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Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Books about Banned Books

 

In no way does a person have to wait until September to read banned books or to become more informed about banned books. The American Library Association (ALA) has a count of 330 books that were challenged from September 1 through November 30th of 2021 alone.: 

"In 2021, libraries of all types stepped up to meet the needs of their communities as they responded to the impacts of a second year of the global pandemic. Library staff in every state faced an unprecedented number of attempts to ban books. ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 729 challenges to library, school, and university materials and services in 2021, resulting in more than 1,597 individual book challenges or removals. Most targeted books were by or about Black or LGBTQIA+ persons."https://www.ala.org/news/state-americas-libraries-report-2022




 Books About Banned Books


Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times by Nafisi, Azar
What is the role of literature in an era when one political party wages continual war on writers and the press? What is the connection between political strife in our daily lives, and the way we meet our enemies on the page in fiction? How can literature, through its free exchange, affect politics? In this galvanizing guide to literature as resistance, Nafisi seeks to answer these questions. Drawing on her experiences as a woman and voracious reader living in the Islamic Republic of Iran, her life as an immigrant in the United States, and her role as a literature professor in both countries, she crafts an argument for why, in a genuine democracy, we must engage with the enemy, and how literature can be a vehicle for doing so. Structured as a series of letters to her father, who taught her as a child about how literature can rescue us in times of trauma, Nafisi explores the most probing questions of our time through the works of Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie, James Baldwin, Margaret Atwood, and more.


Opening with the notorious bonfires of "un-German" and Jewish literature in 1933 that offered such a clear signal of Nazi intentions, Burning the Books takes us on a 3000-year journey through the destruction of knowledge and the fight against all the odds to preserve it. Richard Ovenden, director of the world-famous Bodleian Library, explains how attacks on libraries and archives have been a feature of history since ancient times but have increased in frequency and intensity during the modern era. Libraries are far more than stores of literature, through preserving the legal documents such as Magna Carta and records of citizenship, they also support the rule of law and the rights of citizens. Today, the knowledge they hold on behalf of society is under attack as never before. In this fascinating book, he explores everything from what really happened to the Great Library of Alexandria to the Windrush papers, from Donald Trump's deleting embarrassing tweets to John Murray's burning of Byron's memoirs in the name of censorship. At once a powerful history of civilisation and a manifesto for the vital importance of physical libraries in our increasingly digital age, Burning the Books is also a very human story animated by an unlikely cast of adventurers, self-taught archaeologists, poets, freedom-fighters; and, of course, librarians and the heroic lengths they will go to preserve and rescue knowledge, ensuring that civilization survives. From the rediscovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the desert, hidden from the Romans and lost for almost 2000 years to the medieval manuscript that inspired William Morris, the knowledge of the past still has so many valuable lessons to teach us and we ignore it at our peril.




Light Changes Everything by Turner, Nancy E.

"Light Changes Everything is a novel as gritty and authentic as the women of the Arizona Territory. Nancy E. Turner brings the west and its people fully to life." --Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours It's the summer of 1907 and the sun is scorching down on Mary Pearl in the Arizona Territory. Mary Pearl and her sister Esther take their minds off the heat by sneaking banned Jane Austen novels from Aunt Sarah Elliot's lively bookshelf. Whispered read aloud preoccupy their nights, and reveries of getting hitched to their own Mr. Darcy à la Pride and Prejudice swirl through their daydreams. In walks old-fashioned old-money suitor Aubrey Hanna, here to whisk seventeen-year-old Mary Pearl off her feet with a forbidden kiss and hasty engagement. With the promise of high society outings and a rich estate, Aubrey's lustful courtship quickly creates petty tension among the three generations of Prine women. As autumn approaches all too quickly, Mary Pearl's Wheaton College acceptance counters quick marriage preparations. Days of travel by horse and by train carry her deep into a sophisticated new world of Northern girls' schooling. Seeking friendship but finding foes, Mary Pearl not only learns how to write, read, and draw, but also how to act, dress, and be a woman. Light Changes Everything is the story of a resilient young feminist a century ahead of her time. Full of gumption and spirit, Mary Pearl's evocative coming of age is destined to be the next American classic"-- Provided by publisher.



