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With her mama recently dead and her pa sight unseen since birth, fourteen-year-old Amelia is suddenly in charge of her younger brother and sister--and of the family gas station. Harley Blevins, local king and emperor of Standard Oil, is in hot pursuit to clinch his fuel monopoly. To keep him at bay and keep her family out of foster care, Melia must come up with a father--and fast. And so when a hobo rolls out of a passing truck, Melia grabs opportunity by its beard. Can she hold off the hounds till she comes of age?

Junia is a mule. But she's not just any mule. She's a mule with an important job. Every morning she carries her Book Woman up and down the rugged hills and surrounding woodlands near the Kentucky town of Troublesome Creek. Book Woman is a Pack Horse librarian. She and Junia deliver free books and reading material to the people living in the hills and woods. It's not easy work. Every month they ride hundreds of miles to make their deliveries. They've traveled through sunshine, rain, and snow, up twisting, turning paths where no car or wagon could ever go. But Junia can--steady, sure-footed, bighearted Junia. The library patrons are counting on Book Woman's visits, and Book Woman is counting on Junia. And Junia won't ever let her friend down. Junia, the beloved, spunky mule from the bestselling The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek series, comes to vivid life for young readers in this picture book tribute to Kentucky's Great Depression Pack Horse Library Project.

From Harry Turtledove, “the Master of Alternate History,” comes a tale of minor league baseball set in an alternate Great Depression America full of wild magicSince the Big Bubble popped in 1929, life in the United States hasn't been the same. Hotshot wizards will tell you nothing's really changed, but then again, hotshot wizards aren't looking for honest work in Enid, Oklahoma. No paying jobs at the mill, because zombies will work for nothing. The diner on Main Street is seeing hard times as well, because a lot fewer folks can afford to fly carpets in from miles away.Jack Spivey's just another down-and-out trying to stay alive, doing a little of this and a little of that. Sometimes that means making a few bucks playing ball with the Enid Eagles, against teams from as many as two counties away. And sometimes it means roughing up rival thugs for Big Stu, the guy who calls the shots in Enid.But one day Jack knocks on the door of the person he's supposed to'deal with'--and realizes that he's not going to do any such thing to the young lady who answers. This means he needs to get out of the reach of Big Stu, who didn't get to where he is by letting defiance go unpunished.Then the House of Daniel comes to town--a brash band of barnstormers who'll take on any team, and whose antics never fail to entertain. Against the odds Jack secures a berth with them. Now they're off to tour an America that's as shot through with magic as it is dead broke. Jack will never be the same--nor will baseball.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

In this haunting, evocative fantasy set in 1930s Chicago, a talented ballerina finds herself torn between her dreams and her desires when she's pursued by a secretive patron who may be more than he seems.“An utterly unique, lyrical play on the Persephone and Hades myth for fans of... Madeline Miller.”—Booklist (starred review)Growing up in Chicago's Little Sicily in the years following the Great War, Grace Dragotta has always wanted to be a ballerina, ever since she first peered through the windows of the Near North Ballet company. So when Grace is orphaned, she chooses the ballet as her home, imagining herself forever ensconced in a transcendent world of light and beauty so different from her poor, immigrant upbringing.Years later, with the Great Depression in full swing, Grace has become the company's new prima ballerina—though achieving her long-held dream is not the triumph she once envisioned. Time and familiarity have tarnished that shining vision, and her new position means the loss of her best friend in the world. Then she attracts the attention of the enigmatic Master La Rosa as her personal patron and realizes the world is not as small or constricted as she had come to fear.Who is her mysterious patron, and what does he want from her? As Grace begins to unlock the Master's secrets, she discovers that there is beauty in darkness as well as light, finds that true friendship cannot be broken by time or distance, and realizes there may be another way entirely to achieve the transcendence she has always sought.

In an alternate 1933, a sleuth and his robot partner are caught in the middle of a legal battle that will decide the fate of the world's machine population.Carlson does a good job populating his gritty, split-level world with dodgy mobsters, deadly dames, and killer machines. — Publishers Weekly, for Night Call Two months after an investigation that nearly put Elias Roche behind bars, the former cop turned mob enforcer has endeavoured to separate himself from his past by going straight. Now working as a private investigator, his attempts to build himself a quiet life have so far been promising. However, while Manhattan's Lower City is in the midst of a reignited mob war, Elias is faced with finding a man who doesn't want to be found, absolving a machine of a murder charge, and discovering a network of secrets that keeps the world turning, almost literally. Reuniting with his old Automatic partner, Allen, and reporter-turned-hitman Simone, Elias must search for the truth amid a web of conspiracy and lies. While failure would result in the eradication of all Automatics in America and cripple the megacorporation that hired him to investigate, success could uncover truths no one is ready to face: truths about the city, Allen's past, and which side they are all truly fighting for.

A lost gem of twentieth-century literature, Josephine Johnson's 1934 Pulitzer Prize–winning “exquisite…heartbreakingly real” (The New York Times Book Review) novel follows a year in the life of a family struggling to survive the Dust Bowl.Published when Josephine Johnson was only twenty-four years old, Now in November made Johnson the youngest ever winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1935. It is a beautifully told account of one farming family's challenges to scrape by and earn a living from mortgaged land over the course of a single year, narrated by one of three sisters—the introspective and thoughtful Margaret. As the household is ravaged by Depression-era hardship and the environmental blights of the Dust Bowl, the family's unique vulnerabilities are pushed to a breaking point. In a style typical of Johnson's body of work, Now in November is strikingly ahead of its time, grappling with questions of mental health, worker's rights, as well as gender, race, and class and is ready to be rediscovered by a new generation of readers.

