Life lessons from single mothers throughout history form the inspiration for single mothers today. Single moms are not just a product of our modern culture. There have been single mothers throughout history, women who have raised not only their children but also nations with a higher vision for life. Holding Her Head High recounts stories of twelve such women from the third to the twenty-first centuries, women who found ways to twist their fates to represent God's destiny for their lives. These uniquely powerful, brave women, within the scope of their own world and times, are like the ninety-nine percent of single mothers today who never intended to carry that distinction. They are abandoned, widowed, or divorced, all carrying wounds, yet they also all found ways to exhibit courage, kindness, dignity, and faith to heal themselves by healing others. Actress Janine Turner, herself a single mother, describes the social implications for women and children from the Roman Empire through the Middle Ages to Pioneer days, including a single mother of slavery. Stories from women like Rachel Lavein Fawcett, abandoned single mother of Alexander Hamilton; Abagail Adams, a wartime widow; Harriet Jacobs, an unwed mother of slavery whose autobiography was published the year the Civil War began; and widowed Belva Lockwood, the first woman to officially run for President, all carrying wounds but all offering insight, wisdom, and encouragement. Lessons include: Listen for God's higher calling Hold your head high Dare to dream Champion your children Heal with humor Don't Give Up Before the Miracle

A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From America’s favorite government teacher, a heartfelt, inspiring portrait of twelve ordinary Americans whose courage formed the character of our country. In The Small and the Mighty, Sharon McMahon proves that the most remarkable Americans are often ordinary people who didn’t make it into the textbooks. Not the presidents, but the telephone operators. Not the aristocrats, but the schoolteachers. Through meticulous research, she discovers history’s unsung characters and brings their rich, riveting stories to light for the first time. You’ll meet a woman astride a white horse riding down Pennsylvania Ave, a young boy detained at a Japanese incarceration camp, a formerly enslaved woman on a mission to reunite with her daughter, a poet on a train, and a teacher who learns to work with her enemies. More than one thing is bombed, and multiple people surprisingly become rich. Some rich with money, and some wealthy with things that matter more. This is a book about what really made America – and Americans – great. McMahon’s cast of improbable champions will become familiar friends, lighting the path we journey in our quest to make the world more just, peaceful, good, and free.

Angels & Miracles Discover the awe-inspiring journey of Prince Albert Williams, a man whose life has been touched by angels and miraculous protection. From his humble beginnings as a sharecropper’s son in rural Arkansas to facing near-fatal accidents and toxic burns, Prince Albert’s faith has been tested time and again. Through it all, he shares gripping accounts of divine intervention and encounters with heavenly beings that have transformed his life and strengthened his resolve. “Angels & Miracles” is a testament to the power of faith and the profound impact of encountering the divine in life’s darkest moments.

2011 Retailers Choice Award winner! Rebecca never felt safe as a child. In 1969, her father, Robert Nichols, moved to Sellerstown, North Carolina, to serve as a pastor. There he found a small community eager to welcome him—with one exception. Glaring at him from pew number seven was a man obsessed with controlling the church. Determined to get rid of anyone who stood in his way, he unleashed a plan of terror that was more devastating and violent than the Nichols family could have ever imagined. Refusing to be driven away by acts of intimidation, Rebecca’s father stood his ground until one night when an armed man walked into the family’s kitchen . . . And Rebecca’s life was shattered. If anyone had a reason to harbor hatred and seek personal revenge, it would be Rebecca. Yet The Devil in Pew Number Seven tells a different story. It is the amazing true saga of relentless persecution, one family’s faith and courage in the face of it, and a daughter whose parents taught her the power of forgiveness.

In this year of our Lord, 2015, our planet is poised on the brink of dynamic change. Within the next fifty years, or so, most scientists agree climate change will cause several million species of plant and animal life to become extinct. If they are correct in their predictions concerning global warming, then even the coastal landscape of every continent will change. This may include the permanent flooding of many major cities and population centers around the world. Children of today will live in this new world. It is not a very pretty future, if you believe the worst. Our generation may have just witnessed the highest level of human development that we are destined to achieve. The next generation may be able to say they witnessed the beginning of the end of mankind on Earth. I wrote this piece of fiction with that thought in mind. What kind of world could result from one or more of these global changes altering our world in a short space of time? How would society, what was left of it, evolve? I pray this novel remains in the realm of fiction, yet who knows what the future will bring?

Help students develop and practice the skills they need to compare and contrast fiction and nonfiction passages. After each of the 25 pairs of passages, students are asked both multiple choice and open-ended questions.