{"product_id":"ringside-1925-isbn-9780440421894","title":"Ringside, 1925","description":"\u003ci\u003eTake a ringside seat at one of the most controversial trials in American history.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eThe year is 1925, and the students of Dayton, Tennessee, are ready for a summer of fishing, swimming, and drinking root beer floats at Robinson’s Drugstore. But when their science teacher, J. T. Scopes, is arrested for having taught Darwin’s theory of evolution, it seems it won’t be an ordinary summer in Dayton. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs Scopes’s trial proceeds, the small town pulses with energy and is faced with astonishing nationwide publicity. Suddenly surrounded by fascinating people and new ideas, Jimmy Lee, Pete, Marybeth, and Willy are thrilled. But amidst the excitement and circus-like atmosphere is a threatening sense of tension—not only in the courtroom, but among even the strongest of friends.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e★ “The colorful facts [Bryant] retrieves, the personal story lines, and the deft rhythm of the narrative are more than enough invitation to readers to ponder the issues she raises.”\u003ci\u003e—Publishers Weekly, \u003c\/i\u003eStarred\u003cb\u003eStarred Review, \u003cu\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/u\u003e, February 25, 2008:\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“The colorful facts she retrieves, the personal story lines and the deft rhythm of the narrative are more than enough invitation to readers to ponder the issues she raises.”\u003cb\u003eJen Bryant\u003c\/b\u003e teaches children’s literature at West Chester University and lives in Pennsylvania. To learn more about Jen, please visit \u003cu\u003ewww.jenbryant.com\u003c\/u\u003e.Peter Sykes\u003cbr\u003e That morning, Jimmy and me had hiked\u003cbr\u003eclear to Connor's Pond, halfway up the mountain,\u003cbr\u003eand back again. I hooked four bass\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand three brown trout. Jimmy, who loves fishing\u003cbr\u003emore than just about anything, caught\u003cbr\u003ea dozen bluegills and a huge catfish his mother\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003epromised to fry us for dinner. Soon as we got\u003cbr\u003eback, we stashed our poles under the porch\u003cbr\u003eand ran to Robinson's store for root beer floats.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe were sitting at the soda fountain,\u003cbr\u003esucking on our straws and listening to\u003cbr\u003eGershwin's \"Rhapsody in Blue\" on the radio,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewhen Mr. Walter White asked: \"You boys seen\u003cbr\u003eMr. Scopes?\" With school being out and it being\u003cbr\u003esummer, we figured the new science teacher\u003cbr\u003emust be in trouble. But Mr. White is our\u003cbr\u003eschool superintendent, so we figured\u003cbr\u003ewe'd be in bigger trouble if we didn't tell.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"We saw him a half hour ago,\" I said,\u003cbr\u003e\"heading over to the school.\"\u003cbr\u003e\"Dressed for tennis,\" Jimmy added.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe hurried back to the table where\u003cbr\u003eMr. Robinson and Mr. Rappleyea waited.\u003cbr\u003eThen the Hicks brothers, both Dayton lawyers,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eshowed up in their jalopy\u003cbr\u003eand all five of them jabbered\u003cbr\u003elike magpies at a picnic.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWilly Amos\u003cbr\u003e Those big ol' houses at the edge of town . . .\u003cbr\u003ePa says they were once grand and beautiful.\u003cbr\u003eNow they're mostly heaps of bricks,\u003cbr\u003ewood planks, broken glass. Some got\u003cbr\u003etrees growin' right out the roofs, vines\u003cbr\u003etwistin' out the doorways.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePa says back before I was born, when the mines\u003cbr\u003ewere open and the furnaces made metal\u003cbr\u003efor the railroads and tall city buildin's,\u003cbr\u003ewhite families lived there--\u003cbr\u003e\"lace curtains in the windows, easy chairs\u003cbr\u003ean' daisies on the porches in summer,\" Pa says.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWell, that sure ain't how it looks this summer.\u003cbr\u003eThere's skunks in the cellar,\u003cbr\u003ebats in the attic,\u003cbr\u003emice in the kitchen sink.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen I'm not helpin' Pa, I come here\u003cbr\u003eto root through the hallways and closets,\u003cbr\u003esearchin' for somethin' I might be able\u003cbr\u003eto fix up and sell--a flower vase,\u003cbr\u003ea tin box, a watch face left behind\u003cbr\u003ewhen those families moved to places\u003cbr\u003ewhere jobs come easier.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Most every year\u003cbr\u003ethe town council changes the number\u003cbr\u003eon the little wooden sign\u003cbr\u003esayin' how many folks live here:\u003cbr\u003e3,000, 2,600, 2,100, . . . and last year 1,800.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePa and me, we don't got much need\u003cbr\u003efor big numbers. I'm not sure what they mean,\u003cbr\u003e'ceptin' I know that the first one\u003cbr\u003eis biggest and the last one is smallest\u003cbr\u003eand that means people are leavin'.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTwelve. Now that's a number I'm used to.