"It's been nearly eighty years since the Allies lost World War II in a crushing defeat against Hitler's genetically engineered super soldiers. America has been carved up by the victors, and sixteen-year-old Zara lives a life of oppression in the Eastern American Territories. Under the iron rule of the Nazis, the government strives to maintain a master race, controlling everything from jobs to genetics. Despite her mixed heritage and hopeless social standing, Zara dares to dream of an America she's only read about in banned books--a land of freedom and equality."--Back cover.


Ban this Book by Gratz, Alan

A fourth grader fights back when From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg is challenged by a well-meaning parent and taken off the shelves of her school library. Amy Anne is shy and soft-spoken, but don't mess with her when it comes to her favorite book in the whole world. Amy Anne and her lieutenants wage a battle for the books as they start a secret banned books locker library, make up ridiculous reasons to ban every single book in the library to make a point, and take a stand against censorship.





"The autobiography of a South Korean woman's student days under an authoritarian regime, and how she defied state censorship. When Kim Hyun Sook started college in 1983 she was ready for her world to open up. After acing her exams and sort-of convincing her traditional mother that it was a good idea for a woman to go to college, she looked forward to soaking up the ideas of Western Literature far from the drudgery she was promised at her family's restaurant. But literature class would prove to be just the start of a massive turning point, still focused on reading but with life-or-death stakes she never could have imagined. This was during South Korea's Fifth Republic, a military regime that entrenched its power through censorship, torture, and the murder of protestors. In this charged political climate, with Molotov cocktails flying and fellow students disappearing for hours and returning with bruises, Hyun Sook sought refuge in the comfort of books. When the handsome young editor of the school newspaper invited her to his reading group, she expected to pop into the cafeteria to talk about Moby Dick, Hamlet, and The Scarlet Letter. Instead she found herself hiding in a basement as the youngest member of an underground banned book club. And as Hyun Sook soon discovered, in a totalitarian regime, the delights of discovering great works of illicit literature are quickly overshadowed by fear and violence as the walls close in. In BANNED BOOK CLUB, Hyun Sook shares a dramatic true story of political division, fear-mongering, anti-intellectualism, the death of democratic institutions, and the relentless rebellion of reading."-- Provided by publisher.



When twelve-year-old June Harper's parents discover what they deem an inappropriate library book, they take strict parenting to a whole new level. And everything June loves about Dogwood Middle School unravels: librarian Ms. Bradshaw is suspended, an author appearance is canceled, the library is gutted, and all books on the premises must have administrative approval. But June can't give up books . . . and she realizes she doesn't have to when she spies a Little Free Library on her walk to school. As the rules become stricter at school and at home, June keeps turning the pages of the banned books that continue to appear in the little library. It's a delicious secret . . . and one she can't keep to herself. June starts a banned book library of her own in an abandoned locker at school. The risks grow alongside her library's popularity, and a movement begins at Dogwood Middle--a movement that, if exposed, could destroy her. But if it's powerful enough, maybe it can save Ms. Bradshaw and all that she represents: the freedom to read.



Oklahoma teen Neal Barton stands up for his favorite fantasy series, The Chronicles of Apathea Ravenchilde, when conservative Christians try to bully the town of Americus into banning it from the public library.



In a future totalitarian state where books are banned and destroyed by the government, Guy Montag, a fireman in charge of burning books, meets a revolutionary schoolteacher who dares to read and a girl who tells him of a past when people did not live in fear.


After her principal bans a number of books from the school library, bibliophile student Clara joins forces with her friends to start an underground library.




(Kivvit Design)

Library Wars. Love & War / 1 : by Yumi, Kiiro

"In the near future, the federal government creates a committee to rid society of books it deems unsuitable. The libraries vow to protect their collections, and with the help of local governments, form a military group to defend themselves---the Library Forces! Iku Kasahara has dreamed of joining the Library Defense Force ever since one of its soldiers stepped in to protect her favorite book from being confiscated in a bookstore when she was younger. But now that she's finally a recruit, she's finding her dream job to be a bit of a nightmare. Especially since her hard-hearted drill instructor seems to have it in for her!"--P. [4] of cover.




"Meri Buckley has lost everything. She lost her mother to a fight much bigger than herself. Her father to grief, fear, and denial. And the truth--to an overbearing government that insists that censorship and secrecy is the only path to peace. But though Meri and her band of truth-seeking Stewards did lose the first battle in their quest to enlighten the public, they have not yet lost the war. Meri can start the revolution she seeks, if the powerful figures who profit from the status quo don't find her--and kill her first."