A teenager in Depression-era Montana with finds danger and adventure with a gangster's watch in this coming-of-age tale.From the nationally bestselling author of Painted Horses, Malcolm Brooks returns with a soaring, spirited novel set during the summer of Amelia Earhart's final flight—a tale of American ingenuity and optimism set against the backdrop of a deepening Great Depression... The summer of 1937 will be a turning point for fourteen-year-old Houston “Huck” Finn. When he and a friend find a dead body in a local creek, a rare Lindbergh flight watch on its wrist, it seems like a sign. Huck is building his own airplane, a fact he has concealed from his mother. That summer also marks the arrival of his cousin Annelise, sent to live with the family under mysterious circumstances. As it turns out, she has had flying lessons—another sign. As Huck's airplane takes shape, so does his burgeoning understanding of the world, including the battle over worldliness vs. godliness that has split Annelise from her family, and, in a quieter way, divides Huck's family too. And meanwhile, there's the matter of the watch, which it turns out the dead man's cohort of bank robbers would very much like back.In Brooks'trademark “lush, breathtaking prose” (San Francisco Chronicle on Painted Horses) and with a winking nod to the Sam Clemens who inspired its hero's nickname, Cloudmaker is a boisterous, heartfelt novel that brings to life the idealism, inventiveness, traditionalism, and deep contradictions of the American spirit.Praise for Cloudmaker“A sweeping yet personal coming-of-age story.... Evocative... in pitch-perfect dialect that will immerse readers firmly in Brooks's beloved American West.” —Shelf Awareness“With a nod to Ivan Doig's straightforward folksy style, this impressive second novel... tells an earnest, heartfelt family story with laugh-out-loud humor, deep-seated family conflicts, and distressing coming-of-age crises. Enthusiastically recommended.” —Library Review (starred review)“Tender friendships and passionate pursuits combine in Cloudmaker—a rich, evocative, soaring novel rooted in particulars and populated with characters so nuanced and real you can't help but admire and miss them long after you've turned the last page.” —Erin Lindsay McCabe, author of USA Today bestseller I Shall Be Near To You“Epic in scope, beautifully crafted in its prose, and always—always—adoring of its cast of unforgettable characters, Cloudmaker is a stunner of a novel. A book that absolutely soars.” —Nickolas Butler, author of Shotgun Lovesongs and Little Faith

De la autora de El Ruiseñor, una épica y emocionante novela de amor, heroísmo y esperanza. •••Número 1 en las listas de ventas en Estados Unidos••• •••Un éxito mundial publicado en más de 30 países••• Texas, 1921. La Gran Guerra ha terminado y Estados Unidos parece entrar en una nueva era de optimismo y abundancia. Pero para Elsa, considerada demasiado mayor para casarse en una época en la que el matrimonio es la única opción de una mujer, el futuro es incierto. Hasta la noche en que conoce a Rafe Martinelli y decide cambiar la dirección de su vida. Con su reputación arruinada, solo le queda una opción respetable: casarse con un hombre al que apenas conoce. En 1934, el mundo ha cambiado. Millones de personas se han quedado sin trabajo y los granjeros luchan por conservar sus tierras. Las cosechas se pierden por la sequía, las fuentes de agua se secan y el polvo amenaza con enterrarlo todo. Cada día en la granja de los Martinelli es una desesperada batalla por la supervivencia. Y, como tantos otros, Elsa se ve obligada a tomar una agónica decisión: luchar por la tierra que ama o marchar al oeste, a California, en busca de una vida mejor para su familia. •Número 1 en la lista de más vendidos de The New York Times •Número 1 en la lista de más vendidos de USA Today •Número 1 en la lista de más vendidos de The Wall Street Journal •Entre los mejores libros del año para Goodreads •Una de «Las novedades más esperadas de 2021» -Newsweek •Una de «Las 27 novelas de ficción histórica más esperadas de 2021 que te atraparán» -Oprah Magazine •Uno de «Los libros más esperados de 2021» -Parade •Uno de «Los libros de los que hablará todo el mundo en 2021» -PopSugar •Uno de «Los 57 libros más esperados de 2021» -Elle •Uno de «Los 32 grandes libros para comenzar el año» -Refinery29 •Uno de «Los 25 mejores libros que llegarán en 2021» -BookBub •Uno de «Los libros más esperados de 2021» -Frolic Reseñas: «Brutalmente hermosa». Newsweek «Sobrecogedoramente profética... Su mensaje es estimulante y esperanzador». The New York Times «Épica y evocadora, una conmovedora historia de amor y dificultades... Majestuosa y absorbente». USA Today «Una nueva épica historia de amor, esperanza y heroísmo». Mía «Recuerda al lector que'los tiempos difíciles ocurren, pero se superan'». Zenda «Una fascinante historia de amor, coraje y sacrificio... Combina un crudo realismo con personajes llenos de riqueza emocional y una prosa lírica que suena esperanzadora y auténtica desde la primera línea». Publishers Weekly «Una novela rica y gratificante sobre vínculos familiares, perseverancia y la amistad y fortaleza de las mujeres». Booklist «Toca todas las teclas correctas y que te sorprende hasta el final». Associated Press Los lectores opinan: «Con este libro he sentido todo lo que podía sentir y más, y aun habiendo pasado horas desde que lo leí, me sigo emocionando». huntress_of_books en Instagram «Es una novela emotiva y entretenida». Blog SigueEnSerie «Del más absoluto drama crea una historia preciosa y llena de valor». cincoestrellasymedia en Instagram «Una historia preciosa narrada con mucho mimo y con una protagonista inolvidable. No dudo que estará entre mis mejores lecturas del año». Blog Libros que hay que leer

