This collection of letters chronicles the personal lives of founding father John Jay and his wife, Sarah Livingston Jay, in the tumultuous times during and after the American Revolution. The letters showcase Sarah as a devoted wife and mother who also helped further her husband's political career. Their correspondence reveals the abiding love of husband and wife, their concern for their children, the dangers and difficulties of travel, descriptions of the lands they visited and events they witnessed, as well as a sense of the effort it took to survive in the era even with the buffer of wealth. The book includes essays on the Jay and Livingston families, family trees, and information about the character and appearance of both husband and wife,and other topics. Importantly, there are textual bridges between the letters where necessary.

The book, Alfie and Papas Other Boys, is the fourth in a series which began with Alfies Story, Little Boy Growing Up. After that the exciting story of Alfie and the Moonshiners. Next came And the Rest of Alfies Story. I really thought that was the rest of the story. It wasnt. Now we have these tales, beginning with Papas Missing Toe, and ending with Tis a Mark of Distinction. There is not a dull moment in between these two fascinating pictures of Papas role in the lives of his four boys. Willie is the oldest, the ring leader in all their mischief, and the embodiment of primogeniture because Margaret died. There is Cliff. Granma characterized him when she said Give that boy a wheel and he will roll it off the edge of the world. And Junior is Alfies nemesis; he is just enough bigger than Alfie to taunt him, and not bigger enough to control him. Lastly, there is Alfie, the Baby, impulsive, irrepressible and curious beyond belief. But always the Baby until the arrival of Jody, ten years late for this book of Alfie tales.

A blue jay building a nest outside his window prompts John Berendt to find his camera and record the familiar, yet always fascinating sequence of events that will unfold, from eggs being laid to chicks emerging and trying to fly. Children and adults alike will be astonished at the adventurous spirit of one particularly curious young blue jay as he ventures into the world. The author of the best-selling Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil brings his narrative skill to this up-close and delightfully informal account of an event that recurs each spring.

Florida Historical Society Stetson Kennedy Award A portrait of a species on the brink The only bird species that lives exclusively in Florida, the Florida scrub-jay was once common across the peninsula. But as development over the last 100 years reduced the habitat on which the bird depends from 39 counties to three, the species became endangered. With a writer’s eye and an explorer’s spirit, Mark Walters travels the state to report on the natural history and current predicament of Florida’s flagship bird. Tracing the millions of years of evolution and migration that led to the development of songbirds and this unique species of jay, Walters describes the Florida bird’s long, graceful tail, its hues that blend from one to the next, and its notoriously friendly manner. He then focuses on the massive land-reclamation and canal-building projects of the twentieth century that ate away at the ancient oak scrub heartlands where the bird was abundant, reducing its population by 90 percent. Walters also investigates conservation efforts taking place today. On a series of field excursions, he introduces the people who are leading the charge to save the bird from extinction—those who gather for annual counts of the species in fragmented and overlooked areas of scrub; those who relocate populations of scrub-jays out of harm’s way; those who survey and purchase land to create wildlife refuges; and those who advocate for the prescribed fires that keep scrub ecosystems inhabitable for the species. A loving portrayal of a very special bird, Florida Scrub-Jay is also a thoughtful reflection on the ethical and emotional weight of protecting a species in an age of catastrophe. Now is the time to act, says Walters, or we will lose the scrub-jay forever.