On a brisk and sunny day in January of 1948, a young, beautiful woman has been brutally beaten to death and found in a back alley in Los Angeles, California. Her face is unrecognizable. There are no dental records, no matching fingerprint record and no missing person record. The only leads are a tattoo of a blue buffalo on the glamorously dressed woman's shoulder and an elusive, dark, Packard sedan. Acclaimed homicide detective, JD Pearson is assigned to investigate the murder. He will find that this is no ordinary murder. This murder has a mysterious family history of vengeance and death spanning almost three decades and a journey of 1450 miles from Boswell, Oklahoma to Los Angeles. This history includes the involvement of a powerful, Native American spirit, the Blue Buffalo. And this legendary bison will avenge this woman's death...

Imagine a 7-year-old boy asking his father if they can hike the entire length of the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail together. Then imagine that the father says yes. Now think "What are they getting themselves into?"For the author of this deeply felt book, the planned hike is an opportunity to bond with his son and be what he calls "Barbarians"--in touch with natural processes far from the comforts of home. It's also a chance for nature to do some healing in his life, too.For the boy, it's a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.They start in West Virginia and head north, through cold and wet spring weather, carrying only what they need and picking up resupply boxes along the way. The boy is entranced by the freedom, asking questions nonstop and pointing out every interesting bug, bird, and blossom they pass. But he's also stubborn, sometimes scared, and occasionally too tired to trudge on.Dad relishes seeing the natural world through his son's eyes, but he also struggles with the responsibility of keeping the journey going forward. By the time they reach Vermont, with aching feet and frazzled nerves, their plan to take a train to Georgia and hike north to where they started is in serious jeopardy.But the trail beckons.Closely observed, wonderfully described, and bracingly clear-eyed, this inspiring book will appeal to nature lovers and would-be AT hikers alike. It offers a vivid evocation of both the camaraderie and dangers of trail life--as well as the difficulties of modern child-rearing and the powerful lure of an untamed natural world.

Written in response to the Hawk's Nest Tunnel disaster of 1931 in Gauley Bridge, West Virginia, The Book of the Dead is an important part of West Virginia's cultural heritage and a powerful account of one of the worst industrial catastrophes in American history. The poems collected here investigate the roots of a tragedy that killed hundreds of workers, most of them African American. They are a rare engagement with the overlap between race and environment in Appalachia. Published for the first time alongside photographs by Nancy Naumburg, who accompanied Rukeyser to Gauley Bridge in 1936, this edition of The Book of the Dead includes an introduction by Catherine Venable Moore, whose writing on the topic has been anthologized in Best American Essays.

The journey between puberty and that of becoming a woman is not an easy one. And Raven is finding out that the path she has chosen is filled with unimaginable hardship. Frustrated with her family and filled with the guilt of those she has hurt, Raven runs away from home. Finding herself alone and lost in the wilderness, she must now confront her fears and the elements. Guided by the Creator, Raven is led to a hidden valley. There, she will regain her faith and find the hidden skills she will need to survive in Shadowland. The passing of time is but a small part of the journey we all must face. Our lives are dictated by the pathes we take, and subsequently, we must endure the consequences of those choices. These things still hold true today, as much so as they did when God first created man.

A literary celebration of the Northeast's wild places