Sweet tea, corn bread and soup beans; everyday fare for eight-year-old Alix French, the precocious darling of a respected southern family. But nothing was ordinary about the day she met ten-year-old Nick Anderson, a boy from the wrong side of town. Armed with only a tin of bee balm and steely determination, Alix treats the raw evidence of a recent beating that mars his back, an act that changes both their lives forever. Through childhood disasters and teenage woes they cling together as friendship turns to love. The future looks rosy until the fateful night when Frank Anderson, Nick's abusive father, is shot to death in his filthy trailer.Suddenly, Nick is gone, leaving Alix alone, confused and pregnant. For the next fifteen years she wrestles with the pain of Nick's abandonment, a bad marriage, her family and friends. But finally, she's starting to get her life back together. Her divorce is almost final, her business is booming, and she's content if not happy-until the day she looks up and sees Nick standing across the counter. He's back, and he's not alone. Once again Alix is plunged into turmoil and pain as Nick tries to win her love, something she resists with all her strength. Only one thing might break the protective wall she's built around her emotions-the truth about Frank Anderson's death. But when that truth comes out and those walls crumble, neither Alix nor Nick is prepared for the emotional explosion that could destroy as well as heal.

An electric and intimate story of 1970s gay Atlanta through its bedazzling drag clubs and burgeoning rights activism. Coursing with a pumped-up beat, gay Atlanta was the South's mecca—a beacon for gays and lesbians growing up in its homophobic towns and cities. There, the Sweet Gum Head was the club for achieving drag stardom. Martin Padgett evokes the fantabulous disco decade by going deep into the lives of two men who shaped and were shaped by this city: John Greenwell, an Alabama runaway who found himself and his avocation performing as the exquisite Rachel Wells; and Bill Smith, who took to the streets and city hall to change antigay laws. Against this optimism for visibility and rights, gay people lived with daily police harassment and drug dealing and murder in their discos and drag clubs. Conducting interviews with many of the major figures and reading through deteriorating gay archives, Padgett expertly re-creates Atlanta from a time when a vibrant, new queer culture of drag and pride came into being.

"An intersection of jazz and the written word: poems to be experienced and felt Sweetgum & Lightning lets us into an extraordinary poetic universe, shaped by a vernacular rooted in the language of self, one's origins, and music. In poems that are deeply sensual in nature, Rodney Terich Leonard considers gender and sexuality, art, poverty, and community. Imagery expands through unexpected lexical associations and rumination on the function of language; words take on new meaning and specificity, and the music of language becomes tantamount to the denotations of words themselves. Through extensive webs of connotation, Leonard's narratives achieve a sense of accuracy and intimacy. The nuanced lens of these poems is indicative of the honesty of expression at work in the collection-one that affirms the essentiality of perception to living and memory"--

Told with love and a profound appreciation for a time, place and people, this series of engaging vignettes explores six years in the life of a young girl in 1930s Florida. Nameless and faceless, the little girl wanders through these stories filled with curiosity and questions as she meets the ingenious people of the Great Depression in rural Florida. Although an outsider, she is quickly accepted by this strong, struggling and kindly community. She shares their simple joys, great tragedies and dark secrets. The rich tales in Sweetgum Slough are about the sweet and earthy roots of learning. While these stories are, indeed, about joy and hookworms and red-taled fishes, they are more about a child's need for freedom to adventure, choose paths, take risks, examine and question. Claire Karssiens's memoir is as unique as it is memorable. Her lyrical prose and stunning imagery beautifully capture 1930s Florida and will sweep you into the very heart of a little girl's soul.

A highly original collection of high magnification photographs that unlock the hidden beauty of seeds and fruit, from the author of Microsculpture The Hidden Beauty of Seeds & Fruits is a photographic study that celebrates the wonders of nature and science in mind-blowing magnification. Levon Biss’ striking photography captures the breathtaking and beautiful details of the world of carpology, the study of seeds and fruits. Each picture reveals minute features and textures that are normally invisible to the naked eye, providing the audience with an insight into strange and often bizarre adaptations that have evolved over thousands of years. After spending months searching through the carpological collection at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Biss selected over a hundred striking samples to be featured in this book. Captioned with scientific text that provides the backstory for each specimen, The Hidden Beauty of Seeds & Fruits is guaranteed to amaze, entertain, and educate.

