From the author of Emily's House comes a “compelling, emotionally gripping”* novel of historical fiction—perfect for readers of America’s First Daughter. Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1676. Even before Mary Rowlandson was captured by Indians on a winter day of violence and terror, she sometimes found herself in conflict with her rigid Puritan community. Now, her home destroyed, her children lost to her, she has been sold into the service of a powerful woman tribal leader, made a pawn in the ongoing bloody struggle between English settlers and native people. Battling cold, hunger, and exhaustion, Mary witnesses harrowing brutality but also unexpected kindness. To her confused surprise, she is drawn to her captors’ open and straightforward way of life, a feeling further complicated by her attraction to a generous, protective English-speaking native known as James Printer. All her life, Mary has been taught to fear God, submit to her husband, and abhor Indians. Now, having lived on the other side of the forest, she begins to question the edicts that have guided her, torn between the life she knew and the wisdom the natives have shown her. Based on the compelling true narrative of Mary Rowlandson, Flight of the Sparrow is an evocative tale that transports the reader to a little-known time in early America and explores the real meanings of freedom, faith, and acceptance. READERS GUIDE INCLUDED

It’s been five months since an immunization for the flu collapsed civilization. Sparrow Gray had nothing to her name but the backpack she carried and the meager contents inside. Utterly alone, she fought to survive daily. Everyone was a suspected foe, and the ones unlucky enough to be infected were nothing more than walking corpses. Mason, an ex-Navy SEAL, and Asher, a back-alley fighter, found each other at an unlikely time. The two never thgouht they’d find pleasure each other’s arms. Then came Sparrow, and both realized they wanted her as badly as they wanted each other. And they meant to make that their reality. The world was a dangerous, ugly place, and their trip was filled with fear, pain, and everything in between. But when Sparrow was taken by men who wanted to use her for the only commodity left in this barren world, Mason and Asher would do everything in their power to get her back safely. But could Mason and Asher get to her before all hell broke loose? Reader note: This story was previously published under the same title. It has since been reedited, minimally revised, and new content has been added. Material may be sensitive to some readers. Includes MMF and MM scenes.

Erupting from the depths of a madman's nightmare, a foul tide of twisted magical abominations sweeps across the kingdom of Neffrom, devouring everything in its path. Behind this mighty vanguard marches the unstoppable host of the immortal Hezra-Thrall spreading his terrible, soul-corrupting curse like plague across the land.Desperate HopeIn the frigid depths of winter, hope burns small, its feeble flicker sheltered in the hearts of two young nobles, the disinherited lordling, Sparrow of Blackaker, and the blind swordswoman, Kisha. Bound together by a damning prophecy, this wretched pair must survive Thrall's legions, confront their own most horrible fears, and stand together against a god in battle wherein the ultimate sacrifice becomes the ultimate weapon.

In A Sparrow's Flight, her second novel, first published in 1989, Margaret Elphinstone is already occupying her characteristic location on the borderlands which were to become familiar territory in her subsequent writing. The novel is set in the 'debatable lands' between Scotland and England but explores more elusive borders between waking and dreaming, sanity and madness, myth and reality, and the unsettling landscape between our imagined pasts and hoped for futures. Thomas and Naomi are on a journey through a world that has experienced catastrophic change. Early reviewers, writing amid the Cold War, placed the story in the aftermath of nuclear holocaust. The author offers no such certainty. The plaintive but unexplained references to 'before the world changed' resonate with a menace all the more unnerving in its ambiguity. Through this regenerating landscape - the previously blighted 'empty lands' - Thomas and Naomi find their journey turns full circle, returning them to their starting point as changed people, with new understandings of friendship and belonging. As with every quest there is a grail and their grail is music. Its rediscovery is a metaphor for that Golden Age we all need to believe existed 'before the world changed'. .,.".....powerfully convincing in its blend of medievalism and post-modern disillusion..." Douglas Gifford

"In this elegant narrative, celebrated naturalist Ted Floyd guides you through a year of becoming a better birder. Choosing 200 top avian species to teach key lessons, Floyd introduces a new, holistic approach to bird watching and shows how to use the tools of the 21st century to appreciate the natural world we inhabit together whether city, country or suburbs." -- From book jacket.

An “entertaining” history and illustrated guide to seventy-six kinds of sparrows: “You will not find more complete or better written accounts of these birds.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune What, exactly, is a sparrow? All birders (and many non-birders) have essentially the same mental image of a pelican, a duck, or a flamingo, and a guide dedicated to waxwings or kingfishers would need nothing more than a sketch and a single sentence to satisfactorily identify its subject. Sparrows are harder to pin down. This book covers one family—Passerellidae—which includes towhees and juncos, and 76 members of the sparrow clan. Birds have a human history, too, beginning with their significance to native cultures and continuing through their discovery by science, their taxonomic fortunes and misfortunes, and their prospects for survival in a world with ever less space for wild creatures. This book includes not just facts and measurements, but stories—of how birds got their names and how they were discovered, and of their entanglement with our own species.

A Guide to the Identification and Natural History of the Sparrows of the United States and Canada provides comprehensive information on all the features that make possible identification of all 62 species of sparrows that occur in North America. The text gives detailed descriptions of the summer, winter, and juvenile plumages of each species, as well as comparisons with similar species. The species accounts are illustrated with range maps and superb line drawings showing behavioral postures and, where useful, fine features of tail feather patterns. The 27 color plates splendidly illustrate the various plumages of each species with the emphasis on the distinctive appearance of birds of different sex, age, and geographic regions. This beautiful and authoritative book is a must for the library of all keen birders living in and visiting North America. Species accounts include discussions of species': * Identification * Measurements * Voice * Habitat * Ecology * Nesting biology * Distribution * Taxonomy * Geographic variations * Historical and present status