Monday, April 25, 2022

The Perfect Date- Miss Congeniality- April 25th

 


If you've ever seen Miss Congeniality then you know that April 25th is "The Perfect Date"  Although in Illinois we really can't bank on any day being "not too hot, not too cold" but we can hope.

As for the type of date that generally involves another person and leaving the house, I'm still going to aim for alone time, a book, and a nap.  That sounds lovely.  Maybe I'm just tired.

What's your idea of a perfect date?







When seventeen-year-old Charlie Grant's four older siblings reunite for a wedding, she is determined they will have a perfect weekend before the family home is sold, but last-minute disasters abound.



Delilah Metcalfe, the owner of The Dales Dating Agency, is besieged by financial concerns, struggling to keep two businesses afloat and a roof over her head. She has no choice, but to accept Samson O Brien as a new tenant for her office space. Dismissed from the police force and facing criminal prosecution, Samson has returned to his hometown to set up a detective agency while he fights to clear his name.But when Samson gets his first case, investigating the supposed suicide of a local man, things take an unexpected turn. Soon he is discovering a trail of deaths that leads back to the door of Delilah s Dales Dating Agency. With suspicion hanging over someone they both care for, the two feuding neighbors soon realize that they need to work together to solve the mystery of the dating deaths. For Samson and Delilah, however, working together is easier said than done.



Rosa Santos, a Cuban American, works to save her Florida town, seeks admittance to study abroad in her homeland, and wonders if love can break her family's curse. Rosa Santos is cursed by the sea-at least, that's what they say. Dating her is bad news, especially if you're a boy with a boat. But Rosa feels more caught than cursed. Caught between cultures and choices. Between her abuela, a beloved healer and pillar of their community, and her mother, an artist who crashes in and out of her life like a hurricane. Between Port Coral, the quirky South Florida town they call home, and Cuba, the island her abuela refuses to talk about. As her college decision looms, Rosa collides -- literally -- with Alex Aquino, the mysterious boy with tattoos of the ocean whose family owns the marina. With her heart, her family, and her future on the line, can Rosa break a curse and find her place beyond the horizon?



The second book in a delightful new English village mystery series set in the Yorkshire Dales. When a pensioner turns up at the Dales Detective Agency and tells Samson O'Brien that someone in her old people's home is trying to kill her, he dismisses her fears as the ramblings of a confused elderly lady. But after several disturbing incidents at Fellside Court, he begins to wonder if perhaps there is something malicious at the heart of the retirement community after all. With Christmas around the corner, Samson is thrown into an investigation that will require all of his detective skills. He also needs the help of the tempestuous Delilah Metcalfe in order to infiltrate the local community, which Samson turned his back on so long ago. Against the background of a Yorkshire winter, Samson and Delilah must work together to uncover the malevolence that is threatening the lives of Bruncliffe's senior citizens; a malevolence that will come perilously close to home.



When her husband of twenty-four years unexpectedly divorces her, a devastated Paris Armstrong struggles to overcome a broken heart and the disappointment of single life.




"A savannah florist is about to score the wedding of a lifetime--one that will solidify her career as the go-to-girl for society nuptials. Ironically, Cara Kryzik doesn't believe in love, even though she creates beautiful flower arrangements to celebrate them. But when the bride goes missing and the wedding is in jeopardy, Cara must find the bride and figure out what she believes in. Maybe love really does exist outside of fairy tales after all. Told with Mary Kay Andrews' trademark wit and a keen eye for detail, mark your calendars for Save the Date!"-- Provided by publisher.


"Jessica Fletcher investigates a friend's murder and dangerous dating service in the latest entry in this USA Today bestselling series... Jessica Fletcher takes up the cause of her good friend Barbara "Babs" Wirth after Babs' husband Hal suffers a fatal heart attack that Jessica has reason to believe was actually murder. At the heart of her suspicions lies a sinister dating site Hal had used while he and Babs were having marital issues, a site that may be complicit in somehow swindling him out of millions. Jessica's investigation reveals that Hal was far from the only victim and when his former business partner is also killed, a deadly pattern emerges. Jessica teams up with a brilliant young computer hacker to follow the trail but as she gets closer to the truth, two near misses force her to realize that she may very well be the next victim. The stakes have never been this high as Jessica finds herself being stalked by the killer she is trying to catch. She must now set the perfect trap to avoid her very own date with murder"-- Provided by publisher.



