The Champ

Welcome to the Puppy Place--where every puppy finds a home! Charles and Lizzie Peterson love puppies. Their family fosters these young dogs, giving them love and proper care, until they can find the perfect forever home. When Charles goes to his father's annual softball game, the last thing he expects is to find a puppy to foster. But when he meets Champ, a German shepherd with a big heart, Charles knows that he just has to take care of the dog. Can the Petersons find this talented pup a forever home?

An engaging look at life and legacy of Muhammad Ali for readers of all ages Muhammad Ali was one of the world’s best-known figures, and this incredible biography delves into precisely why. From his unlikely beginnings as a skinny, young Cassius Clay learning to box at a local gym to becoming the heavyweight champion of the world at the famous “Rumble in the Jungle,” where even the skies let loose with rain right after his victory, Ali has captivated the world. Tonya Bolden’s careful research and elegant telling, paired with R. Gregory Christie’s incredible paintings, make this a book that will inform and inspire readers of all ages. "Bolden's engaging text has a free-verse structure punctuated with enthusiastic exclamations that is enjoyable to read aloud.... The illustrations are striking." —School Library Journal (Starred review)

Not very good at sports or fighting, mild-mannered Willy nevertheless proves he's the champ when the local bully shows up.

Subtitle in pre-publication: My heavyweight friendship with Muhammad Ali.

"The lake surface was glass. My girlfriend and I were fishing from our anchored rowboat in about fifteen feet of water, facing the New York shore. 'Ron, what's that?' I turned. About thirty feet away I saw three dark humps ... protruding about two feet above the surface. The humps were perhaps two or three feet apart. They didn't move. We didn't either. We watched in disbelief for about ten seconds. The humps slowly sank into the water. There was no wake, no telltale sign of movement. Unexplained. Eerie. Unsettling." — from the Foreword by Ronald S. Kermani Scotland may have Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster, but we have Champ, the legendary serpent-like monster of Lake Champlain. The first recorded sighting of Champ, in 1609, has been attributed to the lake's namesake, French explorer and cartographer Samuel de Champlain. This is pure myth, but there have been hundreds of sightings since then. Robert E. Bartholomew embarks on his own search, both of the lake firsthand and through period sources and archives—many never before published. Although he finds the trail obscured by sloppy journalism, local leaders motivated by tourism income, and bickering monster hunters, he weighs the evidence to craft a rich, colorful history of Champ. From the nineteenth century, when Champ was a household name, to 1977, when he appeared in Sandra Mansi's controversial photograph, Bartholomew covers it all. Real or imaginary, Champ and his story will fascinate believers and skeptics alike.

Recently recognized by Sports Illustrated as still the best-known athlete in the world, Muhammad Ali has played a fascinating role in American culture, with an influence that has reached far beyond sports. In addition to Ali the boxer, there are Ali the Black Muslim, Ali the cultural icon, Ali the anti-war protestor, Ali the telecelebrity, Ali the narcissist, and more. And it is these various incarnations -- Ali as a window onto his time, our time -- that build upon each other in this book to give us a vivid portrait of one of the greatest protagonists in the ring of public history. As the first book by scholars on the significance of his life and times, Muhammad Ali, the People's Champ is a fresh reassessment of the place of a giant sports idol and the role he has played in American history. Ali both shaped and reflected the times in which he lived. He touched the lives of people in a way unprecedented by almost any sports figure before or since. The contributors conclude that we can have no full understanding of our era without him. A volume in the series Sport and Society, edited by Benjamin G. Rader and Randy Roberts

**WINNER OF BEST SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT BOOK AT THE BRITISH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2022** 'Hard-hitting and hilarious' - James Acaster 'Funny, moving and compelling' - Mike Costello A heart-warming, hilarious true story about fighting and family, based on the acclaimed stage show. For fans of books by Dave Gorman, James Acaster and Danny Wallace, along with boxing tales from the likes of Tyson Fury and Ricky Hatton. THE CHAMP Terry Downes - the charismatic cockney known as 'The Paddington Express' - was a world champion boxer, US Marine, gangsters' favourite and later a film star and businessman. THE CHUMP James McNicholas' PE teacher once told him he was so unfit he'd be dead by the time he was 23. James has spent his life pursuing a career in acting and comedy. In reality, that has meant stints as a car park caretaker and river cruise salesperson. After Terry's death, James finds himself in reflective mood, comparing his story of underachievement against that of his world champ grandad. What follows is an increasingly colourful journey through post-war Paddington to the blood-soaked canvases of Baltimore and Shoreditch, via Mayfair parties with the Krays. Along the way, James begins to dig into his own story, confronting the dysfunctional elements of his childhood, describing his often hilarious efforts to make it in the world of showbiz, and attempting to recreate Terry's trials by enlisting in a brutal military boot camp and boxing gym. When James is diagnosed with a frightening and mysterious neurological condition, the two tales of the fighter and the writer suddenly collide, and what began as a nostalgic journey takes on a far more important significance altogether. 'A wonderfully funny and heartfelt story of what family and lineage means. Even made me like boxing' - Josh Widdicombe 'An extraordinary family history, told with warmth and wit. Two remarkable underdog stories - come for the cockney scrapper who conquered the world, stay for the grandson and the fight of his life' - Greg Jenner 'If you like comedy and boxing this is the perfect book. James McNicholas is a very funny man and a brilliant writer' - Rob Beckett

Shortly after Charlie is left at the orphanage, he realizes that any boyhood happiness he once had was doomed. Charlie hadn’t been there long before he heard terrifying rumors floating through the orphanage, tales of the old caretaker who cuts up orphans in his bloody dungeon in the orphanage basement. Late at night, said the boys, the caretaker would row out into the lake alongside the orphanage to feed the body parts to the sea monster who dwells in the deep dark waters of the lake. Charlie is warned to never enter the orphanage’s basement, but when his only prized possession is thrown down his dorm room’s trash chute, he must somehow find the courage to enter the caretaker’s abode.