What does it take to be one of the world's best high-altitude mountain climbers? A lot of fundraising; traveling in some of the world's most dangerous countries; enduring cold bivouacs, searing lungs, and a cloudy mind when you can least afford one. It means learning the hard lessons the mountains teach. Steve House built his reputation on ascents throughout the Alps, Canada, Alaska, the Karakoram and the Himalaya that have expanded possibilities of style, speed, and difficulty. In 2005 Steve and alpinist Vince Anderson pioneered a direct new route on the Rupal Face of 26,600-foot Nanga Parbat, which had never before been climbed in alpine style. It was the third ascent of the face and the achievement earned Steveand Vince the first Piolet d"or (Golden Ice Axe) awarded to North Americans. Steve is an accomplished and spellbinding storyteller in the tradition of Maurice Herzog and Lionel Terray. Beyond the Mountain is a gripping read destined to be a mountain classic. And it

Sasha views her marriage to Marc, her college boyfriend, as the consummation of a tested, yet blissful, romantic relationship. The sweethearts seem to have everything going for them-privileged backgrounds, current professional success, and a bright future. When their efforts to have a much-desired child fail to bear fruit, however, they embark on a journey of changes and breakthroughs, trials and triumphs, that will test the mettle of their love. Sasha soon realizes that the wedding wasn't the pinnacle of their courtship, but the beginning of their marriage. Will this young family survive the struggles that come their way? Beyond the Mountaintop draws readers into Sasha and Marc's world as they travel the difficult road of their young marriage. Along the way, Sarah, Marc's Pentecostal sister, and Big Pierre, a celebrated stand-up comedian, join in the journey and add their unique perspectives to the important questions raised throughout the story. Over time, Sasha learns that life, and marriage, consists of a series of quests in which every goal met marks the start of a new route in their shared and lifelong journey. Ultimately, Sasha and Marc-and the reader-must answer the question: Is knowledge the reason for marriage, or is marriage the reason for knowledge?...

"Labeled female at birth, Steven Hammond lived for 25 years as a female--a boy imprisoned in the trappings of a girl"--P. [4] of cover.

Finalist for the IODE Violet Downey Book Award Samira is only nine years old when the Turkish army invades northwestern Persia in 1918, and she and her parents, brother and baby sister are driven from their tiny village. Taking only what they can carry, they flee into the mountains, but the journey is so difficult that only Samira and her older brother, Benyamin, survive. When Samira finally arrives in a refugee camp, it is her friendship with another orphan, Anna, that pulls her out of her sadness. And when the two girls are given a toddler named Elias to care for, they form a new kind of family. Over the years the children are shunted from one refugee camp to another, from Persia to Iraq and back again, and finally end up in an orphanage, where it seems that they will live out their childhood. Then a new orphanage director arrives -- Susan Shedd, a woman whose authority and energy Samira has never seen before. And Samira’s respect turns to amazement when Miss Shedd decides that she will take the three hundred children back to their home villages to make new lives for themselves. It will be a journey of three hundred miles, through the mountains, and it will be made on foot.

Beyond the Mountains explores the ways in which Appalachia often served as a laboratory for the exploration and practice of American conceptions of nature. The region operated alternately as frontier, wilderness, rural hinterland, region of subsistence agriculture, bastion of yeoman farmers, and place to experiment with modernization. In these various takes on the southern mountains, scattered across time and space, both mountain residents and outsiders consistently believed that the region's environment made Appalachia distinctive, for better or worse. With chapters dedicated to microhistories focused on particular commodities, Drew A. Swanson builds upon recent Appalachian studies scholarship, emphasizing the diversity of a region so long considered a homogenous backwater. While Appalachia has a recognizable and real coherence rooted in folkways, agriculture, and politics (among other things), it is also a region of varied environments, people, and histories. These discrete stories are, however, linked through the power of conceptualizing nature and work together to reveal the ways in which ideas and uses of nature often created a sense of identity in Appalachia. Delving into the environmental history of the region reveals that Appalachian environments, rather than separating the mountains from the broader world, often served to connect the region to outside places.

Will beautiful, auburn-haired Laurel Worth be able to cope in the alien environment into which her husband, Justin, has moved her and their two small children?Laurel, the daughter of an esteemed professor, has been a public figure most of her adult life: a successful teacher with some training as a nurse, as well as a speaker for womenas right to vote and for Prohibition. And, all the while, a southern belle! Justin, educated to be a lawyer and already a successful professional photographer, is a charming adventurer. He takes a job supervising a logging crew in the mountains of western North Carolina. Their home is a rough-hewn shack in a primitive, isolated logging camp.Laurelas challenges include a near-fatal accident in a turbulent river, treating diphtheria and snake bites, a panther attack, endless work, and Justinas skirmishes with outlaws and bootleggers.Will the love between these two strong-minded individuals withstand the test?Will her faith enable her to mold her environment instead of being molded by it?Will she survive?