"When it comes to relationships, thirty-four-year-old Kate Turner is ready to say "Bah, humbug." The sleepy town of Blexford, England, isn't exactly brimming with prospects, and anyway, Kate's found fulfillment in her career as a designer, and in her delicious side job baking for her old friend Matt's neighborhood café. But then her best friend signs her up for a dating agency that promises to help singles find love before the holidays. Twenty-three days until Christmas. Twelve dates with twelve different men. The odds must finally be in her favor... right? Yet with each new date more disastrous than the one before--and the whole town keeping tabs on her misadventures--Kate must remind herself that sometimes love, like mistletoe, shows up where it's least expected. And maybe, just maybe, it's been right under her nose all along..."-- Provided by publisher.




Kat Ellis is determined to attend her younger sister's wedding with a date. Rather than face the ridicule of her family, and in order to show up her ex-fiance, she resorts to the Yellow Pages to find an escort.




Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Talk Like Shakespeare Day


 


Talk like Shakespeare Day is almost upon us, (April 23).  Initially, one may think that "Talk Like Shakespeare Day" might be a bit intimidating but in truth, there are1700 words that Shakespeare is said to have been created/introduced/just happened to write down before anyone else...  Words like "alligator", "varied", "zany", and even "puppy dog".(Shakespeare's Words -shakespear.org)  Now just pepper your language with some archaic pronouns and adverbs and thou wouldst verily find thine lexicon greatly altered, 

40 Common Words and Phrases Shakespeare Invented

Words Shakespeare Invented

Talk Like Shakespeare Day



Shakespeare loved words. He picked up phrases; he made up new words-- and then he put them together in extraordinary ways and used them in his plays. We bump into his words all the time, four hundred years later, and we don't even know it! Discover the ways that his words changed the way we talk.

That Way Madness Lies: Fifteen of William Shakespeare's Most Notable Works Reimagined

A collection of reimaginings of Shakespeare's plays and poetry by young adult authors.





William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope by Doescher, Ian

A retelling of Star Wars in the style of Shakespeare, in which a wise Jedi knight, an evil Sith lord, a beautiful captive princess, and a young hero coming of age reflect the valor and villainy of the Bard's greatest plays.


Vinegar Girl: The Taming of the Shrew retold by Tyler, Anne

Kate Battista feels stuck. How did she end up running house and home for her eccentric scientist father and uppity, pretty younger sister Bunny? Plus, she's always in trouble at work - her pre-school charges adore her, but their parents don't always appreciate her unusual opinions and forthright manner.

Dr. Battista has other problems. After years out in the academic wilderness, he is on the verge of a breakthrough. His research could help millions. There's only one problem: his brilliant young lab assistant, Pyotr, is about to be deported. And without Pyotr, all would be lost.

When Dr. Battista cooks up an outrageous plan that will enable Pyotr to stay in the country, he's relying - as usual - on Kate to help him. Kate is furious: this time he's really asking too much. But will she be able to resist the two men's touchingly ludicrous campaign to bring her around?

Verona Comics by Dugan, Jennifer

Told in two voices, cellist Jubilee and anxiety-ridden Ridley meet at a comic con where both of their families have booths, and begin a relationship they must hide from their parents.

Starting his fifth school in five years, Osei Kokote, a diplomat's son, hoping to survive his first day becomes friends with Dee, the most popular girl in school, but Ian is determined to destroy the budding friendship.








"A sixteen-year-old biracial girl in rural Oregon in the 1920s searches for the truth about her father's death while avoiding trouble from the Ku Klux Klan in this YA historical novel inspired by Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'"-- Provided by publisher.



"The only hardcover edition of Jane Smiley's most famous novel--King Lear on an Iowa farm--which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992. With a new introduction. This powerful twentieth-century reimagining of Shakespeare's King Lear centers on a wealthy Iowa farmer who decides to divide his farm among his three daughters. When the youngest objects, she is cut out of his will, which sets in motion a chain of events that brings dark truths to light. Ambitiously conceived and stunningly written, A Thousand Acres spins the most fundamental themes of truth, justice, love, and pride into a universally acclaimed masterpiece"-- Provided by publisher.




At cheerleading camp, Hermione is drugged and raped, but she is not sure whether it was one of her teammates or a boy on another team--and in the aftermath, she has to deal with the rumors in her small Ontario town, the often awkward reaction of her classmates, the rejection of her boyfriend, the discovery that her best friend, Polly, is gay, and above all the need to remember what happened so that the guilty boy can be brought to justice.






