Lucas is the tiny twin brother of Lucy. Both are adopted to assist John and Tali, the protectors of life on Earth, using the powerful gift of the Fern. Children will find a love for Nature and the Earth, appreciating the need to lend a hand in her protection. Fun facts and games included.

Bestselling author Fern Michaels touches the hearts of her readers by exploring the breadth of one woman’s deepest experiences as the Seasons of Her Life unfold. Ruby is determined to have a better life when she leaves her bitter childhood behind for post–World War II Washington, D.C. Working for the navy as a secretary, she is young, pretty, and happy for the first time . . . and she falls in love. The harsh reality of life as a military wife—and the loneliness that comes with it—destroys her illusions but fuels a fire of strength and independence that will burn throughout her life. She raises two children mostly by herself, creates a home out of dreary quarters, and begins baking cookies in the hopes of building a business. After years of struggle, Mrs. Sugar’s Cookies succeeds beyond her wildest dreams. But closest to her heart is the memory of the man she longs for in her soul. Beautifully written and deeply romantic, Seasons of Her Life is a novel that will be savored long after the last page is turned.

Finalist for the National Book Award An intimate reckoning with aquifer depletion in America's heartland The Ogallala aquifer has nourished life on the American Great Plains for millennia. But less than a century of unsustainable irrigation farming has taxed much of the aquifer beyond repair. The imminent depletion of the Ogallala and other aquifers around the world is a defining planetary crisis of our times. Running Out offers a uniquely personal account of aquifer depletion and the deeper layers through which it gains meaning and force. Anthropologist Lucas Bessire journeyed back to western Kansas, where five generations of his family lived as irrigation farmers and ranchers, to try to make sense of this vital resource and its loss. His search for water across the drying High Plains brings the reader face to face with the stark realities of industrial agriculture, eroding democratic norms, and surreal interpretations of a looming disaster. Yet the destination is far from predictable, as the book seeks to move beyond the words and genres through which destruction is often known. Instead, this journey into the morass of eradication offers a series of unexpected discoveries about what it means to inherit the troubled legacies of the past and how we can take responsibility for a more inclusive, sustainable future. An urgent and unsettling meditation on environmental change, Running Out is a revelatory account of family, complicity, loss, and what it means to find your way back home.

The second Ladies of Lantern Street novel from Amanda Quick explores the crimes, passions and paranormal secrets of Victorian London. Under the plain gray skirts of Miss Beatrice Lockwood’s gown, a pistol waits at the ready. For Beatrice is a paid companion on a secret mission—and with a secret past—and she must be prepared to fight for her life at any moment. Yet she is thrown oddly off guard by the fierce-looking man who joins her in foiling a crime outside a fancy ball—and then disappears into the shadows, leaving only his card. His name is Joshua Gage, and he claims to know Beatrice’s employers. Beyond that, he is an enigma with a hypnotically calm voice and an ebony-and-steel cane. . . . Joshua, who carries out clandestine investigations for the Crown, is equally intrigued. He has a personal interest in Miss Lockwood, a suspected thief and murderer, not to mention a fraudster who claims to have psychical powers. The quest to discover her whereabouts has pulled him away from his mournful impulses to hurl himself into the sea—and engaged his curiosity about the real Beatrice Lockwood, whose spirit, he suspects, is not as delicate as her face and figure. He does know one thing, though: This flame-haired beauty was present the night Roland Fleming died at the Academy of the Occult. Guilty or not, she is his guide to a trail of blood and blackmail, mesmerism and madness—a path that will lead both of them into the clutches of a killer who calls himself the Bone Man. . . .

“Political intrigue, high-level high jinks, and characters with charisma to spare . . . a real crowd-pleaser” in the New York Times bestselling series (Booklist, starred review). With yet another successful assignment behind them, the ladies of the Sisterhood have enjoyed a relaxing break together and celebrated the wedding of Myra and Charles on Big Pine Mountain. But as soon as the newlyweds return from their shortened honeymoon, they are hit with some exciting yet unsettling news . . . It seems their dear ally Lizzie Fox, recently ensconced as Chief White House Counsel, is rumored to be near the top of the short list for a soon to be vacated seat on the Supreme Court. While the Sisters are thrilled for Lizzie, they are concerned about her being ripped to shreds in the approval process, partly due to her connections with the Sisterhood. They also fear it will delay or even derail their long-awaited pardon promised to them by President Martine Connor. It will take a masterful plan—and loyal friends aiding them at every turn—for the Sisters to succeed in protecting Lizzie while securing their own freedom at last. Series praise “Spunky women who fight for truth, justice, and the American way.”—Fresh Fiction on Final Justice “Readers will enjoy seeing what happens when well-funded, very angry women take the law into their own hands.”—Booklist on Weekend Warriors “Delectable . . . deliver[s] revenge that’s creatively swift and sweet, Michaels-style.”—Publishers Weekly on Hokus Pokus

Orig. pub. 1978. Two novels follow the fortunes of a Yorkshire schoolteacher's children from Coronation year to the end of the fifties.

The late Archibald Hamilton Rutledge was highly respected for his accomplishments as a poet, philosopher, educator, writer, outdoorsman and conservationist. He is among the most revered South Carolinians of the twentieth century and served as the state's first Poet Laureate. This biography traces the life of this talented man from his childhood to his position as a nationally acclaimed outdoors writer, inspirational writer and poet, and on to his retirement to his beloved boyhood home, Hampton Plantation. The works of Archibald Rutledge have been read by millions and universally praised for their narration, inspiration, lucidity and classic simplicity.

A pocket guide to identifying native ferns that grow in the U.S. Midwest and Northeast, and eastern Canada. Like other plant guides in the "Finders" series, "Fern Finder" is a dichotomous key, which leads the user step-by-step through a series of choices to the species being identified. Heavily illustrated with line drawings.

In our busy, pressured world, the natural world can be a powerful counter-balance, offers wisdom for the challenges, pain and dislocations of life as well as for beauty, wonder and healing. In Soulful Nature, Brain Draper and Howard Green encourage you to get outside and make deeper connections with creation and its creator. They charts walking journeys through rural landscapes and town streets over the course of a year, showing how the natural cycle of the changing seasons can awaken us to the rhythms of our own lives. Each chapter explores a different landscape, zooming in on the small details of the natural world as well as panning out to the wide-screen beauty of time and place. Simple and practical spiritual exercises are provided throughout.

The evolution of life on Earth from its origins to the present day