Young Charity Still has one wish. She longs to be free, just like the guinea hen from her ancestral land of West Africa. She wants to be strong and free to roam the land. Instead, she is a slave, one of many on the Steele plantation in Maryland. Its the only life shes ever known. Growing up before the Emancipation Proclamation becomes law, her world consists of picking cotton, beans, and corn in the hot fields and slopping the pigs. She mourns the death of her mother, survives the influenza running rampant through the slave quarters, endures beatings for her mistakes, and experiences being sold to a new owner. Through it all, Charity dreams of freedom and what it might mean. Based on a true story, this picture book for young children puts a personal face on the history of slavery. It teaches that whatever the circumstances in lifegood or bad, joyful or painfulthey can be overcome. Its important to have, hope, faith, and belief in yourself that the spirit within will provide the strength to overcome any obstacle.

Bestselling queen of Regency Romance, Georgette Heyer, in her inimitable style, explores the lengths to which a gentleman must go to avoid scandal when confronted by a very young runaway lady. A young and lovely runaway alone on the road to London Miss Charity Steane is running away from the drudgery of her aunt's household to find her grandfather. Not expecting her visit, the old gentleman is not in London but is away in the country. A scandal broth in the making When Viscount Desford encounters a lovely waif searching for her grandfather, he feels honor bound to assist her; but dashing about the countryside together, the Viscount must prevent his exasperating charge from bringing him ruin upon herself...and him. In the end, his best idea is to bring Charity to his lifelong best friend, Henrietta, which is when the fun and surprises really begin... Praise for Georgette Heyer: "It all begins when a chivalrous and rich young gallant takes pity on a pathetic poor relation in a neighboring family. Before long he is so entangled in his efforts to help her that every step he takes leads to some hilarious new confusion. The romantic conclusions are not what you may expect, but that adds to the fun."—Publishers Weekly "Georgette Heyer is unbeatable."—Sunday Telegraph "My favourite historical novelist—stylish, romantic, sharp, and witty. Her sense of period is superb, her heroines are enterprising, and her heroes dashing. I owe her many happy hours."—Margaret Drabble

During World War I, after an impulsive night with an infected soldier, Frieda Mintz, a seventeen-year-old Jewish girl, is sent to a makeshift detention center for medical treatment with other "charity girls" in similar circumstances.

A radiant debut novel about stumbling through the early years of adulthood—and a love letter to the role models who light the way. Like so many other recent graduates, Dawn West is trying to make her way in New York City. She’s got an ex-boyfriend she can’t quite stop seeing, a roommate who views rent checks and basic hygiene as optional, and a writing career that’s gotten as far as penning an online lawn care advice column. So when Dawn lands a job tracking down the past winners of Charm magazine’s “Ten Girls to Watch” contest, she’s thrilled. After all, she’s being paid to interview hundreds of fascinating women: once outstanding college students, they have gone on to become mayors, opera singers, and air force pilots. As Dawn gets to know their life stories, she’ll discover that success, love, and friendship can be found in the most unexpected of places. Most importantly, she’ll learn that while those who came before us can be role models, ultimately, we each have to create our own happy ending.

One of the first novels to deal honestly with a woman's sexual awakening, "Summer" created a sensation upon its 1917 publication. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Ethan Frome" shattered the standards of conventional love stories with candor and realism. Nearly a century later, this tale remains fresh and relevant.

This childrenaEUR(tm)s book was written to exemplify how life and friendship sometimes do not live up to expectations, but GodaEUR(tm)s love and relationship will endure forever. This bookaEUR(tm)s goal is to inspire children to have a strong and meaningful relationship with the Lord.

Conventional wisdom holds that same-sex marriage is a purely modern innovation, a concept born of an overtly modern lifestyle that was unheard of in nineteenth century America. But as Rachel Hope Cleves demonstrates in this eye-opening book, same-sex marriage is hardly new. Born in 1777, Charity Bryant was raised in Massachusetts. A brilliant and strong-willed woman with a clear attraction for her own sex, Charity found herself banished from her family home at age twenty. She spent the next decade of her life traveling throughout Massachusetts, working as a teacher, making intimate female friends, and becoming the subject of gossip wherever she lived. At age twenty-nine, still defiantly single, Charity visited friends in Weybridge, Vermont. There she met a pious and studious young woman named Sylvia Drake. The two soon became so inseparable that Charity decided to rent rooms in Weybridge. In 1809, they moved into their own home together, and over the years, came to be recognized, essentially, as a married couple. Revered by their community, Charity and Sylvia operated a tailor shop employing many local women, served as guiding lights within their church, and participated in raising their many nieces and nephews. Charity and Sylvia is the intimate history of their extraordinary forty-four year union. Drawing on an array of original documents including diaries, letters, and poetry, Cleves traces their lives in sharp detail. Providing an illuminating glimpse into a relationship that turns conventional notions of same-sex marriage on their head, and reveals early America to be a place both more diverse and more accommodating than modern society might imagine, Charity and Sylvia is a significant contribution to our limited knowledge of LGBT history in early America.