Growing up in early twentieth-century Illinois, Ruby Drake is a happy child. But one winter's night, her beloved parents perish in an accident and suddenly Ruby finds herself penniless and nearly alone in the world. Her new path eventually takes her to Harvester, Minnesota, where she finds work on the farm of the Schoonovers, who soon become a second family to her. Ruby falls in love with Roland, a married neighbor. When Ruby is asked to care for...

"Just hours after his wife and her entire family perish in the Christmas Eve tsunami in Brisbane, American expat and former police officer Frank Mercy goes out to join his volunteer rescue unit and pulls a little boy from a submerged car, saving the child's life with only seconds to spare. In that moment, Frank's own life is transformed. Not quite knowing why, Frank sidesteps the law, when, instead of turning Ian over to the Red Cross, he takes the...

"This dramatic and gripping story of a young pioneer family's struggle to build a new life for themselves on the American Frontier of the 1870's, captured the hearts of viewers around the world."--Container.

"Abe Ravelstein is a brilliant professor at a prominent midwestern university and a man who glories in training the movers and shakers of the political world. He has lived grandly and ferociously - and much beyond his means. His close friend Chick has suggested that he put forth a book of his convictions about the ideas which sustain humankind, or kill it, and much to Ravelstein's surprise he does and becomes a millionaire. Ravelstein suggests in...

Recreates the Fourth of July in 1836 in the fictional village of Prairietown, Indiana, to show how the holiday was celebrated in a typical frontier community.

"Explores the meaning of identity and place, hamburgers, hard work, and basketball in this collection of ... essays reflecting on the many aspects of Midwestern culture and life from an insider's perspective" --

A biography of John Chapman whose distribution of appleseeds and trees across the Midwest made him a legend and left a legacy still enjoyed today.