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The Corner Stone, Annotated

From Amazon…

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Originally published in 1915, The Corner Stone is a sweet, plainspoken story set in Kansas in the early 1900’s. In it, we meet Edith Grannell, a young woman orphaned at an early age and abandoned to boarding school by her wealthy uncle, Samson Grannell. Edith’s uncle is more interested in prosperity than family, but fortunes are changing for him and his neighbors. Grannell calls Edith back with a plot in mind to increase his acreage and his wealth.

The author, Margaret Hill McCarter, has given us a character in Edith who is a strong, self-assured, independent young woman. We discover that Edith is compassionate and caring despite having received scarce compassion or affection from her only living relative, her uncle. On returning to her uncle’s farm, Edith recalls being sent away as a child, and the goodbye kiss from her only friend growing up, Homer Helm. The tenderness of the recollection conveys the loneliness that was her life: “The memory of that good-bye kiss had been a sacred possession in the poverty of a loveless childhood.” However, while she was away at boarding school, Homer, it would seem, has grown up to be something other than the kind-hearted boy she remembers. From there the story unfolds.

In addition to being a wife and homemaker, Margaret Hill McCarter was a successful author, having published numerous short stories, pamphlets, and books. She was also active in the community and in politics. McCarter had the distinction of being the first woman to speak at a national political convention, specifically, the Republican National Convention of 1920, two months before the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment acknowledging women’s right to vote.

Her body of work — the stories she wrote and her activities in the community and politics — make publication of The Corner Stone an appropriate choice to be the first in the “Quiet Voices” series — rediscovered works from historical authors whose voices may be newly appreciated by contemporary readers. This edition of The Corner Stone by Margaret Hill McCarter has been annotated by Barbara Seiders to include:

  • biographical information and historical context relating to the author;
  • biographical information on the illustrator;
  • a timeline of events relevant to the author’s life and to events of the story;
  • maps providing geographic setting and context, with references to online resources; and
  • a brief introduction, summary and critique of the work.

 

The Peculiars

Hardback Edition; click to buy now.

Paperback Edition; click to buy now.

 

A delightful Young Adult novel by author Maureen McQuerry, this dark and thrilling adventure, with an unforgettable heroine, will captivate fans of steampunk, fantasy, and romance.

On her 18th birthday, Lena Mattacascar decides to search for her father, who disappeared into the northern wilderness of Scree when Lena was young. Scree is inhabited by Peculiars, people whose unusual characteristics make them unacceptable to modern society. Lena wonders if her father is the source of her own extraordinary characteristics and if she, too, is Peculiar. On the train she meets a young librarian, Jimson Quiggley, who is traveling to a town on the edge of Scree to work in the home and library of the inventor Mr. Beasley. The train is stopped by men being chased by the handsome young marshal Thomas Saltre. When Saltre learns who Lena’s father is, he convinces her to spy on Mr. Beasley and the strange folk who disappear into his home, Zephyr House. A daring escape in an aerocopter leads Lena into the wilds of Scree to confront her deepest fears.

Here’s what’s being said about The Peculiars:

  • STARRED REVIEW: “McQuerry offers a brooding northwest setting touched by steampunk elements to tell a story that is in equal parts inventive fantasy, light romance, and thrilling adventure. With a backdrop as strong as its heroine, this one is a page-turner.” Booklist Starred Review
  • 2013 Best Fiction for Young AdultsYoung Adult Library Services Association 
  • 2013 Best Children’s Books of the YearBank Street College of Education
  • “Themes of acceptance, character, and self-determination are explored without superseding the beautifully crafted story. A wonderful read, recommended for all collections.” School Library Journal
  • “A creative, entertaining, and wholly original fantasy.” “Nods to various genres — romance, mystery, Western, steampunk — bring the era of territorial expansion vividly to life.” Recommended Fantasy Book by The Horn Book
  • 2013 Winner, Westchester Fiction Award

 

 

Crimson Sunrise

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Author Renee Munoz introduced readers to Saari Mitchell in her first paranormal romance, Moonlight Bleu. In the second book in the series, Crimson Sunrise

Saari Mitchell attends a Tueri conference in Las Vegas, Nevada to strengthen her bonds with Dhelis Guidry and Brogan Vincent-and see if they can make their three-sided relationship work. But when Saari and her vampire brother Mag’s lives are threatened, her trip to paradise soon becomes a surreal fight for survival. Dhelis and Brogan’s psychic abilities are no help in finding Saari. Desperate to save their mate, they call in favors from the psychic and preternatural community, but the information leads only to more questions. Is the threat against Saari personal or part of a larger plan that threatens every human and Tueri’s existence?

POD

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POD, first in the POD series, is a survival story about two people in separate locations experiencing the same catastrophic global event.

Fifteen-year-old Josh lives in the small eastern Washington town of Prosser. He is startled awake one morning by an agonizing sound in his head.  Minutes later, when massive alien spheres appear in the sky, he realizes the sound is the first wave of a brutal and overwhelming alien attack.  To venture outside means instant death.  He is stuck in his home with his father and family dog while the alien PODs lay siege to the planet.

