Akron Public Library

The teenage son of an Appalachian single mother who dies when he is eleven uses his good looks, wit, and instincts to survive foster care, child labor, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, this is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival....

"When 14-year-old William Kamkwamba's Malawi village was hit by a drought in 2001, everyone's crops began to fail. His family didn't have enough money for food, let alone school, so William spent his days in the library. He came across a book on windmills and figured out how to build a windmill that could bring electricity to his village. Everyone thought he was crazy but William persevered and managed to create a functioning windmill out of junkyard...

"Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her "head-for-the-hills bag." In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's junkyard. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure...

Colorado's rural districts are a major part of the state's 178 school districts yet only comprise 20 percent of the total student population in the state. While these rural school districts often have small student populations, they represent critical aspects of Colorado's education system.

While New Bern, Connecticut, lies under a blanket of snow, the Cobbled Court Quilt Shop remains a cozy haven for its owner, Evelyn Dixon, and her friends. But when Evelyn's son Garrett rolls out the red carpet for a super-romantic New Year's Eve--complete with marriage proposal--for Liza, the young woman finds herself torn between a rare career opportunity and love for Garrett.

"Early Warning opens in 1953 with the Langdons at a crossroads. Their stalwart patriarch Walter, who with his wife had sustained their Iowa farm for three decades, has suddenly died, leaving their five children looking to the future. Only one will remain to work the land, while the others scatter to Washington, DC, California, and everywhere in between. As the country moves out of postwar optimism through the Cold War, the social and sexual revolutions...

When tragedy threatens to tear her family apart, Margot Matthews discovers that her friendship with the new female pastor and her quilting sisterhood are the only things holding her together as she tries to piece back together her life.

On their farm in Denby, Iowa, Rosanna and Walter Langdon abide by time-honored values that they pass on to their five wildly different yet equally remarkable children: Frank, the brilliant, stubborn first-born; Joe, whose love of animals makes him the natural heir to his family's land; Lillian, an angelic child who enters a fairy-tale marriage with a man only she will fully know; Henry, the bookworm who's not afraid to be different; and Claire, who...

In her 20s, Ivy Peterman escaped an abusive marriage with little more than her kids and the clothes on her back. Quaint New Bern, Connecticut seemed an ideal place to make a fresh start. With a part-time job at the Cobbled Court Quilt Shop, and budding friendships, Ivy feels hopeful. But when a popular television show is taped at the quilt shop, Ivy's unwitting appearance alerts her ex to her whereabouts. Suddenly, Ivy is facing the fight of her life...