Intertwined portraits of courage and hope in Afghanistan and Pakistan Najmah, a young Afghan girl whose name means "star," suddenly finds herself alone when her father and older brother are conscripted by the Taliban and her mother and newborn brother are killed in an air raid. An American woman, Elaine, whose Islamic name is Nusrat, is also on her own. She waits out the war in Peshawar, Pakistan, teaching refugee children under the persimmon tree in her garden while her Afghan doctor husband runs a clinic in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. Najmah's father had always assured her that the stars would take care of her, just as Nusrat's husband had promised that they would tell Nusrat where he was and that he was safe. As the two look to the skies for answers, their fates entwine. Najmah, seeking refuge and hoping to find her father and brother, begins the perilous journey through the mountains to cross the border into Pakistan. And Nusrat's persimmon-tree school awaits Najmah's arrival. Together, they both seek their way home. Known for her award-winning fiction set in South Asia, Suzanne Fisher Staples revisits that part of the world in this beautifully written, heartrending novel. Under the Persimmon Tree is a 2006 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1895.

In the Age of Exploration, the quest for a westward sea route to the East Indies dominated European ambitions. Yet, a whisper of a different path, a secret route across North America, challenges our understanding of early contact and trade. This book delves into the theory that Portuguese explorers, in collaboration with Indigenous peoples, and potentially even the Chinese, may have established a transcontinental trade route across North America, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans long before the fur trade. Through historical records, geographical realities, and Indigenous knowledge, we explore the evidence, challenges, and enduring mystery of this alternative chapter in exploration history. It also explores the possibility that the Melungeons, a group of people with mysterious origins living in Appalachia, are descendants of these early Portuguese explorers who ventured down the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes, adding another layer of intrigue to this transcontinental saga.