Lela Rhoades has a voice so sharp, so funny, warm, and honest, that the stories of her life and the traditions of her parents will barely sit still on the page. As told to Molly Curtis in the 1970's, this memoir takes us back into a world where men chased mother grizzlies out of their dens for their meat, where manzanita berries were ground up into sugar and houses built with the door right in the middle of the roof. It was an intricate, complex life that was unknown to the strangers that would take over the land. For all of her recollections, old recipes, and legends, this is also a story of transition for Lela Rhoades, her Achumawi people, and for Native California in general. Here, Rhoades walks the line between tradition and change, watching the land and hunting rights of her people vanish, telling creation stories that blend both Coyote and Jesus, and recounting her marriage to a white rancher. Come, sit down at the feet of Lela Rhoades, and listen to the strength and beauty of her world. "There was an aristocratic presence, an aristocratic aura about the heavy, elder lady, Lela Grant Rhoades, slowly rocking in her chair as she quietly embroidered a delicate pattern, silver needles flashing in the fading evening light, black-rimmed glasses resting on her nose a mysterious aristocratic something, like she knew many secrets or something more necessary than life. I thought of Grandmother Spider creating her web with great confidence." From the Foreword by Darryl Babe Wilson

Reba was a wonderful mother. After her husband died she had raised her five children with her limited resources and some help from her sister and brother-in-law who were childless. When the youngest child was nine years old she saw her mother murdered. Three men raped and murdered her mother. All three of the men were prominent citizens. One of them was even the sheriff. When they realized the woman was dead the men sobered up. They agreed it had been an accident- an unfortunate accident. The woman shouldn’t have had her dress up showing her white little ass as she urinated there in the woods where she had been picking blackberries. They became concerned with trying to protect themselves and their families. When they found out the little girl had seen them they became obsessed with trying to stay out of her sight. The child ran into each of the men. Each time she identified one of the men as her mother’s murderer she was told she was wrong. The men were family men. They were prominent citizens. The uncle and aunt took the children to raise. After the child kept insisting she had identified the men correctly the uncle got a detective to investigate the case. The detective was murdered. The death was investigated by the sheriff and declared an accident. The child entered her teens and her mother’s death had still not been avenged. The system had let her down. She felt unbearable guilt that she hadn’t somehow been able to stop her mother from being murdered. When she was fifteen years old she began taking the punishment of her mother’s murderers into her own hands. Over several years the three men died. Each time she was present. After the death of the last man she collapsed mentally. The aunt and uncle realized she had been responsible for the deaths of her mother’s murderers. The girl had fallen in love with one of the men’s sons. It was never to be. The girl’s mind became that of the child she used to be. The aunt and uncle lived life day by day hoping she would never regain the horror of the memories that lay buried in her mind.

Filled with more than 150 beautiful, crystal-clear photos and bee fun facts, The Book of Bees is the ultimate guide for kids to explore the lives of these stunning insects and learn about their critical role in fostering a sustainable, healthy Earth. Did you know there are blue bees and green bees? Or that one species of bee nests in snail shells? Or that many bees don’t live in hives? With more than 20,000 species of bees worldwide, there’s more to bees than just honey! The Book of Bees gives curious kids a close-up view of busy buzzers from around the world. From the familiar Western honeybee to the extra-large Himalayan giant honeybee and Australia’s vibrant neon cuckoo bee, these pages are packed with detailed photos and fascinating facts on more than 50 species of bees. In-depth species profiles help you identify bees, learn about bee-havior, and find your favorites! And special features examine topics like hive life, nest cells, and other pollinators. The world of bees is exciting and surprising—and The Book of Bees will leave you buzzing!

Here I Stand gives the reader a glimpse into the life of a career police officer as recalled by Robert Fletcher. As Fletcher is standing at the head of the conference table in the Organized Crime Bureau, being honored for thirty years of dedicated service, memories come flooding back. Here I Stand presents these memories, good and bad, as they happened. This true account starts with the author being a teenager in trouble with the law. After being caught in the midst of a crime, he was given a second chance and became a straight arrow. Later, the Phoenix Police Department took a chance on him and an outstanding career began. From the very beginning his career was unique. About half way through the police academy, the entire class was pulled out and put into service to help quell a race riot in Phoenix. After being back in the academy for a short period, Fletcher and eleven other recruits were chosen to be turned loose on the City without training officers. That was a grand experiment that was never repeated. Robert Fletcher worked on numerous details and assignments during his career. They included Patrol, Walking Beat, Selective Enforcement, Warrant Detail, Solo Motorcycles, Detective Bureau, Community Relations Bureau, Information Desk, Communications Bureau, and at the time of his retirement, he was the sergeant in charge of the Investigations Unit of the Organized Crime Bureau. This book shares memories from each of these details and assignments.

Lela in Bali tells the story of an annual festival of eighteenth-century kingdoms in Northern Cameroon that was swept up in the migrations of marauding slave-raiders during the nineteenth century and carried south towards the coast. Lela was transformed first into a mounted durbar, like those of the Muslim states, before evolving in tandem with the German colonial project into a festival of arms. Reinterpreted by missionaries and post-colonial Cameroonians, Lela has become one of the most important of Cameroonian festivals and a crucial marker of identity within the state. Richard Fardon’s recuperation of two hundred years of history is an essential contribution not only to Cameroonian studies but also to the broader understanding of the evolution of African cultures.

Lela loves butterflies. When Lela takes a nature walk with Ranger Maggie, she learns that butterflies need help. Lela's small steps in butterfly conservation start with a butterfly garden of nectar and host plants, but she doesn't stop there and ends up spreading her love for butterflies throughout the community. A simple guide to planting a butterfly garden is also included.

Saturday People, Sunday People is a unique portrait of Israel as seen through the eyes of a Christian who came for a visit and has stayed on for more than six years. Long fascinated by a land that has become an abstraction centering on international conflicts of epic proportions, Lela Gilbert arrived in Israel on a personal pilgrimage in August 2006—in the midst of a raging war. What she found was a vibrant country, enlivened by warm-hearted, lively people of great intelligence and decency. Saturday People, Sunday People tells the story of the real Israel and of real Israelis—ordinary and extraordinary—and the energetic rhythm of their lives, even during times of tragedy and terror. The book interweaves a memoir of Gilbert’s experiences with Israel’s people and places, alongside a rich account of past and present events that continue to shape the lives of Israelis and the world beyond their borders. As she watched events unfold in the Middle East, Gilbert witnessed how the simplest facts turned into lies, from denial of the existence of a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem to the characterization of Israel’s defensive border fence as “Apartheid.” Then Gilbert learned of a story that had all but vanished into history: the persecution and pogroms that drove more than 850,000 Jews from Muslim lands between 1948 and 1970—the “Forgotten Refugees.” Their experience is now repeating itself among Christian communities in those same Muslim countries. This cruel pattern embodies the Islamist slogan calling for the elimination of “First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people.”