A riveting new historical fiction novel, In All Good Faith continues the story of May Marshall, the captivating protagonist introduced in Taylor's acclaimed 2020 debut, Etiquette for Runaways.In the summer of 1932, Americans are coming to realize that the financial crash of 1929 was only the beginning of hard times. May Marshall has returned from Paris to settle at her family home in rural Keswick, Virginia. She struggles to keep her family farm and market afloat through the economic downturn. May finds herself juggling her marriage with a tempting opportunity to revamp the family business to adapt to changing times.In a cold-water West End Boston tenement the fractured Sykes family scrapes by on an itinerant mechanic's wages and home sewing. Having recently lost her mother, sixteen-year-old Dorrit Sykes questions the religious doctrine she was raised in. Dorrit is reclusive, held back by the anxiety attacks that have plagued her since childhood. Attempting to understand what limits her, she seeks inspiration in Nancy Drew mysteries and finds solace at the Boston Public Library, writing fairy stories for children. The library holds answers to both Dorrit's exploration of faith and her quest to understand and manage her anxiety.When Dorrit accompanies her father to Washington, DC, in the summer of 1932 to camp out and march with twenty thousand veterans intending to petition President Hoover for early payment of war bonuses, she begins an odyssey that will both traumatize and strengthen her. Along the way she redefines her faith, learning both self-sufficiency and how to accept help.Dorrit's and May's lives intersect, and their fates will intertwine in ways that neither could have imagined or expected. Set against a backdrop of true historical events, In All Good Faith tells a story of two women's unlikely success during the Great Depression.

A rogue robot is terrorizing the dark underbelly of 1930s Manhattan. Can detective Elias Roche and his new Automatic partner track it down? The year is 1933. Even in a world with free energy, robot labour, and megacorporations, nothing could stop the collapse of the American Dream. As the world-spanning Great Depression rages on, the remaining New York–based mafias clash with police for control of the broken city. Elias Roche, former police officer turned Mafia enforcer, works to maintain a tenuous peace between the two parties.Accustomed to settling disputes with the business end of a gun, Roche must expand his repertoire after a violent murder is covered up by the FBI. With the Mafia insisting they're innocent of the crime and the police powerless to help, Roche and his new Automatic partner, Allen, must root out those responsible before the situation sparks a war in the city streets.FINALIST FOR THE 2021 RAKUTEN KOBO EMERGING WRITER PRIZE

In Depression-era Alabama, a white boy meets a Black boy from Detroit, who opens his eyes to the complexity and opportunities in their world.In 1937, the Depression is in full force, Joe Louis is the new heavyweight champion of the world, and Champion Always Luther arrives in Snow Hill, Alabama, changing Brother Sayre's life forever. Brother lives with his mother and sister in their well-run if run-down boardinghouse. Champion has been sent to live with his aunt, who works for Brother's family. With Champion, Brother learns all sorts of things―that he enjoys fishing, that he needs glasses, and that there are subtle and powerful rules of race and power that he's never noticed. A child of privilege, Brother has never questioned the ways of his small southern town―but now he has reason to.Sara Harrell Banks sets her dramatic story of an adolescent friendship during a troubled, complex time in history, when resources were scarce and segregation was firmly in place.

At the Worsham Hotel, guests and staff hunker down, reeling from the effects of the'29 crash. In the middle of the Great Depression, they gaze uneasily into the encroaching darkness. Something cold and menacing is already in their midst. Waiting. Watching. The Gideon boys are the new owners of the massive Whistle-Stop hotel in rural Sunday Silence. Their housekeeper glides from attic to cellar with quiet authority and tightly held secrets. Young Micah and little Cooper seek out the spectres and shadows that abide in the empty rooms and twisting hallways of old, dark buildings. Frail Mr Tapp shares his dreams, Moss hovers near the radio glow and asks Franklin Roosevelt and The Lone Ranger to expunge his wife's voice and his own past. Sheriff Vardell materializes abruptly from the autumn fog. Miss Mimms knits and rocks, and watches with eyes as old and wise as the Sphinx. Into their midst comes Sera Grace, a reporter for The Nashville Banner, sent to investigate the legendary Carr's Creek critter. Is the critter to be found deep in the hills and woods? Is it imbedded within the walls of the hotel itself? Or could it have something to do with the stealthy Miss Grace? She does arrive, after all, on a dark and stormy night… With wicked humour and myriad twists, the story of the critter is exposed for who or what it is, and what it may yet be. The details are uncoiled in an increasingly rapid manner, as we are ambushed by stunning revelations, vivid characters and unexpected shocks. What is the critter? As Mr Tapp comments,'Oh, my! Wonders and illusions; amazing transformations and curious sights that defy explanation!'

