Books by Jim Murphy

By the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Inner Excellence, this book offers a transformational blueprint for building the life you long for. Each one of us has a deep need for meaningful relationships, where love is unconditional and fully reliable, and where we can rest secure, with the deepest contentment, no matter what the circumstances around us. In the chaos of everyday life, it''s easy to lose sight of what''s possible, of the life we were created for: a life lived with a love you can feel in your heart that enlivens every experience dash; everything you think, feel, and do. It’s a life marked by courage and meaning. Each of us has a deep need for something that this world cannot fulfill, and we spend most of our lives searching for it. Drawing on over 2,000 years of Christian wisdom along with hard-won lessons from his own journey, bestselling author and performance coach Jim Murphy shares with you the path to a life of genuine peace, joy, and confidence so that you can live each day of your life with absolute fullness, free from anxiety and doubt. You’ll learn how to become your true self, grounded and connected to purpose and meaning. You’ll experience the power of living in authentic relationship with God, with yourself and with others. A life beyond your wildest dreams is available to you, one far beyond anything you have ever imagined ... your best possible life.

Discover the transformative New York Times bestseller—a step-by-step manual for mastering your inner mind for peak performance and living your life to the fullest. As a professional baseball player, Jim Murphy’s sense of worth revolved around results. He was focused on achievement but also afraid of failure. When he started coaching professional and Olympic athletes, he often encountered the same mindset. He became obsessed with learning how the best in the world performed with poise under pressure. After years of research, Murphy had a revelatory insight: the pursuit of extraordinary performance and the pursuit of an exceptional life are the same path. Filled with exercises, techniques, and tools, Inner Excellence trains your heart and mind, showing you how to: · Develop self-mastery—and let go of what you can’t control. · Overcome anxiety—and build powerful mental habits. · Remove mental blocks—and get out of your own way. · Train your subconscious mind—and release limiting beliefs. Merging two decades of research and interviews with top athletes and leaders with this training system, Inner Excellence will put you on a path towards a more satisfactory and joyful life.

An ALA Best Book for Young Adults: Firsthand accounts of the experiences of boys sixteen and younger who fought in the Civil War, with photos included. Winner of the Golden Kite Award for Nonfiction "Making extensive use of the actual words—culled from diaries, journals, memoirs, and letters—of boys who served in the Union and Confederate armies as fighting soldiers as well as drummers, buglers, and telegraphers, Murphy describes the beginnings of the Civil War and goes on to delineate the military role of the underage soldiers and their life in the camps and field bivouacs. Also included is a description of the boys'' return home and the effects upon them of their wartime experiences...An excellent selection of more than 45 sepia-toned contemporary photographs augment the text of this informative, moving work." — School Library Journal (starred review) "This wrenching look at our nation''s bloodiest conflict through the eyes of its youthful participants serves up history both heartbreaking and enlightening." — Publishers Weekly "This well-researched and readable account provides fresh insight into the human cost of a pivotal event in United States history." — The Horn Book (starred review)

“If you ever went to Catholic school, or never went to Catholic school, you need to read this funny, smart, kid-true book. It explains everything.” —Jon Scieszka, author of Time Warp Trio and The Stinky Cheese Man Jimmy Murphy’s sixth grade teacher, Sister Angelica Rose, is out to get him. She humiliates him in class and punishes him when he hasn’t done anything wrong. She even forces him to perform onstage with second graders, wearing a giant green banana costume. A classic underachiever with a talent for trouble, Jimmy wants revenge, and with his friends he plans a prank that will embarrass Sister Angelica in front of the whole school. What could possibly go wrong? "This is a light and funny coming of age story. Even students who do not attend parochial school can identify with Jimmy and the struggles that he and his friends go through. The characters are all dynamic and the reader will want to know more about them all. This is a quick and enjoyable read that any upper elementary student will enjoy." —School Library Connection A Junior Literary Guild Selection

Two-time Newbery Honor Book author Jim Murphy writes a stunning nonfiction masterpiece about a Christmas miracle on the Western Front during World War I. On July 29th 1914, the world''s peace was shattered as the artillery of the Austria-Hungary Empire began shelling the troops of the country to its south. What followed was like a row of falling dominoes as one European country after another rushed into war. Soon most of Europe was fighting in this calamitous war that could have been avoided. This was, of course, the First World War. But who could have guessed that on December 25 the troops would openly defy their commanding officers by stopping the fighting and having a spontaneous celebration of Christmas with their "enemies"? In what can only be described as a Christmas Miracle, this beautiful and heartrending narrative will remind everyone how brotherhood and love for one another reaches far beyond war and politics.

The "biography" of the deadly germ tuberculosis, an account of the diagnosis, treatment, and "cure" of the disease over time, and the social history of an illness that could strike anywhere but was most prevalent among the poor.

A talking watch. An overcoat for two. A pair of pants for poodles. In his companion to Weird & Wacky Inventions, Jim Murphy shows kids some additional baffling and utterly silly inventions in the form of a guessing game that is both challenging and fun. What is a finger-supporting device used for? Can you really buy that talking watch? What on earth is a beard grinder? Whether it’s a device for shaping the upper lip or a life preserver for horses, this parade of unusual inventions is a real treat for trivia lovers and any curious kid with an interest in science and inventions. Ages: 9–12.

The Great Fire of 1871 was one of most colossal disasters in American history. Overnight, the flourshing city of Chicago was transformed into a smoldering wasteland. The damage was so profound that few people believed the city could ever rise again.By weaving personal accounts of actual survivors together with the carefully researched history of Chicago and the disaster, Jim Murphy constructs a riveting narrative that recreates the event with drama and immediacy. And finally, he reveals how, even in a time of deepest dispair, the human spirit triumphed, as the people of Chicago found the courage and strength to build their city once again.

In March of 1888, two massive weather systems converged on the northeastern United States, bringing gale-force winds, heavy snows, and subzero weather, and catching a nation unaware. The ensuing blizzard killed hundreds of people. Drawing on extensive newspaper articles, histories of the period, and archived letters and journals, Murphy writes of the storm through the experiences of a number of individuals, personalizing the account with their triumphs and tragedies, as well as providing background covering the political and social conditions of the time. Archival photographs and original art from the period reinforce the historical setting. An explanatory chapter on sources and an index close the book. - Publisher.

It's 1793, and there's an invisible killer roaming the streets of Philadelphia. The city's residents are fleeing in fear. This killer has a name--yellow fever--but everything else about it is a mystery. Its cause is unknown and there is no cure. This powerful dramatic account by award-winning author Jim Murphy traces the devastating course of the epidemic. An American Plague offers a fascinating glimpse into the conditions in American cities at the time of our nation's birth while drawing thought-provoking parallels to modern-day epidemics.

In the summer of 1776, Joseph Plumb Martin was a fifteen-year-old Connecticut farm boy who considered himself as warm a patriot as the best of them. He enlisted that July and stayed in the revolutionary army until hostilities ended in 1783. Martin fought under Washington, Lafayette, and Steuben. He took part in major battles in New York, Monmouth, and Yorktown. He wintered at Valley Forge and then at Morristown, considered even more severe. He wrote of his war years in a memoir that brings the American Revolution alive with telling details, drama, and a country boy''s humor. Jim Murphy lets Joseph Plumb Martin speak for himself throughout the text, weaving in historical backfround details wherever necessary, giving voice to a teenager who was an eyewitness to the fight that set America free from the British Empire.