On The Stoop

Eleven year old Earnest wants the summer of 1952 to be adventurous. So he cons his friend, Nicholas, into believing a saint directs them to save the world from Commie spies. Earnest learns much from, Guys and Dolls, a book he finds in the garbage. Applying what he learns, Earnest cons Lucky Luigi, a bully, out of a dollar. But then their lives become complexicated. After receiving a sign that the Commies are infilterating their Brooklyn neighborhood, Operation Top Secret is born. While investigating Commies Headquarters, Nicholas bumps into a thief who has just blown a mob bosss safe. After the thief drops the bag into a sewer, the boys fish it out and discover it contains sacred relics. Earnest and Nicholas hide from mobsters who will do anything to find the bag. Gutsy Gus helps the boys out of this and other jams. Suspicions increase when a limousine stops in front of the stoop and one very classy doll with a Russian accent pays a visit to Gutsy Gus. On the Stoop shares the rollicking adventures of two Brooklyn boys as they investigate suspicious events while dreading an even bigger problem: the nuns at St. Marys.

Will Hamelin be summoned again? Hamelin suspects that his friend Layla is the lost princess from the Land of Gloaming. As he describes his daring adventures to trusted friends at the children's home, an intricate tapestry of stories emerges. Layla admits that she has had dreams - or are they memories? - of another world with faded light. The orphan boy is not alone in his struggle to learn the truth, search for family, and question the Ancient One's purposes. Meanwhile, dangerous forces continue to pursue the boy of both worlds, but the evil Chimera gives his agents an additional task: find the fourth princess, the missing daughter of Carr, and stop her. She must never return home.

Moving from childhood to retirement, "The Stoop" covers a wide range of subject matter. Several poems explore growing up in Brooklyn, New York in the 1950s and 1960s, which include painful and humorous memories. Many poems reflect on cinematic, literary, and artistic works which have made a lasting impact on the writer. The final section engages with some contemporary issues the author navigates as he deals with aging and retirement. The collection includes a poem ("The Minimalist") that won first place in the Common Ground Review annual poetry contest (2011).

The Outsiders meets This Boy's Life, in this coming-of-age memoir about growing up in the Bronx during the 1960s among racial tension, street violence, and trouble at home. Growing up in the 1960s in a troubled Bronx neighborhood, the stoop outside the apartment was a gathering place, a safe haven, and a window to the world beyond home. This small piece of granite real estate holds memories for all New Yorkers and tells a story from decades gone. Within these pages, you’ll see life from a new perspective—through the eyes of a young boy— straight from his Bronx stoop. Stories from the Stoop features seven unforgettable true-life adventures; stories told with humor, grit, and candor that will fill you with hope and remind you that we are all in this together. The author asks himself: How can I overcome the violence on the streets? Will I ever break the chains of being born into my cursed and chaotic family? Am I always going to be an outsider? It was Steve Bernstein's fortuitous and profound friendships—many of which crossed boundaries of race, gender, and religion—that enabled him to navigate these tumultuous questions and develop a hopeful perspective on life. Without his dog, Wolf, Steve would not have survived the wrath of a street gang. On the day Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed, it was Anthony who recognized how dangerous it was for Steve (the only white kid on the basketball court that April evening) to be out shooting hoops. An epic bike trip with Joe breathed life into Steve's dream to be free, a lifelong friendship that only 9/11 could extinguish. Stories from the Stoop is a triumphant and tender coming of age journey that will capture your heart and feed your soul. Steve's voice, spare and street smart, resonates across age and ethnicity, to offer the possibility that life circumstances need not predict destiny. All you have to do is find enough courage, compassion and chutzpah to win out.

A shining new picture book about learning to appreciate the wonders in your world and within yourself, by New York Times bestselling author Patrick McDonnell and Naoko Stoop, creator of Red Knit Cap Girl, a New York Times Best Illustrated book Hoshi the sea star looks up in the sky and sees the stars shining. She wishes that she too could be in the sky amongst the brilliant stars--and as she imagines how much better it would be up in the air, she fails to appreciate the beautiful world that surrounds her underwater. It takes Hoshi's friends, old and new, to help her realize that her shine comes from within. With gorgeous illustrations depicting colorful underwater life, Shine! teaches about the wonders that can be found inside ourselves. Naoko's gorgeous use of plywood as the canvas for her work offers the perfect texture and pattern to evoke waves and sea currents in the underwater scenes.

Tap into the power of self-talk to overcome depression, guilt, anger, or anxiety and learn to respond to circumstances in a positive way.

The light is failing and for the Stoop who inhabit the Drabworld, the encroaching darkness brings a terrible danger in the form of their dark-loving enemies the Gork. 11-14yrs.

'I hope it's not too far away,' says Red Knit Cap Girl. 'Follow the light of the Moon,' calls Owl. In this heartwarming follow-up to Naoko Stoop's debut Red Knit Cap Girl, Red Knit Cap Girl meets a lost Polar Bear Cub. Determined to help him find his way home, to an Arctic land of ice and snow, Red Knit Cap Girl, White Bunny, and Polar Bear Cub set off on an unforgettable voyage. Gorgeously illustrated on wood grain, Red Knit Cap Girl's curiosity, imagination, and joy will captivate the hearts of readers young and old. Simple prose and luminous pictures will remind readers that even small actions - such as recycling - can help to solve big world problems, in this inspiring story that celebrates friendship, bravery, and the importance of home.