Rinaldi delves into the childhood friendship between Mary Todd Lincoln and black seamstress Elizabeth Keckley--two fascinating women who became devoted friends and confidantes amid the turbulent times of the Lincoln administration.

It is exactly like Isaiah 11:6: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid . . . ” Written by National Geographic magazine writer Jennifer Holland, Unlikely Friendships documents one heartwarming tale after another of animals who, with nothing else in common, bond in the most unexpected ways. A cat and a bird. A mare and a fawn. An elephant and a sheep. A snake and a hamster. The well-documented stories of Koko the gorilla and All Ball the kitten; and the hippo Owen and the tortoise Mzee. And almost inexplicable stories of predators befriending prey—an Indian leopard slips into a village every night to sleep with a calf. A lionness mothers a baby oryx. Ms. Holland narrates the details and arc of each story, and also offers insights into why—how the young leopard, probably motherless, sought maternal comfort with the calf, and how a baby oryx inspired the same mothering instinct in the lionness. Or, in the story of Kizzy, a nervous retired Greyhound, and Murphy, a red tabby, how cats and dogs actually understand each other’s body language. With Murphy’s friendship and support, Kizzy recovered from life as a racing dog and became a confident, loyal family pet. These are the most amazing friendships between species, collected from around the world and documented in a selection of full-color candid photographs.

Can something as simple as friendship have a transformative impact in a divided world? Through a series of richly textured historical portraits and reflections on personal experience, this book shows that boundary-crossing friendships in Christian mission have shaped theologies, built organizations and partnerships, facilitated mission work, and changed attitudes and ways of thinking. This is true in settings as varied as eighteenth-century French women’s work, twentieth-century urban Boston, colonial India, the Jim Crow South, and twentieth-century rural Congo. In all these settings and more, friendship has mattered. Boundary-crossing friendships are, however, not easy. Despite their power, such friendships are complicated by race, gender, ability, class, nationality, and other elements of identity, as this book also demonstrates. Friendships are not immune from the divisions in the world, nor a simple cure-all for them. Still, friendship stands as a powerful testimony to the gospel. Therefore, the book calls for more attention to friendship in the study of mission history and more living out of friendship as a practice of mission. In this way, this book pays honor to Dr. Dana L. Robert as a pre-eminent mission scholar and exemplary friend and mentor to others in the fields of missiology and world Christianity.

Based on a true story, an orangutan living at a wildlife preserve in South Carolina forms an unlikely friendship with a lost dog who comes to live there.

With the guidance of an angel, fifteen-year-old juvenile offender Jason discovers the rewards of working with and helping Kelly, who is in a wheelchair.

Compassion, empathy, self-sacrifice, sadness, joy, bloody mindedness with the tragi-comic pathos of the human condition thrown in for good measure, all this and more forms the backdrop to social worker Heather Thompson's remarkable friendship with old soldier Joe in the twilight of his life. This determined woman goes the extra mile, ably abetted by her supportive husband Nigel, to fill the void in 91 year-old Joe's life when his wife goes into a nursing home. A powerful bond develops as the story unfurls between the dependent old man and his dedicated carer.

The Unlikely Friendship is a touching story about a child with Down syndrome who struggles to fit into his new school. He attempts to make friends and tries out for the football team, but no one accepts him. Little did he know that he would soon form the most unlikely friendship because of his love for football.