Many have said that Veras Journey reads like a storybook. Veras Journey takes a historical look at the matriarch of a Mennonite family living in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and is about relationships in family, church, and community. It is also a history of bygone years, of suffering and triumph. Some people grow grouchy and irritable as they grow older. Not so with Vera. She grew old gracefully. Complaining was not her way. She learned in some of the most difficult experiences of life to trust God. What makes Veras story so riveting is the combination of longevity and uniqueness mixed with pain and triumph. The final triumph came when God granted her request to take her home. Her parting was a most sacred moment. It seemed she moved from one would to the next without a noticeable transition. Her trust in God was profoundly evident in that defining moment.

At twenty-two, Vera Jo Bustos boxes her belongings and boards a plane to Greece to fulfill her dream as a professional basketball player. Captured through the lens of vulnerability - her dream crashes head-on into her reality. She lives the struggles of learning a foreign language, the obstacles of homesickness, loneliness, and the agony of constant defeat. Through her journey she realizes what life's greatest gifts truly are. All moments are memorable. Few are dull. One is everlasting.

Originally published: Indianapolis, IN: Perspectives Press, 1991.

Vera Koo enrolled in a firearm safety course because she was afraid of guns. Goals are important to Vera, so she set hers high, completing the beginner's course, and eventually becoming the best shooter in her advanced class. Her instructor suggested she reach for an even higher goal with competitive shooting. And she did. With unflinching focus and determination, Vera became one of the most accomplished shooters ever. At age 70, she’s an eight-time women’s division winner of the prestigious Bianchi Cup Action Pistol Championship. She’s the first woman to place in the Top 20 in the Bianchi Cup competition. Vera’s story is more than that of a petite Asian woman becoming a top competitor in the male-dominated sport shooting world. It’s the story of a Chinese immigrant, raised in a traditional Chinese culture, where women deferred to their husbands and kept to their socio-economic class, succeeded in America. Vera is a successful businesswoman, accomplished athlete, and a loving wife and mother. It was never an ‘either or’ for Vera, it’s about meeting life’s challenges head-on with dogged persistence, grace, humility—and humor. With faith in herself and God, Vera has survived unexpected tragedies, tremendous hurt, and betrayal. And yet, her story is about hope, love, compassion, and forgiveness. Through all the twists and turns in her life, Vera shows us how the same grit that made her a world class athlete, helped her find joy. “Search for something you’re good at,” Vera says, "and it will take you far.” - Vera

Darrius sat underneath a large oak tree, enjoying the cool evening air. This evening, however, he could feel his age upon him. The robes he now wore covered the many scars he had received in his youth as a young adventurer. The gray hair that hung from his head had taken the place of the dark black that it once was. He had replaced his sword with a walking stick and hung up his armor for common clothes. Draped at his side, he still wore a short sword, mostly for comfort than defense, for his hands, which once could be deadly with a blade, had lost their strength and hurt so when he gripped the hilt. Out in the field of wildflowers, he watched a young elf run and frolic among the setting sun. Vera was her name, and she had been in his care for the last thirty years. She was a babe wrapped in a blanket when he found her lying under a knotted root of a tree less than one hundred yards of a battlefield he was leaving. Thirty years, the time had flown by in his eyes, and now he was but a shade of his former self. She ran to him with a smile across her face. Father, Father, look what I have found. I believe it is hurt. Vera had her hands clasped together as she ran to kneel down beside her father. Darrius could never keep a smile off his face when she came to him with some injured creature she was planning to nurse back to health. What is it you have this time, my dear? Darrius said, opening her hands to reveal a blue-tailed lizard, Look, Father, it has lost its tail. Darrius gave a low chuckle and looked into Veras deep blue eyes. My dear, that lizard isnt hurt at all. You see, if something is threatening it, say, a bird or a snake, and it grabs on to its tail, the lizard will disconnect the tail in order to escape. Vera looked long at the little critter sitting in her palms. I have no intention of making a meal out of you, little lizard. Run now back to your home. She set the lizard down, and it quickly scurried off. Brushing her hands, she sat down next to her father to watch the sun set. Father, tell me a story of when you were adventuring out in the world and the things you saw while you were there. Darrius put his arms around her and gave a deep sigh. My dear, I dare say you have heard all of my stories and tales. Why are you so interested in those old tales anyhow? They are ancient history. Although Darrius fully enjoyed telling stories to his daughter, he always put up a hard front just to keep an image up, perhaps. Come, my dear, help this old man to his feet. Its nearly dark, and we need to return home. Vera gave a disappointed sigh and unwillingly obeyed. When they had made it back home, the sun was just barely peeking over the hills. In the distance, an owl started calling out into the night, and the crickets had begun their song. Vera, my dear, will you go around back and gather wood for the fire, please. Vera helped her father into the house and gave a wholehearted nod as she made her way to the woodpile. Inside, Darrius removed his robe and hung it on a rack next to the door. He then unbelted his sword and placed it next to the fireplace. Slowly he eased into a rocking chair in front of the hearth and stirred the coals. A few minutes later, Vera entered the house with an armful of wood and set it next to the fireplace. After building the fire up to a respectful glow, she took her seat next to her father. Father, I think we are going to have to get more wood if we are to make it through the winter. Darrius could hear in her voice that it was not what she wanted to say. Well, my dear, we are taking the wagon into the village to do that very thing in the morning, you know. What is really on your mind? Vera shifted in her seat to get comfortable. Father, I have sat here many nights listening to you recount the tales of your youth and the adventures and sights you have experienced, and I so long to leave this place to set out on my own to have those same experiences. Though in my hea

A “riveting” biography of a Russian noblewoman turned revolutionary terrorist and accomplice in the assassination of a tsar (The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review). Born in 1852 in the last years of serfdom, Vera Figner came of age as Imperial Russian society was being rocked by the massive upheaval that culminated in the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. At first a champion of populist causes and women’s higher education, which she herself pursued as a medical student in Zurich, Figner later became a leader of the terrorist party the People’s Will—and was an accomplice in the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881. Drawing on extensive archival research and careful reading of Figner’s copious memoirs, Lynne Ann Hartnett reveals how Figner survived the Bolshevik revolution and Stalin's Great Purges and died a lionized revolutionary legend as the Nazis bore down on Moscow in 1942.

Rosa is excited that her Aunt Ida is having a baby-she's going to have a cousin! But when the baby comes, Grandma suggests they get rid of the family's beloved armchair so that baby Benji can play on a nicer one. But Rosa puts her foot down: this chair is a member of the family, she says, and it will be with them always.