{"product_id":"9781612252629","title":"One Blue Ribbon: Childhood Remembrances of a Home Town and School","description":"Zachary Stevens begins a childhood journey with many twists and turns. Set in the Midwest during the 1950's, a boy comes into adolescence and very quickly must deal with the vagaries of life.\u003cp\u003eAn alcoholic father fails his family, a divorce ensues, and an ashamed, frightened youngster looks for support from a hometown, a mother, a grandmother, plus neighborhood friends.At school, kids become his buddies, his enemies, his first loves, or a group of recalcitrant bullies. Teachers and coaches give advice and some make lasting impressions. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eZachary and a close friend discover \"hidden\" racial discrimination at a swimming pool, while a school track race provides hope and some redemption for a scattering of personal insecurities and falsely driven self-perceived failures.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe memories of a boyhood remain infused in a writer's mind-\"those smells from redwood shavings spread over concrete floors; a school cafeteria and cooking food; a playground, a jungle gym, and swings all of which still await a boy's return. And those many friends, who lived such impossible dreams, hid and played in thick tall weeds, and told such unbelievable tall tales,\" they all come back to again tell a story, his story.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJohn Spencer is a retired neuropsychologist who previously worked for the United States Public Health Service as a clinician, researcher, and administrator. He has taught at several universities and now lives in San Antonio, Texas with his wife Patricia.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mirror Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47062784049392,"sku":"9781612252629","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781612252629_p0.jpg?v=1763841930","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781612252629","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}