Welcome to Mystic Ridge, an enchanted little town set in the smoky mountains of Tennessee. In these sixteen short stories, you’ll meet a menagerie of gifted residents, just struggling through daily life where there’s ghosts, charmed paintings, bewitched cats and magic skin cream. It's neighbor help neighbor in this close-knit community. So, don’t be surprised if we need your assistance in sending a ninety-eight-year-old nun back in time to meet Jesus. It’s all good. It’s just what we do!

The Civil War is finally over, and the survivors have returned to their lives to try to rebuild. There was very little time for rest and relaxation. Nothing can be truer for the people of the small country town of Mystic. However, something has come to Mystic with the survivors...a game called Base Ball. For many years the people of Mystic have indulged themselves in various kinds of stick-and-ball games...everything from cricket to rounders, to something called Muffin Ball, but none of the games were ever popular enough to become organized...until Base Ball. As the residents of Mystic struggle establish their own Base Ball club, they discover that Base Ball is taking over the nation by storm. With a faithful group of town leaders, a retired Judge, and several veterans, Mystic finds that it is ahead of the storm, instead of getting caught up in it. As the town team forms, and a simple league with other small towns is established, the Mystic town folk enjoy watching their very own team playing this "city game" their way...making mistakes, fumbling over the bases, and arguing with...everyone, the people of Mystic become a true base ball town. Then when captain of the Drummers contacts the Mystic team with a request to come to Mystic to play a fun exhibition game on the Fourth of July, the initial thought was one of reservation...the Drummers were a traveling team of colored players. to the people of Mystic, a town that sided with the Northern Union forces, the prospect of playing a colored "barnstorming" team was cause to celebrate a game that changed the town of Mystic forever.

When twelve-year-old Hyacinth Star is struck by lightning, her spirit animal, a great white wolf named Dreamcatcher, pays her a visit. It seems she can communicate with animals, and the lightning has also sparked her inner magical powers-if only she can learn how to use them. When bounty hunters arrive seeking the wolves, Hyacinth flees to join Dreamcatcher's pack. To survive, they must reach the Mystic Forest, where a powerful shaman named Joyful Savannah offers a safe haven. But the journey will take them through the Seven Devils Mountains, where they will face man-eating ogres, a legion of goblins, and other terrors. Even worse, an evil witch named Priscilla rules the territory. Only time will tell whether Hyacinth can control her powers, lead her pack to safety, and become a true shaman. In this fantasy novel, a girl who discovers she has the power to speak with animals, along with other magical gifts, sets out on a quest to become the shaman she is meant to be.

Fiction writers turn to this reference each year for marketing information on 1,900 fiction publishers--1,000+ more fiction publishers than Writer's Market. That fact, coupled with helpful articles and interviews with professional writers has quickly established this book as the best market guide for novel and short story writers.

Whether used for thematic story times, program and curriculum planning, readers' advisory, or collection development, this updated edition of the well-known companion makes finding the right picture books for your library a breeze. Generations of savvy librarians and educators have relied on this detailed subject guide to children's picture books for all aspects of children's services, and this new edition does not disappoint. Covering more than 18,000 books published through 2017, it empowers users to identify current and classic titles on topics ranging from apples to zebras. Organized simply, with a subject guide that categorizes subjects by theme and topic and subject headings arranged alphabetically, this reference applies more than 1,200 intuitive (as opposed to formal catalog) subject terms to children's picture books, making it both a comprehensive and user-friendly resource that is accessible to parents and teachers as well as librarians. It can be used to identify titles to fill in gaps in library collections, to find books on particular topics for young readers, to help teachers locate titles to support lessons, or to design thematic programs and story times. Title and illustrator indexes, in addition to a bibliographic guide arranged alphabetically by author name, further extend access to titles.