The Price of Sparrows' Tears


Book Description

Virginia Montgomery returns to Camp Silverwood in New Hampshire for her third summer to teach riding to teenage girls. Shortly after her arrival, a series of Aaccidents@ befall her. Ginny doesn=t know who wants to harm her, but secretly fears that Jerry Talbot, head of the riding program, may be involved. There is a rift between them; Talbot once loved her and Ginny now fears that his love has turned to hatred. Their relationship is complex and often volatile. Ginny quickly finds an ally in the mysterious new tenant of Abbott Hall. Her friendship with Dr. Glen Abbott evolves quickly into love, but Abbott has secrets of his own, and when a young woman is found murdered, he becomes the police=s prime suspect. The police set a trap to catch the killer. But the murderer has a will and a plan of his own as he sets the stage for another killing.




Pine and the Winter Sparrow


Book Description

Have you ever wondered why pine trees stay green all winter long and don’t lose their leaves like other trees? According to an ancient legend attributed to the Cherokee Indians, it was a simple act of kindness towards an injured little bird that earned pine trees this very honor. Retold by award-winning author Alexis York Lumbard, this story invites readers to experience a world where trees and birds speak and interact with each other, and which shows us that no act of kindness and sharing goes unrewarded. Featuring beautiful paintings by multiple award-winning illustrator Beatriz Vidal, you will never look at pine trees in the same way again!




The Sparrow


Book Description

A visionary work that combines speculative fiction with deep philosophical inquiry, The Sparrow tells the story of a charismatic Jesuit priest and linguist, Emilio Sandoz, who leads a scientific mission entrusted with a profound task: to make first contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life. The mission begins in faith, hope, and beauty, but a series of small misunderstandings brings it to a catastrophic end. Praise for The Sparrow “A startling, engrossing, and moral work of fiction.”—The New York Times Book Review “Important novels leave deep cracks in our beliefs, our prejudices, and our blinders. The Sparrow is one of them.”—Entertainment Weekly “Powerful . . . The Sparrow tackles a difficult subject with grace and intelligence.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Provocative, challenging . . . recalls both Arthur C. Clarke and H. G. Wells, with a dash of Ray Bradbury for good measure.”—The Dallas Morning News “[Mary Doria] Russell shows herself to be a skillful storyteller who subtly and expertly builds suspense.”—USA Today




The Little Sparrows


Book Description

Kearney, Cheyenne, Rawlins. Reno, Sacramento, San Francisco. At each train station, a few lucky orphans from the crowded streets of New York City receive the fulfillment of their dreams: a home and family. This "orphan train" is the vision of Charles Loring Brace, founder of the Children's Aid Society, who cannot bear to see innocent children abandoned in the overpopulated cities of the mid-nineteenth-century. Yet it is not just the orphans whose lives need mending -- follow the train along and watch God's hand restore love and laughter to the right family at the right time!




Cloud of Sparrows


Book Description

“Exotic, entertaining . . . [an] exceptional first novel.”—San Francisco Chronicle The year is 1861. After two centuries of isolation, Japan has opened its doors to the West. And as foreign ships threaten to rain destruction on the Shogun’s castle in Edo, a small group of American missionaries has arrived to spread the word of their God. They have yet to realize that their future in Japan has already been foreseen. For a young nobleman has dreamt that his life will be saved by an outsider in the New Year. . . and it is said that Lord Genji has the gift of prophecy. What happens next—when the handsome lord meets an appa rently reformed gunslinger and a woman in flight from her own destructive beauty—sets the stage for a remarkable adventure. For as this unlikely band embarks on a journey through a landscape bristling with danger, East and West, flesh and spirit, past and future, collide in ways no one—least of all Genji—could have imagined. Praise for Cloud of Sparrows “The book seizes you from start to finish.”—The Washington Post “Adventure-filled.”—Entertainment Weekly “Rich . . . with an ambitious, unexpected ending that cuts deeper than a samurai sword.”—San Francisco Chronicle




