As she snuggles her daughter in her arms at bedtime, a mother describes how animals and children around the world go to sleep.

Saturated in Southern ambiance and written in the vein of other literary bestsellers like Kathryn Stockett’s The Help and Tom Franklin’s Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, Julie Cantrell’s New York Times bestselling Into the Free that will sweep you away long after the novel ends. In Depression-era Mississippi, Millie Reynolds longs to escape the madness that marks her world. With an abusive father and a “nothing mama,” she struggles to find a place where she really belongs. For answers, Millie turns to the Gypsies who caravan through town each spring. The travelers lead Millie to a key that unlocks generations of shocking family secrets. When tragedy strikes, the mysterious contents of the box give Millie the tools she needs to break her family’s longstanding cycle of madness and abuse. Through it all, Millie experiences the thrill of first love while fighting to trust the God she believes has abandoned her. With the power of forgiveness, can she finally make her way into the free? Millie is just a girl. But she’s the only one strong enough to break the family cycle. “Gritty, compelling, and beautifully told, Into the Free will take you into a coming-of-age story filled with heartrending hardship and luminous hope. Julie Cantrell is a writer to watch!” —Lisa Wingate, New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours “Readers will fall in love with Millie Reynolds, girl with one eye on the heavens and the other on the savages that occupy our world . . . a searing tale of heartache, faith, forgiveness, and doubt set amid gypsies, angels, addicts, asylums, roughnecks, and rodeo hands.” —Neil White, author of In the Sanctuary of Outcasts “A lyrical, moving, haunting, wise, brutal, warmhearted, and ultimately freeing and inspiring coming-of-age tale told with poetic honesty. . . . Into the Free swept me up and swept me along.” —Jennifer Niven, bestselling author of The Ice Master New York Times bestseller Can be read as a stand-alone novel, although the story continues in When Mountains Move Book length: approximately 90,000 words Includes a reader’s guide, author interview, and discussion questions for book clubs

This compelling book emphasizes the critical role of quality multicultural literature and reader response in today's schools and libraries. All students need access to books in which they can see themselves—not just their physical appearance, but their culture and language, as well. Multicultural Literature and Response: Affirming Diverse Voices was written to help teachers and librarians find and use the best multicultural books in the service of reading comprehension and more. Underscoring the necessity of selecting quality literature that authentically, sensitively, and accurately portrays different groups, the book defines multicultural literature and provides a strong argument for its importance in schools and libraries. Expert contributors guide users to multicultural authors and illustrators who portrays U.S. ethnic and cultural groups, and they suggest ways to integrate this literature with writing, fluency development, storytelling, and audiovisuals. Extensive lists of books and websites that feature multicultural literature, as well as of authors, illustrators, and publishers of multicultural literature, make it easy to include such works in programs across the curriculum.

Your young child gets ready to read every minute of the day by interacting with you: his first and best teacher. Make the most of those minutes with Anytime Reading Readiness at home, during chores, or in the car. You'll learn how to: Take advantage of the learn-through-play style of your preschool/kindergarten child; Match your child's reading readiness level with easy and engaging games and activities; and Get the most out of reading a book out loud with your child. Anytime Reading Readiness respects the reading readiness level of your child. Now you can integrate early literacy activities throughout your day without stress, fuss, or pushing your child. Prepare your child to read any time. Find out more about Cathy's companion guide for educators, Before They Read, and the Home/School Literacy Partnership Set.

This book talks about some significant experiences during my childhood and how God has formed me for a future life in Africa and as ADRA executive director. It shows the breakout of a typical professional career into volunteer missionary work in Africa. After my permanent return to my homeland, I worked for a large civil engineering company managing multimillion Swiss Francs projects. I started my own planning company before I got called back into denominational work, to be the executive director of an ADRA country office and an ADRA division office. During my career, I traveled intensively in African countries, the Middle East, Afghanistan, and North Korea. I have been a resident in 7 countries (Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zaire, Rwanda, Turkey, and Switzerland) and have traveled to 66 countries. This book explains how I depended on my daily relationship with God. My heavenly father blessed me richly.

