“Riveting . . . American Tapestry is not only the remarkable story of the First Lady’s family, but also a microcosm of this country’s story as well.” —USA Today In this extraordinary feat of genealogical research—in the tradition of The Hemmingses of Monticello and Slaves in the Family—author Swarns, a respected Washington-based reporter for the New York Times, tells the fascinating and hitherto untold story of Ms. Obama’s black, white, and multiracial ancestors; a history that the First Lady herself did not know. At once epic, provocative, and inspiring, American Tapestry is more than a true family saga; it is an illuminating mirror in which we may all see ourselves. “The First Family becomes ever more fascinating—and ever more representative of the nation as a whole—in Rachel Swarns’s terrific investigation into the roots of Michelle Obama . . . This is a most compelling read and more evidence for our interconnectedness as a people.” —Henry Louis Gates, Jr. “Rachel Swarns has not only excavated, with painstaking care, the family tree that is Michelle Obama’s, but, with great insight and beautiful prose, has revealed the complex, eye-opening, and disconcerting experiences that are America. This is a work of impressive historical imagination and deep cultural significance.” —Steven Hahn, Pulitzer Prize-winning author “Richly detailed . . . A lushly layered portrait of the nation itself.” —The Boston Globe “A fascinating account of the First Lady’s family . . . Few important women come from such raw places. The book makes you remember why the Obamas . . . seemed so new, so implausible . . . Extraordinary.” —The New York Times

"Miles Fitch wants to regain his father's land in south Texas, so he joins the fight for freedom from Mexico. Inside the Alamo, he is drawn to a dark-eyed beauty Rosa Carter--until he suspects that she is feeding information to the Mexican army. Forced to leave the mission, Rosa watches helplessly as Santa Ana's army closes in. Did the man she love somehow escape or survive the battle? And if he did, how will she ever prove to him that she is not a traitor?"--P. [4] of cover.

An East-coast socialite embarks on a journey to the Wild West, and her life will never be the same. A setting populated by hundreds of laborers, outlaws, and Indians is hardly the place for a wealthy general's daughter from the nation's capital. But Josephine Cain is determined to accompany her father as he oversees the day-to-day work involved in the grandest ambition of post-Civil War America: the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. Life with the railroad is far from the proper life Josephine is used to, and she faces deadly gunfights, harsh weather, and vigilante uprisings. She is torn between West and the East; between her privileged upbringing and the dangers of a new frontier; between the pull of the suitable beau her parents approve of and an attraction to a rough but charming Irish railroad worker. But if Josephine is willing, she just might find a new life, a unique purpose. . . and true love.

"Why do the first generation still act like that?" "Why can't we try some new ideas?" "Why are the second generation so lazy?" "Why are the second generation so disrespectful?" "Isn't it a shame how the church is split between the two generations?" These and many more questions reflect the tangled conflicts within the Asian American church. Cultural differences have led to many misunderstandings and conflicts. Conflicts have created bitterness and churches have split apart. How can these tangled threads be rewoven into a beautiful tapestry of God's grace? What would it take for the Asian American church to reflect God's grace? In Tapestry of Grace, Dr. Benjamin C. Shin and Dr. Sheryl Takagi Silzer apply their years of study and teaching to explain how the cultural complexities that occur between the different generations of the Asian American church can be untangled. Taking lessons from their own spiritual journeys, they show how each generation can experience the amazing grace of the Gospel.

Jean Pierre Larochette is a renowned top-level artist, making this opportunity to learn from him a treasure for all levels of weavers.

One of the most comprehensive studies ever done on a state’s Jewish community, A Corner of the Tapestry is the story—untold until now—of the Jews who helped to settle Arkansas and who stayed and flourished to become a significant part of the state’s history and culture. LeMaster has spent much of the past sixteen years compiling and writing this saga. Data for the book have been collected in part from the American Jewish Archives, American Jewish Historical Society, the stones in Arkansas’s Jewish cemeteries, more than fifteen hundred articles and obituaries from journals and newspapers, personal letters from hundreds of present and former Jewish Arkansans, congregational histories, census and court records, and some four hundred oral interviews conducted in a hundred cities and towns in Arkansas. This meticulous work chronicles the lives and genealogy of not only the highly visible and successful Jews who settled in Arkansas, but also those who comprised the warp and woof of society. It is a decidedly significant contribution to Arkansas history as well as to the wider study of Jews in the nation.

Many Blessings: A Tapestry of Accomplished African American Women by Sonnee Weedn, Ph.D. Ten years ago, Marin County psychologist, Dr. Sonnee Weedn, was asked to treat a young, urban, African American woman. Believing that as a white woman living in the reality of de facto segregation, she was not knowledgeable enough to treat this woman in psychotherapy, she set about to learn more about African American culture. This stimulated her thinking about African American women. What was it that allowed them to survive and thrive despite the double prejudice of racism and sexism. She wondered about the historical implications of the confluence of the Civil Rights Movement and the Women's Movement on this particular cohort of women, most who had come of age during law-enforced segregation. She traveled the country for three years, interviewing many African American women, some famous and others unknown except in their own particular circles of influence. She studied these women to determine what encouraged them to transcend discrimination and other obstacles they faced in order to rise up and claim their destinies as powerful and altruistic women. Ultimately, she chose thirty-one of the women she interviewed to represent the seven strengths she identified as having sustained them and allowed them to flourish. She believes that these seven strengths are the historical legacy of all African American women today, and encourages all women, regardless of ethnicity to learn from their example to increase their own resilience and determination.