It's 1956, and James Robert (Jimbo) Proctor has just turned sixteen when his Uncle Waylan and his new wife Vicky invite Jimbo to spend a summer toiling in the New Mexico oil patch. Jimbo dreams that heaving heavy metal about will serve as well as a Charles Atlas course to make a man of him, but he lands smack dab in a domestic fracas that has his uncle living in his machine shop and sneaking out with Sharon, his secretary. Meanwhile Jimbo's Aunt Vicky leads a protest against a fundamentalist book ban and rails against American H-bomb tests on Bikini. James sets out to solve the case of what he calls The Hardy Boy and the Mystery of the Marital Estrangement, but when he meets Sharon's cousin, Trudy, and plummets into love himself, the mystery of what brings men and women together or keeps them apart only deepens into confusion and torment. And James has more to learn than why we love and how we earn a mate both deserved and deserving. He's coming of age in a pivotal year in an era of repression and transition: the Brown decision, hardly two years old, meets die-hard resistance among segregationists; Rosa Parks has just refused to take a back seat; playwright Arthur Miller marries Marilyn Monroe and gets a contempt citation from the House Un-American Activities Committee; Adlai Stevenson and Estes Kefauver lose in a landslide to Ike and Dick Nixon; Ed Sullivan claims he'll never let "Elvis the Pelvis" on his TV show; and a southern senator warns Americans against the insidious influence of "foreign" films. In Jimbo's hometown of Dallas, right-wing complaints of "Red" artists succeed in censoring a traveling art show sponsored by the United States Information Agency; civil defense drills sweep the nation to prepare Americans for nuclear war; sponsor General Electric withdraws an episode of the wildly popular drama "Medic" because it reveals too much about a Caesarean section; and abortions are so forbidden even descriptions of them are stricken from books. How such things--things he might've thought remote and irrelevant--come to bear heavily on his green life is the thrust of his summer's education, and he leaves New Mexico on the cusp not so much of manhood but of adult responsibility.

Set during the turmoil of World War II, ""Purple Hearts"" is the story of the epileptic scion of an East Texas timber and oil fortune and his marriage to a stunning stranger desperate for sanctuary. Though naive and virginal, thirty-year-old Georgie Karacek wins Sylvia through his charm and kindness. Longing to prove himself, he then hides his illness to join the army. Sylvia's relationship with Georgie's overprotective mother proves difficult, so to make ends meet she takes on a boarder, Robert, in Georgie's absence. Soon Robert and Sylvia grow close, and he presses her to run away with him.When Georgie's epilepsy comes to light, he is discharged, and on returning home he suspects that his bride and the boarder are lovers. But wartime conditions explode into rioting, and that uproar puts them at odds with the town when Georgie helps a black friend flee.""Purple Hearts"" is based loosely on events in Beaumont, Texas, in July of 1943, when shipyard workers rampaged following a rumor that a black man had raped a sailor's wife. Several people died and scores were injured, and that riot echoed those in Detroit, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Writer/critic Bryan Woolley has hailed ""Purple Hearts"" as 'the best novel I've read about the home front during World War II...[it] illumines the dark fact that there was more to that home scene than ""Rosie the Riveter"" and ""War Bond"" drives.'

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is a scientific organization created in 1879, and is part of the U.S. government. Their scientists explore our environment and ecosystems, to determine the natural dangers we are facing. The agency has over 10,000 employees that collect, monitor, and analyze data so that they have a better understanding of our problems. The USGS is dedicated to provide reliable, investigated information to enhance and protect our quality of life. This is one of their reports.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is a scientific organization created in 1879, and is part of the U.S. government. Their scientists explore our environment and ecosystems, to determine the natural dangers we are facing. The agency has over 10,000 employees that collect, monitor, and analyze data so that they have a better understanding of our problems. The USGS is dedicated to provide reliable, investigated information to enhance and protect our quality of life. This is one of their reports.

Back to a time when life was a bit simpler. When kids were free to discover their own adventure and themselves, which may change history.

Back to a time when life was a bit simpler. When kids were free to discover their own adventure and themselves, which may change history.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is a scientific organization created in 1879, and is part of the U.S. government. Their scientists explore our environment and ecosystems, to determine the natural dangers we are facing. The agency has over 10,000 employees that collect, monitor, and analyze data so that they have a better understanding of our problems. The USGS is dedicated to provide reliable, investigated information to enhance and protect our quality of life. This is one of their reports.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is a scientific organization created in 1879, and is part of the U.S. government. Their scientists explore our environment and ecosystems, to determine the natural dangers we are facing. The agency has over 10,000 employees that collect, monitor, and analyze data so that they have a better understanding of our problems. The USGS is dedicated to provide reliable, investigated information to enhance and protect our quality of life. This is one of their reports.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is a scientific organization created in 1879, and is part of the U.S. government. Their scientists explore our environment and ecosystems, to determine the natural dangers we are facing. The agency has over 10,000 employees that collect, monitor, and analyze data so that they have a better understanding of our problems. The USGS is dedicated to provide reliable, investigated information to enhance and protect our quality of life. This is one of their reports.

