Joyce Ann Burke had a family like all others. She found herself at age seven suddenly without any family. Her parents separated in 1942 and divorced (rare for that era). Her mother had custody and left the children alone (abandoned). Joyce Ann was awarded to the court, and they in turn incorporated her into the Hendricks County, Indiana Welfare system. She was a welfare child, no parents, no love and no home. She was a textbook waif. She was placed in the country farm home of a sixty one year old widow lady who owned a 110 acre working dairy farm. You see the picture. She was tiny for seven with snow white blond hair and blue eyes. A total stranger she called Grandma would be her new mother, of sorts. Joyce Ann would be the little running legs for this sixty one year old guardian, and essentially a child servant. The white frame farm house was typical of a 1940's farm home without electricity, plumbing, and central heat. This household was totally self-supporting from the farm. Foods were grown there and preserved for winter. Animals were butchered, cows were milked, hogs were slopped and fields were tended. The days were not programmed for play. Totally unaware, she learned life's lessons, and, although sometimes reluctantly, developed a 'powerful' work ethic. Fourteen years with Grandma produced a young woman who became her own person. It was not easy and decisions she had to make many times were difficult and unfair for a child. Joyce Ann could not afford to make mistakes. Why? She had no one and no where to go. Mistakes were not possible and she knew it. Well, Grandma scared her to death and she walked the walk! Thank you Grandma because Joyce Ann became a woman you would be proud to know today. You will read a very happy ending of the story of Joyce Ann's life, and how she flourished, despite a lonely beginning. She researched her family genealogy with intensity, and found she really did have a family she never shared. In short, she found peace and grateful thanks.

After being rescued by warrior Gilead MacOengus on Beltane, the eve of Pagan revelry, Deidre of the Languedoc is spirited off to his family estate where she becomes immersed in a world of scandal, betrayal, intrigue, and intense passion. Original.

Dick Sand: Or, A Captain at Fifteen by Jules Verne, first published in 1878, is a rare manuscript, the original residing in one of the great libraries of the world. This book is a reproduction of that original, which has been scanned and cleaned by state-of-the-art publishing tools for better readability and enhanced appreciation. Restoration Editors' mission is to bring long out of print manuscripts back to life. Some smudges, annotations or unclear text may still exist, due to permanent damage to the original work. We believe the literary significance of the text justifies offering this reproduction, allowing a new generation to appreciate it.

Reproduction of the original.

This unique adventure collection includes: Adrift in Pacific or, Two Years' Vacation Michael Strogoff: or, The Courier of the Czar The Blockade Runners Tribulations of a Chinaman in China The Castle of the Carpathians César Cascabel Kéraban the Inflexible Mistress Branican North Against South or, Texar's Revenge The Begum's Fortune The Flight to France or, The Memoirs of a Dragoon Facing the Flag Green Ray The Star of the South or, The Vanished Diamond Ticket No. "9672" or, The Lottery Ticket The Waif of the "Cynthia" The Fur Country Jules Verne (1828-1905) was a French novelist who pioneered the genre of science fiction. A true visionary with an extraordinary talent for writing adventure stories, his writings incorporated the latest scientific knowledge of his day and envisioned technological developments that were years ahead of their time. Verne wrote about undersea, air, and space travel long before any navigable or practical craft were invented. Verne wrote over 50 novels and numerous short stories.