\u003cbr\u003eI was born here twelve years back:\u003cbr\u003eMay 1913. I ain't never lived anyplace\u003cbr\u003ebut Dayton, Tennessee,\u003cbr\u003eso that last number\u003cbr\u003estill seems like plenty of folks to me.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut maybe someday, if I move to a big city\u003cbr\u003elike New Orleans, Chicago, or Detroit,\u003cbr\u003eget me a steady job,\u003cbr\u003eI'll live near even more people,\u003cbr\u003eand a lot fewer\u003cbr\u003emice and skunks.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJimmy Lee Davis\u003cbr\u003e Tarnation! Poor Mr. Scopes!\u003cbr\u003eHe didn't know why\u003cbr\u003eMr. White came\u003cbr\u003eto fetch him from\u003cbr\u003ehis tennis game\u003cbr\u003e\u0026amp; bring him into Robinson's.\u003cbr\u003eMe \u0026amp; Pete sipped\u003cbr\u003eour sodas \u0026amp; listened\u003cbr\u003eas he confessed\u003cbr\u003ethat back in the spring\u003cbr\u003ewhen we were still in school,\u003cbr\u003ehe assigned us\u003cbr\u003ethe chapter on evolution,\u003cbr\u003ewhich explained how\u003cbr\u003eall the animals on earth\u003cbr\u003ehad started as simpler creatures\u003cbr\u003emillions of years ago,\u003cbr\u003e\u0026amp; how, over time,\u003cbr\u003ethey changed \u0026amp; developed\u003cbr\u003einto the insects, birds,\u003cbr\u003efish, \u0026amp; mammals\u003cbr\u003ewe see today,\u003cbr\u003e\u0026amp; how, even now,\u003cbr\u003ethey were still changing.\u003cbr\u003e(I try not to think of\u003cbr\u003efish as my ancestors\u003cbr\u003ewhen I'm cleaning them.)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMr. Robinson held up a copy\u003cbr\u003eof Hunter's Civic Biology,\u003cbr\u003ewhich is the book we used\u003cbr\u003ein school, which is also\u003cbr\u003eone of the books he sells\u003cbr\u003ein his store, \u0026amp; asked:\u003cbr\u003e\"Did you use this in class?\"\u003cbr\u003eCalm as Connor's Pond,\u003cbr\u003eMr. Scopes said: \"Sure I did, Fred.\u003cbr\u003eYou can't teach science\u003cbr\u003eat Rhea County High\u003cbr\u003ewithout using that book!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMr. Robinson smiled\u003cbr\u003ewide as a catfish unhooked.\u003cbr\u003e\"Well, John, the American\u003cbr\u003eCivil Liberties Union will pay\u003cbr\u003eto defend the first person\u003cbr\u003ewho challenges the new law\u003cbr\u003eagainst teaching evolution\u003cbr\u003ein Tennessee. So we were\u003cbr\u003ewondering if you'd mind\u003cbr\u003ebeing arrested, to get\u003cbr\u003ethe whole business\u003cbr\u003eright out on the table,\u003cbr\u003eright here in Dayton.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLordy! My ears\u003cbr\u003ewere burnin' \u0026amp; Pete near\u003cbr\u003echoked to death\u003cbr\u003eon his root beer.\u003cbr\u003eMr. Scopes saw us eaves-\u003cbr\u003edropping. He winked \u0026amp;\u003cbr\u003etipped his cap. \"Sure, I guess\u003cbr\u003ethat'd be all right--\u003cbr\u003elong as I can finish\u003cbr\u003emy tennis match.\"\u003cbr\u003eThe men took turns\u003cbr\u003epatting him on the back,\u003cbr\u003ethanking him, telling him\u003cbr\u003enot to worry; they'd send\u003cbr\u003esomeone down to\u003cbr\u003earrest him\u003cbr\u003elater that afternoon.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePeter Sykes\u003cbr\u003e I helped Marybeth Dodd with her groceries\u003cbr\u003eand told her about Mr. Scopes. \"Poor man,\"\u003cbr\u003eshe said. \"If he's a criminal, then I'm Babe Ruth.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe both laughed at the thought of that.\u003cbr\u003e\"Thanks a lot, Pete,\" she said, her smile flashing\u003cbr\u003ein the sunlight. \"Anytime, Marybeth,\" I said,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003efeeling the color rise in my cheeks. I quick\u003cbr\u003epedaled to the end of her street so she\u003cbr\u003edidn't see. (What's gotten into me?)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTurning the corner, I rode fast and hard\u003cbr\u003eacross the tracks, up the hill, till\u003cbr\u003ethere were no more stores and houses,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ejust the farms spread out on either side,\u003cbr\u003elike patchwork blankets as far as I could see.\u003cbr\u003eI pedaled faster. Just about the time my thighs ached\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand I needed a break, I came to the big oak\u003cbr\u003eat the foot of Walton's Ridge. I leaned the bike\u003cbr\u003eagainst the trunk, laced my shoes on tight, hiked\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethe steep dirt path made by the Cherokee\u003cbr\u003ebefore there even was a Tennessee. At the top,\u003cbr\u003ethere's a flat rock called Buzzard's Point, where you\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ecan stand and look out over the Tennessee River Valley,\u003cbr\u003ewatch the steam rise from the Southern Railway line\u003cbr\u003eas it snakes its way from one end to the other.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUsed to be, I'd climb up there to dream about\u003cbr\u003emy future . . . running my own hardware store,\u003cbr\u003esettling down with someone from school.","brand":"Yearling","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301737779429,"sku":"NP9780440421894","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780440421894.jpg?v=1767735793","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/ringside-1925-isbn-9780440421894","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}