Akron Public Library

In Fannie Flagg's high-spirited first novel, we meet Daisy Fay Harper in the spring of 1952, where she's "not doing much except sitting around waiting for the sixth grade." When she leaves Shell Beach, Mississippi, in September 1959, she is packed up and ready for the Miss America Pageant, vowing "I won't come back until I'm somebody." But in our hearts she already is. Sassy and irreverent from the get-go, Daisy Fay takes us on a rollicking journey...

A comprehensive history of Jerusalem, the holy city venerated by the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths, explains how the city became a defining site for the three religions, following its development from its earliest origins to the present.

"Toby Wilson is having the toughest summer of his life. It's the summer his mother leaves for good; the summer his best friend's brother returns from Vietnam in a coffin. And the summer that Zachary Beaver, the fattest boy in the world, arrives in their sleepy Texas town. While it's a summer filled with heartache of every kind, it's also a summer of new friendships gained and old friendships renewed. And it's Zachary Beaver who turns the town of Antler...

Ave Maria Mulligan, a thirty-five-year-old spinster in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, is jolted out of her rut when her mother reveals a shocking secret, and things become even more exciting when Elizabeth Taylor announces plans to visit the sleepy town.

On a bright June day in 1965, a dozen girls -- classmates at a Blue Ridge women's college -- launch a ramshackle raft on a trip down the Mississippi. Thirty-five years later, four of the "girls" reunite to cruise the river again on a luxury steamboat and rediscover themselves

"Years ago, Meghann Dontess made a terrible choice that cost her everything, including the love of her sister, Claire. Now, Meghann is a highly successful attorney who doesnt believe in intimacy-until she meets the one man who can change her mind. Claire Cavenaugh has fallen in love for the first time in her life. As her wedding day approaches, she prepares to face her strong-willed older sister. Reunited after more than two decades apart, these two...

The sole survivor of a crew sent to explore a new planet, Jesuit priest Emilio Sandoz discovers an alien civilization that raises questions about the very essence of humanity, an encounter that leads Sandoz to a public inquisition and the destruction of his faith

The developing relationship between teenager Davie and a mysterious new boy in town morphs into something darker and more sinister when Davie learns firsthand of the boy's supernatural powers.

Deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a mill town called Commonwealth votes to quarantine itself in the wake of the 1918 flu pandemic, but a violent confrontation with a tired, hungry, and cold soldier will have devastating repercussions for the entire town.

As their lives take them in different directions, Lena, Tibby, Carmen, and Bridget discover many more things about themselves and the importance of their relationship with each other.