On the third Friday of each month, Eugenie, Ruth, Esther, Merry, and Camille meet at the Sweetgum Christian Church to enjoy the two things that connect them: a love of knitting and a passion for books. Their camaraderie remains unthreatened until Eugenie, the town librarian, introduces an angry teenager into their midst. Eugenie also suggests a new reading list that includes classic novels of girlhood like Little Women, Pollyanna, and Heidi - books that remind the women of hopes and dreams they've lost. With each click of their needles, the ladies of the Knit Lit Society reveal themselves. A shadow from Eugenie's past haunts the order of her life. Merry's perfect little family is growing again, but will she continue to feel her identity slip away? Camille dreams of leaving town, but is bound by ties of love. And sisters Ruth and Esther must confront a lie they've lived with for over thirty years.

In the Kew Book of Sugar Flowers, sugarcraft specialist Cassie Brown teaches you how to craft stunning, authentic-looking flowers and foliage using flower paste (gum paste). Learn how to create beautiful bouquets and stunning sprays, from the early stages of germinating your ideas - taking inspiration from nature and making moulds from real flowers and leaves - to creating floral cake decorations with an exotic or wild flower theme for a special occasion. Through clear and concise step-by-step instructions, Cassie explains every facet of crafting sugar flowers, from gaining an appreciation of the flower itself, to preparing the flower paste and colouring it to wiring the flowers into an attractive and realistic bouquet. There is a veritable garden of delights to choose from, from ornate orchids to delicate daisies. The method for crafting each individual flower is demonstrated in stunning detail beginning with an 'exploded flower' photograph that illustrates each of the individual components and working through the techniques and tricks that Cassie herself applies to create her stunning floral displays. The Kew Book of Sugar Flowers is the perfect book for the established sugarcrafter looking to develop their skills and take their cake-decorating capabilities to the next level. Readers with a particular interest in flowers and plants will also love this book for its painstaking recreation of flora in flower paste (gum paste), and the book is endorsed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew giving extra credibility to the stunning realism of the flowers that Cassie Brown has recreated. Foreword by Eddie Spence M.B.E. Eddie Spence MBE has enjoyed an illustrious career in confectionery and cake design and his superior skills have earned him the opportunity to decorate many cakes for the royal family, including Her Majesty the Queen herself.

Ada Montgomery wants two things in her junior year. She wants to play her French horn, and she wants Greg Whitmore to fall in love with her. Ada comes from a dysfunctional home in the small Texas town of Sweet Gum Pass. Her father emotionally abuses her mother, and her sister can't stand to be around. Ada never felt like she was important. During the summer, Greg notices her. They begin dating and for the first time, Ada doesn't feel alone. She thought she had found her knight in shining armor. Turns out he was just like her father. Her friends try to make her see that this is not acceptable, but because of her upbringing, Ada sees this as normal behavior. Can she learn to love herself and stand up to Greg, or will she follow in her mother's footsteps?

USA TODAY Bestselling Author Claudia Burgoa brings us a light-hearted small-town romantic comedy full of a swoon-worthy billionaire, single dad romance and big laughs. Perfect is impossible but they might’ve found it. I need a massive break. So long to my cheating boyfriend and betraying roommate. Goodbye hectic emergency room and long hours. When I get an opportunity to take over my grandfather’s medical practice in Luna Harbor I happily accept the chance to try on a new life that holds sweet memories. But I can barely think about anything at all when the new coffee shop/bar next to my practice always seems to be having an impromptu concert. Who sets up a coffee and a bar in the same location as a music venue? Fisher Hannigan, Head Man Child (ok, bassist) of the band Too Far From Grace, that’s who. He’s also the man who can’t stop flirting with me every time we meet. He’s having the time of his life, while I’m trying to run a quiet medical practice. Even though he infuriates me, our chemistry is off the charts and I can’t say I haven’t thought about giving him a full physical exam. Until a baby changes everything.