Sixteen-year-old Lorena Leland's dreams of a rich and fulfilling life as a writer are dashed when the stock market crashes in 1929. Seven years into the Great Depression, Rena's banker father has retreated into the bottle, her sister is married to a lazy charlatan and gambler, and Rena is an unemployed newspaper reporter. Eager for any writing job, Rena accepts a position interviewing former slaves for the Federal Writers'Project. There, she meets Frankie Washington, a 101-year-old woman whose honest yet tragic past captivates Rena.As Frankie recounts her life as a slave, Rena is horrified to learn of all the older woman has endured—especially because Rena's ancestors owned slaves. While Frankie's story challenges Rena's preconceptions about slavery, it also connects the two women whose lives are otherwise separated by age, race, and circumstances. But will this bond of respect, admiration, and friendship be broken by a revelation neither woman sees coming?

Elena, Jorge, and Marcus must brave the Chicago winter in search of a vampire. In a bleak, post-Depression city, the children must not only find this creature of the night, but also find her lost locket. Will it be downtown at Marshall Fields? Or at a roller derby event? And will they find it in time to get home? Readers will find out, as they learn about the 1930s--and how to survive an encounter with the undead.

Pavel is a new American, excited about his new country. When his rabbi tells him that the Civilian Conservation Corps is hiring young people, Pavel is thrilled. As a member of the Corps, he learns to plant trees, build dams, and take care of the land. But not everyone in the Corps thinks Pavel belongs in America. It's not until he and his immigrant friends learn to sing the country's new national anthem,'The Star-Spangled Banner'in time for Independence Day celebrations, that they're welcomed as true Americans.

RECOMMENDED BY DOLLY PARTON IN PEOPLE MAGAZINE!A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA USA TODAY BESTSELLERA LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLERThe bestselling historical fiction novel from Kim Michele Richardson, this is a novel following Cussy Mary, a packhorse librarian and her quest to bring books to the Appalachian community she loves, perfect for readers of William Kent Kreuger and Lisa Wingate. The perfect addition to your next book club!The hardscrabble folks of Troublesome Creek have to scrap for everything—everything except books, that is. Thanks to Roosevelt's Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, Troublesome's got its very own traveling librarian, Cussy Mary Carter.Cussy's not only a book woman, however, she's also the last of her kind, her skin a shade of blue unlike most anyone else. Not everyone is keen on Cussy's family or the Library Project, and a Blue is often blamed for any whiff of trouble. If Cussy wants to bring the joy of books to the hill folks, she's going to have to confront prejudice as old as the Appalachias and suspicion as deep as the holler.Inspired by the true blue-skinned people of Kentucky and the brave and dedicated Kentucky Pack Horse library service of the 1930s, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is a story of raw courage, fierce strength, and one woman's belief that books can carry us anywhere—even back home.Look for The Book Woman's Daughter, the new novel from Kim Michele Richardson, out now!Other Bestselling Historical Fiction from Sourcebooks Landmark:The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie BenedictThe Engineer's Wife by Tracey Enerson WoodSold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WITH MORE THAN A MILLION COPIES SOLD—Sold on a Monday is the unforgettable book-club phenomenon, inspired by a stunning piece of Depression-era history.'A masterpiece that poignantly echoes universal themes of loss and redemption...both heartfelt and heartbreaking.'—Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Orphan's Tale2 CHILDREN FOR SALE. The sign is a last resort. It sits on a farmhouse porch in 1931, but could be found anywhere in an era of breadlines, bank runs and broken dreams. It could have been written by any mother facing impossible choices.For struggling reporter Ellis Reed, the gut-wrenching scene evokes memories of his family's dark past. He snaps a photograph of the children, not meant for publication. But when it leads to his big break, the consequences are more devastating than he ever imagined.Inspired by an actual newspaper photograph that stunned the nation, Sold on a Monday has celebrated five months on the New York Times bestsellers list and continues to especially captivate fans of Lisa Wingate's Before We Were Yours and Kristin Hannah's The Four Winds.Look for the new novel by Kristina McMorris, The Ways We Hide, a sweeping World War II tale of an illusionist whose recruitment by British intelligence sets her on a perilous, heartrending path.

They're mad, they're bad, and they're about to ruin Christmas!No kids get coal in their stocking these days. Do you know why? It's thanks to The No-Good Nine! Pittsburgh, 1931. When Peter awakens on Christmas morning to find his stocking full of coal, he is outraged. After he finds the Naughty List, which contains the names of some other children who received no gifts, he decides they should band together and journey to Santa's workshop to plead their case, as well as play with the toys intended for the Nice children. The ragtag band of misfits sets out on a series of wild misadventures as they travel by train, truck, dog sled, and boat, encountering thieves and bootleggers, in order to reach the renowned Toy Factory only to accidentally burn it down. More slapstick capers follow before the No-Good Nine extricate themselves and set out to find their next great adventure.

