Red As in Russia and Measles and Love


Book Description

In 1926, while living in Russia, ten-year-old Lisenka and her family struggled to survive under Communist rule. When Commandant Chukov closed their Christian school, took their Bible, and began to stalk them for their Christian faith, they knew they must flee. Follow Lisenka and her family on their harrowing journey by oxen cart, train and ship to America. Even within sight of America, their dream was threatened. Throughout the book, Lisenka tried to believe the truth of God's promise, "All things work together for good to them that love God." This fictional story of a young girl's journey to religious freedom in the United States is based on actual events. My Story I grew up in a small Ohio town, attended a small Lutheran grade school and have a small-town attitude. After college and four children, I began to write, including the original version of this book. In 1995, my husband Tom and I started a group travel business, Tom's Christian Tours (TCT). My small-town attitude entered the jet-set age. TCT took me to all corners of the USA and to 75 different countries. Now in retirement, writing is again calling to me. www.lindajaneniedfeldt.com Endorsements "Reading Red carried me back more than 70 years to the stories that my mom told me. The book made me cry at the memories of her hardships and joys." - Gloria Pipping, daughter of German-Russian immigrant, Lydia Zangl "It's easy to recommend Red to kids because my students loved the riveting adventure. More importantly, however, kids should read it to learn, along with Lisenka, the value of religious freedom and the faithful fulfillment of God's promises." - Kris Walta, fifth grade teacher, Faith Lutheran School, Fond du Lac, WI




Psalms in My Backpack


Book Description

Psalms in My Backpack is a memoir of our family hiking 262 miles of the Appalachian Trail (AT)--without cell phones--and surviving.Here I am on the AT, weighed down by my 35-pound backpack. In 1990, hiking the AT was meant to be a fun adventure. But as our family of six lugged overstuffed backpacks, we weren't always having fun.We carried burdens heavier than our packs as we scaled rocky cliffs or cowered in raging storms. Sometimes we leaped over poisonous snakes and suffered from thirst and hunger.But even in desperate times, we trusted that God would provide safety and peace. Our trust is expressed in Psalm verses that introduce each of the 154 vignettes. Original photos and pencil drawings complete the tale.Told from a mom's perspective, the story appeals to adventurous moms--and dads--backpackers and wanna-be-hikers.As you read, you might think the risks of the AT were too extreme. Maybe you'll admire us or scorn us. Maybe our adventure will encourage you or discourage you from backpacking. Whatever your reaction, I'm confident this story will entertain and transform you. Linda Jane "Janie" Niedfeldt is an outdoorsy, small-town gal. After college, marriage, and four children, she dabbled at teaching but focused on writing. Niedfeldt wrote two children's historical fiction books, then dozens of newspaper stories and a few national magazine articles. In 1995, she and her husband Tom started a travel business, taking her small-town life perspective to more than 75 countries. Now in retirement, she's written two more children's novels and her first memoir, Psalms in My Backpack.




Ruby Red


Book Description

Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era! Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon—the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust. Kerstin Gier's Ruby Red is young adult novel full of fantasy and romance.




Zoya


Book Description

Against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution and World War I Europe, Zoya, young cousin to the Tsar, flees St. Petersburg to Paris to find safety. Her entire world forever changed, she faces hard times and joins the Ballet Russe in Paris. And then, when life is kind to her, Zoya moves on to a new and glittering life in New York. The days of ease are all too brief as the Depression strikes, and she loses everything yet again. It is her career, and the man she meets in the course of it, which ultimately save her, as she rebuilds her life through the war years and beyond. And it is her family that comes to mean everything to her. From the roaring twenties to the 1980's, Zoya remains a rare and spirited woman whose legacy will live on.




Space Opera


Book Description

2019 HUGO AWARD FINALIST, BEST NOVEL The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy meets the joy and glamour of Eurovision in bestselling author Catherynne M. Valente's science fiction spectacle, where sentient races compete for glory in a galactic musical contest…and the stakes are as high as the fate of planet Earth. A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented—something to cheer up everyone who was left and bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity, and understanding. Once every cycle, the great galactic civilizations gather for the Metagalactic Grand Prix—part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part continuation of the wars of the past. Species far and wide compete in feats of song, dance and/or whatever facsimile of these can be performed by various creatures who may or may not possess, in the traditional sense, feet, mouths, larynxes, or faces. And if a new species should wish to be counted among the high and the mighty, if a new planet has produced some savage group of animals, machines, or algae that claim to be, against all odds, sentient? Well, then they will have to compete. And if they fail? Sudden extermination for their entire species. This year, though, humankind has discovered the enormous universe. And while they expected to discover a grand drama of diplomacy, gunships, wormholes, and stoic councils of aliens, they have instead found glitter, lipstick, and electric guitars. Mankind will not get to fight for its destiny—they must sing. Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeroes have been chosen to represent their planet on the greatest stage in the galaxy. And the fate of Earth lies in their ability to rock.