What would happen if you were in a bad accident, your face was burned beyond recognition, and the doctors put a new face on for you? What would happen if your memory was gone too? Now you are indirectly connected to a suicide or is it a homicide, mistaken identity and just when your life starts falling back into place all hell breaks loose. Losing Face is one of 10 short stories included in this compilation from C. W. Smith

This text is a whimsical collection of entres designed to bruise the palate and delite the augmentary system.

Here is a vital new source of "need-to-know" information for cotton industry professionals. Unlike other references that focus solely on growing the crop, this book also emphasizes the cotton industry as a whole, and includes material on the nature of cotton fibers and their processing; cotton standards and classification; and marketing strategies.

When nineteen-year-old aviatrix Katie Burke crash lands her biplane on the only street in No Name, New Mexico, her arrival changes her life and the lives of everyone around her. As Katie and her craft need repair, locals take her in and help her, including a schoolteacher who longs for Katie's friendship, an interracial couple who own the town's diner, a handsome young mechanic who lives in a teepee, and a shell-shocked veteran of World War I. As her story unfolds, Katie's mysteries deepen--revealing shocking secrets, a scandalous past, and a future in true peril. Girl Flees Circus takes flight the moment Katie crashes to earth, promising a journey into the lives of a glamorous, redheaded stranger and the people she will change forever.

This book deals with the agronomy of the eight major grain, fiber and oilseed row crops produced in the United States: Corn, Wheat, Grain Sorghum, Barley, Rice, Cotton, Soybeans, and Peanuts. For each crop, Dr. Smith presents a structured discussion of: the types of cultivars, the history of the crop, its uses and processing, a detailed discussion of how to plant and grow the crop, the pests and problems involved, and the harvesting, grading and marketing practices.

Nineteen-year-old Jason is lost. The rush of graduation parties has subsided, the ubiquitous discussion of college departures dimmed to a dull roar. His former classmates have made elaborate plans, but the only date on Jason's calendar is a court appearance next Monday. Jason, who dropped out of high school just two months shy of graduation, finds himself stuck in the well-worn grooves of his hometown. But when his over-achieving girlfriend Lisa departs for UT Austin to study medicine, Jason finds Mesquite a place he can hardly recognize.

Jason's family can offer him little direction. After his mother Sue's unexpected death a few years back, his father Burl, fifteen years sober, slipped into old drinking habits. Jason watched the once clockwork-perfect routine of his family life descend into chaos. When Burl marries Lily, a high-strung, high-powered attorney, she brings a daughter into the house: Emily, eleven years old and a self-described know-it-all whose very existence is enough to irritate Jason.

Three days before Jason must appear in court, he receives a "Dear John" letter from Lisa. Heartbroken and determined to convince Lisa of his worth, Jason decides to hitchhike to Lisa's dorm in Austin--but Emily, desperate to return to her father, a UT professor, overhears Jason's plans and demands to accompany him. When Burl and Lily return home to find their children missing, Lily puts out an Amber Alert for Emily, accusing Jason of abducting her daughter. The frantic search effort that ensues threatens to destroy the tentative household that Burl and Lily have just begun to establish.

Smith's gift for creating three-dimensional characters, abundantly demonstrated in his previous TCU Press titles including "Understanding Women" and "Purple Hearts," lends this coming-of-age tale an unexpected quality of honesty and sophisticated narrative rarely seen in contemporary young adult fiction. Mary Powell, author of the TCU Press books "Auslander" and "Galveston Rose," describes Smith's prose as "rich and sophisticated, yet accessible, and the dialogue is right on." "Steplings" doesn't romanticize the misadventures of its protagonists. Though Jason and Emily grapple with universal teen issues--Emily searches for acceptance in her new middle school, while Jason balks when confronted with new adult responsibilities--their troubles feel like uncharted territory when expressed through pitch-perfect narrative voices. "Watching Jason self-destruct," according to Powell, "is akin to watching someone in a horror film go down into the basement."

The authentic quality of Smith's prose extends to the Texas setting; readers will recognize their neighbors in the characters that populate Mesquite and Austin. Kate Lehrer observed that Smith also "draws subtle distinctions among social classes." Smith invokes tension between Jason's no-frills lifestyle and Lisa's country-club upbringing, and paints a widening gulf between Burl's small-town mannerisms and Lily's cosmopolitan tastes.