Hannah is a fifteen-year-old Amish girl who lives on her family's farm in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. When her family, hit hard by the Great Depression, loses their farm, Hannah's father decides it's time for a fresh start. Destitute but inspired by grand plans and dreams of a better future west of Lancaster, he loads his family and what little they have left into their covered wagon.They settle in North Dakota, hundreds of miles from any Amish community. Hannah's mother does her best to be a good wife, supporting her husband as they try to build a new life in a wholly unfamiliar place.Things aren't going quite as Hannah's father had imagined—his visions of success are shattered by the reality that his knowledge of farming in Lancaster isn't of much use in Midwestern soil. With the fields barren and her family on the verge of starvation, Hannah decides to take matters into her own hands. She goes into town looking for a job and finds one at a cattle ranch, where she meets charismatic ranch hand Clay Jenkins.Clay is drawn to the independent, strong-willed newcomer. As they work together at the ranch, Hannah grapples with her own feelings for Clay, an English boy. Her life is more uncertain than ever. With Hannah's help, will her family get back on their feet and prosper in North Dakota? And what will happen with Clay Jenkins?

This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘The Rash Act by Ford Madox Ford - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)'from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of Ford Madox Ford'. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Ford includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.eBook features: • The complete unabridged text of ‘The Rash Act by Ford Madox Ford - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)'• Beautifully illustrated with images related to Ford's works • Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook • Excellent formatting of the text Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles

In The Great Gatsby, F.Scott Fitzgerald told the tale of a high society love affair that became an iconic depiction of life during the Jazz Age of the 1920s. After the 1929 stock market crash, life took an ironic downturn even for the wealthy. Written in light of these events, The Golden Vanity is both a social comedy of errors and a sardonic view of the Jazz Age and the crash, told through the lives of three self-assertive women who could not be more different. Cousins Gina, Geraldine, and Mysie are all inhabitants of New York City, but their lives could not be more different. A secretary starts a new job rife with romantic entanglements, a best-selling novelist is undermined by her husband's attempts to win big on the stock market, and an actress leads an unconventional, yet surprisingly intellectual, life. Isabel Paterson follows their stories through the economic collapse and demonstrates, with sophisticated wit, that'doing what everyone else is doing'is not the best way to survive such times. Originally published in 1934, The Golden Vanity has been out of print for far too long. A new introduction by Stephen Cox illuminates the novel's important historical footprint and places it in a modern context.

Saturated in Southern ambiance and written in the vein of other literary bestsellers like Kathryn Stockett's The Help and Tom Franklin's Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, Julie Cantrell's New York Times bestselling Into the Free that will sweep you away long after the novel ends.In Depression-era Mississippi, Millie Reynolds longs to escape the madness that marks her world. With an abusive father and a “nothing mama,” she struggles to find a place where she really belongs.For answers, Millie turns to the Gypsies who caravan through town each spring. The travelers lead Millie to a key that unlocks generations of shocking family secrets. When tragedy strikes, the mysterious contents of the box give Millie the tools she needs to break her family's longstanding cycle of madness and abuse. Through it all, Millie experiences the thrill of first love while fighting to trust the God she believes has abandoned her. With the power of forgiveness, can she finally make her way into the free?Millie is just a girl. But she's the only one strong enough to break the family cycle.“Gritty, compelling, and beautifully told, Into the Free will take you into a coming-of-age story filled with heartrending hardship and luminous hope. Julie Cantrell is a writer to watch!” —Lisa Wingate, New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours“Readers will fall in love with Millie Reynolds, girl with one eye on the heavens and the other on the savages that occupy our world... a searing tale of heartache, faith, forgiveness, and doubt set amid gypsies, angels, addicts, asylums, roughnecks, and rodeo hands.” —Neil White, author of In the Sanctuary of Outcasts“A lyrical, moving, haunting, wise, brutal, warmhearted, and ultimately freeing and inspiring coming-of-age tale told with poetic honesty.... Into the Free swept me up and swept me along.” —Jennifer Niven, bestselling author of The Ice MasterNew York Times bestsellerCan be read as a stand-alone novel, although the story continues in When Mountains MoveBook length: approximately 90,000 wordsIncludes a reader's guide, author interview, and discussion questions for book clubs

'The book is suspenseful and gritty with true-to-life characters. It is about hope, family, survival and faith.'- - The Historical Novel Society Where you come from isn't who you are.Ten-year-old Pearl Spence is a daydreamer, playing make-believe to escape life in Oklahoma's Dust Bowl in 1935. The Spences have their share of misfortune, but as the sheriff's family, they've got more than most in this dry, desolate place. They're who the town turns to when there's a crisis or a need—and during these desperate times, there are plenty of both, even if half the town stands empty as people have packed up and moved on.Pearl is proud of her loving, strong family, though she often wearies of tracking down her mentally impaired older sister or wrestling with her grandmother's unshakable belief in a God who Pearl just isn't sure she likes.Then a mysterious man bent on revenge tramps into her town of Red River. Eddie is dangerous and he seems fixated on Pearl. When he reveals why he's really there and shares a shocking secret involving the whole town, dust won't be the only thing darkening Pearl's world.While the tone is suspenseful and often poignant, the subtle humor of Pearl's voice keeps A Cup of Dust from becoming heavyhanded. Finkbeiner deftly paints a story of a family unit coming together despite fractures of distress threatening to pull them apart.Enjoy all the Pearl Spence Novels1.A Cup of Dust2. A Trail of Crumbs3. A Song of Home'If you are looking for a compelling story with a message of hope in the midst of a dark time and characters that will live on in your imagination, then you need to get A Cup of Dust.'- By the Book Reviews'This is a suspenseful page-turner, intricately plotted and bursting with meticulously drawn characters who jump from the page.'- RT Reviews