When her father betrays the Scottish king and is hung as a traitor, Lady Mary's future is bleak after she loses her only true protector and ends up locked away in the tower by the powerful and deadly Lord and lady Macbeth.




Pop Shakespeare Series





Overnight, Bronwyn St. James goes from junior class queen to daughter of an imprisoned felon, and she lands in the care of her aunt and younger cousin Cass, a competitive cheerleader who Bronwyn barely knows. Life gets worse when her ex-best friend, the always-cool Jude Cuthbert, ostracizes Bronwyn from the queer social elite for dating a boy, Porter Kendrick.

Bronwyn and Jude are both running for student body president, and that means war. But after Bronwyn, Porter, and Cass share a video of Jude in a compromising position, Jude suddenly goes missing. No one has seen her for weeks and it might be all Bronwyn's fault.

Will Jude ever be found? Or will Bronwyn finally have to reckon with what she's won--and what she's lost?




Monday, April 18, 2022

Believe it or not but, it's been Spring for 4 weeks now....

 


Although the first day of Spring was March 20th, this is Illinois.  It often feels as though Spring is something out of a fairy tale. The moment you think it has arrived, it vanishes. Temperatures drop, and you can't even take that winter coat off and shove it into the back of a closet. The question always arises, "are there any backup indoor Easter egg hunts?" Just in case... Coupled with the questions: "Do the Easter outfits for the kids have sweaters or warm tights-make that leggings, and just where did the boots go?" Because, again, it's Illinois, and while we can dream of a "White Christmas" we run the risk of a snowy Easter - or just waking up to a dusting of snow the day after Easter...



In the spring of 1853, private detective Laetitia Rodd receives a delicate request from a retired actor, whose days on the stage were ended by a theatre fire ten years before. His great friend, and the man he rescued from the fire, Thomas Transome, has decided to leave his wife, who now needs assistance in securing a worthy settlement. Though Mrs. Rodd is reluctant to get involved with the scandalous world of the theatre, she cannot turn away the woman in need. She agrees to take the case. But what starts out as a simple matter of negotiation becomes complicated when a body is discovered in the burnt husk of the old theatre. Soon Mrs. Rodd finds herself embroiled in family politics, rivalries that put the Capulets and Montagues to shame, and betrayals on a Shakespearean scale. Mrs. Rodd will need all her investigative powers, not to mention her famous discretion, to solve the case before tragedy strikes once more.



A mother and midwife inadvertently threatens the fortunes and livelihoods of her family and their neighbors after noticing an increase in local miscarriages and believes it's caused by the pesticides used by the Sanderson Timber Company, her husband's employer.




 



For fans of Maggie Stiefvater and Laini Taylor, a perfect storm lies ahead in this riveting fantasy duology opener from award-winning author Elle Cosimano. One cold, crisp night, Jack Sommers was faced with a choice--live forever according to the ancient, magical rules of Gaia, or die. Jack chose to live, and in exchange, he became a Winter--an immortal physical embodiment of the season on Earth. Every year, he must hunt the Season who comes before him. Summer kills Spring. Autumn kills Summer. Winter kills Autumn. And Spring kills Winter. Jack and Fleur, a Winter and a Spring fall for each other against all odds. To be together, they'll have to escape the cycle that's been forcing them apart. But their creator won't let them go without a fight.




"A tense, psychological novel about what propels one 8-year-old girl to murder, and the complex ways this past chases her down in later life. Chrissie is eight years old and she has a secret: she has just killed a boy. The feeling of it made her belly fizz like soda pop. Across her neighborhood, Chrissie's playmates and their parents are tearful and terrified. But Chrissie rules the roost - she's the best at wall-walking, she knows how to get free candy, and now she has a secret, thrilling power she doesn't get to experience much at home, where food is scarce and attention scarcer. Twenty years later, Chrissie has a new identity and a new name. As "Julia," she is working in a cafe to support herself and her six-year-old daughter, Molly. All she wants is a fresh start, but the past hasn't seemed to let her and Molly alone, and when, suddenly, their future together is threatened, Chrissie/Julia must find a new way to take matters into her own hands. Nancy Tucker leaves the reader breathless as she considers what happens when innocence and survival instincts collide. Tucker writes from professional experience in pediatric mental health, and she inhabits the voices of her young protagonists with a shocking authenticity and precision that moves the reader from sympathy to humor to horror to heartbreak and back again"--. Provided by publisher.



