Akron Public Library

Thus begins the new novel from John Grisham, a story inspired by his own childhood in rural Arkansas. The narrator is a farm boy name Luke Chandler, age seven, who lives in the cotton fields with his parents and grandparents in a little house that's never been painted. The Chandlers farm eighty acres that they rent, not own, and when the cotton is ready they hire a truck-load of Mexicans and a family from the Ozarks to help harvest it. For six weeks...

"It's 2017 at the University of Arkansas. Millie Cousins, a senior resident assistant, wants to graduate, get a job, and buy a house. So when Agatha Paul, a visiting professor and writer, offers Millie an easy yet unusual opportunity, she jumps at the chance. But Millie's starry-eyed hustle becomes jeopardized by odd new friends, vengeful dorm pranks, and illicit intrigue"--

"At turns haunting and breathtaking, Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves explores legacies of love, family, and the ghostly imprint grief leaves behind as three women face the past to bring light to an old Southern town lost deep beneath the surface. Years ago, yellow fever gripped the small lakeside town of Prosper, Arkansas. At the height of that summer swelter, in the wake of an unexpected storm, the dam failed and the valley flooded-drowning the town...

The jailhouse lawyer: A young lawyer takes on the judge who is destroying her hometown--and ends up in jail herself. In picture-perfect Erva, Alabama, the most serious crimes are misdemeanors. Speeding tickets. Shoplifting. Contempt of court. Then why is the jail so crowded? And why are so few prisoners released? There's only one place to learn the truth behind these incriminating secrets. Sometimes the best education a lawyer can get is a short stretch...

For Nona Conrad each day is a struggle--to go on after her parents' sudden death, to win her rightful inheritance, and to raise her younger sister. When Nona is hired to manage a fishing camp deep in the Arkansas woods, it seems like an opportunity to settle down. Yet it isn't long before she clashes with two men. One is a stranger who grabs her arm and calls her by name before driving off in a abig sedan. The other is the camp's new owner, Simon...

In 1958 Little Rock, Arkansas, painfully shy twelve-year-old Marlee sees her city and family divided over school integration, but her friendship with Liz, a new student, helps her find her voice and fight against racism.

The peace and prosperity promised with the end of World War I fails to come to pass for two ex-soldiers--Arkansas farmer Birch Tucker, who faces the loss of everything he and his family have worked for; and Max Meyer, a financial columnist who may have to forfeit his wealth and influence to gain the son he never knew he had.

As the year 1928 begins, fourteen-year-old Lanie Belle Freeman of Fairhope, Arkansas, has bright hopes for the future. Her father has launched a new business, and her mother is expecting her fifth baby. Lanie has dreams of going to college and being a writer. Then tragedy strikes. First Lanie's mother dies giving birth to the baby, and Lanie must assume the role of surrogate mother to her younger siblings. Then her father is falsely accused of murder...

A new series set in Shakespeare, Arkansas, featuring a heroine who runs a cleaning business. One night in a garbage bag she discovers the body of her landlord, which makes her a suspect. Now she must clear her name. A study in smalltown inhabitants.