Showing results by narrator "Christina Moore" in All Categories

In 1888 Mary Edwards Gerritse is a witty and confident young woman who spends as much time as possible outdoors on the rugged Oregon coast where she and her husband, John, have settled. The two are a formidable pair who are working hard to prove their homesteading claim and build a family. But as Mary faces struggles of young motherhood and questions about her family of origin, she realizes that life is far from the adventure she imagined it would be.

Eva Esch and her sisters are in a predicament. With the passing of their widowed mother, Eva's older brother plans to move his growing family into the Eden Valley farmhouse where they all grew up, leaving little room for his three single sisters. Unless they marry within the year, the only apparent option is for two sisters to go to Indiana to live with an elderly great-aunt. Eva hopes to be married, but she isn't sure she wants to give up her sweet shop for the life of a farmer's wife.

After her fiancé dies, 24- year-old Leona determines to never love again and devotes herself to teaching. But then she meets Jimmy, fresh from Washington state, and looking for work - and more.

Deputy sheriff Constance Kopp is outraged to see young women brought into the Hackensack jail over dubious charges of waywardness, incorrigibility, and moral depravity. The strong-willed, patriotic Edna Heustis, who left home to work in a munitions factory, certainly doesn't belong behind bars. And 16-year-old runaway Minnie Davis, with few prospects and fewer friends, shouldn't be publicly shamed and packed off to a state-run reformatory. But such were the laws - and morals - of 1916.

Claire Summers is a determined, independent single mother who is doing her best to make lemonade out of the lemons life has handed her. Keith Watson is a results-oriented workaholic with no time for a social life. As the executive assistant to a local philanthropic businessman, he's used to fielding requests for donations. But when a letter from Claire's 11-year-old daughter reaches his desk, everything changes. The girl isn't asking for money, but for help finding the long-lost son of an elderly neighbor.

Best-selling author Beverly Donofrio is building a growing following of fans with her honest, moving accounts of experiences from her own colorful life. Riding in Cars with Boys--the basis of the hit movie starring Drew Barrymore--is her funny and touching account of growing up too fast in the 1960s.

It's early May in the small English village of Finch and the air is crackling with excitement: A newcomer is about to move into Pussywillows, a riverside cottage with a romantic reputation. Will the cottage's newest resident prove yet again its enchanting ability to matchmake? But when Crispin Windle arrives, no one knows what to make of him: Seemingly a loner, he repels every welcoming gesture and appears altogether uninterested in being a part of the community. Soon, the townspeople have all but dismissed him.

In the summer of 1849, Lucy Whipple's mother packs up her household and her two young children, and leaves their home in Massachusetts for the gold fields of California. Moving is the last thing the outspoken 12-year-old, Lucy, wants to do. Reaching California, the Whipples set up a crude boardinghouse, and Lucy is put to work washing, cleaning, and baking pies in the rough mining town of Lucky Diggins.

Nineteen-year-old Tessie Miller is the youngest of her Old Order parents' five daughters--and the only one yet to marry. She has her heart set on Amishman Marcus Smucker, and come wedding season, they plan to tie the knot and start a family together. But Tessie's father disapproves. Ammon Miller has his reasons, and he has put his foot down. The marriage will not go forward. Impetuously, Tessie and Marcus take matters into their own hands, eloping to exchange their vows in the fancy, English world.

Wallace Wallace hates the book Old Shep, My Pal. His reasons? It's boring, and he's tired of dog stories because the dog always dies. In his book report, he writes that his favorite part is on the last page where it says, "The End".

Caroline Fletcher is caught in a nation split apart and torn between the ones she loves and a truth she can't deny The daughter of a wealthy slave-holding family from Richmond, Virginia, Caroline Fletcher is raised to believe slavery is God-ordained and acceptable. But on awakening to its cruelty and injustice, her eyes are opened to the men and women who have cared tirelessly for her.

While taking her morning run, Amish schoolteacher Jodi Winfield makes a startling find on the side of the road - a preschool-aged girl, crying and clad only in her undergarments. Jodi takes the girl with her, but no one knows who she is. Then fate brings Jodi to Hickory Hollow’s Lancaster Old Order Amish, and she finds clues to the girl’s identity.

Early nineteenth-century America could just about be summed up by Henry David Thoreau's words when he said, "Eastward I go only by force, but westward I go free." It was an exuberant time for the diverse citizens of the United States, who included a range of folk, from mountain men and railroad builders to whalers and farmers, as they pushed forward into the open frontier. And all their hopes and fears are captured in Liberty for All?

Returning from their wizardly holiday, Nita Callaghan and Kit Rodriguez look forward to getting back to their normal routine. But there’s trouble brewing. A strange darkness is befalling older wizards across the world, stealing away their power. Soon, young wizards from Earth and beyond must join forces to stop an unimaginable invasion—and defend the very essence of wizardry itself.

Laura Amy Schlitz wrote the Newbery Medal winner Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! for the students at the school where she is a librarian. The 22 monologues introduce readers to everyone in a medieval village, from the town half-wit, to Nelly the Sniggler, to the Lord's daughter.

Twelve-year-old Ji-li Jiang has brains, friends, and a bright future. Then Mao Zedong launches China’s infamous Cultural Revolution. Soon school is suspended and students are getting caught up in the fervor of Mao’s extreme politics. When Ji-li’s family is accused of capitalist crimes, all of her beautiful dreams burst like soap bubbles. Because Ji-li’s grandfather was a landlord, her family is harassed and humiliated. Their home is searched, and they live in constant fear. Nonetheless, Ji-li remains loyal to her beloved Chairman Mao....

A compelling story of friendship from the top author in Amish fiction, Leona Speicher got the "sister" she'd always dreamed of the day Gloria Gingerich and her family moved to Lancaster County Amish farmland. The Arkansas newcomers seem to be everything a devout Plain family should be, and Leona can't help comparing Gloria's engaging young parents to her own. Leona's cousin shows a romantic interest in Gloria around the same time as Gloria's older brother expresses his fondness for Leona.

Mary Margaret Miller needs an escape from her small Amish community. She boards a bus, all alone, for a vacation in Pinecraft, Florida. Meeting Betsy and Lilly on the way, she’s amazed to find two kindred spirits. They become fast friends and determine to have the best two weeks of their lives. For Mary, it starts when she meets Jayson Raber, a handsome and charming carpenter. Jayson is taken with Mary from the get-go, but he has responsibilities back home in Kentucky—including a girl he’s supposed to marry.

To give fifteen-year-old Nita a vacation from magic—and her partner Kit—her parents pack her off for a stay with her eccentric aunt in Ireland. But Nita soon finds herself with a host of Irish wizards battling mythical beings, wolves, and elves from a nightmare land.

Children around the world have long enjoyed the adventures of Cam Jansen, the pint-sized sleuth with the photographic memory. In this amusing addition to the series, Cam and her friends are holding a talent show to entertain the residents of the senior center. Everyone is having a blast with the jokes, tricks, juggling, and especially the treats from Ken’s Bake Shop. But then a wedding cake disappears from Ken’s truck - and the ceremony is only a few hours away! It will take Cam’s remarkable memory to solve this sweet case.