“In climbing the Seven Summits, Silvia Vasquez-Lavado did nothing less than take back her own life—one brave step at a time. She will inspire untold numbers of souls with this story, for her victory is a win on behalf of all of us.”—Elizabeth Gilbert Endless ice. Thin air. The threat of dropping into nothingness thousands of feet below. This is the climb Silvia Vasquez-Lavado braves in her page-turning, pulse-raising memoir chronicling her journey to Mount Everest. A Latina hero in the elite macho tech world of Silicon Valley, privately, she was hanging by a thread. Deep in the throes of alcoholism, hiding her sexuality from her family, and repressing the abuse she’d suffered as a child, she started climbing. Something about the brute force required for the ascent—the risk and spirit and sheer size of the mountains and death’s close proximity—woke her up. She then took her biggest pain as a survivor to the biggest mountain: Everest. “The Mother of the World,” as it’s known in Nepal, allows few to reach her summit, but Silvia didn’t go alone. She gathered a group of young female survivors and led them to base camp alongside her. It was never easy. At times hair-raising, nerve-racking, and always challenging, Silvia remembers the acute anxiety of leading a group of novice climbers to Everest’s base, all the while coping with her own nerves of summiting. But, there were also moments of peace, joy, and healing with the strength of her fellow survivors and community propelling her forward. In the Shadow of the Mountain is a remarkable story of heroism, one which awakens in all of us a lust for adventure, an appetite for risk, and faith in our own resilience.

“Newbery Honor winner Preus . . . delivers a riveting story about teenage freedom fighters in WWII Norway” (Publishers Weekly). After Nazi Germany invades and occupies Norway, fourteen-year-old Espen and his friends are swept up in the Norwegian resistance movement. Espen gets his start by delivering illegal newspapers, then graduates to the role of courier and finally becomes a spy, dodging the Gestapo along the way. During five years under the Nazi regime, Espen, his sister, and their parents live in fear of nighttime raids and arrests, and they begin to question the loyalties of the people around them. Espen gains—and loses—friends, falls in love, and makes one small mistake that threatens to catch up with him as he sets out to escape on skis over the mountains to Sweden . . . Award-winning author Margi Preus crafts a thrilling adventure based on the real-life experiences of Erling Storrusten, a Norwegian spy during World War II. Praise for Shadow on the Mountain “Engrossing. . . . This is at once a spy thriller, a coming-of-age story, and a chronicle of escalating bravery. Multidimensional characters fill this gripping tale that keeps readers riveted to the end.” —School Library Journal, starred review “A morally satisfying page turner.” —Kirkus Reviews

Cheney faces two enemies—superstition and greed . . . Cheney Duvall has proven herself as a true doctor to those 200 brides with whom she traveled to the West. But arrival in Seattle with a string of medical successes during the voyage does not open any doors for her in this frontier town—she’s “just a woman.” Returning east, she finds an invitation to a remote spot in the Ozark mountains where there are no doctors at all. But she runs into walls of illiteracy, superstition, and immovable distrust of Yankees—most especially focused on an “edjicated female thinks she’s a real doc.” How will she overcome centuries of hate and mistrust?

A woman doctor is persuaded to provide medical care for a small community in the Ozarks in the historical novel. Cheney Duvall, M.D.

BEING TRAPPED IN THE MOUNTAINS SEEMED SAFE…UNTIL A KILLER TARGETED THE INNOCENT After tragedy struck, Caroline Fairchild reluctantly moved her young son to the remote Colorado lodge she’d been hired to redecorate. There she had no choice but to deal with owner Wes Wainwright, the Texas millionaire who represented everything she detested…and everything she desired. Wes thought he’d gotten past it—the pain, the loneliness, the guilt. But meeting Caroline and her boy only reminded him of his missing child. As sparks ignited between Wes and Caroline, old dangers emerged from the shadows. And they were soon bound by an instant attraction and a frantic race to save two children’s lives. But could Wes prevent history from repeating itself?