THE CASCADES - Shy Girl / The Last Leaf - 1963 VG+

On a beautiful June day in 1965, a dozen girls-classmates at a picturesque Blue Ridge women's college-launched their homemade raft (inspired by Huck Finn's) on a trip down the Mississippi. It's Girls A-Go-Go Down the Mississippi read the headline in the Paducah, Kentucky, paper. Thirty-five years later, four of those "girls" reunite to cruise the river again. This time it's on the luxury steamboat, The Belle of Natchez, and there's no publicity. This time, when they reach New Orleans, they'll give the river the ashes of a fifth rafter-beautiful Margaret ("Baby") Ballou. Revered for her powerful female characters, here Lee Smith tells a brilliantly authoritative story of how college pals who grew up in an era when they were still called "girls" have negotiated life as "women." Harriet Holding is a hesitant teacher who has never married (she can't explain why, even to herself). Courtney Gray struggles to step away from her Southern Living-style life. Catherine Wilson, a sculptor, is suffocating in her happy third marriage. Anna Todd is a world-famous romance novelist escaping her own tragedies through her fiction. And finally there is Baby, the girl they come to bury-along with their memories of her rebellions and betrayals. THE LAST GIRLS is wonderful reading. It's also wonderfully revealing of women's lives-of the idea of romance, of the relevance of past to present, of memory and desire.

Release Date: April 14, 2009

What does a shy girl want to be when she grows up? A doctor, but not just any doctor—this little girl wants to care for creatures who may seem intimidating, but are really very shy, just like she is. David Mack’s extraordinary picture book debut is perfect to read aloud with creatures little and big, shy and outgoing, who believe in the magic of imagination.

Last summer, three very different girls—wild Murphy, perfect Leeda, and shy Birdie—etched their initials on a Magnolia tree at Darlington Peach Orchard to symbolize that they're friendship will last forever. But can it survive the less-than-peachy year ahead?Murphy, more in love with Rex than ever, is torn between her big-city dreams and following her heart . . . all the way across the railroad tracks and into Rex's arms.Leeda, nominated to be Bridgewater's Pecan Queen, basks in the rose-scented glow of her Ice Queen mother's sudden affection—until her sister, the princess, returns. Birdie, happy for the first time, wants nothing more than to make time stand still. Too bad everything is changing, whether she likes it or not.The sweet trio of Georgia girls that made Peaches a national bestseller returns in this delicious and satisfying sequel. This year, Murphy, Leeda, and Birdie discover that bitter endings can lead to sweet new beginnings . . . and that the orchard that brought them together will always be a part of them—even if they leave it behind.

Hippocrates, the father of medicine, practiced and taught on the Greek island of Kos about 460 years BC. A descendant of the tree under which he taught still stands. Let us imagine that the tree symbolizes the profession of medicine. The roots-the ethical and scientific basis of medicine-are deteriorating, and the leaves-the physicians-are vanishing! Good doctors are currently forced to work in a bad system. They have lost control of their actions and destiny. This, in turn, is breaking the compassionate spirit of the strongest among them and is driving some doctors out of the profession they love. Dr. Vance Connelly, whose wife died recently, moves to a retirement community. He leaves each day at 5:00 AM for the internationally recognized Greystone University Hospital to teach medical students, house officers, and fellows. He writes for the remainder of his eight-hour workday. He formerly chaired the Department of Medicine, but continues to work despite his age of eighty-five. This book tracks the careers of two of his former house officers. One seems to be the only doctor left who fits the definition of a truly professional doctor. The other wanders far from his training and succumbs to greed. The book describes a behind-the-scenes view of certain aspects of the famous teaching hospital; a look at life in a retirement home; the lives of two very different doctors who trained with Dr. Vance Connelly; and, most importantly, the love affair between Vance and his wife Jennifer. St. Simons Island (January 16, 2005)

Rocío Esquibel is a girl growing up in a Southern New Mexico town with her mother and sister. She defines her neighborhood by its trees—the willow, the apricot and the one they call the marking-off tree. Rocio knows she was born in the closet where she and her sister now take turns looking at the picture of Jesus whose eyes light up in the dark. But at night she enters a magical realm, and in her imaginary Blue Room, she can fly. At first she is a mesmerized observer of the lives of older girls and their boyfriends, but as she finds a job at the local hospital, and discovers a passion for drama and stories, Rocio begins to make her own choices in love and work. Alive with the taste of tamales and the lyrical tang of the Esquibels’ talk, The Last of the Menu Girls becomes a rich celebration of Chicano culture, and a universal story of finding one’s way in the world.

With her frayed jeans and cascade of tousled dark hair, Lynn Shaw looks more like one of the teenage residents of Horizon House than their counselor. So it’s no wonder State Senator Erik Gunther mistakes her for one. Not that he exactly fits the description of a politician, with his movie-star looks and athletic build. Even Lynn, cynical, stubborn, and decidedly not looking for a relationship, can’t ignore her body’s response to the man.Allegedly, he’s come to defend Lynn from angry locals who don’t want her home for delinquent girls in their neighborhood. But as far as Lynn is concerned, he’s looking for a photo op, a chance to play the hero–the last thing either she or her troubled girls need.What they need is understanding. Lynn knows teenage rebellion all too well. And she knows firsthand its heartbreaking price. She won’t touch the good senator with a ten-foot pole only to watch him disappear once he gets what he wants. Unfortunately, Erik refuses to go away.The moment Erik looks into her emerald eyes, his interest in work falls into serious competition with his interest in Lynn Shaw. Her rejection of his assistance only intrigues him further. He is determined to know her–and to help her. If that means practically moving into Horizon House, so be it.But as the two engage in a battle of hearts, it becomes clear that Lynn is waging a private war of her own, against demons of the past–and against her overwhelming desire for the one man who may be worth fighting for.

On the last night of December, a little girl huddles in the bitter cold, unable to go home until she has sold her bundle of matches. One by one, she lights the matches to keep warm, and, as each match lights, the girl's cold, grey world dissolves into visions of light and warmth, each more beautiful than the last. Isadora's luminous paintings tell this classic story of a valiant spirit set free at last. Full color.

On the last night of December, a little girl huddles in the bitter cold, unable to go home until she has sold her bundle of matches. One by one, she lights the matches to keep warm, and, as each match lights, the girl's cold, grey world dissolves into visions of light and warmth, each more beautiful than the last. Isadora's luminous paintings tell this classic story of a valiant spirit set free at last. Full color.

Solomon lives in Tasmania now, but every few years still updates his guide for gardeners in the North American Maritime Northwest, first published in 1980. He discusses the usual topics of conventional beginning organic gardening books--soil, composting, water, seeds, predators, and so on--but approaches it all from the particular conditions encountered in the region, such as no sun in the winter and no rain in the summer, and nutrients washed out of the soil by a thousand years of endless rain. Perhaps underlying all other problems, he says, is that Native Americans in Cascadia did not farm and so had only one lesson to teach European settlers about agriculture there, which they have ignored ever since. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)