Best Selling Books by Margaret Hodges

The legend of Saint Christopher, first written in the thirteenth century, tells the story of a strong man named Offero, who wants to find the greatest ruler in all the world and to serve him as his bearer. Offero''s search is in vain until a mysterious child at a riverside asks Offero to carry him over the river. Only after Offero has carried the child over the river does he discover the child''s true identity. Then Offero''s name is changed to Christopher. / Author Margaret Hodges retells with power and simplicity this unforgettable tale of the man who became known as the patron saint of travelers. And illustrator Richard Jesse Watson has created hypnopompic paintings that dramatically capture Offero''s journey and the brilliance of his discovery of the One he sought. / Based on old nursery rhymes, the poetic text by Newbery Honor winner Kathi Appelt and the beautiful light-filled paintings of Debra Reid Jenkins combine to make this gentle bedtime story a perfect illustration of God s abiding love.

Tells how the well-known Christmas carol, "Silent Night," first came to be written and performed in Austria in the early 1800s.

When a miserly man buys a supposedly haunted cottage, he discovers that the resident ghost, a pirate''s wife, has a sense of fair play.

An abridged version of the adventures of an eccentric country gentleman and his faithful companion who set out as knight and squire of old to right wrongs and punish evil.

Forced by his late arrival in England to stay in separate lodgings from the rest of his school''s crew team, 14-year-old Larry Dunlap finds himself becoming increasingly involved with the local people and their ghosts from the past.

Retells the Paiute legend of the way the Coyote helped an Indian boy bring fire to his tribe.

Baldur, a young Norse god, is protected from all things except mistletoe.

Retells the segment from Spenser''s The Faerie Queene, in which George, the Red Cross Knight, slays the dreadful dragon that has been terrorizing the countryside for years and brings peace and joy to the land.

Retells ten myths involving the gods, ancient kings, and simple folk heroes of the Celts.

After receiving a toy drum for Christmas, Johnny tries to earn the money to buy a real set of drums.

Five youths make a camping trip by bicycle around New England for ten days.

When Alice and her two younger brothers become lost in the woods, the children separate, and Alice is captured by an evil magician named Comus.

Out of an agonizing American experience, the frail Scots author mined a treasure and carried it away with him.

A biography of the 15th century knight who collected stories about King Arthur and his knights and rewrote them into a work that was to influence poets and writers throughout the ages.

Illustrations depict nine horses of folklore and classical literature, from the steeds of Norse mythology to Pecos Bill''s Widow-Maker, and are accompanied by retellings of their stories

Nine episodes in the Arthurian cycle, from the placing of the boy Arthur in Merlin''s care to Arthur''s departure for Avalon.

Retells the Greek legend that explains why Persephone brings springtime to the earth each year.

A biography of the fifteenth-century peasant girl who led a French army to victory against the English, witnessed the crowning of King Charles VII, and was later burned at the stake for witchcraft.

ABSTRACTFollowing the demise of apartheid, legislative, political and social practices were dramatically changed to promote equality and shared access for all South Africans. Newspapers and other mass media texts give insight to the co-construction of ethnic identity post-apartheid and evidence the emergence of a new dominant cultural narrative. In this new dominant cultural narrative, the trope of a colorblind national identity is frequently referenced. Another key component in this narrative construction is the memorialization of past traumatic events. This dissertation examines the news coverage of the 30th anniversary of the Soweto Uprisings, which occurred on June 16, 2006. The Soweto Uprisings will be framed as a "cultural trauma" (Alexander et al., 2004) and methods of critical discourse analysis will be used to examine the public construction of national identity in the post-apartheid era. The following questions guide the analysis of news media discourse: What changes to the South African national identity are evidenced in news stories covering the anniversary of the Soweto Uprisings? Do racially distinctive communities participate equally in the creation of this media discourse? In what ways are South African ethnic minorities "othered" in news features? How did/does the dominant cultural narrative evidenced in the media discourse influence the construction and management of racial identities in the larger context of South African society? The examination of the co-construction of national and racial identities in these news features draws upon an amalgamation of CDA methodologies outlined in Fairclough (1995, 1999), van Dijk (1988, 1991), and Wodak (Wodak & Weiss, Eds., 2003). The creation and re-creation of a shared history from the collective trauma of forcefully imposed, restrictive racialized communities is a dimension of national identity construction saliently evidenced by changes in the public discourse or dominant/counter narratives. Media discourse illustrates the emergence of colorblind national identity as the desirable, or default, national identity in post-apartheid South Africa and highlights the journalistic role in the creation and management of racial and national identities, liberation narratives, and reconciliatory discourses.

Five girls form a club against Keats, the new boy in the neighborhood, but change their minds about him when they try to put on a play in a makeshift theater and find how helpful he is.