Book of adventures for Southern Illinois boys released
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Glen Carbon author Bill Nunes is no fan of blank space on a page. Nunes likes information and photographs and his books reflect that preference.
His latest book "284 Things a Bright St. Louis/Southern Illinois Boy Can Do! A Boy's Adventure Book: Ages 8-16" is chock full of information, juxtaposing essays regarding World War II and Adolf Hitler between a description of a Swiss Army Knife and the upside-down card trick.
In Nunes' mind, these are all facts, tricks and ideas for education and amusement most boys in our area should know.
Nunes finds subjects he can write about for a few paragraphs or pages and adds them to his book when he finds them. His books are completed when he reaches, ideally, 344 pages.
"I don't agonize over things. I just start putting material together and when I get 344 pages I stop. I'll think, 'Let's see, OK, as a kid I rather liked to play card games, so let's put in rules for a few card games,'" Nunes said.
"There are some things more appropriate for an 8-year-old and some more appropriate for a 16-year-old."
An eight-year old might be interested in creating a miniature volcano, a hovering compact disk or building a snow fort. The 16-year-old may be more interested in the chapters on pimples, changing the oil in a car or Nunes' take on tattooing.
Nunes said as a child he read about national historic events like the Alamo, Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh so he included some of those stories, too.
For 30 years Nunes was a social studies teacher and finally assistant principal in various schools, ultimately retiring 17 years ago from Edwardsville High School.
Nunes sells his books from home and may be contacted through e-mail mailto:bnunesbook@aol.com through his Web site at http://billnunesnostalgia.com or by phone at (618) 288-5185.
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DeNeal receives e-mail at mailto:bdeneal@yourclearwave.com.</li>
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