What did Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, Joseph F. Smith, George Q. Cannon, and seventeen other early LDS leaders know about building Zion that we today have forgotten? Quite a bit, it turns out! Multiple quotes by multiple Church leaders on multiple occasions show that: a) Our early missionaries were teaching prospects that the Church was building the long-prophesied latter-day Zion in Utah and inviting them to participate, b) Building Zion was a core LDS doctrine, c) Zion-building was central to the Church's mission during the 1800s, d) Establishing Zion was central to God's plan to prepare the world for Christ's return, and that e) Building Zion was a primary focus of LDS leaders who also encouraged the members to focus there as well. And that's just from Chapter One! The author gathered well over 700 quotes by LDS apostles and prophets during Utah's territorial years. He then categorized and subcategories all the quotes according to what they teach us. The chapter and section headings in the first twelve chapters represent those categorizations. Concepts that were "one-offs" were generally excluded so that mainstream doctrines about establishing Zion could be identified. Here are the first twelve chapter titles, revealing remarkable teachings about establishing Zion in the Last Days: 1) Building Zion Was Central to the Gospel and LDS Church, 2) What IS Zion, exactly? 3) It's God's Will That the Saints Build Zion. 4) Prophecies About Zion, 5) Our Obligations Regarding Zion, 6) The Saints were actively building a Zion in Utah. 7) What is required of us to establish Zion?8) Building Zion is not just a spiritual activity, it's temporal too! 9) Babylon, Zion's Opposite, 10) Building Zion includes achieving economic independence from Babylon. 11) Zion Requires Economic Unity, and 12) Cooperation is a Stepping Stone to Zion. After gathering and classifying all 700+ quotes, the author is convinced that: a) God intended a Zion society to be established in the Rocky Mountains before the New Jerusalem is built. b) Though it is not a central focus today in the LDS Church, it will likely have to become so before Christ can return. c) God has not revoked his desire for his children to enjoy that kind of society, and that d) There is plenty we can do today to prepare ourselves and our families to qualify to live in Zion.

Joy wondered why she occupied the planet. Plain-Jane nobody. No talent. Well ... she did have a way with animals. When offered the pick of a litter, she was impressed to choose the ugliest. Little did she suspect that her puppy, a giant schnauzer, was destined for glory. Multimillionaires would write blank checks -- "Name your price!" -- to buy him. A natural champion, Zion would win trophy after trophy. "Why don't you show him on Saturdays?" asked her friends. But a still small voice beckoned her to share her gentle giant with the outcasts, the unfortunate, the wounded, where he would gladden the hearts of thousands of children. In this heartwarming story Joy Matthews tells how she discovered that God's plans are bigger than anything we can dream up. That it pays to put first the kingdom. And that the only things we get to keep are those we give away. Book jacket.

From Jerusalem to Ghana to Katrina-ravaged New Orleans, a woman reclaims her history in a “beautifully written and thought-provoking” memoir (Dave Eggers, author of A Hologram for the King and Zeitoun). A biracial woman from a country still divided along racial lines, Emily Raboteau never felt at home in America. As the daughter of an African American religious historian, she understood the Promised Land as the spiritual realm black people yearned for. But while visiting Israel, the Jewish Zion, she was surprised to discover black Jews. More surprising was the story of how they got there. Inspired by their exodus, her question for them is the same one she keeps asking herself: have you found the home you’re looking for? In this American Book Award–winning inquiry into contemporary and historical ethnic displacement, Raboteau embarked on a ten-year journey around the globe and back in time to explore the complex and contradictory perspectives of black Zionists. She talked to Rastafarians and African Hebrew Israelites, Evangelicals and Ethiopian Jews—all in search of territory that is hard to define and harder to inhabit. Uniting memoir with cultural investigation, Raboteau overturns our ideas of place, patriotism, dispossession, citizenship, and country in “an exceptionally beautiful . . . book about a search for the kind of home for which there is no straight route, the kind of home in which the journey itself is as revelatory as the destination” (Edwidge Danticat, author of The Farming of Bones).

Moving, relatable, and totally true childhood biographies of Martin Luther King Jr., Susan B. Anthony, Helen Keller, Malala Yousafzai, and 12 other inspiring activists. Every activist started out as a kid—and in some cases they were kids when their activism began! But even the world’s greatest champions of civil liberties had relatable interests and problems—often in the middle of extraordinary circumstances. Martin Luther King, Jr. loved fashion, and argued with his dad about whether or not dancing was a sin. Harvey Milk had a passion for listening to opera music in different languages. Dolores Huerta was once wrongly accused of plagiarizing in school. Kid Activists tells these childhood stories and more through kid-friendly texts and full-color cartoon illustrations on nearly every page. The diverse and inclusive group encompasses Susan B. Anthony, James Baldwin, Ruby Bridges, Frederick Douglass, Alexander Hamilton, Dolores Huerta, Helen Keller, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Iqbal Masih, Harvey Milk, Janet Mock, Rosa Parks, Autumn Peltier, Emma Watson, and Malala Yousafzai.

Brian McBride is one of the most exciting soccer players in the world! He started as a young boy playing soccer with his friends. When he was older, he became a star for teams in the United States and England. Brian has had many challenges. He struggled with injuries. Then a serious illness almost ended his playing career. Brian used these hard times to become a stronger and happier person. He never lost his dream to play soccer and help others through his athletic talents.

Introduces readers to the development of women’s softball, as well as the sport’s star players from past to present. Colorful spreads, fascinating sidebars, and athlete bios make this a thrilling read for young sports fans.

Introduces readers to the development of women’s basketball, as well as the sport’s star players from past to present. Colorful spreads, fascinating sidebars, and athlete bios make this a thrilling read for young sports fans.

An extraordinary, deeply inspirational photo essay follows elite wheelchair racer and wrestler and Netflix documentary star Zion Clark. This stunning photographic essay showcases Zion Clark’s ferocious athleticism and undaunted spirit. Cowritten by New York Times best-selling journalist James S. Hirsch, this book features striking, visually arresting images and an approachable and engaging text, including pieces of advice that have motivated Zion toward excellence and passages from Zion himself. Explore Zion’s journey from a childhood lost in the foster care system to his hard-fought rise as a high school wrestler to his current rigorous training to prepare as an elite athlete on the world stage. Included are a biography and a note from Zion. This first in a trilogy of books to be written by world-class athlete Zion Clark.

Everyone knows Benjamin Franklin was an important statesman, inventor, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. But did you know he started the first public library in America? Ben Franklin was always a "bookish" boy. The first book he read was the Bible at age five, and then he read every printed word in his father's small home library. Ben wanted to read more, but books were expensive. He wanted to go to school and learn, but his family needed him to work. Despite this, Ben Franklin had lots of ideas about how to turn his love of reading and learning into something more. First, he worked as a printer's apprentice, then he set up his own printing business. Later, he became the first bookseller in Philadelphia, started a newspaper, published Poor Richard's Almanac, and in 1731, with the help of his friends, organized the first subscription lending library, the Library Company. Ruth Ashby's fast-paced biography takes young readers through Franklin's life from his spirited, rebellious youth through his successful career as an inventor and politician and finally to the last years of his life, surrounded by his personal collection of books.