★ “Historical fiction at its finest.” –The Horn Book “There has never been a better time to read about healing, of both the body and the heart.” –The New York Times Book Review Echo Mountain is an acclaimed best book of 2020! An NPR Best Book of the Year • A Horn Book Fanfare Selection • A Kirkus Best Book of the Year • A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year • A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year • A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year After losing almost everything in the Great Depression, Ellie’s family is forced to leave their home in town and start over in the untamed wilderness of nearby Echo Mountain. Ellie has found a welcome freedom, and a love of the natural world, in her new life on the mountain. But there is little joy after a terrible accident leaves her father in a coma. An accident unfairly blamed on Ellie. Ellie is a girl who takes matters into her own hands, and determined to help her father she will make her way to the top of the mountain in search of the healing secrets of a woman known only as “the hag.” But the hag, and the mountain, still have many untold stories left to reveal. Historical fiction at its finest, Echo Mountain is celebration of finding your own path and becoming your truest self. Lauren Wolk, the Newbery Honor– and Scott O'Dell Award–winning author of Wolf Hollow and Beyond the Bright Sea, weaves a stunning tale of resilience, persistence, and friendship across three generations of families. “Soothing and exquisitely written.” –People “This is a book that will soothe readers like a healing balm.” –The Wall Street Journal “Brilliant.” –Lynda Mullaly Hunt, bestselling author of Fish in a Tree

WINNER: Wales Book of the Year 2023 Highly commended for the Young Quills Award 2023. A STIRRING HISTORICAL MYSTERY SET IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR, FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE VALLEY OF LOST SECRETS The First World War has ended, but it hasn't gone away. When Natty has to move to a new village, she meets two young soldiers who are still battling the effects of war. Huw can't forget the terrible things he's seen, but Johnny doesn't even remember who he is. As Natty tries to keep a secret and unravel a mystery, she finds her own way to fight for what she believes in – and learns that some things should never be forgotten ... This mesmerising historical mystery includes an interactive clue so readers can unravel the mystery alongside the characters. _______________ 'A heartfelt, hopeful tale of the human spirit's incredible ability to recover' - Emma Carroll

An American tapestry is woven daily with the circulation of coins, and who better to tell our story than the currency that is most prolific yet incredibly underappreciated: the penny. “I absolutely love this book. I could not put it down until I read where the penny would land next and knew which fascinating and interesting people I was going to meet. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that this is more than an adventure of a humble penny: we’re shown that “significance” is found in making an impact and difference in the lives of those around us.” Tom McConnell, longtime Division I and II Mens and Womens head college basketball coach “A Penny’s Thoughts helps us all to see the magical and divine parts of life through the perspective of one penny as it passess through the hands of many people on vastly different personal journeys. Its timely message is clear: if a penny can find out the true meaning of life, despite the hardships, we can too. A book for any age, A Penny’s Thoughts is sure to take you on an unexpected journey of your very own.” Kara Lawler, author of Everywhere Holy “A Penny’s Thoughts is beyond creative, well written and intriguing from the moment you start reading. The idea that a penny, or any object for that matter, could tell a story from their vantage point is so thought provoking. I kept finding myself asking, “What would a penny say about my life?” What would my story be? Very creative correlations made between a penny’s “life” and our own as well. I highly recommend this investment of time! Dan O’Leary, former Notre Dame and NFL tight end

In the rugged mountains of Washington State, he will protect her with his life . . . It took just one look in Quinn Donovan’s eyes and Wilhelma “Billie” Bronson knew the search and rescue volunteer had saved her life. Again. But this time her fall down a mountain was no accident. It seems her past has come back to haunt her, and trusting Quinn to protect her is the best way to stay alive. Before long, though, old feelings resurface, and being around him becomes more challenging than figuring out who wants to hurt her. And why they’d stop at nothing to spoil any possible future with Quinn . . .

Snow Mountain Passage is a powerful retelling of the most dramatic of our pioneer stories—the ordeal of the Donner Party, with its cast of young and old risking all, its imprisoning snows, its rumors of cannibalism. James Houston takes us inside this central American myth in a compelling new way that only a novelist can achieve. The people whose dreams, courage, terror, ingenuity, and fate we share are James Frazier Reed, one of the leaders of the Donner Party, and his wife and four children—in particular his eight-year-old daughter, Patty. From the moment we meet Reed—proud, headstrong, yet a devoted husband and father—traveling with his family in the "Palace Car," a huge, specially built covered wagon transporting the Reeds in grand style, the stage is set for trouble. And as they journey across the country, thrilling to new sights and new friends, coping with outbursts of conflict and constant danger, trouble comes. It comes in the fateful choice of a wrong route, which causes the group to arrive at the foot of the Sierra Nevada too late to cross into the promised land before the snows block the way. It comes in the sudden fight between Reed and a drover—a fight that exiles Reed from the others, sending him solo over the mountains ahead of the storms. We follow Reed during the next five months as he travels around northern California, trying desperately to find means and men to rescue his family. And through the amazingly imagined "Trail Notes" of Patty Reed, who recollects late in life her experiences as a child, we also follow the main group, progressively stranded and starving on the Nevada side of the Sierras. Snow Mountain Passage is an extraordinary tale of pride and redemption. What happens—who dies, who survives, and why—is brilliantly, grippingly told.

Walking in on a beautiful woman taking a bath is a perk Todd Wainwright doesn't expect when he arrives at a friend's Hilton Head beach cottage. The dedicated Chicago surgeon is looking for some much-needed R & R.