No Ordinary Sound

Melody is excited to sing her first solo and gleans inspiration from her brother's love of Motown and the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., but it soon becomes clear that things in the country are not fair for African Americans like her.

"Melody is an optimistic, enthusiastic girl growing up in Detroit, Michigan during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. She is excited and proud to share a special surprise with her family. She's been chosen to sing a solo for Youth Day at her church! But what song will she choose? She gets advice from her big brother, and is also inspired by her older sister, but it's the inspirational words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that help her pick the perfect song. There are many unfair things happening during Melody's time, even to people in her own family. But it's an unimaginable tragedy in the South that leaves Melody silent. Who can help her lift her voice and sing? Who will inspire her to keep stepping?"--Amazon.com.

The time is June 1942, the beginning of Americas first summer at war. Somewhere off the coast of Massachusetts a German U-boat surfaces under cover of darkness. Aboard the U-boat are two agents of the Abwehr, Germanys military intelligence service, whom the ships commander has been ordered to drop safely on American soil. The agents have as their mission to conduct sabotage against military and industrial installations. Hitlers intention in devising such an operation is to remind Americans he has the capability and the will to bring the war to their backyard. As the two agents are bringing their equipment ashore, they are surprised by a patrolling US Coastguardsman, who is quickly killed by one of the crewmen from the U-boat but an attack dog accompanying him badly mauls one of the agents. Desperately in need of medical attention, the wounded agent must be returned to the U-boat for treatment. As the crewmen disappear into the night Erich Stinnes, alias Karl Stoner, is left with the sudden realization he will be carrying out this operation on his own. Stoner is fortunate in not only finding a job at the local shipyard but he is able to rent an apartment from an attractive woman, who is recently widowed. It is not long before the two of them begin an affair that causes Karl, already ambivalent about the war, to question the wisdom of his mission. Before he can resolve his dilemma, an incident at the shipyard exposes him for what he is. Having no choice he is forced to flee leaving Anne to suffer the consequences of her affair with a Nazi spy.

Organized stalking is carried out by an enthusiastic and structured group that has cruel intentions: stalk, harass, injure, financially ruin, and mentally crumple human prey until incapacitation occurs. What sets this crime apart is that innocents are picked off the street. There is no getting away from the stalkers and no getting away from the unusual technology that is used to take over someone’s life. “For the first couple of months,” says June, “I thought it was a sick game. Now that I’ve been tormented for years, well, it’s clear that organized stalking is a sophisticated crime that follows a step-by-step process to leave the victim as bare and isolated as the dead tree on the cover. He or she may still be standing, but that’s about it. “I’ll sum it up this way. Veiled intimidation ensures that targeted individuals are viewed by the public as free people, which they are not. They are playthings to their controllers. Hostages in plain sight. Victims are quite literally owned yet have limited chance of rescue because their desperate circumstances are misunderstood. Some die from the violence. Some die from suicide. And the rest merely exist.” Organized stalking is worldwide and is called gang stalking in some areas. The electronic harassment that accompanies organized stalking is also known as covert harassment.

This collection of poems offers an insight into the joys, challenges, and intimacies of life and love. The author’s carefully chosen words create vivid images with beautiful phrases. He invites readers into his personal and internal world, transporting them away from the hustle and bustle of life to quiet, reflective spaces. Speaking from the heart, he shares profound feelings and experiences in a relatable manner.

He’s everything she’s trying to avoid…But somehow precisely what she needs… Caleb Crawford doesn’t want to be a duke. He’d much rather build houses for a living. So when fate disrupts his peaceful life and burdens him with the responsibilities of a newly inherited title, he does what any sensible man would do by fleeing London, disguising himself as a laborer, and seeking refuge with three young spinsters who need his help with a leaky roof. Ruined by a marquess who promised her the world, Mary Clemens has sworn to avoid marriage forever. Instead, she intends to live out her days with her friends and the orphaned children they’ve taken into their care. But when Mr. Crawford comes knocking, Mary finds herself in real danger of risking heartbreak all over again. Especially when she discovers that he’s not at all what he seems.

George Mercer Dawson was indeed no ordinary man. Born in 1849, son of the first Principal of McGill University, Dawson defied health circumstances that would have defeated many people and went on to become one of our most exceptional Canadians. As a geologist in the British North American Boundary Commission between Canada and the U.S.A. and as Director of the Geological Survey of Canada in 1895, Dawson examined and explored every aspect of Canada’s unknown territories. This collection of writings, letters, diaries and essays begins with the young George and moves through his developing years to his adult life. "He climbed, walked and rode on horseback over more of Canada than any other member of the Geological Survey of Canada at that time – yet to look at him, one would not think him capable of a day’s hard physical labour .... It was his hand that first traced upon vacant maps the geological formations of the Yukon and much of British Columbia." - Lois Winslow-Spragge "To read about him is like taking a drink of water from a cool, unpolluted spring. His sense of values was so great that he once said he didn’t care much for money or possessions. All he wanted was what he could hold in his canoe." - Anne Byers, Ottawa

After suffering an unimaginable loss, a beautiful calico cat searches for a new home as she struggles to leave her painful memories behind. In a new location—a dilapidated barn at the edge of a prairie village—she finds shelter and an unexpected friendship with a petite, grey-haired human. Left homeless after his human could no longer care for him, a lonely grey housecat seeks sanctuary in the barn during a bitter autumn storm. The next morning, he is asked a question that will change the course of his life: “Are you planning to stay?” So begin the adventures of Fluff and Clarence and the successive generations of kittens that join them in learning about the wonders—and dangers—of barn life, the importance of finding home and family, and the joy that can be found again after loss. The prequel to No Ordinary Cats and based on the real cats from the author’s childhood, No Ordinary Barn Cats is a humorous, touching, and genuine tale of rural prairie life, the lives of these special animals, and the undeniable impact they have on us—and each other.

U-604 was a standard Type VIIC of which over 600 were built, and at first glance her six war patrols might seem typical - but they were far from ordinary. Using the official war diary and the eyewitness testimony of survivors this book weaves a detailed but vivid tapestry of life and action during some of the fiercest convoy battles of the Atlantic war. Often counter-attacked, but seeming to bear a charmed life, U-604 had her successes, including inflicting the largest single loss of US mercantile personnel in one attack. However, the drama of her career pales alongside the epic story of her loss. After repeated bombing by American aircraft, Höltring, the boat's CO, organised an amazing rescue attempt by two other U-boats and finally scuttled U-604. This rescue itself went badly wrong, leading to the loss of one more U-boat and Höltring's suicide in controversial circumstances. Based on interviews with survivors and illustrated with previously unpublished photos, it is simply an extraordinary story.

She's not who she seems… Gracie Travers has a secret. She's not the down-on-her-luck drifter she appears to be. Once America's sweetheart, Gracie needs to keep below the paparazzi's radar until she's thirty. Then she'll get her money and get off the street. But one small mistake brings Deputy Sheriff Austin Trumball into her life. He's attractive and oh-so-dangerous. If he learns who she really is, her anonymous days are over. Worse, Austin's hard to resist, and their connection is terrifying. Soon he makes her want what she can't have—a lover, a family and a home of her own.