Fans of the Little House books will fall in love with Esther.Thanks to her superstitious mother, Esther knows some tricks for avoiding bad luck: toss salt over your left shoulder, never button your shirt crooked, and avoid black cats. But even luck can't keep her family safe from the Great Depression. When Pa loses his job, Esther's family leaves their comfy Chicago life behind for a farm in Wisconsin.Living on a farm comes with lots of hard work, but that means there are plenty of opportunities for Esther to show her mother how helpful she can be. She loves all of the farm animals (except the mean geese) and even better makes a fast friend in lively Bethany. But then Ma sees a sign that Esther just knows is wrong. If believing a superstition makes you miserable, how can that be good luck?Debut author Gayle Rosengren brings the past to life in this extraordinary, hopeful story.

When Mr. Bro. Wiley, Bean's adopted grandfather and the last slave man around, dies in the summer of 1940, Bean and his very best friend Pole are some kind of hurt. Everyone in the Low Meadows is. Despite their grief, they are proud and excited to be included in their very first Sittin'Up--a wake for the dead. Bean and Pole know this special week will be one to remember, especially if the coming storm has its way and riles up Ole River enough to flood the Low Meadows right in the middle of Mr. Bro. Wiley's Sittin'Up.Shelia P. Moses tells her most charming story yet. Laced with humor and a lot of heart, this is an affecting, fun tale from a storytelling master.

BONUS: This edition contains a The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers discussion guide.In award-winning author Thomas Mullen's evocative and spirited novel, we follow the Depression-era adventures of Jason and Whit Fireson—bank robbers known as the Firefly Brothers by an adoring public that worships their acts as heroic counterpunches thrown at a broken system. Late one night in August 1934, following a yearlong crime spree across the Midwest, the Firefly Brothers are forced into a police shootout and die in a hail of bullets. Or do they? Jason and Whit's girlfriends—Darcy, a wealthy socialite, and Veronica, a hardened survivor—struggle between grief and an unyielding belief that the Firesons are alive. Wild rumors spread that the bandits are still at large. Through it all, the Firefly Brothers remain as charismatic, unflappable, and as mythical as the American dream itself, racing to find the women they love and to make sense of a world in which all has come unmoored.

What kind of Christmas will her children have?The Great Depression left the Shoemaker family hungry and homeless. Their desperate prayers are finally answered when Henry Shoemaker finds work as a sharecropper. Alice makes the best of the hard times without complaint, though she dreams of giving her little family a special Christmas.

Bestselling author Marisa Silver takes Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother photograph as inspiration for a story of two women—one famous and one forgotten—and their remarkable chance encounter. In 1936, a young mother resting by the side of the road in central California is spontaneously photographed by a woman documenting migrant laborers in search of work. Few personal details are exchanged and neither woman has any way of knowing that they have produced one of the most iconic images of the Great Depression. In present day, Walker Dodge, a professor of cultural history, stumbles upon a family secret embedded in the now-famous picture. In luminous prose, Silver creates an extraordinary tale from a brief event in history and its repercussions throughout the decades that follow—a reminder that a great photograph captures the essence of a moment yet only scratches the surface of a life.

A journey to Florida's coast becomes an inescapable nightmare in this supernatural thriller from international bestselling author Michael Koryta. Arlen Wagner has seen it in men before: a trace of smoke in their eyes that promises imminent death. He is never wrong. When Arlen awakens on a train one hot Florida night and sees death's telltale sign in the eyes of his fellow passengers, he tries to warn them. Only 19-year-old Paul Brickhill believes him, and the two abandon the train, hoping to escape certain death. They continue south, but soon are stranded at the Cypress House -- an isolated Gulf Coast boarding house run by the beautiful Rebecca Cady -- directly in the path of an approaching hurricane. The storm isn't the only approaching danger, though. A much deadlier force controls the county and everyone living in it, and Arlen wants out -- fast. But Paul refuses to abandon Rebecca to face the threats alone, even though Arlen's eerie gift warns that if they stay too long they may never leave. From its chilling beginning to terrifying end, The Cypress House is a story of relentless suspense from'one of the best of the best'(Michael Connelly).

