Step back in time with this award-winning, three-book collection of stories set in Nebraska during WWII. Canteen Dreams Her hand fluttered from her heart to her throat, and she searched his eyes. Fear and anger were gone, replaced by a love so deep she could drown in it. A heartwarming WWII love story, Canteen Dreams won the 2008 American Christian Fiction Writers’ Carol Award for short historical fiction. In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, Nebraska schoolteacher Audrey Stone wants to support the war effort in any way she can. When her community starts a canteen at the train station, Audrey spends nearly every spare moment there, offering food and kindness to the soldiers passing through. She never expected to fall for a local boy…or face the challenges of budding love in the face of war. Rancher Willard Johnson admires Audrey’s passionate nature, but when his brother is killed in action, he feels he must avenge by enlisting himself. His father insists he stay, but Willard knows he must go. Reality intrudes, and he never expected the jealousy he experiences when he sees those in uniform. Can Willard’s budding relationship with Audrey weather the storms of war? Or will one of the other soldiers at the canteen steal her heart? Sandhill Dreams She closed he r eyes and tipped her head. For a moment that seemed to last for eternity, she waited. Then she felt his breath get closer and then he kissed her. She eased into the kiss, but he edged back. A heartwarming WWII love story, Sandhill Dreams was a finalist in the 2009 American Christian Fiction Writers’ Carol Awards for short historical fiction. Lainie Gardner once dreamed of becoming a nurse. Of serving her country. Of doing something important in the war. But rheumatic fever changed all that, and instead of running home to her parents’ coddling, Lainie is determined to find a war job at Fort Robinson in Nebraska's sandhills, where she meets a soldier with his own broken dreams. Tom Hamilton has feared dogs since he was bitten as a child, but his assignment at Fort Robinson is training war dogs and their handlers. Surely the Army has another use for him, but he’s trapped in a job he can’t stand in an out-of-the-way outpost. Every day is a reminder of his cowardice. Who would want to build a future with a man like him? Getting to know Lainie is a welcome distraction from the work that causes so much turmoil. Is it possible new dreams will bring Lainie and Tom more joy than they ever imagined? Or will their fears hold them apart? Captive Dreams A mischievous light filled her gaze. “What do you think you’re doing, Specialist Chance? Stealing a kiss?” He studied her sweet lips and liked the idea. A heartwarming WWII historical from award-winning author Cara Putman. Anna Goodman’s mother is dead, her father has given up on life, and her brother is missing in action in World War II. Anna’s dreams for the future are held captive by the responsibilities the war and life have thrust upon her. She’s desperate to hold the farm together while working at a war factory in nearby Kearney. She can’t do it alone. She must interact daily with Specialist Sid Chance, the cocky know-it-all who oversees the German prisoners who work on her family farm—prisoners that are a constant reminder of her father’s harrowing experience in World War I. As Sid gets to know the determined Anna, he must balance her mistrust against his desire to help farmers. With so many able-bodied men deployed around the world, the prisoners’ labor is essential to save local farms from ruin. He must also battle against prejudice from men like Anna’s father, who can’t stand their presence or the memories they force him to relive. Sid wants to protect Anna, if she’d only let him. Anna’s as skittish as a colt, but he’s determined to win her heart. When the farm’s future is at risk, Anna must decide whether she can trust Sid with her heart…and her future.

An account of defining Nebraska moments, including: surviving the Oregon and Mormon trails; completing the Union Pacific Railroad; and winning national football championships, Nobel and Pulitzer prices, and presidential nominations.

Since the first films played in nickelodeons, controversial movies have been cut or banned across the United States. Far from Hollywood, regional productions such as Oscar Micheaux's provocative race films and Nell Shipman's wildlife adventures were censored by men like Major M.L.C. Funkhouser, the terror of Chicago's cinemas, and Myrtelle Snell, the Alabama administrator who made the slogan "Banned in Birmingham" famous. Censorship continues today, with Utah's case against Deadpool (2016) pending in federal court and Robert Rodriguez's Machete Kills (2013) versus the Texas Film Commission. This authoritative state-by-state account covers the history of film censorship and the battle for free speech in America.

A heartwarming WWII love story, Canteen Dreams won the 2008 American Christian Fiction Writers' Carol Award for short historical fiction. In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, Nebraska schoolteacher Audrey Stone wants to support the war effort in any way she can. When her community starts a canteen at the train station, Audrey spends nearly every spare moment there, offering food and kindness to the soldiers passing through. She never expected to fall for a local boy...or face the challenges of budding love in the face of war. Rancher Willard Johnson admires Audrey's passionate nature, but when his brother is killed in action, he feels he must avenge by enlisting himself. His father insists he stay, but Willard knows he must go. Reality intrudes, and he never expected the jealousy he experiences when he sees those in uniform. Can Willard's budding relationship with Audrey weather the storms of war? Or will one of the other soldiers at the canteen steal her heart?

Since becoming the Nebraska women’s volleyball coach in 2000, John Cook has led the team to four national championships, seven NCAA semifinal appearances, and the nation’s top winning percentage in women’s volleyball. In Dream Like a Champion Cook shares the coaching and leadership philosophy that has enabled him to become one of the game’s winningest coaches. Growing up in San Diego, Cook acquired his coaching philosophy from his experiences first as a football coach, then as a student of the sport of volleyball on the beaches of Southern California. After a stint as an assistant volleyball coach at Nebraska, he returned to Nebraska as head coach in 2000 and won the national championship in his first season. Even with a bar set so high, Cook saw at Nebraska’s tradition-rich program the potential for even greater growth and success. He decided to focus on higher expectations, training, motivation, goal setting, and other ways to build the strongest teams possible. In Dream Like a Champion Cook shares the philosophy behind Nebraska’s culture of success and reveals how he’s had to learn, evolve, and be coached himself, even in his fifth decade as a coach. With openness and candor he delivers insights about his methods and passes along lessons that can be used by leaders in any field. Cook also shares behind-the-scenes anecdotes about Nebraska volleyball moments and players—and how he coaches and teaches his players about life beyond the court.

As a New Deal program, the Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) aimed to put unemployed writers, teachers, and librarians to work. The contributors were to collect information, write essays, conduct interviews, and edit material with the goal of producing guidebooks in each of the then forty-eight states and U.S. territories. Project administrators hoped that these guides, known as the American Guide Series, would promote a national appreciation for America's history, culture, and diversity and preserve democracy at a time when militarism was on the rise and parts of the world were dominated by fascism. Marilyn Irvin Holt focuses on the Nebraska project, which was one of the most prolific branches of the national program. Best remembered for its state guide and series of folklore and pioneer pamphlets, the project also produced town guides, published a volume on African Americans in Nebraska, and created an ethnic study of Italians in Omaha. In Nebraska during the New Deal Holt examines Nebraska’s contribution to the project, both in terms of its place within the national FWP as well as its operation in comparison to other state projects.