The author of the acclaimed "A Crooked Kind of Perfect" comes the story of a fifth-grade girl who begins to see how one small, brave act can lead to a friend who is hound dog true.

"Ed Vance, acclaimed hunter and expert tracker, hunted mountain lions, bears, and bobcats in the mountains and forests of California, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Montana for 25 years. Featured in Bowhunters Digest 1st. edition, Los Angeles Times West Magazine (1967), Saga Magazine (1968), Western Outdoors (1968), Bow & Arrow Magazine (1971), Bow & Arrow Magazine (1973), and Western Outdoors News (1968 – 1973), Ed Vance risked everything to follow his dreams, and without knowing it, chiseled a name for himself and for his dogs in the history of these places. The bond between the hunter and his hounds was one of deep trust and reliance, in a time when the changing landscape threatened to take it all. Trained by a Hound Dog recounts the legends of the hunt, in the authentic voice of the man who was there, told as if the reader were sitting with him around a campfire. The true stories he tells of his hounds and the lions and bears they caught in some of the country's toughest terrain and conditions are a glimpse into an era of Western History that has faded from view"--Back cover.

He was born in rural Missouri, and it was immediately clear that he was different from the rest. He caught his first criminal when he was just two years old. By his sixth birthday, he had located burglars, missing children, drug dealers, rapists, and murderers—including Utah’s most wanted criminal. Known to friends as JJ, to law enforcement as Michael Serio’s partner, and to captured criminals as “that damned dog,” Jessie Jr., an exceptionally talented bloodhound, bayed like a sea lion that had swallowed a fog horn. Before JJ, few police departments in the West used bloodhounds, and none in Utah. But just when JJ was finally convincing naysayers, he and Officer Serio ran into something worse than resistance: the despair of failure amid high hope. JJ had been tracking Brian David Mitchell, the man who abducted Elizabeth Smart, when he was pulled off the track. Elizabeth later told investigators that on the day she was kidnapped she heard a dog baying in the woods behind her. In almost nine years of service, JJ helped apprehend nearly 300 criminal suspects in the Salt Lake City area. Here is his remarkable story, fleas and all. Click here to view the trailer for Bloodhound in Blue.

Ten-year-old Zoe Elias has perfect piano dreams. She can practically feel the keys under her flying fingers; she can hear the audience's applause. All she needs is a baby grand so she can start her lessons, and then she'll be well on her way to Carnegie Hall. But when Dad ventures to the music store and ends up with a wheezy organ instead of a piano, Zoe's dreams hit a sour note. Learning the organ versions of old TV theme songs just isn't the same as mastering Beethoven on the piano. And the organ isn't the only part of Zoe's life in Michigan that's off-kilter, what with Mom constantly at work, Dad afraid to leave the house, and that odd boy, Wheeler Diggs, following her home from school every day. Yet when Zoe enters the annual Perform-O-Rama organ competition, she finds that life is full of surprises—and that perfection may be even better when it's just a little off center. This ebook includes a sample chapter of Hound Dog True.

A bestselling modern classic—both poignant and funny—narrated by a fifteen year old autistic savant obsessed with Sherlock Holmes, this dazzling novel weaves together an old-fashioned mystery, a contemporary coming-of-age story, and a fascinating excursion into a mind incapable of processing emotions. Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, Christopher is autistic. Everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning for him. At fifteen, Christopher’s carefully constructed world falls apart when he finds his neighbour’s dog Wellington impaled on a garden fork, and he is initially blamed for the killing. Christopher decides that he will track down the real killer, and turns to his favourite fictional character, the impeccably logical Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration. But the investigation leads him down some unexpected paths and ultimately brings him face to face with the dissolution of his parents’ marriage. As Christopher tries to deal with the crisis within his own family, the narrative draws readers into the workings of Christopher’s mind. And herein lies the key to the brilliance of Mark Haddon’s choice of narrator: The most wrenching of emotional moments are chronicled by a boy who cannot fathom emotions. The effect is dazzling, making for one of the freshest debut in years: a comedy, a tearjerker, a mystery story, a novel of exceptional literary merit that is great fun to read.

There is nothing lonelier than a cat who has been loved, at least for a while, and then abandoned on the side of the road. A calico cat, about to have kittens, hears the lonely howl of a chained-up hound deep in the backwaters of the bayou. She dares to find him in the forest, and the hound dares to befriend this cat, this feline, this creature he is supposed to hate. They are an unlikely pair, about to become an unlikely family. Ranger urges the cat to hide underneath the porch, to raise her kittens there because Gar-Face, the man living inside the house, will surely use them as alligator bait should he find them. But they are safe in the Underneath...as long as they stay in the Underneath. Kittens, however, are notoriously curious creatures. And one kitten’s one moment of curiosity sets off a chain of events that is astonishing, remarkable, and enormous in its meaning. For everyone who loves Sounder, Shiloh, and The Yearling, for everyone who loves the haunting beauty of writers such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Flannery O’Connor, and Carson McCullers, Kathi Appelt spins a harrowing yet keenly sweet tale about the power of love—and its opposite, hate—the fragility of happiness and the importance of making good on your promises.

A dog is an ideal workout partner: always supportive, happy to go for a walk and never judgmental. The human-companion animal bond is a great way to help you and your dog lose weight or stay fit. When people and dogs exercise together, fitness and health happen on both ends of the leash. As the obesity epidemic spreads, 70% of Americans and 50% of dogs are overweight or obese, resulting in staggering health care costs and suffering. The causes, consequences, and treatment for overweight and obesity are strikingly similar in people and dogs. Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound, written by an expert veterinary surgeon and a leading nurse researcher, helps you move from a food-centered relationship with dogs, to an exercise-centered relationship. Even better, you don’t have to own a dog! The book gives several creative suggestions to exercise or walk a dog even if you do not or cannot have one. This volume is designed for dog lovers, dog owners and families. Based on the latest scientific findings, it will also help professionals (including physicians, veterinarians, and physical therapists) fight obesity and promote fitness in both people and pets. Dog-walking programs can easily be implemented in neighborhoods, parks, workplaces, animal shelters, hospitals, retirement homes and obesity clinics, and this book shows you how to establish them. In nearly every health care profession, practitioners are teaching human patients and dog owners on a daily basis about the risks of obesity. Never has there been a more compelling time for innovative approaches to increasing physical activity, reforming sedentary lifestyles, and enhancing fitness. Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound provides specific strategies for people and dogs to exercise together, lose weight together, and have fun in the process.