Into the Free Millie is just a girl. But she’s the only one strong enough to break the family cycle. In Depression-era Mississippi, Millie Reynolds longs to escape the madness that marks her world. With an abusive father and a “nothing mama,” she struggles to find a place where she really belongs. For answers, Millie turns to the Gypsies who caravan through town each spring. The travelers lead Millie to a key that unlocks generations of shocking family secrets. When tragedy strikes, the mysterious contents of the box give Millie the tools she needs to break her family’s longstanding cycle of madness and abuse. Through it all, Millie experiences the thrill of first love while fighting to trust the God she believes has abandoned her. With the power of forgiveness, can Millie finally make her way into the free? Saturated in Southern ambiance and written in the vein of other Southern literary bestsellers, like The Help by Kathryn Stockett and Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin, Julie Cantrell has created in Into the Free—now a New York Times bestseller—a story that will sweep you away long after the novel ends. When Mountains Move In a few hours, Millie will say “I do” to Bump Anderson, a man who loves her through and through. But would he love her if he knew the secret she keeps? Millie’s mind is racing and there seems no clear line between right and wrong. Either path leads to pain, and she’ll do anything to protect the ones she loves. So she decides to bury the truth and begin again, helping Bump launch a ranch in the wilds of Colorado. But just when she thinks she’s left her old Mississippi life behind, the facts surface in the most challenging way. That’s when Millie’s grandmother Oka arrives to help. Relying on her age-old Choctaw traditions, Oka teaches Millie the power of second chances. Millie resists, believing redemption is about as likely as moving mountains. But Oka stands strong, modeling forgiveness as the only true path to freedom. Together, Bump, Millie, and Oka fight against all odds to create a sustainable ranch, all while learning that the important lessons of their past can be used to build a beautiful future.

ON DULCIMER STRINGS by Angela Lebakken Some say your past will come back to haunt you. But what if that past took place more than 150 years ago? What if its a past you dont remember and cant be sure even happened? When Molly Carpenter accompanies her preacher husband to Appalachia, she encounters just such a past. Unable to reconcile her mixed emotions toward this man shed chosen to trust, she seeks solace at an abandoned cabin in the woods where bizarre events shatter her concept of time and space. Hearing eerie dulcimer music, she witnesses the abuse of a child, Sophia. When Sophias mother passes through her like breath through her body, she realizes the scene is not in her known reality. Often, with heart pounding and mind racing, she is drawn into the forest and transported to Sophias life in the 1850s. Whether locked in a dark shed, or crossing a rickety bridge, Sophias experiences trigger Mollys claustrophobia and fear of heights. Sophias struggles with a traveling preacher offer Molly insights about her relationship with her own preacher her husband. Who is this victimized little girl? Who is the old codger offering her a dulcimer? And why are they appearing to Molly? Could they be ghosts from the past? Could she, herself, be someone whod lived long ago? Dulcimer music haunts her waking and sleeping as she struggles to maintain her marriage to Jake, who has become increasingly controlling and deceitful. In desperation and drawing from an inner courage, Molly journeys into the unknown. Apparitions, unexplained music, a mysterious cat, and curses from a faraway land play havoc with Mollys life and those who have befriended her. Richard, her tenderhearted counselor, feisty Ellen the waitress and innocent Beth, experience life changes as they offer help and companionship. Support and encouragement come from the handsome bookseller, Royce, as they fall in love and struggle with romantic entanglement. Still, Molly often finds herself alone in the wilderness, wide-eyed in the dark. Compelled to heal Sophias pain and hence her own, and guided by a Cherokee shaman, Mollys journey takes her full circle as she learns the importance of confronting ones past in the present to bring peace in the future. Product reviews: "The narrative voice is engaging from the first paragraph, and there's some really beautiful descriptive prose early on that reveals to the reader that he is in the hands of a fine writer . . . The dialogue is excellent, has the ring of real speech. The author skillfully evokes dialects . . ." --Judge, Writer's Digest International Self-Published Book Awards. I am just 75 pages into On Dulcimer Strings and it is simply lovely. You got me into the story and Im re-reading sentences because of their power. And uniqueness. What a voice! Im surprised at every turn. Gail Morellen, author, No Broken Bones.