Ellen Johnson fans her children as they nap on a pallet in the dogtrot of their home in western Louisiana. Aaron, her husband fighting in the Civil War, writes to tell her his right leg was amputated just below the hip after being hit by a mini ball in the Battle of Mansfield, Louisiana. He was sent to Shreveport where he stayed for 16 months to recover, then went by steamboat to Alexandria where he is paroled. He writes for someone to come to take him home.

“Delightful. . . funny and poignant.” --People With a kick like the best hot sauce, this is the laugh-out-loud story of a girl determined to keep up with her aging, crazy-as-a-fox mother "If you ever pined for a mother who would take a hunting falcon as her wingman to a parent-teacher conference, Polly is the gal for you. Delicious." --Mark Childress, author of Crazy in Alabama Willow Havens is ten years old and obsessed with the fear that her mother will die. Her mother, Polly, is a cantankerous, take-no-prisoners Southern woman who lives to chase varmints, drink margaritas, and antagonize the neighbors—and she sticks out like a sore thumb among the young modern mothers of their small conventional Texas town. She was in her late fifties when Willow was born, so Willow knows she’s here by accident, a late-life afterthought. Willow’s father died before she was born, her much older brother and sister are long grown and gone and failing elsewhere. It’s just her and bigger-than-life Polly. Willow is desperately hungry for clues to the family life that preceded her, and especially Polly’s life pre-Willow. Why did she leave her hometown of Bethel, Louisiana, fifty years ago and vow never to return? Who is Garland Jones, her long-ago suitor who possibly killed a man? And will Polly be able to outrun the Bear, the illness that finally puts her on a collision course with her past? The Book of Polly has a great blend of humor and sadness, pathos and hilarity. This is a bittersweet novel about the grip of love in a truly quirky family and you’ll come to know one of the most unforgettable mother-daughter duos you’ve ever met.

Louisiana presents an overview of the culture in the New World and Louisiana, including related literature, such as Longfellow's Evangeline. For the visitor, the state is divided into geographic regions such as New Orleans, the plantations, and Lafayette. For each area, tours, historic sites, and restaurants are described. The section on New Orleans celebrates the French Quarter and the local food and music. Outside of New Orleans are majestic plantations and beautiful bayous filled with cypress trees and hanging Spanish moss. Side trips from New Orleans allow visitors to sample some of the various musical tastes of the Bayou State. Zydeco music may be found in Lafayette, while Cajun music may be heard throughout the southern part of the state. Special features include information on consulates, tourist offices, banks and currency exchanges, and maps which, among other things, show distances between cities. With Louisiana , anyone can pass a good time and learn how to let the good times roll, or, as the Cajuns say rouler.

"A rare and riveting first-hand account of the terror and torture inflicted by ISIS on young Iraqi Yazidi women, and an inspiring personal story of bravery and resilience in the face of unspeakable horrors. In the early summer of 2014, Farida Khalaf was a typical Yazidi teenager living with her parents and three brothers in her village in the mountains of Northern Iraq. In one horrific day, she lost everything: ISIS invaded her village, destroyed her family, and sold her into sexual slavery. The Girl Who Escaped ISIS is her incredible account of captivity and describes how she defied the odds and escaped a life of torture, in order to share her story with the world. Devastating and inspiring, this is an astonishing, intimate account of courage and hope in the face of appalling violence"--