National Network for Equitable Library Service

Lancashire, 1858. Annie Hallam has at last found complete happiness. She has three healthy children and adores her husband Frederick.

For Mattie Willit, caught in a thunderstorm running away from her bullying stepfather,rescue comes in the form of Jacob Kemble,a widowed farmer living with his two young children.

Ismay Deagan has one wish in the world - to leave Ireland and join her brother, Bram, in Australia. However, her father has other ideas and orders her to marry their vicious neighbour Rory Flynn.

Jimmy's daddy isn't much of a father. He'd much rather lie under the chassis of a '55 Chevy than bother with a son. Jimmy knows it, so he figures he'll leave his daddy alone as much as he can.

Presents a Vietnam war story that probes the long-term effects of combat on two veterans.

At 17, Fay Jones leaves her family's squalid home with $3 in her bra and ragged sneakers on her feet.

Presents a story about growing up in rural Mississippi's working class.