Powell called "Steplings" "a friendly, hopeful, humorous, and thoughtful book about growing up." Growing up, however, doesn't belong exclusively to the young, and "Steplings" is a story that can't be shelved neatly in the young adult category. Both teen and adult readers will see themselves in this multifaceted narrative of self-discovery.

Your all-in-one guide to corn. This book provides practical advice on planting techniques and rates, seed production, treating plant diseases, insect infestation and weeds, harvesting, processing, and worldwide utilization. This is the fourth, and final, volume in the series of comprehensive references on the major crops of the world.* Covers new biotechnology techniques for plant breeding and pest management* Provides practical advice on planting techniques and rates, seed production, treating plant diseases, insect infestation and weeds, harvesting, processing and worldwide utilization.

Nineteen-year-old Jason is lost. The rush of graduation parties has subsided, the ubiquitous discussion of college departures dimmed to a dull roar. His former classmates have made elaborate plans, but the only date on Jason's calendar is a court appearance next Monday. Jason, who dropped out of high school just two months shy of graduation, finds himself stuck in the well-worn grooves of his hometown. But when his over-achieving girlfriend Lisa departs for UT Austin to study medicine, Jason finds Mesquite a place he can hardly recognize.

Jason's family can offer him little direction. After his mother Sue's unexpected death a few years back, his father Burl, fifteen years sober, slipped into old drinking habits. Jason watched the once clockwork-perfect routine of his family life descend into chaos. When Burl marries Lily, a high-strung, high-powered attorney, she brings a daughter into the house: Emily, eleven years old and a self-described know-it-all whose very existence is enough to irritate Jason.

Three days before Jason must appear in court, he receives a "Dear John" letter from Lisa. Heartbroken and determined to convince Lisa of his worth, Jason decides to hitchhike to Lisa's dorm in Austin--but Emily, desperate to return to her father, a UT professor, overhears Jason's plans and demands to accompany him. When Burl and Lily return home to find their children missing, Lily puts out an Amber Alert for Emily, accusing Jason of abducting her daughter. The frantic search effort that ensues threatens to destroy the tentative household that Burl and Lily have just begun to establish.

Smith's gift for creating three-dimensional characters, abundantly demonstrated in his previous TCU Press titles including "Understanding Women" and "Purple Hearts," lends this coming-of-age tale an unexpected quality of honesty and sophisticated narrative rarely seen in contemporary young adult fiction. Mary Powell, author of the TCU Press books "Auslander" and "Galveston Rose," describes Smith's prose as "rich and sophisticated, yet accessible, and the dialogue is right on." "Steplings" doesn't romanticize the misadventures of its protagonists. Though Jason and Emily grapple with universal teen issues--Emily searches for acceptance in her new middle school, while Jason balks when confronted with new adult responsibilities--their troubles feel like uncharted territory when expressed through pitch-perfect narrative voices. "Watching Jason self-destruct," according to Powell, "is akin to watching someone in a horror film go down into the basement."

The authentic quality of Smith's prose extends to the Texas setting; readers will recognize their neighbors in the characters that populate Mesquite and Austin. Kate Lehrer observed that Smith also "draws subtle distinctions among social classes." Smith invokes tension between Jason's no-frills lifestyle and Lisa's country-club upbringing, and paints a widening gulf between Burl's small-town mannerisms and Lily's cosmopolitan tastes.

Powell called "Steplings" "a friendly, hopeful, humorous, and thoughtful book about growing up." Growing up, however, doesn't belong exclusively to the young, and "Steplings" is a story that can't be shelved neatly in the young adult category. Both teen and adult readers will see themselves in this multifaceted narrative of self-discovery.

The newest addition to the Wiley Series in Crop Science, this book is an all-in-one guide to sorghum, one of the eight major grain crops grown worldwide. While presenting information in adequate detail for scientists, it is also an invaluable reference for growers, processors, and grain merchants.

Set in southwestern New Mexico, "Thin Men of Haddam" deals with the problems of Hispanics trying to make their way in an Anglo world. Orphaned as a child and reared by an Anglo family, Raphael Mendez lives in a nether world, neither "de la raza" nor Anglo. Having dropped out of graduate school after a squabble with his fellowship sponsors, he is foreman of the ranch of his childhood. Paired against Mendez in this striking first novel is his cousin, Manuelo --practically literature, broke, and the father of six starving children, and unable to find work. When Manuelo's desperation pushes him to the other side of the law, Mendez must choose sides.
The novel is impressive for its crisp, clear depiction of local life in the area known as "Little Texas" and for its intense portrayal of the desperation of some Hispanics at the time.