The Checker Board: Book Four: Medicine Bow Spirit


Book Description

Pursued by bounty hunters, in 1883, Dave Smith rides out of New Mexico territory toward Wyoming Territory. He encounters the Cheyenne nation in the person of young ‘Moon Stands in Water’ who was taken from her tribe during a raid. Together they encounter a bounty hunter who nearly succeeds in capturing them. Dave accepts a mission from his Cheyenne friends. While on a train from Laramie to Medicine Bow, Dave helps fend off an attack by renegade Comanche. His actions in stopping a holdup attempt on the train leads to a job offer when he reaches Medicine Bow. Bound by his promise to the Cheyenne, Dave cannot leave Medicine Bow. The town is controlled by Cassius Harding, owner of the hotel and gambling hall, as well as much of the surrounding land. The locals are restive because of a burdensome water tax levied by Harding. Finding work with Harding, Dave soon recognizes Harding has him trapped, as well as controlled by threats against his girlfriend, Rose Loughery. Forced to do Harding’s bidding, Dave advances the Comanche renegade band’s diversion raids on the outlying settlers and miners in the area. Having been the one to set up these deadly attacks, Dave learns he has been duped by Harding. In a rage, Dave takes apart Harding’s outfit, man by man. A rousing western full of Indians, outlaws, and powerful individuals cause Dave to lose his freedom. At the end, Medicine Bow is attacked by revengeful Indian renegades who have also learned of Harding’s treachery in dealings with them. Dave is caught in the fight to save the town and his life.




The Checker Board: Book Four: Medicine Bow Spirit


Book Description

Pursued by bounty hunters, in 1883, Dave Smith rides out of New Mexico territory toward Wyoming Territory. He encounters the Cheyenne nation in the person of young 'Moon Stands in Water' who was taken from her tribe during a raid. Together they encounter a bounty hunter who nearly succeeds in capturing them. Dave accepts a mission from his Cheyenne friends. While on a train from Laramie to Medicine Bow, Dave helps fend off an attack by renegade Comanche. His actions in stopping a holdup attempt on the train leads to a job offer when he reaches Medicine Bow. Bound by his promise to the Cheyenne, Dave cannot leave Medicine Bow. The town is controlled by Cassius Harding, owner of the hotel and gambling hall, as well as much of the surrounding land. The locals are restive because of a burdensome water tax levied by Harding. Finding work with Harding, Dave soon recognizes Harding has him trapped, as well as controlled by threats against his girlfriend, Rose Loughery. Forced to do Harding's bidding, Dave advances the Comanche renegade band's diversion raids on the outlying settlers and miners in the area. Having been the one to set up these deadly attacks, Dave learns he has been duped by Harding. In a rage, Dave takes apart Harding's outfit, man by man. A rousing western full of Indians, outlaws, and powerful individuals cause Dave to lose his freedom. At the end, Medicine Bow is attacked by revengeful Indian renegades who have also learned of Harding's treachery in dealings with them. Dave is caught in the fight to save the town and his life.




Sophie's World


Book Description

A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print. One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning—but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.




Cutting for Stone


Book Description

Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon. Orphaned by their mother’s death and their father’s disappearance and bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. Moving from Addis Ababa to New York City and back again, Cutting for Stone is an unforgettable story of love and betrayal, medicine and ordinary miracles—and two brothers whose fates are forever intertwined.




The Checker Board: Book I - The Life Game Begins


Book Description

In 1880 West Texas, Dave Smith seeks a way to stay alive after choosing to run away from a family scandal in St. Louis. Dave encounters drunken Red Talbot and learns a hard knock lesson in a one sided fistfight. Pinto Larson, wily owner of The Checker Board ranch, believes Dave Smith can become a seasoned drover with training from Sam Eagle Feather, the Cheyenne Indian adopted by Pinto. While the two are at a remote line camp, they rescue a battered woman. Sam acknowledges he has feelings for the woman and takes her to safety. Ignoring laws relating to Indians, trouble develops for both of them when crazed Red Talbot calls out Sam in a fatal fight in which Dave makes a deadly decision. Through a series of lethal encounters, Dave becomes a gun hand under the tutelage of Pinto Larson, who had plied the trade in his youth before settling down to ranching. Dolores Alconda, an orphan from Santa Fe, now the schoolteacher in the village of San Miguel, finds an extraordinary affinity with Dave's own self elected banishment from family. Together they form a loving relationship and plan a wedding, expecting to settle and prosper on a small cattle holding provided by Pinto Larson. Life's game of luck is fleeting.




Meditation As Medicine


Book Description

Dr. Dharma Singh Khalsa “shows us how the tremendous power of medical meditation can heal not only the body but also the mind and soul” (Deepak Chopra) in this practical and engaging guide to natural healing. Proven effective by scientific research and presented here by Dr. Dharma Singh Khalsa and Cameron Stauth, the practice of Medical Meditation revolutionizes the healing process. By balancing and regenerating the body's ethereal and physical energies through simple meditations, Medical Meditation unites the mind, body, and spirit into a powerful triad. Each Medical Meditation here has a specific physiological effect, targeting afflictions from arthritis to ulcers to cancer. Dr. Khalsa details the five unique attributes that endow this type of meditation with far more power than standard meditation. The combination of special postures and movements; exact positioning of the hands and fingers; particular mantras; specific breathing patterns; and a unique focus of concentration can change your entire biochemical profile, easing you into a calm, healing state. Practiced in conjunction with conventional or alternative medical treatments, cutting-edge Medical Meditation activates the healing force within you.




Talking Leaves


Book Description

A work of historical fiction about Sequoyah and the creation of the Cherokee alphabet, from the acclaimed author of Code Talker Thirteen-year-old Uwohali has not seen his father, Sequoyah, for many years. So when Sequoyah returns to the village, Uwohali is eager to reconnect. But Sequoyah’s new obsession with making strange markings causes friends and neighbors in their tribe to wonder whether he is crazy, or worse—practicing witchcraft. What they don’t know, and what Uwohali discovers, is that Sequoyah is a genius and his strange markings are actually an alphabet representing the sounds of the Cherokee language. The story of one of the most important figures in Native American history is brought to life for middle grade readers. This text includes a note about the historical Sequoyah, the Cherokee syllabary, a glossary of Cherokee words, and suggestions for further reading in the back matter. * “Bruchac has crafted a tale of depth and universal humanity in this fictionalized account of Sequoyah, the creator of the Cherokee syllabary, and his son, Jesse." —School Library Journal, starred review “Although the particulars of the novel occur two hundred years ago, the universality of fitting into a blended family and looking for love and acceptance from a once-absent father feel strikingly contemporary." —Horn Book "A vivid retelling of a pivotal time for the Cherokee nation.” —Kirkus Reviews