2021 Nebraska Book Award Never Caught Twice presents the untold history of horse raiding and stealing on the Great Plains of western Nebraska. By investigating horse stealing by and from four Plains groups--American Indians, the U.S. Army, ranchers and cowboys, and farmers--Matthew S. Luckett clarifies a widely misunderstood crime in Western mythology and shows that horse stealing transformed plains culture and settlement in fundamental and surprising ways. From Lakota and Cheyenne horse raids to rustling gangs in the Sandhills, horse theft was widespread and devastating across the region. The horse's critical importance in both Native and white societies meant that horse stealing destabilized communities and jeopardized the peace throughout the plains, instigating massacres and murders and causing people to act furiously in defense of their most expensive, most important, and most beloved property. But as it became increasingly clear that no one legal or military institution could fully control it, would-be victims desperately sought a solution that would spare their farms and families from the calamitous loss of a horse. For some, that solution was violence. Never Caught Twice shows how the story of horse stealing across western Nebraska and the Great Plains was in many ways the story of the old West itself.

Never Caught Twice offers a comprehensive cross-cultural study of horse theft as a crime, a transactional activity, and an intercultural phenomenon on the Great Plains of western Nebraska.

Kyle Duford was a successful executive, mostly because he preferred working overseas to being at home in his broken marriage. But as his life took a dramatic turn, was fired, divorced, and contemplating suicide, he started to feel chased by God. That's when, as he started looking back on his life, he realized that nearly every person with whom he interacted, at nearly every stage in life, was really "Jesus with skin on," showing God's love for him. After a period of his brokenness in the days after his firing, he knew something had to change, so he hopped a flight to Maui to be alone with his thoughts and whatever the universe, or God—or whatever was out there—had in store for him. It's in those days that Jesus used nearly every person with whom he came in contact to show Kyle he was there, with him, chasing him. But God saved his biggest surprise for last: a random introduction to his life-long love with whom he hadn't had any contact in twenty-one years. Not on social. Not an email. Nothing. And that encounter would change everything. A story of life with-and-without God and how he helps us to be ourselves in a unique and authentic way so we can live life to the fullest.

T he Real Housewives of Atlanta averaged 1.3 million viewers per episode in its first season. Nene Leakes, the show’s outrageous, dazzlingly captivating, tell-it-like-it-is star, has been lauded by her legions of fans for her refreshing honesty, her infectiously genuine style, and her clever sense of humor. Here, in this straight-talking and provocative memoir Nene charts her journey from the family black sheep to single motherhood to making good and realizing her dream. Nene tackles her painful childhood, the abuse she suffered at the hands of a violent boyfriend, her struggle to support her firstborn son, and her path to true love, self-acceptance, and pride. The fur flies when she takes on the rumors that have dogged her and shares her no-holds-barred views of some of her castmates. With her fierce, no-nonsense attitude and delicious irreverence, Nene will tell it like it is about both her past and her present. Readers won’t be able to put this book down!

Tarin's been caught, but can he be civilized? Despite his wild ways and his keen instincts, Twice-caught Tarin is bonding with his beak-faced captain, Garrick, but not everyone wants their relationship to succeed. Learning civilized skills and living in buildings have their good points, but Tarin struggles to reconcile his yearning for freedom with his desire for Garrick and his loyalty to his friends. His thinking is clouded by his buzzing conscience and the remaining effects of having his memory wiped by the mysterious Mothers. One thing Tarin is sure of; Major Jadon is a Bad Egg. He's a bitter and jealous man determined to stop any happiness in the community and consolidate power in himself. If Jadon succeeds in his plans, not only will Tarin and Garrick be parted, but Tarin's friend Perry will be in Jadon's clutches. As if threats to community harmony and the safety of new boys weren't bad enough, Tarin may lose the traditional Candle Day choice between his man and the woods if Garrick is not declared to be whole and healthy. Can Tarin's untamed nature defeat the civilized Jadon's cunning use of the community's rules before Candle Day? As many perils for Tarin lie within the winterbound community as outside, but when library-boy Aran faces a cruel punishment, Tarin is even willing to face the Mothers to save his friend. Winter may pass, but will Jadon's malice ever cease?

“A brilliant work of US history.” —School Library Journal (starred review) “Gripping.” —BCCB (starred review) “Accessible…Necessary.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) A National Book Award Finalist for Nonfiction, Never Caught is the eye-opening narrative of Ona Judge, George and Martha Washington’s runaway slave, who risked everything for a better life—now available as a young reader’s edition! In this incredible narrative, Erica Armstrong Dunbar reveals a fascinating and heartbreaking behind-the-scenes look at the Washingtons when they were the First Family—and an in-depth look at their slave, Ona Judge, who dared to escape from one of the nation’s Founding Fathers. Born into a life of slavery, Ona Judge eventually grew up to be George and Martha Washington’s “favored” dower slave. When she was told that she was going to be given as a wedding gift to Martha Washington’s granddaughter, Ona made the bold and brave decision to flee to the north, where she would be a fugitive. From her childhood, to her time with the Washingtons and living in the slave quarters, to her escape to New Hampshire, Erica Armstrong Dunbar, along with Kathleen Van Cleve, shares an intimate glimpse into the life of a little-known, but powerful figure in history, and her brave journey as she fled the most powerful couple in the country.