A voice is talking to Gene Richards. It's a low, calm, spooky voice that tells Gene to hurt his own Grandpa. The voice says his grandfather did something that can never be forgiven. Soon it becomes clear to Gene: Something happened a long time ago in the town of Magnolia. And until Gene can get to the bottom of it, this voice, this specter, isn't giving up. With his two friends Sonny and Sam, Gene begins investigating. He's determined to find out Magnolia's darkest secret and discover the truth about his grandfather. Set during the Depression, this page-turner with an unexpected final twist brings readers back to a time when small-town secrets could most certainly come back to haunt you. JAMES LINCOLN COLLIER is the author of more than fifty books for adults and children. He was awarded the Newbury Honor for My Brother Sam Is Dead and has twice been a finalist for the National Book Award. He is also well known for his writing for adults on jazz. He lives in New York City. PRAISE FOR THE EMPTY MIRROR:'This eerie suspense tale will appeal to kids who enjoy plot-driven stories that give them a good scare.'-Booklist'[A] fast-paced novel that will hook readers with a spooky ghost story while giving them interesting historical information.'-School Library Journal'[A] compelling tale of a young boy haunted by a vengeful spirit and his own tragic past... Spooky and satisfying.'-Kirkus Reviews

The summer of 1932 was a troublesome one for Jack Alder. His grandmother's health was fairing poorly, they were having a difficult time making ends meet during the Great Depression, and the town banker was threatening foreclosure on the family farm. The future seemed dismal and help was nowhere in sight. But Grandmama's faith in God brought renewed hope in the form of a lost childhood toy.

A novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932. When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her.--From publisher description.

Golden Kite Award winner1989 Booklist, Editor's Choice School Library Journal, Best Books of 1988 Publisher's Weekly, Best Books of 1988 Twelve-year-old Amanda Perritt is pitched head-first into adult responsibilities when she has to quit school to care for her newborn brother and invalid mother. She gets an escape, she thinks, when she's offered a trip to stay with her grandmother and her sophisticated Aunt Laura in Memphis. But during the visit, she discovers unexpected parallels between her mother's childhood and her own and comes to understand her own individuality as well as what it means to be part of a family.

Winner of the 2011 Newbery Award.The movement of the train rocked me like a lullaby. I closed my eyes to the dusty countryside and imagined the sign I'd seen only in Gideon's stories: Manifest—A Town with a rich past and a bright future. Abilene Tucker feels abandoned. Her father has put her on a train, sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works a railroad job. Armed only with a few possessions and her list of universals, Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kansas, aiming to learn about the boy her father once was.Having heard stories about Manifest, Abilene is disappointed to find that it's just a dried-up, worn-out old town. But her disappointment quickly turns to excitement when she discovers a hidden cigar box full of mementos, including some old letters that mention a spy known as the Rattler. These mysterious letters send Abilene and her new friends, Lettie and Ruthanne, on an honest-to-goodness spy hunt, even though they are warned to “Leave Well Enough Alone.”Abilene throws all caution aside when she heads down the mysterious Path to Perdition to pay a debt to the reclusive Miss Sadie, a diviner who only tells stories from the past. It seems that Manifest's history is full of colorful and shadowy characters—and long-held secrets. The more Abilene hears, the more determined she is to learn just what role her father played in that history. And as Manifest's secrets are laid bare one by one, Abilene begins to weave her own story into the fabric of the town. Powerful in its simplicity and rich in historical detail, Clare Vanderpool's debut is a gripping story of loss and redemption.

When Henry Warren, director of an English bank, lands by chance in a hospital in a bleak Northern town that has been ruined by the closure of its shipyard, he discovers nothing less than a new purpose for his life. Moved by the fate of the town's inhabitants, Warren risks his fortune and reputation to save the shipyard and restore the town to its former prosperity. In seeking to change the fate of the town, he radically changes his own.

Title from PDF title page (viewed on Nov. 10, 2009).

First comes love, then comes forgiveness…But a widowed father struggling during the Depression doesn't have much faith in either—until he meets Emma Spencer in the South Dakota boardinghouse they share. She's a dedicated nurse who could love his boy and heal his own heart. But how can Boothe trust a profession he blames for his greatest loss?Emma understands Boothe Powers's pain. She has her own secret anguish and believes her dreams of a husband and child are beyond reach. Still, she can pretend when he asks her to play his temporary fiancée to protect his son. And if God would grant her one miracle, He knows exactly what her heart is yearning for.

Over 10 million copies sold worldwide! • Now A Broadway Musical Starring Grant Gustin and Isabella McCalla#1 New York Times Bestseller • A Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, & USA Today Bestseller'This colorful headlong tale of a Depression-era circus simply can't be beat.'—Stephen KingA Major Motion Picture starring Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, and Christoph Waltz Jacob Janowski's luck had run out--orphaned and penniless, he had no direction until he landed on a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was the Great Depression and for Jacob the circus was both his salvation and a living hell. There he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but brutal animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this group of misfits was one of love and trust, and ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.

Another powerful story in the Logan Family Saga and companion to Mildred D. Taylor's Newbery Award-winning Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.With the depression bearing down on her family, there isn't much that Cassie Logan can count on anymore. But there is one thing that hasn't changed—the whispering trees outside her window. Cassie's trees, which have stood for centuries, are a great source of comfort to her. But they are also worth a lot of money. With Cassie's daddy gone to lay tracks for the railroad, it seems like no one can stop Mr. Andersen from forcing Big Ma to sell their valuable trees. How can Cassie sit by and watch them disappear? The beloved heroine of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry enchants us again in this story of strength and pride.'A triumphant book…A true story truly told.'—The New York Times Book Review

