David, Betsy, and Sammy Berman were nine, six, and four years old in May 1943 when the U.S. Army sent their father, Dr. Reuben Berman, to Europe. Over the next two and a half years, the children regularly gathered around their mother, Isabel, in their Minneapolis home while she typed exactly what they wanted to say to their father. This collection of more than 340 letters, selected from more than a thousand exchanged by the Berman family via V-mail, captures the anxiety and loss that children experienced when their fathers left for war.
It is 1938 -- a year when most Americans are still coping with the Great Depression and wondering how long they can avoid the inevitable war and Nazi threat in Europe. When thirteen-year-old Orville Switzer discovers the bodies of twin sisters lying frozen beneath the snow in a St. Paul, Minnesota train yard, connections are soon linked to Germany. In their efforts to discover who murdered the twins and why, sheriff's deputy Al Freitag and his wife Tillie, a social worker for Orville's family, are suddenly plunged into a web of mystery, intrigue, mob violence, and an espionage ring involving pro-Nazi and German American Bund members. Will the truth behind the murders be discovered? At what cost?
North Carolina, 1890Anticipation tempered by the uncertainty of her changing life swirl through Roxies heightened emotions. She is leaving her home and family in the North Carolina mountains to start married life in Georgia with her new husband. Crazy in love with Will, she still feels an aching conflict as she leaves her beloved family. Being her parents sixth daughter with a natural inclination towards the outdoors has made Roxie the family tom-boy and her Poppas steadfast helper. As much as she desires this future with Will in their tiny cabin nestled in the north Georgia mountains, she is well aware that arriving in the dead of winter presents its own problems. Still, overriding her joy or worries is an overwhelming homesickness. Wearied by the dawn to dust fight to eke out a sufficient life on this tiny spot of land, Roxie and Will discover much of their strength comes from leaning on each other and Wills sizeable family. But it is the generous providence of a loving God that sustains them the most. As days and years swell into a ceaseless flow of triumphs, backward steps, tears and joys, the love that binds them together stretches again and again to allow for every rough or unforeseen bend in their journey. A moving, inspiring novel, Roxie: Daughter of the Mountains shares the remarkable resilience of one womans spirit.
In prose as diverse as the stories they tell, writers such as Floyd Skloot, Ted Kooser, Peggy Shumaker, and Lee Martin, among many others, open windows to their own ordinary and extraordinary experiences. John Skoyles tells how, for his Uncle Fred, a particular "Hard Luck Suit" imparted misfortune. Brenda Serotte describes a Turkish grandmother who made her living reading palms, interpreting cups, and prescribing poultices for the community. In "Son of Mr. Green Jeans," Dinty W. Moore views fatherhood through the lens of pop culture. Janet Sternburg's Phantom Limb muses on the dilemmas of a child caring for a parent. Whether evoking moments of death or disease, in family or marriage, history, politics, religion, or culture, these glimpses into singular American lives come together in a richly textured, colorful patchwork quilt of American life.
BY A REMARKABLE CANADIAN WRITER. NOW A NETFLIX SERIES. 'Anne Shirley is, for me, one of the great characters of literature' LAUREN CHILD 'The dearest, most moving and delightful child since the immortal Alice' MARK TWAIN The sixth book in the Anne Shirley series. 'It's been lovely to be Anne of Green Gables again for a week, but it's a hundred times lovelier to come back and be Anne of Ingleside' There's never a dull moment at Ingleside, Anne's lively home: Anne is now the mother of five children - with a sixth baby on the way. But even with endless demands on her time, she couldn't be happier and there's nowhere in the world she'd rather be. No matter what life brings - whether it's the numerous scrapes her children get up to or Gilbert's insufferable aunt outstaying her welcome by months - Anne faces every challenge with her usual verve for life. But then she begins to suspect that Gilbert doesn't love her any more. She's a little older, it's true, but Anne is the same spirited redhead she's always been. She hasn't changed. But has he? A collection that will be coveted by children and adults alike, this list is the best in children's literature, curated by Virago. These are timeless tales with beautiful covers, that will be treasured and shared across the generations. Some titles you will already know; some will be new to you, but there are stories for everyone to love, whatever your age. Our list includes Nina Bawden (Carrie's War, The Peppermint Pig), Rumer Godden (The Dark Horse, An Episode of Sparrows), Joan Aiken (The Serial Garden, The Gift Giving) E. Nesbit (The Psammead Trilogy, The Bastable Trilogy, The Railway Children), Frances Hodgson Burnett (The Little Princess, The Secret Garden) and Susan Coolidge (The What Katy Did Trilogy). Discover Virago Children's Classics.
Following two broken marriages and her mother's suicide, Jane came into the happiest time of her life with a new love -- only to have it end tragically. Her death certificate states that she died of "metastatic carcinoma of unknown primary" -- medical lingo for a cancer whose source remains a mystery. That explanation fails to reveal how Jane was placed in harm's way by health-care practitioners who belittle one another's valuable skills, refuse to cooperate, misdiagnose (or make no attempt to diagnose), and who believe that their treatment plan is the only plan, thereby putting the patient at risk. This poignant story, told through Jane's private journals by her author husband, is a cautionary tale for everyone caught in the crossfire of America's medical "cold war." Book jacket.
