Kate Forbes

Charlotte is not very excited about the doll her aunt Edme sends her. It has a prim painted mouth and is dressed in lace and silk. Besides, Charlotte has never really wanted a doll. "We like climbing trees," Charlotte tells the doll. Much to Charlotte's surprise, the new doll doesn't seem to mind her rough way of playing. By the time they are finished, Charlotte's new doll is muddy and torn, but her prim mouth has softened into a warm smile. But what...

Author of many novels and short stories, best-selling writer Lee Smith has received numerous awards for her works, including two O Henry Awards. Fair and Tender Ladies is an epistolary novel that traces the life of Ivy Rowe, born in the isolated Virginia mountain community of Sugar Fork. Through births and deaths, marriages and funerals, the decades of Ivy's life are captured in a rich dialect that carries the sounds and sights of the Appalachians...

Western North Carolina, 1787 To escape a threatening stepfather and an unwanted marriage, Tamsen Littlejohn enlists the aid of Jesse Bird, a frontiersman she barely knows, to spirit her away from Morganton, North Carolina, west beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains. Trouble pursues, as the two men intent on seeing her recovered prove relentless in their hunt. Trouble awaits in the form of a divided frontier community. Across the mountains the State of Franklin...

Belva Plain's many New York Times best-selling novels, including Promises, are beloved by her fans for their ability to convey bittersweet tales of the heart. Looking Back follows the intertwined lives of three bright young women. Cecile is a beautiful child of privilege; Amanda is ambitious but poor; Norma is the academic star, yet the least self-assured. They are inseparable at college. And when the three classmates graduate and move into careers...

Award-winning author Carolyn Haines visits sleuth Sarah Booth Delaney and the Mississippi Delta in Buried Bones, the second novel in this popular series. Local legend Lawrence Ambrose knows the secrets of everyone in town, and he isn't above spilling the beans in a tell-all biography. But when his biographer turns up dead and the manuscript goes missing, it's up to Sarah to dig up the truth.

This charming, old-fashioned story of a girl growing up during the depression will convince you that anything is possible. Against a backdrop of authentic hardship and despair, 13-year-old Virginia Eade discovers the true source of happiness. A doctor's daughter, Virginia spends her days dreaming of romance with "the two Charlies"-Charles Lindburgh and Charlie Chaplin. Soon Virginia is forced to give up her room to less fortunate relatives, and failed...

For faithful readers of Christian-based fiction, the name Lori Copeland is synonymous with inspiring, well-crafted tales. Child of Grace brings listeners to Cullen's Corner, where there are two types of people: those who live and die without straying far from home and those who get out at the first opportunity -- and never come back. So when Eva Jean returns to Cullen's Corner 18 years after putting the town in her rearview mirror, it's apparent her...

Set in the 1850s Smoky Mountains, this Gold Medallion-winner tells the gripping tale of a girl who's desperate to remove the guilt of her sister's death and anxious to absolve her departed grandmother of sins. While seeking the elusive Sin Eater, she uncovers a hideous secret and finds the truth.

In 1955, thirteen-year-old Lyric, her older sister Summer, and their widowed father pack the car. Poor yet hopeful, they move from the hills of Virginia to Flint, Michigan, where "Poppy" plans to find factory work. Once they are in Michigan, Lyric and Summer love the excitement of the city. Lyric makes friends at her new school, but Summer feels like an outcast. Soon, the close bond between the two sisters begins to dissolve. Lyric always knew that...

Award-winning author Patricia Polacco based this story on her own childhood and the heroic teacher who helped her overcome her learning disability. Even though she is a wonderful artist who makes beautiful pictures with her crayons, Trisha can't figure out how to read. The other kids make fun of her, calling her terrible names like "Dummy." Then one day, a new teacher arrives. Mr. Falker doesn't think Trisha is dumb at all. He knows he can help her...