Arcadia Public Library

Confined to a nursing home and about to turn 100, Allan Karlsson, who has a larger-than-life back story as an explosives expert, climbs out of the window in his slippers and embarks on an unforgettable adventure involving thugs, a murderous elephant and a very friendly hot dog stand operator.

In October 1995, French grandmother Jeanne Calment became, so far as we know, the oldest human being who has ever lived, when she reached the age of 120 years and 238 days. She went on to survive for nearly three more years. On the long journey to her record-breaking age, Calment acquired more and more companions. Centenarians are the fastest-growing section of the population. In Britain, there are more than ninety times as many as there were a hundred...

“Before the Greatest Generation, there was the Forgotten Generation of World War I . . . wonderfully engaging” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).
 
“Richard Rubin has done something that will never be possible for anyone to do again. His interviews with the last American World War I veterans—who have all since died—bring to vivid life a cataclysm that changed our world...

Presents a collection of interviews with centenarians across the United States in which they discuss their lives in the twentieth century as witnesses to wars, Prohibition, the Depression, and other historic events.

"A picture book biography sharing the inspiring and incredible true story of the nation's oldest student, Mary Walker, who learned to read at the age of 116"--