The Memoirs of Catherine the Great


Book Description

Empress Catherine II brought Europe to Russia, and Russia to Europe, during her long and eventful reign (1762—96). She fostered the culture of the Enlightenment and greatly expanded the immense empire created by Czar Ivan the Terrible, shifting the balance of power in Europe eastward. Famous for her will to power and for her dozen lovers, Catherine was also a prolific and gifted writer. Fluent in French, Russian, and German, Catherine published political theory, journalism, comedies, operas, and history, while writing thousands of letters as she corresponded with Voltaire and other public figures. The Memoirs of Catherine the Great provides an unparalleled window into eighteenth-century Russia and the mind of an absolute ruler. With insight, humor, and candor, Catherine presents her eyewitness account of history, from her whirlwind entry into the Russian court in 1744 at age fourteen as the intended bride of Empress Elizabeth I’s nephew, the eccentric drunkard and future Peter III, to her unhappy marriage; from her two children, several miscarriages, and her and Peter’s numerous affairs to the political maneuvering that enabled Catherine to seize the throne from him in 1762. Catherine’s eye for telling details makes for compelling reading as she describes the dramatic fall and rise of her political fortunes. This definitive new translation from the French is scrupulously faithful to her words and is the first for which translators have consulted original manuscripts written in Catherine’s own hand. It is an indispensable work for anyone interested in Catherine the Great, Russian history, or the eighteenth century.




Red Clocks


Book Description

In this ferociously imaginative novel, abortion is once again illegal in America, in-vitro fertilization is banned, and the Personhood Amendment grants rights of life, liberty, and property to every embryo. Five women. One question. What is a woman for? In a small Oregon fishing town, five very different women navigate these new barriers alongside age-old questions surrounding motherhood, identity, and freedom. Ro, a single high-school teacher, is trying to have a baby on her own, while also writing a biography of Eivv?r, a little-known 19th-century female polar explorer. Susan is a frustrated mother of two, trapped in a crumbling marriage. Mattie is the adopted daughter of doting parents and one of Ro's best students, who finds herself pregnant with nowhere to turn. And Gin is the gifted, forest-dwelling herbalist, or "mender," who brings all their fates together when she's arrested and put on trial in a frenzied modern-day witch hunt. Red Clocks is at once a riveting drama, whose mysteries unfold with magnetic energy, and a shattering novel of ideas. In the vein of Margaret Atwood and Eileen Myles, Leni Zumas fearlessly explores the contours of female experience, evoking The Handmaid's Tale for a new millennium. This is a story of resilience, transformation, and hope in tumultuous -- even frightening -- times.




Melanie's Marvelous Measles


Book Description

Melanie s Marvelous Measles takes children on a journey to learn about the ineffectiveness of vaccinations and to know they don t have to be scared of childhood illnesses, like measles and chicken pox. There are many health messages for parents to expand on about keeping healthy. For an information pack on vaccinations to be sent out free in Australia, people can e-mail [email protected] and provide their postal address.




Lines of Courage


Book Description

Jennifer A. Nielsen, award-winning author of A Night Divided and Rescue, artfully weaves together the stories of five kids living through World War I, each of whom holds the key to the others' futures... if they are lucky -- and brave -- enough to find each other. "A powerful, absorbing story that shines a light on an often overlooked chapter in human history." -- Alan Gratz, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Refugee World War I stretches its cruel fingers across Europe, where five young people, each from different backgrounds and nations, face the terror of battle, the deprivations of hunger, and all the awful challenges of war. Felix, from Austria-Hungary, longs for the bravery to resist Jewish deportations before his own family can be taken. Kara, from Britain, dreams of someday earning her Red Cross pin and working as a nurse -- or even a doctor. Juliette, of France, hopes her family can remain knitted together, despite her father's imprisonment, as the war's longest battle stretches on and on. Elsa, from Germany, hopes her homing pigeon might one day bring her a friend from out of the chaos. And Dimitri, of Russia, wants only to survive the front, where he's been sent with no weapon. None of them will find exactly what they want. But the winds of fate may cross their paths to give each of them just what they need. And in this remarkable exploration of World War I by critically acclaimed author Jennifer A. Nielsen, they will discover that friendship and courage can light the way through the most frightening of nights.




Caught in the Revolution


Book Description

SELECTED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE TELEGRAPH AND EVENING STANDARD '[The] centenary will prompt a raft of books on the Russian Revolution. They will be hard pushed to better this highly original, exhaustively researched and superbly constructed account.' Saul David, Daily Telegraph 'A gripping, vivid, deeply researched chronicle of the Russian Revolution told through the eyes of a surprising, flamboyant cast of foreigners in Petrograd, superbly narrated by Helen Rappaport.' Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of The Romanovs Between the first revolution in February 1917 and Lenin’s Bolshevik coup in October, Petrograd (the former St Petersburg) was in turmoil. Foreign visitors who filled hotels, bars and embassies were acutely aware of the chaos breaking out on their doorsteps. Among them were journalists, diplomats, businessmen, governesses and volunteer nurses. Many kept diaries and wrote letters home: from an English nurse who had already survived the sinking of the Titanic; to the black valet of the US Ambassador, far from his native Deep South; to suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst, who had come to Petrograd to inspect the indomitable Women’s Death Battalion led by Maria Bochkareava. Drawing upon a rich trove of material and through eye-witness accounts left by foreign nationals who saw the drama unfold, Helen Rappaport takes us right up to the action – to see, feel and hear the Revolution as it happened.