In this shimmering work of fiction, Nicholas Christopher follows the remarkable life of Franklin Flyer–a restless young inventor named after the train on which he was born–through the tumultuous years of the Great Depression, into the Second World War. Raised by his suffragette aunt, at various times a vagabond and tycoon, Franklin travels across the U.S.A and around the globe, seeking adventure and enlightenment, charting his fate by pursuing the unexpected.He encounters a glittering cast of characters: among them Rita Hayworth, Josephine Baker, OSS founder “Wild Bill” Donovan, and a host of political zealots, opportunists, and dreamers thrown together in a world on the brink of collapse. With each new invention–devices that help to revolutionize everything from early television to the technology with which the Allies respond to the Axis powers–Franklin makes his mark. Gaining fame and fortune, he also suffers terrible heartbreak, and through numerous transformations discovers that a man's own life is truly his most difficult, and rewarding, invention. A brisk, vivid blend of history and imagination, Franklin Flyer brings to life an American hero as unforgettable as his times.

During the Depression, having discovered that she has the ability to have out-of-body experiences, twelve-year-old Mary Francis tries to use it to deal with the'peculiar domestic situation'caused by her family's financial plight.

The Education of Little Tree has been embedded in controversy since the revelation that the autobiographical story told by Forrest Carter was a complete fabrication. The touching novel, which has entranced readers since it was first published in 1976, has since raised questions, many unanswered, about how this quaint and engaging tale of a young, orphaned boy could have been written by a man whose life was so overtly rooted in hatred. How can this story, now discovered to be fictitious, fill our hearts with so much emotion as we champion Little Tree's childhood lessons and future successes?The Education of Little Tree tells with poignant grace the story of a boy who is adopted by his Cherokee grandmother and half-Cherokee grandfather in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee during the Great Depression. “Little Tree,” as his grandparents call him, is shown how to hunt and survive in the mountains and taught to respect nature in the Cherokee Way—taking only what is needed, leaving the rest for nature to run its course. Little Tree also learns the often callous ways of white businessmen, sharecroppers, Christians, and politicians. Each vignette, whether frightening, funny, heartwarming, or sad, teaches our protagonist about life, love, nature, work, friendship, and family. A classic of its era and an enduring book for all ages, The Education of Little Tree continues to share important lessons. Little Tree's story allows us to reflect on the past and look toward the future. It offers us an opportunity to ask ourselves what we have learned and where it will take us.

With illustrations by Paul Brett JohnsonSporty Creek is a series of short stories set in the Kentucky hills. Narrated by a young boy (a cousin of the narrator of Still's classic novel River of Earth), the book tells the story of his family during the Great Depression. With work in the coal mines sporadic, they move from place to place, trying to earn a living the best they can. The story is told with gentleness and humor.

For Hank, the Great Depression means putting aside his dream in order to support his family. Is it justifiable to do something illegal when all else fails?

In'Waiting for Nothing'and Other Writings, the works of the depression-era writer Tom Kromer are collected for the first time into a volume that depicts with searing realism life on the bum in the 1930s and, with greater detachment, the powerless frustration of working-class people often too locked in to know their predicament.Waiting for Nothing, Kromer's only completed novel, is largely autobiographical and was written at a Civilian Conservation Corps camp in California. It tells the story of one man drifting through America, east coast to west, main stem to side street, endlessly searching for'three hots and a flop'—food and a place to sleep. Kromer scans, in first-person voice, the scattered events, the stultifying sameness, of'life on the vag'—the encounters with cops, the window panes that separate hunger and a'feed,'the bartering with prostitutes and homosexuals.In'Michael Kohler,'Kromer's unfinished novel, the harsh existence of coal miners in Pennsylvania is told in a committed, political voice that reveals Kromer's developing affinity with leftist writers including Lincoln Steffens and Theodore Dreiser. An exploration of Kromer's proletarian roots,'Michael Kohler'was to be a political novel, a story of labor unions and the injustices of big management. Kromer's other work ranges from his college days, when he wrote a sarcastic expose of the bums in his hometown titled'Pity the Poor Panhandler: $2 an Hour Is All He Gets,'to the sensitive pieces of his later life—short stories, articles, and book reviews written more out of an aching understanding of suffering than from the slick formulas of politics.Waiting for Nothing remains, however, Kromer's most powerful achievement, a work Steffens called'realism to the nth degree.'Collected here as the major part of Kromer's oeuvre, Waiting for Nothing traces the author's personal struggle to preserve human virtues and emotions in the face of a brutal and dehumanizing society.

Brilliant, evocative, poetic, savage, this Pulitzer Prize-winning first novel (1934) depicts a white, middle-class urban family that is turned into dirt-poor farmers by the Depression and the great drought of the thirties. The novel moves through a single year and, at the same time, a decade of years, from the spring arrival of the family at their mortgaged farm to the winter 10 years later, when the ravages of drought, fire, and personal anguish have led to the deaths of two of the five. Like Ethan Frome, the relatively brief, intense story evokes the torment possible among people isolated and driven by strong feelings of love and hate that, unexpressed, lead inevitably to doom. Reviewers in the thirties praised the novel, calling its prose'profoundly moving music,'expressing incredulity'that this mature style and this mature point of view are those of a young women in her twenties,'comparing the book to'the luminous work of Willa Cather,'and, with prescience, suggesting that it'has that rare quality of timelessness which is the mark of first-rate fiction.'