David a. Todd

Norman D Gutter, now in his second year of his career as a civil engineer, seems to go from one difficult situation to another-except most of it is humorous. Norman tries to find the humor as the company he works with incompetent contractors, and deals with fun-loving, joke-making fellow employees. Splitting time between the office and construction sites, Norman never seems to catch a break as events spin around him. The company he works for, I.C.E. Engineering, is crazy busy, and the things that irked Norman in his first year are still there in his second. There's no time to just sit back enjoy the world of getting things designed and built. Volume 2 picks up where Volume 1 left off. Two small characters, Maggie and Itchy, make a cameo appearance. We'll see other characters who featured prominently in Volume 1, such as Norman's supervisor Ned O. Justice, Uriah Serpe, the ever-flirtatious Malinda Mayes, and, of course, the unforgettable I.C.E. purchasing manager Youkin Stuffet. You'll meet several new characters, such as the attorney Ira Hertzhugh and his junior attorney B. Allen Dumas, landscape architect Sage Mapleton, and the I.C.E. chief financial officer Monty Grubber. I.C.E. is growing, and they shoehorn in a new engineer, but this new guy and Norman lock horns in a game of practical joke one-upmanship. And, Norman continues to dream about Togerther The Great, who goes back in time to solve engineering problems in the ancient world. Come along on Norman's wild adventure in the world of civil engineering.

The six Danny Tompkins short stories explored teenage grief at the death of a parent. They are collected here in one volume. The stories follow 13-year-old Danny as he comes to grips with the death that changed his family. Decades later the adult Daniel re-lives many of the scenes from those few traumatic days, of the next school year, of how his surviving parent coped, of how Danny and his siblings coped, and how in his later years he found a release of his grief in writing poetry. Each story focuses on a different memory or situation. After Danny's school years, the stories show Daniel in mid-adult years and then later, about to enter his senior adult years.

"Is there in all republics this inherent and fatal weakness? Must a government of necessity be too strong for the liberties of its own people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?"As president Lincoln told Congress his war aims at the start of the Civil War, this statement leaps off the lectern. What freedoms did the nation have? What rights did the states have? Did they have the right to leave the Union just because things didn't go the way they liked at the ballot box? This was the issue that confronted the nation in 1861, already in motion when Lincoln took office.Documenting America: Civil War Edition, explores this question, and more. Looking at documents produced during the time of fighting, the historical context of the document is discussed, followed by drawing meaning from it relative to an issue we face today. The U.S.A.'s history is rich in documents. Explore them, and be informed by them.

A dad has promised to spend a Saturday with his daughter. He almost backed out because he has so much to do. But he fulfills his promise, and off they go to make memories. They drive to a state park and hike, encountering people and activities along the way. Back at home he is reminded that he promised to spend "the day" with her, not just the morning. So she "helps" him do his chores. They conclude the day with a casual supper and games."Daddy-Daughter Day" tells the story of the time they shared, and how each was affected by the day. The story is told in a series of poems.