In the 1800s, Tulare County, California, was a hotbed of desperate characters whose deadly gunplay and murderous inclinations left a trail of bodies across the region. Although the Central Valley now makes its name in agriculture, Tulare County was once a bastion of the Wild West with a lineup of hardened criminals that has scarcely been equaled in the annals of crime. Train bandits, coldblooded murderers and callous outlaws armed with shotguns and butcher knives plagued Visalia, Porterville and other sleepy central California towns. Join historian and retired Visalia Police captain Terry Ommen as he relates the transgressions of Tulare County's roughest characters, including thrilling tales of the pistol-packing Mason-Henry Gang, a deadly duel between politically divided journalists and vigilante justice exacted by angry mobs.
In the fall of 1852, hardy pioneers camped among the oaks along a meandering creek in an area known as Four Creeks Country. There, in the fertile soil surrounded by abundant water, Visalia took root. Today the county seat of Tulare County is the oldest San Joaquin Valley town between Stockton and Los Angeles, and is the gateway to Sequoia National Park.
Reporter Diana Marcum is in crisis. A long-buried personal sadness is enfolding her--and her career is stalled--when she stumbles upon an unusual group of immigrants living in rural California. She follows them on their annual return to the remote Azorean Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, where bulls run down village streets, volcanoes are active, and the people celebrate festas to ease their saudade, a longing so deep that the Portuguese word for it can't be fully translated. Years later, California is in a terrible drought, the wildfires seem to never end, and Diana finds herself still dreaming of those islands and the chuva--a rain so soft you don't notice when it begins or ends. With her troublesome Labrador retriever, Murphy, in tow, Diana returns to the islands of her dreams only to discover that there are still things she longs for--and one of them may be a most unexpected love.
All parents want their children to read well and to succeed–and experts agree that improving literacy begins at birth. Reading aloud to your child, sharing simple games and wordplay, and developing letter knowledge start your child off on the right foot for school and life. Now the esteemed Lee Pesky Learning Center has created this easy, accessible reference for parents to help foster better literacy skills in children. Topics are individually tailored for three age ranges–infant, toddler, and preschool–and include • the best read-aloud books to develop sound awareness • the perfect picture books for encouraging letter knowledge • ways to promote verbal language and build vocabulary • the benefits of symbolic play • fun (and educational) games for car trips • helping youngsters “write” at home • great gift ideas for kids • warning signs of a learning disability The fundamentals of reading start at home. Every Child Ready to Read helps parents motivate their children to learn, and to become confident readers who will always enjoy reading.
This suspenseful true story of a drug cartel hitman who got away with murder after murder in California's Central Valley over three decades reveals how the criminal justice system fails our most vulnerable immigrant communities. On the surface, fifty-eight-year-old Jose Martinez didn't seem evil or even that remarkable—just a regular neighbor, good with cars and devoted to his family. But in between taking his children to Disneyland and visiting his mom, Martinez was also one of the most skilled professional killers police had ever seen. He tracked one victim to one of the wealthiest corners of America, a horse ranch in Santa Barbara, and shot him dead in the morning sunlight, setting off a decades-long manhunt. He shot another man, a farmworker, right in front of his young wife as they drove to work in the fields. The widow would wait decades for justice. Those were murders for hire. Others he killed for vengeance. How did Martinez manage to evade law enforcement for so long with little more than a slap on the wrist? Because he understood a dark truth about the criminal justice system: if you kill the "right people"—people who are poor, who aren't white, and who don't have anyone to speak up for them—you can get away with it. Melding the pacing and suspense of a true crime thriller with the rigor of top-notch investigative journalism, The Devil's Harvest follows award-winning reporter Jessica Garrison's relentless search for the truth as she traces the life of this assassin, the cops who were always a few steps behind him, and the families of his many victims. Drawing upon decades of case files, interrogation transcripts, on-the-ground reporting, and Martinez's chilling handwritten journals, The Devil's Harvest uses a gripping and often shocking narrative to dig into one of the most important moral questions haunting our politically divided nation today: Why do some deaths—and some lives—matter more than others? "Meticulously researched and tightly woven, The Devil's Harvest is an important story because it tells us that if [this] can happen in one place, then it can happen in any place. And that's damn scary." —Michael Connelly, New York Times bestselling author of The Closers, The Lincoln Lawyer, and The Night Fire
