Akron Public Library

Troy Phelan, a 78-year-old eccentric and the 10th-richest man in America, is about to read his last will and testament, divvying up an estate worth $11 billion. Phelan's three ex-wives, their grasping spawn, a legion of lawyers, several psychiatrists, and a plethora of sound technicians wait breathlessly, all eyes glued to digital monitors as they watch the old man read his verdict. But Phelan shocks everyone with a bizarre, last-gasp attempt to redistribute...

"America's preeminent storyteller, James Michener, introduced an entire generation of readers to a lush, exotic world in the Pacific in this classic novel. But this is a novel about people, people of strength and character: the original Polynesians; the fragile missionaries who came to bring their religion to the natives; the Chinese, Japanese, and Filipinos who intermarried into a beautiful race called Hawaiians. Here is the story of their relationships,...

Presents the life of Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, known as Mother Teresa, who spent most of her life serving "the poorest of the poor" in Calcutta, India.

"After the death of her missionary brother, Rose finds herself in German Central Africa in the midst of World War I, with a growing hatred of the Germans. Serving as her makeshift ally is Charlie Allnutt. Allnutt's desire is wait out the rest of the war in some marshy backwater proves no match for Rose's determination to strike a blow for england, and a plan takes shape."--BOOK JACKET.

It is 1923. Evangeline (Eva) English and her sister, Lizzie, are missionaries heading for the ancient city of Kashgar on the Silk Road. Though Lizzie is on fire with her religious calling, Eva's motives are not quite as noble, but with her green bicycle and a commission from a publisher to write "A Lady cyclist's guide to Kashgar," she is ready for adventure.

"After years of schooling on the East Coast, Constance Browning returns to Oregon and the reservation where she grew up with her missionary parents. She is accompanied by Thomas Lowell, her best friend and colleague, and together they embark on a project to catalogue the native peoples of Oregon for the Bureau of American Ethnology. But Connie and Tom have another purpose--to prove her parents are not involved in a secret conspiracy to goad the oppressed...

Tells the story of the American West through letters, diaries, memoirs, journals, essays, and photographs, that chronicle the experiences of the explorers, soldiers, Indian warriors, settlers, railroad builders, and showmen who set out into the wilderness in search of a dream.

The New Guinea jungle holds many fascinations, but not for librarian Johanna Holland. Johanna is simply aghast at the lack of hot showers and ... well ... clothing! She is positive the mission field is most certainly not God's plan for her life, but will that mean letting go of the man she loves?

The timely story of how the forces of change converge on a small tribe of Niaruna Indians living in the heart of the Amazon rain forest. In addition to being a prophetic commentary on emerging threats to the environment, and the troublesome encroachment of the modern world on traditional cultures, the novel is a suspenseful adventure story about two men striving to find meaning in a world not their own.

Priscilla Herschberger finds herself pursued by Elam, a childhood friend from her community, and David, an outsider raised in the modern world. Elam would do almost anything to convince Priscilla that David would never fit into the Amish way. Will flames of jealousy rage out of control and ruin lives? Can forgiveness allow love and trust to grow?