"In this rhyming story, a little girl walking in the woods befriends a pine tree that is bent. When construction of a new strip mall means cutting down the forest, the little girl and others work together to protect the trees and create a park near the mall. Includes discussion questions for teachers, parents and children"--

The tree is very old; its branches are bent and twisted, no longer producing leaves. All the birds have left, and it is all alone. A little girl wants to replace the birds and console the tree, but she cannot have wings. The lonesome tree sways in the wind with nobody to give it comfort.

In this unprecedented effort to gather and share knowledge of the Native American practice of creating, designating, and making use of marker trees, an arborist, an anthropologist, and a Comanche tribal officer have merged their wisdom, research, and years of personal experience to create Comanche Marker Trees of Texas. A genuine marker tree is a rare find—only six of these natural and cultural treasures have been officially documented in Texas and recognized by the Comanche Nation. The latter third of the book highlights the characteristics of these six marker trees and gives an up-to-date history of each, displaying beautiful photographs of these long-standing, misshapen, controversial symbols that have withstood the tests of time and human activity. Thoroughly researched and richly illustrated with maps, drawings, and photographs of trees, this book offers a close look at the unique cultural significance of these living witnesses to our history and provides detailed guidelines on how to recognize, research, and report potential marker tree candidates.

An old hermit monk journeys to the edge of a vast plain of long grass and resides under a great Bent Tree, where also rests a sleeping tiger. While there, he is visited by various characters who seek some solution to their life problems. The old man uses tales, debate and taoist philosophy to help them weave their way back into a happier tapestry of life. These tales mix humour with deep thought, which at first confounds, but always enlightens in the end. Far from the Road, the road more or less travelled, there is, under the Bent Tree, surrounded by long grass, an Old Man and a sleeping Tiger. That is to say that sometimes the man sleeps and sometimes the tiger sleeps. There are times too that both sleep, but because there is always peace, there are never times that both do not sleep. Strangely too, there is always one tiger for one man or one woman...never more , never less. What does this mean? We know the road is life, more or less travelled. We know the long grass is the vagueness of fates between living and wisdom. We "see" things in the distances of our destiny but how do we get there? Do we want to get there? The Bent Tree is easy. It is Death and it is Wisdom. For all knowledge comes with Death, the Great Portal...and then, that is the end of all Knowledge. Which is Wisdom also. The Death of all Knowledge. Under the Bent Tree, knowledge sleeps. We are left to explain a man and a tiger. The tiger sleeps and the man is awake. The man is Logic, Reason, Consciousness. The man sleeps and the tiger roams. Do not be alarmed, however. Though the tiger is indeed a man or woman's passions, without reason and logic, passion is only passion. It is Natural. It creates. It knows nothing of evil. Unless the man or woman awakens also. Then we have a soul to deal with.

She thought he was white. He thought she was Cherokee. They were both wrong. Susanna Moore can't get him out of her mind--the learned lieutenant who delivered the commission from Andrew Jackson making her father colonel of the Cherokee Regiment. But the next time she sees Lieutenant Sam Hicks, he's leading a string of prisoners into a frontier fort, and he's wearing the garb of a Cherokee scout rather than the suit of a white gentleman. As both Susanna's father and Sam's commanding officer, Colonel Moore couldn't have made his directive to stay away from his daughter clearer to Sam. He wants a better match for Susanna--like the stuffy doctor who escorted her to Creek Territory. Then a suspected spy forces Moore to rely on Sam for military intelligence and Susanna's protection, making it impossible for either to guard their heart.

In Journey Beyond Hardship, author Greg Pacini offers a down-to-earth and compelling manual for making your way through difficult times. You may be fighting with all your might to leave an abusive relationship or to recover from an addiction. Your body may be altered by illness or injury, and the adjustment may seem more than you can bear. Miscarriage may have you mourning more than you imagined possible. You may be picking up the pieces of your life after a natural disaster. You may be heartbroken. You may be a target of prejudice. You may be in terror at the news of a diagnosis. You may be struggling after months without work. Your life may feel empty for some clear reason or no reason at all. Whatever the source, if something continues to be hard for you, then it is hardship. Difficult thoughts and feelings come with difficult times. As a guide for these tough times, Journey Beyond Hardship not only provides a road map for the tripit offers concrete tools for making your way. One technique called Reading the Edges allows you to experience emotions without being overwhelmed by them. Hope can be hard to come by during times of trauma and tragedy. Journey Beyond Hardship introduces a science-based means for generating hope. Hardship is part of the human condition. So is the human spirit to overcome.

Chiara is an eighteen-year-old Italian woman who moves alone to South Africa in 1970, catapulted by love and circumstances into a foreign land five thousand miles away from home. In her brief initial stay in South Africa, she experiences a turmoil of emotional events, the inebriating happiness for having rejoined her boyfriend, now husband, the elation of true friendship, but also homesickness, hate, abuse, and finally mourning. All embedded in her own unforeseen yet hastened call for growth and maturity.