In the San Joaquin Valley the summers are hot and dry, with long, sunny days. Coastal Mountains border the west and the Sierra Nevada foothills the east. This is a true story of divorced mother, Joni Parker, and her struggles to save her only son from drug addiction and incarceration in prison. Living in the Valley most of her life and raising three daughters and son hadnt been easy for Ms. Parker. Just when things get better, she becomes disheartened time after time with bad news. Does Ms. Parker call the police? As a young child Matthew Berg was an astute church goer. Growing up without a Father, he struggles to overcome his loneliness and gets drawn into a world of drugs, deception, and addiction. When he becomes incarcerated into some of Californias toughest prisons, he turns to writing poetry. What happens to young Matthew Berg? Where is he now?

Langston Hughes, one of America's greatest writers, was an innovator of jazz poetry and a leader of the Harlem Renaissance whose poems and plays resonate widely today. Accessible, personal, and inspirational, Hughes’s poems portray the African American community in struggle in the context of a turbulent modern United States and a rising black freedom movement. This indispensable volume of letters between Hughes and four leftist confidants sheds vivid light on his life and politics. Letters from Langston begins in 1930 and ends shortly before his death in 1967, providing a window into a unique, self-created world where Hughes lived at ease. This distinctive volume collects the stories of Hughes and his friends in an era of uncertainty and reveals their visions of an idealized world—one without hunger, war, racism, and class oppression.

I could imagine that most senior citizens approaching seventy years of age might look back on their life and wish that they had accomplished more. The author of this book would be no exception. But praise the Lord, he has very few regrets. He has had the great privilege to see God do things in his life he never expected that He would, and he has a wife and family that bless him every day things that money could never have purchased, even if he did have more of it. In the book of Acts, as Peter and John were walking through the temple courts in Jerusalem, a crippled beggar asked them for money. Peter's answer to him was simply, "I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you..." (Acts 3:6, ESV). I would tell my family the same thing. What I do have, money can't buy. And they can have it too. God can be just as real for them as He has always been for us. And when He promises them, "I am with you," they will never lack any good thing. If I were being totally honest, I do have one major regret in life: I wish I could have told more people about Jesus, and would have been a bolder witness. But I am praying that, by God's grace, the books I have written will perhaps accomplish what I didn't. People that I haven't met, in places that I never went, can still read what I have written. And like that little boy's lunch in Jesus' hands, five loaves of bread and two fish, or maybe even my four books and one life, can still feed a multitude. With God, all things are possible! Hallelujah!

A history of World War I—told through the letters exchanged by ordinary soldiers and their families. Letters from the Trenches reveals how people really thought and felt during the Great War, and covers all social classes and groups from officers to conscripts to women at home to conscientious objectors. Voices within the book include Sgt. John Adams, 9th Royal Irish Fusiliers, who wrote in May 1917: “For the day we get our letter from home is a red letter day in the history of the soldier out here. It is the only way we can hear what is going on. The slender thread between us and the homeland.” Pvt. Stanley Goodhead, who served with one of the Manchester Pals battalion, wrote home in 1916: “I came out of the trenches last night after being in four days. You have no idea what four days in the trenches means . . . The whole time I was in I had only about two hours sleep and that was in snatches on the firing step. What dugouts there are, are flooded with mud and water up to the knees and the rats hold swimming galas in them . . . We are literally caked with brown mud and it is in all our food, tea etc.” Jacqueline Wadsworth skillfully uses these letters to tell the human story of the First World War: what mattered to Britain’s servicemen and their feelings about the war; how the conflict changed people; and how life continued on the home front.

This moving fable follows the adventures of Matt who becomes king when just a child and decides to reform his country according to his own priorities. Ignoring his grown-up ministers, he builds the best zoo in the world and decrees that children should be given chocolate every day. He fights in battles, braves the jungle, and crosses the desert, but perhaps the most life-altering thing of all is that the lonely boy king finds true friends. This timeless book shows us not only what children's literature can be, but what children can be. King Matt the First was written by Janusz Korczak, a Polish orphanage director who died in Treblinka after refusing to abandon the children he cared for.

Written by incarcerated women, these incredibly personal, surprisingly honest letters shed light on their lives, their crimes - and the mitigating circumstances. Author Jennifer Furio, a prison reform activist, subtly reveals the biases if the criminal ju

During the early days of World War II Joe Phelps made two critical decisions that were to affect the rest of his life. He and Margaret Wieczorek decided to take their chances on a war time marriage. Joe also decided to enlist in the Naval Reserve. For a while things were great for the newly weds but after less than nine months of marriage Joe got his orders. He was on his way to duty in Bermuda. During the fifteen months he was stationed there Joe and Marge exchanged over 500 letters. These letters reveal the great love and affection they had for each other despite the miles that separated them. They show their faith in God and country. And the letters are a time capsule of what America was like in 1943 and 1944. Find out about Nicklelodeon dances, the Lux Radio Theater, hit movies, shoe stamps, The Inner Sanctum, jitterbugging, Camp Grant, knitten for Britain, Hopalong Cassidy and all the hot spots in Rockford, Illinois. Book Reviews Phelps Creates Family Treasure A box of letters stored away since 1945 resurfaced 60 years later in 2005. Letters written back and forth between James’s parents in 1943 and 1944. James made the decision to devote time to preserving this time in his parent’s history. As James began to delve further into the readings, he realized the beauty in the language and his parent’s relationship. He also learned much of the social history as revealed by his mother’s writing. His mother’s letters provide a snapshot of life in the early 1940’s. For those with a penchant for history, for the stories behind the people, and for those appreciative of beautiful and telling letter writing, this may be the book for you. Sarah Johnson Editor/Publisher of FYI NORTHWOODS Presque Isle, Wisconsin Pick up this book for a fascinating journey to the America of yesterday, as seen through the eyes of real-life heroes who weren’t seeking special recognition. They just tried the best they could, meeting their responsibilities in everyday life, overseas and on the home front. By the time you finish this book, you’ll feel like they’re old friends. Not only is this unique book a very interesting read, it is also a time capsule that contains some mementoes of an era that is long gone but part of our history. Some readers may still have grandparents who recall having lived during this era; for them it will be like a walk down memory lane. For others, who are too young to recall it personally, it is a glimpse into a time that is viewed through old photographs – almost surreal but at once real and honest. Susan Johnson Copy Editor of The Rock River Times in Rockford, Illinois Rockford man compiles parents’ WWII correspondence in a book. Rockford’s James S. Phelps has written a book, “Letters from Bermuda,” compiling correspondence his newlywed parents exchanged during World War II. Family photographs accompany the accounts of wartime life in Bermuda and Rockford. Phelps retired from teaching at Swan Hillman Elementary in 2005. The book is available at Amazon.com, BN.com and Xlibris.com, where you can preview excerpts from the book. Go Section of the Rockford Register Star READERS’ COMMENTS After reading every letter, I, if no other reader, have come to know Joe and Marge quite well. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you right away how much I admire your entirely worthwhile effort in transcribing these expressions of your parent’s love and affection, faith and longing. Did you ever consider “Oceans of love” as a subtitle? We’ve still not been by Crossways (Joe’s cottage in Bermuda) at a time when we weren’t rushing, but Joe’s many descriptions will be an inspiration next time the opportunity arises to take a couple of pictures and maybe knock on the door. It was amusing to see the occasional “hand of autho