Into The Great Heart

In July 1903 Leonidas Hubbard set out to explore the uncharted interior of Labrador by canoe, accompanied by Dillon Wallace, his best friend, and George Elson, a Métis guide. Bad luck and bad judgment led the expedition into disaster and the party was forced to turn back. Hubbard died of starvation just thirty miles from camp. Two years later Wallace decided to complete the overland expedition and clear himself of blame for Hubbard's death. He had, however, a rival - Mina Hubbard. She blamed Wallace for her husband's death and, with Elson as her guide, intended to complete the trek first. The result was an epic race between the avenging widow and her husband's best friend. Reconstructing the story from the long-lost journals and diaries of the 1903 and 1905 expeditions, James Davidson and John Rugge trace the explorers' routes and re-create the saga. Great Heart is a gripping drama of individuals pushed to the limits of human endurance.

In the battles to determine the destiny of the United States in the middle decades of the nineteenth century, St. Louis, then at the hinge between North, South, and West, was ideally placed to bring these sections together. At least, this was the hope of a coterie of influential St. Louisans. But their visions of re-orienting the nation's politics with Westerners at the top and St. Louis as a cultural, commercial, and national capital crashed as the country was tom apart by convulsions over slavery, emancipation, and Manifest Destiny. While standard accounts frame the coming of the Civil War as strictly a conflict between the North and the South who were competing to expand their way of life, Arenson shifts the focus to the distinctive culture and politics of the American West, recovering the region’s importance for understanding the Civil War and examining the vision of western advocates themselves, and the importance of their distinct agenda for shaping the political, economic, and cultural future of the nation.

Part fiction, history, and mythology, this unconventional retelling of the life of divine spiritual master Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh religion and revered by Muslims and Hindus alike, provides an intimate look at the enlightened Guru while bringing his ancient wisdom to a modern audience. From the best-selling author of Ganesha Goes to Lunch and Rumi’s Tales from the Silk Road comes an original novel about the life and travels of Guru Nanak, a musician, enlightened thinker, and one of the most beloved figures in Eastern spirituality. In this fascinating book, Kamla K. Kapur weaves together facts, legends, folktales, myths, and over forty of Guru Nanak’s poems—preserved in the Sikh holy book, the Granth Sahib—to form this captivating depiction of the leader’s life. From being seduced by deadly women to almost getting eaten by cannibals, the exciting account presented in The Singing Guruincludes moral tales without being proselytizing. Factual details are intermingled with fantasy to produce a symbolic portrait in which humor and imagination combine to convey a profound and entertaining spiritual narrative.

Vibrates with encouragement for women who want to explore and enjoy the world of booksGladys Hunt, long-time advocate of reading and author of the cherished Honey for a Child’s Heart, has written this new book for busy women who want a wider worldview and stimulus for intellectual and emotional growth. Honey for a Woman’s Heart explores:* The wonder of words, language, and reading* What good books offer thoughtful readers* What makes a good book* The value of reading fiction* Best books in genres of fiction, nonfiction, spirituality, and poetry* How to enjoy the best of books: the Bible* The pleasure of sharing books with others* Something for everyone, no matter what age or reading experience* Recommendations for over 500 books to enjoyPleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Proverbs 16:24

Ignatius Aloysius O'Shaughnessy, the thirteenth child of a Minnesota bootmaker, was kicked out of St. John's University in 1902 after skipping Sunday vespers to drink beer. On his way home, the sixteen-year-old stopped at the College of St. Thomas, bumped into the president, and shared his story, admitting his mistake. The president, impressed with O'Shaughnessy's honesty, accepted him as a student. O'Shaughnessy went on to star on the football team, and graduated in 1907. Ten years later, he founded Globe Oil & Refining Co. in Oklahoma, becoming the largest independent oil refiner in the U.S. He gave most of his money away, as the leading benefactor of Catholic higher education in the U.S., with St. Thomas and Notre Dame as primary beneficiaries. He funded hundreds of organizations and causes, reviewing every inquiry, always sending a reply, and, if he said no, an explanation. In this biography full of warm and revealing anecdotes, O'Shaughnessy's inspiring story finally is told.

The first book in the classic, beloved Billy and Blaze series, from renowned author C.W. Anderson. Billy was a little boy who “loved horses more than anything else in the world.” Imagine how happy he was when he got his very own pony for his birthday! From that day on, Billy was seldom seen without his new friend, Blaze. Riding through fields and woods, Billy and Blaze learned to trust and understand one another—and to jump over fences and fallen trees with ease. They were a great team, but were they good enough to win the gleaming silver cup at the Mason Horse Show? This is the first book in the classic Billy and Blaze series. Sensitive drawings and easy-to-read words capture the warmth and gentle understanding between a boy and his horse.

Survival was their dearest hope...these mountain people. Their children were their greatest asset...but they died one by one, long before they reached the age of six, many times at birth along with their mother. When a mother died in childbirth the family was usually broken into tiny pieces...but Mary Breckenridge changed all that with her midwives and nurses. They rode their horses in the middle of the night, in the coldest of winter, to save a mother and her child...but they did more than that...they treated gunshot wounds, snake bites, gave shots, but most of all they gave hope to this mountain community where few had cared until this great woman came into their midst. Mary Breckenridge had vowed never to love again, but she fell in love with these mountain people and served them well...with the courage of Job, she began to live again...a different life, but a full one, and she took an entire mountain of people with her on this journey, along with her nurses and midwives. This is the story that might have been her own.

Adult stories featuring children as protagonists. In a Maritime Province is on an estranged father and daughter brought together by mutual grief, The Road to the City is on a boy who must handle the increasingly bizarre behavior of his father, and in Those Who Cross, a boy ferries dead souls across a river.