Finding a way to cope through poetry The days seem carefree for Piper Berry in her hometown of Buttermilk Hill, North Carolina -- days filled with fishing with her daddy and ten-year-old aunt/best friend Lindy and listening to her grandmother's stories. But then Mama, Tiny Lambert (whom readers may remember from Weeping Willow), announces she wants more out of life than being a housewife, and Daddy thinks this is unreasonable. He moves out and that ugly word d-i-v-o-r-c-e becomes a reality. Soon Mama's time becomes consumed with waiting tables and taking college classes. Daddy remarries, adopts two sons, and has a new baby daughter. Piper can't help but feel as if she doesn't belong anywhere anymore, and her only comfort is found in spending time with Lindy and their friend Bucky, whose life is full of his own share of family trouble. Piper's growing interest in and talent for poetry help her find a voice to say the things that are hardest and make an important decision about following her own dreams.

In this completely revised, expanded, and updated edition, Walter G. Zyznieuski and George S. Zyznieuski describe sixty-nine trails that total more than eight hundred miles. Thirteen new trails have been added in this edition. All but four of the original maps have been revised and updated and many new photographs are included. Since the first edition was published, there have been many changes along the trails or at the parks or forests where the trails were located. In order to update their book, the Zyznieuskis contacted the headquarters of each park and forest to obtain detailed and up-to-date information. In the appendixes the Zyznieuskis provide information on obtaining trail maps, hiking organizations, and rules and regulations for Illinois state parks and recreation areas. As in the first edition, the authors have hiked each trail they describe. It is their firsthand experience that makes it possible for them to provide reliable, detailed, and up-to-date information on each of these trails for Illinois hikers and backpackers.

Mysterious vanishing hitchhikers, travelers beset by headless dogs, and long-dead moonshiners come alive in this collection of ninety-six Appalachian folktales. Set in coal mines and remote farm cabins, in hidden hollows and on mountain tops, some of these stories look back to the days when West Virginia was first settled; others reflect the rancor and brutality of the Civil War. But most of these tales guide us through the recent past of the uncommonly rich folk heritage of West Virginia. This ghostly collection, with source information and bold illustrations, will thrill longtime lovers of supernatural lore.

Mount Pleasant has deep American roots going back to the Revolutionary War, when local tenant farmers filled the ranks of General Washington's Continental army. For years, travel to New York City was difficult, until the arrival of the railroad in 1846 allowed easy transportation to lower Manhattan. In 1893, John D. Rockefeller Sr. began buying land in Pocantico and built his classic Georgian mansion. The massive Kensico Dam in Valhalla was completed in 1917 to satisfy the growing thirst of New York City. In 1927, Rose Hawthorne, the daughter of writer Nathaniel Hawthorne, completed the Rosary Hill Home to care for the unfortunate. The following year, Dewitt Wallace and his wife Lila moved to Pleasantville to launch the production of Reader's Digest. Through photographs, Mount Pleasant remembers these historic moments.

Talladega County is known for its auto racing and rich southern history. Stories of the strange and supernatural, however, are just as prevalent. Like the story of Gloria's bridge, where the spirit of a woman and her baby are said to appear when her name is called out. Or the ghost of a man and his dog wandering the forests of Cemetery Mountain. At Hill Elementary, the specter of a principal still patrols the grounds, watching over her students. Paranormal writers Kim Johnston and Shane Busby chronicle the strange, mysterious and ghastly past of Talladega County.

The Bond of Love, the third book in the Finley’s Tale series, completes Finley Newcastle’s journal of experiences involving church people and church mice. Highlighted are the state-sponsored Underground Railroad tours, the eye-opening discovery by the mice that Historic St. Peter’s is a “Lutheran” church, a sheep-stealing debacle, and umpteen other developments. At last, Finley says farewell to his journaling days, turning his attention to another goal on his bucket list. Years later, his journal is rediscovered by a new generation of church mice who are riveted to learn of St. Pete’s past. Finley Newcastle becomes a hero in the mouse world, the only mouse who has picked up a pen and written a journal about the most important place on earth: Historic St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Oswald County.