MORE THAN SPARROWS


Book Description

Have you ever felt like a round peg in a square hole? Well, Kate has. She is at a crossroads. A lapse in judgement has her clashing with management at Westbrook Community Justice Service, her offer to accommodate a client in her own home breaching department regulations. Not only does this infuriate her team leader, but it provides the clever, charismatic department psychologist, Dr Paul Leeuwin, yet another opportunity to heap scorn on her world view and rubbish her belief in God. The pressure increases when she dares to question a church leadership decision to fund an extension, seemingly ignoring needy families in the surrounding suburbs. Her concerns dismissed, she falls out with friends when she suggests the community could be better served if the money was spent on a parachurch organisation. In conflict at work and at odds with fellow believers, what is God trying to tell her? On leave, volunteering with a local charity, the same friends who'd been offended by her comments in the past now approach her, wanting to further investigate the idea of setting up a 'not-for-profit' outreach centre. Things develop in a way she could never have envisaged and when Dr Paul Leeuwin arrives at her door in a distraught state, a new chapter opens in both their lives, with lasting ramifications.




A Nest of Sparrows


Book Description

His Fiancée Was the One Woman He’d Loved. Her Children Are All He Has Left. Reserved contractor Wade Sullivan never expected to fall in love with Starr Parnell or to love her three small kids as if they were his own. But that’s exactly what happened. As their wedding draws near, however, tragedy strikes–and Wade must put aside his own grief in order to help Starr’s children cope. As Wade focuses his efforts on caring for the children, he discovers that their tender, young lives give tremendous meaning to his own broken one. Then Starr’s abusive ex-husband shows up to claim the offspring who barely remember him–and Wade prepares for the fight of his life. Will Anyone Believe His Claim to Love the Children More than Their Father Loves Them? A powerful novel of loss and discovery, courage and grace, A Nest of Sparrows masterfully illustrates one man’s struggle to know when to fight, when to let go, and when to simply wait. From the Trade Paperback edition.




The Truth About Sparrows


Book Description

"The Wynns are an unforgettable family. The details of their struggle to survive the Great Depression will linger long after the last page has been read."-Ann M. Martin, winner of the Newbery Honor for A Corner of the Universe A stunning debut novel about the true meaning of home Sadie Wynn doesn't want a new life; her old one suits her just fine. But times are hard in drought-plagued Missouri, and Daddy thinks they'll be better off in Texas. Sadie hates this strange new place, where even children must work at the cannery to help make ends meet and people are rude to her disabled father. Yet when trouble comes, it is the kindness of these new neighbors that helps the family make it through. And no one helps more than Dollie, a red-headed chatterbox of a girl who just might become a good friend-if Sadie gives her half a chance. The Truth About Sparrows is a 2005 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.




Too Many Sparrows in Zaragoza


Book Description

How far can the good life go before it turns bad? This is the moral issue Nadi, the young psychologist from Malta, is made to face when she visits her old friend in Zaragoza. What starts off as a relaxing holiday soon becomes a revelation. The charismatic Maltese ex-pat Luis, her host in Zaragoza, has stumbled upon a lifestyle replete with eccentricities and the imagination. He is living a hedonistic, aesthetic, liberal life with a group of like-minded Spaniards. A group of young people rebelling against life's boring routine. They want to enrich their lives with constant beauty, inspired by Romans, Greeks, nature, al-Andalus, theatre and everything else life has to offer. Nadi is instantly taken in. She adopts Luis' lifestyle. But at what cost? In a time when traditional values and modern principles are colliding more and more, this is a relevant examination of moral values in the 21st century. All in the backdrop of rich, charming and regal Zaragoza.




The Killing of Sparrows


Book Description

A self-made millionaire learns the true meaning of treachery as he is kidnapped by six persons whom he thought to be trustworthy. He later discovers, after he is nearly beaten to death, that treachery does have a face. Darryl Simms is now faced with the terrible dilemma of either taking revenge out upon these people or letting fate mete out its own form of justice. If you were Darryl, what would you do?