title: Sir Charlie: Chaplin, the Funniest Man in the World
author: Sid Fleischman
description: Starred Review. Grade 5 Up&mdash;This lively and engaging account of a poor Cockney boy who became the world's greatest silent-movie comedian is a must for biography collections. By the age of six, Chaplin was fending for himself in London's slums, evading the workhouse as his mother checked in and out of mental institutions. He spent a few miserable months with his inebriated father and stepmother, who made an unwitting contribution to his future career: by observing them, Charlie was able to perfect his impression of the stumbling drunk, which won him many laughs in his early days on the stage. He developed his slapstick talents with a traveling comedy troupe, found his way to Hollywood, and immortalized himself as the Little Tramp, the darling character of the silent movie era. The book explores his rise to mind-boggling fame, and his fall from grace as he was touched by scandal, investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee, and eventually deported. Brief, easily digestible chapters, an extensive time line, and plenty of photos make the book's well-researched content accessible and appealing. Add to that Fleischman's playful narrative tone and you have a book as entertaining as Sir Charlie himself.&mdash;<I>Emma Burkhart, Springside School, Philadelphia, PA</I> <BR>Copyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  # The New Minister's Great Opportunity
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Heman White Chaplin
  
  
  This page formatted 2007 Blackmask Online.
  
  
  http://www.blackmask.com
  
      
  
  Produced by David Widger
  
  
  THE NEW MINISTER'S GREAT OPPORTUNITY.
  
  
  By Heman White Chaplin
  
  
  1887
  
  
  First published in the “Century Magazine.”
  
  
  “The minister's got a job,” said Mr. Snell.
  
  
  Mr. Snell had been driven in by a shower from the painting of a
  
  
  barn, and was now sitting, with one bedaubed overall leg crossed over
  
  
  the other, in Mr. Hamblin's shop.
  
  
  Half-a-dozen other men, who had likewise found in the rain a call to
  
  
  leisure, looked up at him inquiringly.
  
  
  “How do you mean?” said Mr. Noyes, who sat beside him, girt with a
  
  
  nail-pocket. “'The minister 's got a job'? How do you mean?” And Mr.
  
  
  Noyes assumed a listener's air, and stroked his thin yellow beard.
  
  
  Mr. Snell smiled, with half-shut, knowing eyes, but made no answer.
  
  
  “How do you mean?” repeated Mr. Noyes; 