A boy recounts his annual summer trips to rural Illinois with his sister during the Great Depression to visit their larger-than-life grandmother.

As letters flow back and forth--between the prairies of Illinois and the mountains of Afghanistan, across cultural and religious divides--sixth-grader Abby, ten-year-old Amira, and eleven-year-old Sadeed begin to speak and listen to each other.

Best-selling author and Pulitzer-Prize winner Jane Smiley crafts compelling novels filled with quiet strength and emotion. In Barn Blind she portrays a middle-aged woman so galvanized with success that she drives a wedge between herself and those who love her most. Kate Karlson's only focus in life is her Midwestern horse farm. Ignoring her husband, she spends long days giving riding lessons and training horses. To showcase her teaching ability, she...

When her husband, Ben, drags her to the States for a gourmet cooking competition, the nervous and pregnant Ellie Haskell encounters mystery and murder in the American Midwest.

In a small town in 1928, a twelve-year-old boy savors the magic of childhood and the wonders of summer. Ray Bradbury's moving recollection of a vanished golden era remains one of his most enchanting novels. Dandelion Wine stands out in the Bradbury literary canon as the author's most deeply personal work, a semi-autobiographical recollection of a magical small-town summer in 1928. Twelve-year-old Douglas Spaulding knows Green Town, Illinois, is...

A mayoral candidate's brother is released from prison 25 years after pleading guilty to the murder of his girlfriend, a situation that leads to the re-opening of the case.

Charles Dickinson's novels and short stories have won widespread acclaim for their deft characterization, humanity, and humor. Now Dickinson slips beyond the bounds of mundane realism to create a poignant fantasy that bears comparison to the work of Jack Finney and Jonathan Carroll. Euclid, Illinois, is a town of many shortcuts, between houses, through orchards, and across fields. Josh Winkler, a local artist and longtime resident, knows these irregular...

Airline captain Rayford Steele, stunned when over one hundred passengers vanish from his plane in the blink of an eye, quickly realizes the Rapture his wife had been telling him about--an event in which Jesus would return to take his followers to Heaven before they die--had happened and he had been left behind.

To move forward, sometimes we have to let go of what's behind. In spite of the loss of two dear friends. In spite of the breakup of a teenage love. In spite of the curse of HIV. In spite of prison time hanging over the head of a beloved child. In spite of fire consuming the hope of those who have nothing. Yet out of the ashes, God is doing a new thing. It's time for the Yadas to press on, pray on, and get rolling.

When a group of Chicago-area women from diverse backgrounds and life experiences are thrown together at a big weekend conference, they form a prayer group via e-mail, having no idea how God is going to change their lives.