North America Books

In 2008, Minnesota celebrates its 150th year of statehood. And there have been some historical discussions about the state's handling of various local Indian tribes when the white man arrived--and the Indians were moved to reservations.

In August 1862, the Indian chiefs lost control of their people--because they were starving and angry, waiting for food that was promised by the government, food being held by men at the Agency warehouse.

In a time when it was often "kill or be killed," the reality of the early settlers jumps off the page. Featured is the Owen family: abusive and no-good father John; Ma; Hawk, 18; and Jake, 17 - Hawk, Jake and John's stories told first person in different chapters.

I can hardly find the words to tell how exciting this excellent storytelling is. Author Williams neatly wove fact and fiction to make this a real page-turner. Of course, being from the Ft. Ridgely area took me on a personal journey.

When Hawk and his father clash, the father kicks him off the farm in Ottertail County in northwestern Minnesota. A map shows the distances covered by foot, horse or ox carts, and it was amazing how far people walked those days.

This, the first in a three-part series, finds first Hawk wandering on his own, and then follows Jake, full of revenge because of his mother's murder by Indians. We are with them as they survive, meet with good and bad people-and use every stay-alive skill taught them by an uncle.

Hawk was befriended by the Métis (may-TEE), decedents of European traders who interbred with native woman. Most were French-Canadian trappers/traders who drove ox carts. Jake became reclusive, keeping a step ahead of trouble. John Owen sank even lower than he was as a father and husband.

Space does not allow room to tell their stories-but to say that if you love well-written history-and stories about survival, love, friendship-this series is for you.

Book 2, Sophie's Hawk: Spirit of the Raptor, continues the saga, as does Book 3, Hawk's Quest: A Superior Pursuit (2008) continues with the Owen boys as they find their way, make homes and families and again move around the state.

Any history buff, regardless of where you live, will love this author's storytelling ability.

Armchair Interviews says: IF you love historical fiction that seem so real that you root for the characters, this series is for you. Read the series in order so you know the characters.

Hawk's Valley is an fantastic book. The kind of book that you will sit down and read and hate to set down. Easy to follow, because you feel like your taking the journey with the characters in the story. All kinds of feelings flow in this book. Anger, excitement, humor. The kind of book you will read time and time again. Reading it a second time now, anticipating the sequel. Again, its fantastic!

Outstanding!!! It's one of those that you want to read again and again! The story is about a family as told through the eyes of three of the main characters, each giving a new perpsective on what happened on "that fateful day in 1861" that led them on their adventures to find one another. Throughout the story the paths of these characters cross in very subtle ways. There are so many complexities to the plot, yet it is an easy and enjoyable read. There were moments where I found myself laughing out loud and others where my heart was racing in suspense. The characters are so vivid and it was hard to tell which parts of the story were fiction and which were true accounts in Minnesota history. It was an enjoyable way to learn the real story behind some of the names and legends. I can't wait for the sequel!!

This is an excellent writing that I appreciate. It makes you think about life and how to take control. It opens the choices you have about life and it lets you know that your body is a temple and you must treat it like one, since your only allowed one. Alot of the things you do to the body can be prevented. It tells you about the major health concerns with in African American culture and goes into detail about each concern. It leads you into a step by step brocess of taking wellness into your own hand

Heart disease knows no racial boundaries, however, more African Americans are likely to die from it. THE HEART OF THE MATTER is one noted African-American surgeon's attempt to change that fact. Written for the layman in everyday language, the book offers a complete guide to heart wellness. With a focus on current medical knowledge balanced by a belief in the benefits of spirituality and human dignity, THE HEART OF THE MATTER offers valuable lessons for both the patient and loved ones. THE HEART OF THE MATTER is infused with understanding and compassion for those who have heart disease and for the family members and caregivers who help loved ones recover.

Hilton M. Hudson II, M.D., does a beautiful job of explaining heart disease and it's affect on African Americans. The stories woven into the book provide excellent examples of how heart disease affects more than just the patient, but family and friends as well. He provides practical advice on nutrition, exercise, and stress reduction that is particularly helpful to African Americans. He tackles sensitive racial issues with understanding and compassion.

This book is set up into lessons, one for each letter of the alphabet. It goes over the natural remedies for many illnesses and health issues, including item, recommended dosage and how to prepare it. When you're done with the lessons, you can use it as a huge alphabetical reference guide. This book packs a lot of information in an easy-to-use format.

This guide works for both those new to studying herbs and those who would like a solid reference book. It is laid out in alphabetical lessons that can later serve as a quick reference index. The author actually goes beyond the herbs themselves to discuss illnesses and ailments that can be treated with natural remedies. The book makes it easy to get started studying a sometimes overwhelming topic!