Twelve-year-old Megs is trapped and alone in a parking garage in Santa Monica, California.  She is forced to play a deadly game of hide and seek with the ruthless men that have taken over an adjacent hotel.  Megs clings to the hope that the alien ships will go away and that her mother will return to save her.  Can her street smarts and cunning keep her alive long enough for that to happen?

What’s being said about POD:

  • “An intense novel of humanity’s reaction to an alien invasion… fast-paced and engrossing.” Publishers Weekly

 

 

Painted Blind

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From Amazon about Painted Blind by Michelle Hansen,

Psyche Middleton has always been judged by her looks. When she meets a guy that can make himself invisible, she must decide if love is truly blind. He takes her to a palace in an idyllic kingdom, but his affection has one condition—she may not see him.

Enchanted, intrigued and not wholeheartedly believing he’s real, she betrays his trust for a glimpse of his face, and ends up at the mercy of his controlling mother. Psyche must complete three impossible tasks to prove her love—or die trying.

What’s being said about Painted Blind:

  • A captivating retelling that will surely make an old myth a new favorite. – Kelly Hashway, author of Touch of Death

 

Breaking the Code

From Amazon, on Breaking the Code written by Karen Fisher Alaniz

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Our parents are our most unexplored mystery.

Whether close or distant to us, we see them as “parent,” rarely knowing or thinking about the person that they are outside that role. So few of us get to discover that person inside, even if it may be just a question away.

Like many, Karen grew up with a father who was always there and yet always absent. As a little girl and then an adult, she talked to him, but they never really had a conversation. He’d told her stories of his childhood and of his time in the Navy, but she’d barely listened.

But on his 81st birthday, without explanation, her father placed two weathered notebooks on her lap, with more than 400 pages of letters he’d written to his parents during World War II. The more she read, the more she discovered about the man she never knew and the secret role he played in the war.

Thus began an unintended journey – one taken by a father and daughter who thought they knew each other, a journey of healing and discovery that started with a leap of faith.

 

Yadh the Ugly

Here’s what one Amazon reviewer had to say about Yadh the Ugly by Lenora Rain-Lee Good:

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Equality is everything in First Community, where all of the children are born on the same day and raised together into adulthood. Everyone is trained in the job they are suitable for, and everyone works for the good of the Community. But Yadh is different, and where uniformity is king, differences are not to be tolerated.

Even though she bears some resemblance to the forebears of First Community, Yadh is considered a throwback, an unwelcome genetic aberration. With her easily damaged pale skin and unruly tangles of wavy red hair, she is both ugly and useless.

Unable to work out of doors, she’s forced to endure taunting from her crib mates and sneers from the adults in First Community as she washes endless piles of dishes, the only task for which she is determined to be fit. “Yadh spoils the milk,” they say, “Yadh makes the babies cry.” Worst of all, they tell her to “Go hunt dragon eggs.” Everyone knows that dragons are mythical, so the taunt is a thinly veiled threat of banishment; First Community would rather Yadh die alone in the desert than allow her presence to continue to pollute its settlement. Only Teaching Mother Rina is able to see beyond Yadh’s physical appearance and recognize her as someone with true potential, but her opinion carries little weight among the rest of the settlers.

When the threat of banishment becomes real, Yadh embraces it as an opportunity to find her own way in the world. She has learned to adapt to her status as an unwelcome outsider, and armed with the knowledge of her planet that Teaching Mother has provided, Yadh determines to leave First Community on her own terms. Her wilderness skills, practiced in secret far away from the eyes of her Community, are indispensable now that the time has come for her to find her own destiny. Although she doesn’t yet know it, Yadh is being guided by a force that cherishes her for her uniqueness, and while First Community may have rejected her, others of her kind are willing to welcome her as one of their own – if that’s what she chooses. Andrea Green

 

 

Through the Tunnel of Love

Through the Tunnel of Love

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A Mother’s and Daughter’s Journey with Anorexia, by author Donelle Knudsen.

In this compelling book, you’ll read touching details of an international adoption, learn possible causes of anorexia, steps for intervention, costs, how anorexia affects the entire family, and what difference, faith, fathers, friends, and most especially, unconditional love make.

Great for the individual who wants to know more about eating disorders or self-destructive personalities. Tunnel of Love is also ideal for use in a small study group setting.

 

 

The Lady’s Not for Burning

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The Lady’s Not for Burning by Christopher Fry is …

A romantic comedy in three acts, set in verse. Set in the Middle Ages, The Lady’s Not for Burning reflects the world’s ‘exhaustion and despair’ following World War II, with a war-weary soldier who wants to die, and an accused witch who wants to live.

Republished from the original by Phoebe Seiders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raising Cain

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In 2011, author C. Mark Smith published Raising Cain: The Life and Politics of Senator Harry P. Cain. From Amazon …

Decades ago, Harry Cain warned, “It is possible to become so safe that nobody can be free.” Still the conflict rages on between individual freedom and national security. C. Mark Smith’s Raising Cain profiles a complex and controversial public servant who remained true to one goal supporting the rights of the individual. Cain opposed the internment of Japanese American citizens during World War II, defended provocative figures as a U.S. Senator, worked for civil rights in Florida, and in the controversy that destroyed his public career, defied his president and his party to protect the freedom of thousands of Americans threatened during the McCarthy era.