National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation meets Sweet Home Alabama when Christmas goes south in this redneck romantic comedy. I really want a ring before subjecting Collins to my redneck relatives. So I'm relieved when he has to work over the holidays. All I want is a low-key Christmas in Alabama with my family. Well, that and the snow I believe is coming. My perfect holiday is ruined the moment Collins shows up in my mama's kitchen ... escorted by my county sheriff ex-boyfriend. I can honestly say I haven't been this surprised since my cousin went to jail. Collins might be a successful surgeon in Atlanta, but I doubt he can last a few days in the small town of Wisteria, Alabama. However, if our love can withstand my gun-slinging, hog-killing family, then I'm sure we're destined to be together. We just have to make it through Christmas.

How did enslaved African Americans in the Old South really experience Christmas? Did Christmastime provide slaves with a lengthy and jubilant respite from labor and the whip, as is generally assumed, or is the story far more complex and troubling? In this provocative, revisionist, and sometimes chilling account, Robert E. May chides the conventional wisdom for simplifying black perspectives, uncritically accepting southern white literary tropes about the holiday, and overlooking evidence not only that countless southern whites passed Christmases fearful that their slaves would revolt but also that slavery’s most punitive features persisted at holiday time. In Yuletide in Dixie, May uncovers a dark reality that not only alters our understanding of that history but also sheds new light on the breakdown of slavery in the Civil War and how false assumptions about slave Christmases afterward became harnessed to myths undergirding white supremacy in the United States. By exposing the underside of slave Christmases, May helps us better understand the problematic stereotypes of modern southern historical tourism and why disputes over Confederate memory retain such staying power today. A major reinterpretation of human bondage, Yuletide in Dixie challenges disturbing myths embedded deeply in our culture.

It's the most wonderful time of the year, especially in Alabama. Celebrate the spirit of the season with these tales of Christmases past from the heart of Dixie. There is the story of Helen Keller's first Christmas memories in Tuscumbia, the tale of how Birmingham native Hugh Martin penned the classic tune "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," visions of all the impressive Christmas light displays throughout the state and much more. In a collection of tales that range from the heartwarming to the heartbreaking, Alabama author Kelly Kazek culls from over two hundred years of Christmas celebrations in the state and offers up a gift that no one will want to be without come Christmas morning.

A classic tale by Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo, America's beloved storyteller. One summer’s day, ten-year-old India Opal Buloni goes down to the local supermarket for some groceries – and comes home with a dog. But Winn-Dixie is no ordinary dog. It’s because of Winn-Dixie that Opal begins to make friends. And it’s because of Winn-Dixie that she finally dares to ask her father about her mother, who left when Opal was three. In fact, as Opal admits, just about everything that happens that summer is because of Winn-Dixie. Featuring a new cover illustration by E. B. Lewis.

With a family that loves music as much as hers does, it was only a matter of time before it was Ava's turn to pick out an instrument. Her mother plays the piano, her father plays the violin, and one brother plays the cello while the other plays the clarinet. As soon as Ava selects an instrument, she will be able to join them as they practice for the annual holiday concert. And her family has definite ideas on what instrument Ava should select, from the piano to the flute to the violin. But Ava isn't interested in any of them. Ava wants to play the tuba. And she gets her wish. But playing the tuba isn't as easy as it seems. And there is no place for a tuba in the annual concert. But with the encouragement of her music teacher, Ava finds a place for her and her tuba in a special holiday celebration.

A guide to camping, fishing, hiking & sightseeing and to the 558 state parks throughout America's South, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Texas Panhandle--14 states in all.

From her time on the Atlanta police force, Callahan Garrity, house cleaner and private investigator extraordinaire, has excelled at mopping up messes -- of all kinds. But she has no idea what she's getting into when she agrees to work for infamous antiques dealer Elliot Littlefield. The first day on the job she and her crew discover the bloodied body of a young woman in a bedroom -- and are soon on the trail of a priceless Civil War diary stolen by the killer. As if two crimes aren't enough, deadly serious collectors, right-wing radicals, and impulsive teenagers make the case even more difficult to tidy up ... and more dangerous.