sides comes this imaginative tale of one boy's struggle to preserve the spirit of the game he loves.