South of the Big Four is a gracefully told, arresting look at an America in which the center no longer holds, where a new kind of forgiveness and understanding must be found. In the tradition of A Thousand Acres and A Map of the World, the novel's sudden truths and lasting images transcend the daily lives of its Midwestern characters to create a penetrating, resonant story, made all the more remarkable because it is the author's debut.

Paul Bunyan, Br'er Rabbit, Bluebeard, and Billy the Kid. These are just some of the many character alive today through folktales. A goldmine for students, storytellers, and general readers, this massive work gives easy access to the stories and legends that have captivated us for generations and continue to influence film, television, literature, and popular culture. The most ambitious undertaking of its kind, this collection conveniently groups American folktales by region and includes common and less familiar stories from a wide range of ethnic traditions. It also provides a generous sampling of electronic lore circulating on the Internet. Introductions, notes, appendices, and other helpful aids cover the fascinating background of these tales and bring them alive for students of history, literature, social studies, and the arts. Included are selections from various types of tales, such as legend, joke, tall tale, personal narrative, and myth, along with a generous sampling of electronic lore circulating on the Internet. Introductions, notes, appendices, and other aids link the tales to their origins and afterlives, so that students in social studies classes can learn about American history and culture, while literature students can learn about language, genres, and dialects.

Mystery shopper Josie Marcus catches a new case when the owner of a popular doggy day spa bites the dust and her mother’s friend is collared for the crime... Josie’s been assigned to sniff around Uncle Bob’s Doggy Day Camp, one of St. Louis’s hottest pet spas. It doesn’t take her long to dig up dirt on the camp’s top dog, “Uncle” Bob Manning himself. Employee Frank Hyzy—Josie’s mom’s new boyfriend—reveals Bob should be in the doghouse for his cruel treatment of the canine customers. But before Josie can write Bob up, someone puts him down...and Frank is the cops’ prime suspect. While Frank definitely had a bone to pick with the animal abuser, Josie doesn’t believe he murdered Bob. So she must doggedly pursue the investigation on her own and hope she can cage the real killer before they fetch another victim.

When their parents steal a Hollywood star (a white poodle) to hold it for ransom, our young heroes leap into action. Too bad the spoiled star will not raise a paw to help. Barks and howls will be the result of anyone reading Book Two of Good Crooks. Author Mary Amato is a star of state master and children's choice lists and returns to the age category of her popular Riot Brothers chapter book series with this funny, silly new series.

The murder of the most hated and powerful man in a small town causes great commotion but offers few clues. The only evidence Kenworthy has is the murder weapon--an antique luger pistol. And the only help he gets is from a spunky 15-year-old girl whose knowledge reaches far beyond her years.

When a teacher and a shoolgirl disappear at the same time, usually the worst is assumed. But no one can imagine prim little Susan with John Everard, an old-fashioned man in failing health. Then a body dressed in Susan's clothes is discovered . . . but the body is not Susan's. Published by William Collins Sons as Surrender Value.

The true story of a lost dog’s journey and a family’s furious search to find him before it is too late. Saturday, October 10, 1998. Fielding Marshall is hiking on the Appalachian Trail. His beloved dog—a six-year-old golden retriever mix named Gonker—bolts into the woods. Just like that, he has vanished. And Gonker has Addison’s disease. If he’s not found in twenty-three days, he will die. The search begins. Fielding and his father, John, are dispatched to the field. They have the family’s other dog, Uli, in tow. Combing the trails, Fielding and his father bond like never before. Fielding’s sister, Peyton, calls and talks him through some of his lowest moments. And—at home—Fielding’s mother, Virginia, sets up a command center. Virginia becomes a field general. With a map and a phone book at her side, she contacts animal shelters, police precincts, general stores, community centers, newspapers, radio stations, churches, and park rangers. She is tireless. The local paper in Waynesboro, Virginia, writes a small story about the family’s search. The story hits the AP newswire. Tips—many of them of questionable authenticity—pour in from across the country. But as the search continues, the Marshalls realize they may not survive losing Gonker. Even as the wounds of their past return to haunt them and threaten to jeopardize everything, they know they have one mission: bring Gonker home. With a big heart, intelligent humor, and a deft touch, Pauls Toutonghi tells this true tale of loss, love, and resilience. Dog Gone is by turns a story about how a family comes together in a crisis—and the way heroism can assert itself in the little things we do each day.

After 73 years, Fred Vickery figures he knows a few things about life--and death. Especially when he's trying to solve murders in his hometown of Cutler, Colorado. This time, it's a personal matter. Fred's niece has been accused of killing her husband, He's determined to find out the truth--even though everyone in town seems just as determined to stop him.

Two Kinds of Color is story of a mother’s love and sacrifice for her four racially divided children. Two of them are black, two are white. Their mother, Freddie Walker, has not only movie star beauty, sensuality, and sexuality, she has the kind of intelligence which white-collar Wall Street can only dream of. Sidetracked from realizing her dream of gaining a fortune playing with stocks and bonds, she moves to the notorious South Side of Chicago, where she and her children are raised and abused by a brutal and vain gambler, pimp, Jimmy Tate. When the unthinkable happens the only one she can turn to is her best friend, a black woman, Ruby Johnson. Will her children, turned adults, hate their mother and Ruby, or realize there is no greater love than that of two mothers?

Seven years ago the housekeeper, Maudelle Perkins, found Horace Fletcher, Director of Shady Rest Funeral Home, dead at his desk. Cyrus Dedeaux, one of three morticians hired by Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher, was declared guilty. However, new DNA evidence, presented by his lawyer, had proven Mr. Dedeaux innocent and he has been set free Three days after Cyrus returned, there has been an alleged attempted murder on Rose Fletcher, Horace's widow, and a body has washed up on the beach. Before attending the gala benefit honoring environmentalist, Dr. Horatio Banks, in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, Mrs. Julia McKenna and her boyfriend, Captain Eric VonBoatner, are supposed to pick up a 1927 Model T. Ford, which she won two months earlier in a drawing. During an impromptu shopping spree, Aunt Jewels and a dog named Maggie May are kidnapped and dog napped respectively. Upon inspection of the floorboards inside of the antique car, her niece, Private Investigator Bea Winslow, discovers small specks of dried blood. Mystery, mayhem and merriment, follow these two sleuths as they weave their humor, crime solving tactics and hilarious antics, through a host of unsavory characters, the funeral parlor, saving the environment, Christmas festivities in the Bay and finding Aunt Jewels and Maggie May.