Persephone, the young goddess of spring, is new to Olympus. Her mother, Demeter, has raised her in the mortal realm, but after Persephone promises to train as a sacred virgin, she's allowed to live in the fast-moving, glamorous world of the gods. When her roommate, Artemis, takes her to a party, her entire life changes: she ends up meeting Hades and feels an immediate spark with the charming yet misunderstood ruler of the Underworld. Now Persephone must navigate the confusing politics and relationships that rule Olympus, while also figuring out her own place--and her own power.






"When a favorite customer on his delivery route needs a favor, Tanner Richards agrees to help without a second thought. The last thing he expects is to face off against the man's spitfire granddaughter. Crystal Malloy is near her breaking point. Her beloved grandfather constantly skirts the rules at the retirement center where he's recovering from surgery. She's caring for his escape artist dog, even if it means abandoning her salon customers, and she has no time for a romantic attraction to the handsome new stranger. After Tanner's reassigned to Mystic Creek, Crystal can no longer ignore how much she misjudged the man's good intentions. She has known too much sorrow to easily open her heart, but she can't deny that Tanner and his children could gift her with a happiness beyond compare--if only she can forgive herself for the past and accept that she's deserving of such a lasting love"--Provided by Publisher.


What unites Katherine Mansfield, Charlie Chaplin, Shakespeare, Rilke, Beethoven, Brexit, the present, the past, the north, the south, the east, the west, a man mourning lost times, a woman trapped in modern times? Spring. The great connective. With an eye to the migrancy of story over time and riffing on Pericles, one of Shakespeare's most resistant and rollicking works, Ali Smith tells the impossible tale of an impossible time. In a time of walls and lockdown, Smith opens the door. The time we're living in is changing nature. Will it change the nature of the story? Hope springs eternal.-- Publisher's description.





After an incident at school, seventeen-year-old Alaine is spending spring break in a "volunteer immersion project", toiling away under the ever-watchful eyes of Tati Estelle and her eagle-eyed mother at a new nonprofit in Haiti. Although it is meant as punishment, Alaine is still able to flirt with Tati's distractingly cute intern, get some actual face time with her mom and experience her family's history in Haiti for the first time.



Betts Winston has inherited more than her cooking skills from her grandmother, she can also see and talk to ghosts of people that once roamed the streets of Broken Rope, Missouri, in the days of the Old West. With Gram's Country Cooking School on spring break, Betts and Gram are taking part in this year's cowboy poetry convention, offering lessons on frying catfish over an open campfire. But when a staged gunfight ends in real death and her brother Teddy becomes a prime suspect, Betts may be the one to jump from the frying pan into the fire. After her ghostly guardian Jerome appears to watch her back and a spectral Pony Express rider gallops into town with some unfinished business, Broken Rope starts to seem more like a cowboy ghost convention. With trouble on both sides of this mortal coil, it's up to Betts to clear her brother, put the spirits to rest, and make sure the true killer doesn't become the one who got away.





A Son for Always by Amy Clipston

(Previously published in An Amish Cradle)

Carolyn and Joshua are thrilled to be expecting their first child together. Carolyn was a teenager when she had her son, Benjamin, and she feels solely responsible to secure his future. As Joshua watches Carolyn struggle to accept his support, he knows he must find some way to convince her that she--and Ben--will always be taken care of.

A Love for Irma Rose by Beth Wiseman

(Previously published in An Amish Year)

The year is 1957, and young Irma Rose has a choice to make. Date the man who is "right" for her Or give Jonas a chance, the wild and reckless suitor who refuses to take no for an answer Irma Rose steps onto the path she believes God has planned for her, but when she loses her footing, she is forced to rethink her choice.

Where Healing Blooms by Vannetta Chapman

(Previously published in An Amish Garden)
Widow Emma Hochstetter finds her quiet life interrupted when she discovers a run-away teenager in her barn, and then the bishop asks her to provide a haven for a local woman and her two children. Then, her mother-in-law, Mary Ann, reveals one of her garden's hidden secrets, something very unexpected.







Celebrate Diversity Month

  Initiated in 2004, Celebrate Diversity Month takes place in April.  The goal is to foster a better understanding of people's differenc...