Texas, 1889. Daniel Monroe arrives and sets up his practice in the central Texas town of Porterfield. He is made to feel welcome, and he finds plenty of business in this thriving town.

We all live lives littered with what we leave behind: places we once lived, friendships we once had, dreams we once envisioned, the people we once were. Each new day we attempt to find a way to continue living despite the absences we experience because of loss and disappointment, injustice and inequity, change and the passage of time. Autumn Song: Essays on Absence invites readers into one Black woman's experiences encountering absences, seeing beyond the empty spaces, and grasping at the glimmers of glory that remain. In a world marred with brokenness, these glimmers speak to the possibility of grieving losses, healing heartache, and allowing ourselves to be changed.

"Green leaves are turning colors. . . . Maple seeds twirl to the ground. . . . Animals get ready for the cold days ahead." A simple text and vivid photographs show children the changes in animals, plants, and landscapes that occur during fall, and introduce them to hibernation, migration, leaf changing, and seasonal food and holidays. Energetic photographs of diverse children add vitality and warmth to this celebration of the season.

Public Radio personality Tom Schnabel spotlights giants of the global genre like the late Sufi singer Nusrat Feteh Ali Kahn and this year's Grammy winner Milton Nascimiento, making "Rhythm Planet" both an antidote to the latest flavor of pop and an affirmation of music's power. 125 illustrations, 25 in color.

As September fades, a new season begins. Leaves and temperatures tumble. And, as autumn falls, new colors and smells gradually replace the heat and intensity that was summer. Autumn means the beginning of something new and crisp and familiar.

Chinese Tang Dynasty Poets, such as Li Bai, Wang Wei, Du Fu, Meng Haoran, Cao Cao, Qiwu Qian, Cen Can, Wang Jian, Pei Di, Lu Lun, Liu Changqing, Li Qi, Mu Mu, Du Mu, Xue Feng, Wen Tingyun, Wei Yingwu, Liu Juxi, Po Chu-I, Lo Bingwing, and 460 responsive poems by American Poet Laureate, Jean Elizabeth Ward. In alphabetical order for an easy read.

The Song Index features over 150,000 citations that lead users to over 2,100 song books spanning more than a century, from the 1880s to the 1990s. The songs cited represent a multitude of musical practices, cultures, and traditions, ranging from ehtnic to regional, from foreign to American, representing every type of song: popular, folk, children's, political, comic, advertising, protest, patriotic, military, and classical, as well as hymns, spirituals, ballads, arias, choral symphonies, and other larger works. This comprehensive volume also includes a bibliography of the books indexed; an index of sources from which the songs originated; and an alphabetical composer index.