Dr. Elmer Gaede expected to follow in the footsteps of his Mennonite farming family. He never imagined that during the 1950s and '60s he'd fly with other legendary bush pilots, such as Babe Alsworth, Andy Anderson, Fred and John Chambers, Don Sheldon, Don Stickman, and Noel Wien. Or that he'd be counted among the early Alaska physicians in Interior Alaska. Fasten your seatbelt for Bush flying crack-ups, fly-in house calls in 50-below temperatures, hunting adventures, and a psychotic woman climbing out of his small Piper aircraft, 2,000 feet above the Yukon River. Pack your sense of humor for a monkey in Doc's clinic waiting room, misjudged bush landings, delivering a baby during the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, and more.

Ruby Gaede expected to be a Kansas farmer's wife, snuggled safely into a Mennonite community with her relatives, milking cows and gathering eggs. What happens when her husband climbs off his tractor, goes to medical school, and becomes a bush pilot doctor in the middle of Alaska? She makes a home, cranks homemade ice cream on the frozen Yukon River, sings Christmas carols at 40 below, serves moose roasts, and seeks tips from the Native women on how to keep her four young children warm in the winter. * * * "Gaede-Penner is an authentic and gifted Alaska writer. I identified with her stories and the village culture she portrays. She gives voice to indigenous people, missionaries, and schoolteachers, all of whom need to be heard." --Margaret DeMers, Bible Translator for People of the North "Gaede-Penner's books are the best Alaska biographies I have read. She incorporates local history without losing her story's focus. Her accounts are unpretentious and present forceful and appealing characters." --Larry Hibpshman, retired Senior Archivist at the Alaska State Archives "Reading Gaede-Penner's book, I was amazed how Ruby persevered through each exasperating episode with her children, initiated classy social activities in a village with only a general store, and without hesitation opened her home to local and long-term guests alike. I couldn't put down the book." --Melissa Fogle, ESL Teacher * * * NAOMI GAEDE-PENNER is a writer and speaker who believes prescriptions for adventure come in all walks of life. Along with story telling, capturing Alaska history is her passion. This is her fifth Alaska book. Learn more at www. prescriptionforadventure.com.

The elders of the last roving bands of Nunamiuts, and the only inland Eskimos in Alaska, were determined to provide education within their settlement, rather than send their children to boarding school. The obstacles were daunting: no school building, no teacherage, no roads to transport building supplies, no airstrip, no wood for fuel except willows, no public services besides a post office, and few English-speaking adults and children. When Anna Bortel flew with a bush pilot doctor to Anaktuvuk Pass, do an educational assessment, they begged her to return and teach. As told in 'A' is for Alaska: Teacher to the Territory, Anna knew the daily living requirements would be steep, much more so than those of teaching. She deliberated. She prayed. She accepted the challenge. A year later, Ernest Gruening, U.S. Senator from Alaska, described the dilemma Alaskan educators faced and the determination of the Native people to obtain an education. He held up Anna Bortel as the ideal teacher, "one able to comprehend their problem, one kind and sympathetic, and above all one able to adjust to all conditions that might face her." Read how Anna Bortel carved a place in Alaska history and taught children that 'A' is for Anaktuvuk, Alaska, while the Anaktuvuk people taught her how to live in their world.

More than twenty years ago, a disillusioned college graduate named Peter Jenkins set out with his dog Cooper to look for himself and his nation. His memoir of what he found, A Walk Across America, captured the hearts of millions of Americans. Now, Peter is a bit older, married with a family, and his journeys are different than they were. Perhaps he is looking for adventure, perhaps inspiration, perhaps new communities, perhaps unspoiled land. Certainly, he found all of this and more in Alaska, America's last wilderness. Looking for Alaska is Peter's account of eighteen months spent traveling over twenty thousand miles in tiny bush planes, on snow machines and snowshoes, in fishing boats and kayaks, on the Alaska Marine Highway and the Haul Road, searching for what defines Alaska. Hearing the amazing stories of many real Alaskans--from Barrow to Craig, Seward to Deering, and everywhere in between--Peter gets to know this place in the way that only he can. His resulting portrait is a rare and unforgettable depiction of a dangerous and beautiful land and all the people that call it home. He also took his wife and eight-year-old daughter with him, settling into a "home base" in Seward on the Kenai Peninsula, coming and going from there, and hosting the rest of their family for extended visits. The way his family lived, how they made Alaska their home and even participated in Peter's explorations, is as much a part of this story as Peter's own travels. All in all, Jenkins delivers a warm, funny, awe-inspiring, and memorable diary of discovery-both of this place that captures all of our imaginations, and of himself, all over again.