There are four rules to the old, painted music box:Wind the box three times only. Never wind the boxwhile the music plays. Never shut the box while themusic plays. Never move the box until the musicstops.Leo wouldn't dream of breaking these rules, but hisstubborn cousin Mimi never does what she's told.She winds the box four times--and suddenly thepaintings on its side come to life and a powerfulwitch is released. Now Leo and Mimi must stop thewitch, if only they can find the key to the musicbox--and the magical world it contains.

"Professor Eldred Jones says 'African literature continues to be intensely political and seems destined to remain so for some time. The writers are in the thick of the fight for the true liberation of their countries, a position which is still fraught with dangers.' He believes that 'it is possible to distinguish in the literatures of most countries pre-independence from post-independence literature but only as trends rather than as sudden dramatic breaks.' The articles in this collection point up: The increasing importance of women writers; that war produces a significant change in focus; [and] the growth of literature of protest against the misuse of independence. Professor Jones says 'South African writers will now have to emerge from the dominating theme of apartheid into close examination of humanity in a "free" society ... The military phenomenon has provided Nigerian writers with a succession of sub-periods int heir literary history.'"--Publisher's description.

The last significant clash of arms in the American Indian Wars took place on December 29, 1890, on the banks of Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota. Of the 350 Teton Sioux Indians there, two-thirds were women and children. When the smoke cleared, 84 men and 62 women and children lay dead, their bodies scattered along a stretch of more than a mile where they had been trying to flee. Of some 500 soldiers and scouts, about 30 were dead—some, probably, from their own crossfire. Wounded Knee has excited contradictory accounts and heated emotions. To answer whether it was a battle or a massacre, Rex Alan Smith goes further into the historical records and cultural traditions of the combatants than anyone has gone before. His work results in what Alvin Josephy Jr., editor of American Heritage, calls "the most definitive and unbiased" account of all, Moon of Popping Trees.