Like birds blown off course, the characters in these stories need a place to roost-somewhere to settle long enough to repair their ragged hearts-and they find it near the banks of the mythical Sissipahaw River. In the centerpiece story, an eighteenth-century Eno Indian tells of the fiery fate of his adopted father, English explorer John Lawson. In the surrounding stories, the age-old conflicts between newcomer and old-timer play out as twenty-first century retirees, carnies, runaways, heartbroken women, and farmers stumble into new lives and new insights in Ambler County, North Carolina. "Hudson's prose is pure as birdsong," says novelist Doris Betts. "These fine stories of change and discovery are a field guide to the human species in transition."

The well-loved standard reference for bird-watchers and nature lovers in North Carolina and South Carolina, Birds of the Carolinas collects information on all avian species known to have occurred in the region since 1900. This thoroughly revised second edition describes more than 460 individual species, including more than 60 new species that have been recorded since the publication of the first edition in 1980. Updated entries for all species reflect the current status of bird life as well as major changes in taxonomy and nomenclature. Each species account indicates when and where the bird is most likely to be found in the Carolinas, its nesting habits, feeding habits, and descriptive information useful in identifying the species. Generously illustrated with 350 color photographs, this comprehensive guide to regional birds and their behavior will quickly earn a prominent place on the bookshelf of every bird-watcher in the Carolinas.

The definitive book on birds found in the Carolina Piedmont. Birds of the Central Carolinas is more than just a bird book. It is an invaluable tool for anyone who wants to discover the fascinating history of birds in the region and to understand their status and distribution today. Vastly more informative than a field guide, this work presents historical material previously unpublished in any book and deftly incorporates firsthand accounts by Piedmont birders. Birds of the Central Carolinas establishes a benchmark for birders to build upon throughout the remainder of the twenty-first century. ¿Covers almost 400 species of birds documented in the Piedmont of both North and South Carolina¿Provides detailed analysis of all records for the Central Carolinas, an area that lies at the core of the Carolina Piedmont and also at the center of the Piedmont Ecoregion--as mapped by The Nature Conservancy¿Incorporates the results of the Mecklenburg County Breeding Bird Atlas--the first county-level atlas project in the Carolinas¿Shares firsthand accounts of bird observations over the past 150 years¿¿a book that is both beautifully crafted and an invaluable resource for ornithology and conservation in the Carolinas.¿ ¿Dr. R.O. Bierregaard, ornithologist, Research Associate at Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University¿[Birds of the Central Carolinas] tells a story we need to pay attention to.¿ ¿Jim Garges, Director, Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department¿Birds¿ futures and fortunes are inextricably twined with those of humankind. Seriff knows intimately how the inhabitants of Piedmont skies are changing.¿ ¿Amber Ververka, writer, Keepingwatch.org, UNC Charlotte

In 1700, a young man named John Lawson left London and landed in Charleston, South Carolina, hoping to make a name for himself. For reasons unknown, he soon undertook a two-month journey through the still-mysterious Carolina backcountry. His travels yielded A New Voyage to Carolina in 1709, one of the most significant early American travel narratives, rich with observations about the region's environment and Indigenous people. Lawson later helped found North Carolina's first two cities, Bath and New Bern; became the colonial surveyor general; contributed specimens to what is now the British Museum; and was killed as the first casualty of the Tuscarora War. Yet despite his great contributions and remarkable history, Lawson is little remembered, even in the Carolinas he documented. In 2014, Scott Huler made a surprising decision: to leave home and family for his own journey by foot and canoe, faithfully retracing Lawson's route through the Carolinas. This is the chronicle of that unlikely voyage, revealing what it's like to rediscover your own home. Combining a traveler's curiosity, a naturalist's keen observation, and a writer's wit, Huler draws our attention to people and places we might pass regularly but never really see. What he finds are surprising parallels between Lawson's time and our own, with the locals and their world poised along a knife-edge of change between a past they can't forget and a future they can't quite envision.

Some of us understand place in terms of family and community, landscape, or even the weather. For others, the idea of place becomes more distinct and particular: the sound of someone humming while washing dishes, the musical cadence of a mountain accent, the smell of a tobacco field under the hot Piedmont sun. Some of North Carolina's finest writers ruminate on the meaning of place in this collection of twenty-one original essays, untangling North Carolina's influence on their work, exploring how the idea of place resonates with North Carolinians, and illuminating why the state itself plays such a significant role in its own literature. Authors from every region of North Carolina are represented, from the Appalachians and the Piedmont to the Outer Banks and places in between. Amazing Place showcases a mix of familiar favorites and newer voices, expressing in their own words how North Carolina shapes the literature of its people. Contributors include Rosecrans Baldwin, Will Blythe, Belle Boggs, Fred Chappell, Jan DeBlieu, Pamela Duncan, Clyde Edgerton, Ben Fountain, Marianne Gingher, Judy Goldman, Stephanie Elizondo Griest, Randall Kenan, Jill McCorkle, Michael McFee, Lydia Millet, Robert Morgan, Jenny Offill, Michael Parker, Bland Simpson, Lee Smith, Wells Tower, and Monique Truong.

In the midst of acne, social anxiety and training bras are the teen idols that make adolescent life a little more bearable. Whether their cutouts are plastered on bedroom walls or hidden behind locker doors, there is no denying the impact of these stars on young women. This collection of new essays explores with tenderness and humor the teen crushes of the past 60 years--from Elvis to John Lennon to Whitney Houston--who have influenced the choices of women, romantically or otherwise, well into adulthood.

MODERN & CONTEMPORARY FICTION (POST C 1945). For fans of Cold Mountain and The Invention of Wings comes a tour de force of historical fiction (Henry Wiencek, author of Master of the Mountain) that follows the epic journey of a slave-turned-Comanche warrior who travels from the brutality of a New Orleans sugar cane plantation to the indomitable frontier of an untamed Texas, searching not only for the woman he loves but so too for his own identity. I have been to hangings before, but never my own. Sitting in a jail cell on the eve of his hanging, April 1, 1875, freedman Persimmon Persy Wilson wants nothing more than to leave some record of the truth his truth. He may be guilty, but not of what he stands accused: the kidnapping and rape of his former master s wife. In 1860, Persy had been sold to Sweetmore, a Louisiana sugar plantation, alongside a striking, light-skinned house slave named Chloe.

This guide covers the Greater Antilles, which comprises fivegroups of islands and six countries. From Cuba, with about 360species, to the Cayman Islands with just over 220 species, theGreater Antilles have recorded just over 550 species and thistotal contains more than 100 single island endemics and many morerestricted range species making these islands a very attractiveproposition to the visiting birder. The site accounts have detailsof location, birding strategy, accommodation and, of course, thebirds. More than 80 sites are detailed, many with accompanyingmaps. A full species lists shows exactly what has been seen ineach country, and the selective list helps to target the bestplaces to visit. As well as covering the very best birding sites,the authors have also tried to include some locations close tomain holiday centres used by birders with families.