On a hot summer day in 1932, Andy Connors, who owns a garage that serves Route 66, finds himself in major trouble: He's been bitten by a rabid skunk.

Raising four strong-willed younger siblings after her mother's death and her father's imprisonment, seventeen-year-old Lanie Freeman never knows what new adventure will roll into view-such as her brother's wild idea to turn the family's old truck into a traveling store. The Freeman Rolling Emporium could provide the financial security Lanie and her family so desperately need, or it could tear them apart. Yet it's only a prelude to other changes. Author...

Lanie took out her journal and dated it April 12, 1928. She started the habit of writing down everything that happened to her when she was no more than eight years old, and now she had six journals completely full. She thought about the prize at school, almost prayed to win, but somehow she could not. 'God,' she finally said, 'I'll do my best, and if you'll help me, that's all I ask.' Fourteen-year-old Lanie Belle Freeman of Fairhope, Arkansas, has...

Tillison County, Oklahoma, 1938. Kathleen Dolan has high hopes for her investment in the Rawlings, Oklahoma, Gazette. But the feisty newspaper woman hasn't even reached the city limits when trouble strikes: hijackers try to steal her old Nash. Although handsome rancher Johnny Henry comes to her rescue, the attack is only a taste of the perils to come. For Rawlings is a town steeped in dirty secrets, and soon Kathleen will find herself pitted against...

During the Depression, a rural black family deeply attached to the forest on their land tries to save it from being cut down by an unscrupulous white man.

Award-winning author Patricia Hickman crafts a critically acclaimed gem that warms the heart and tickles the funny bone. During the Great Depression Jeb Nubey is running from the law when he meets three abandoned children. After they pass a stormy night in a church, Jeb is mistaken for the new pastor-a widower with three kids. Looks like more trouble for Jeb. But the chance for a steady job and three squares a day is too good to turn down.

Augie is a poor but exuberant boy growing up in Chicago during the Depression. While his friends all settle into chosen professions, Augie demands a special destiny. He tests out a wild succession of occupations, proudly rejecting each as too limiting—until he tangles with the glamorous perfectionist Thea.

The Fourth of July delivers more than just the local display of fireworks for Samuel and Julia Wortham. They return from the festivities in Dearing, Illinois, to find Samuel's borther Edward, out of prison and on their doorstep. Surprise turns to shock and confusion as Edward introduces a young girl named Katie and declares that Samuel is her father. Samuel maintains his innocence and cannot understand why his brother would make up such a story, Julia...