If you don't know a lot about herbal remedies, buy this book! That's what I did, and I learned more than I expected about finding, preparing and using herbs for healing. I thought I would just get an overview, but the book is easy to understand, and the review questions are terrific for making sure you retain what you've read! I was so impressed that I lent the book to a friend who knows a lot about natural healing. She ended up buying a copy for herself! I'm not kidding. It's really that good.

"I am here.
I am here, now.
I have been here, always."

Edmund J. Ladd (Zuni).

In 1989, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, NM, began to put together a project designed to present Native American culture, traditions, and contemporary life from an Indian point of view: not looking in from the outside but looking out from the inside, not analyzing in the way of anthropologists but giving its Indian contributors themselves a place to raise their manifold voices. The process thus begun resulted in a fascinating permanent exhibition presenting all aspects of Native American life from its historic origins to modernity, from arts and crafts to farming and hunting, and from the sacred to the secular (if that distinction applies at all, for there is a profoundly spiritual element to every single act performed over the course of the day). Endowed with a multitude of exhibits - many of them of priceless value - and using traditional displays as well as a multimedia approach combining various audiovisual tools, from its inception the exhibition rested on one inimitable centerpiece: the multi-timbred choir of the First People's very own voices.

Bearing the same title as the exhibition and illustrated by numerous photos, "Here, Now, and Always" provides an additional forum for these voices and sends them out into the world at large. "Listen carefully. Let the stories carry you to the center created by each Native community. Here, at the intersection of sky and earth, you will find the Southwest's people," the museum's former archeology curator, Sarah Schlanger, is quoted at the end of the introductory text to the book's first part, "Ancestors." And thus, the book's Dine (Navajo), Hopi, Zuni, Apache, Tohono O'odham (Pima) and manifold Pueblo contributors become messengers of their respective peoples; talking about Earth Mother, Sun Father, Changing Woman, Spider Woman and Spider Man, Salt Woman, the Great Spirit, the formation of the first clans and their wanderings, the sacred places marking their world and the meaning of home and community, the interrelation of the elements and man's interaction with them, the significance of clay, salt, corn, and tobacco, of minerals and precious stones, and of farming and hunting, the cycles of life, time, and the seasons, the importance of language, oral tradition, and sacred ceremonies in cultural preservation, and obstacles overcome and new challenges arising.

"Each mountain carries precious knowledge. Each is symbolized by certain birds, insects, trees, plants, songs, and prayers. Try to remember this when you think you might want to bulldoze these mountains. Let the sacred remain," warns Gloria Emerson (Dine) in the chapter entitled "Elements." Anthony Dorame (Tesuque Pueblo) explains about cycles that they are "circles that travel in straight lines." In the chapter on agriculture he recounts how his people revived their already-forgotten life as farmers, and wonders, "Today, we again hear the musical thump of a watermelon being split open in the field. Will we forget again what we now remember?" and later on, he adds that "[w]hen the branch is broken, the twig cannot survive. Without our language and without our ways, you cannot survive as a people." Similarly, recalling the young Zunis shipped off to Pennsylvania in the 1800s, all of whom died from loneliness after having been cut off from their cultural roots, Edmund J. Ladd (Zuni) - whose words also provided the project's title - reflects that these days, it is his people's language that is dying from loneliness. In the chapter entitled "Arts," Michael Lacapa (Apache/Hopi/Tewa) adds that the word "art" does not exist in his language at all, and muses, "We make pieces of life to see, touch, and feel. Shall we call it 'art'? I hope not. It may lose its soul. It is life. It is people." And in talking about a mid-20th century professor's prediction that traditional Indian life would vanish within a matter of years due to the spread of a cash economy, federal relocation policies, and WWII veterans' reluctance to return to their prewar lifestyle, Dave Warren (Santa Clara Pueblo) points out that like the footprints and handholds left behind by their ancestors in the southwestern canyons, cliffs, and plateaus, "tradition is deeply etched into our very being. ... [W]e are of these spaces, places, and times. We leave our footprints for another generation; we leave our handholds to steady their journey."

Bringing together all these and many other voices, "Here, Now, and Always" pays tribute to the rich heritage of the Southwest's Native people, and builds a unique bridge to a way of life, traditions, and beliefs sidelined and on the brink of extinction practically from the moment the first white man set down his conqueror's foot in the region, although these very traditions had survived in (largely) peaceful coexistence for centuries before. A slim volume of less than 100 pages, the book is nevertheless powerful testimony to the First People's resilience and ability to adapt to altered circumstances while maintaining the core of their cultural values. As such, it is highly recommended reading - and hopefully, also an incentive to one day go and see the exhibition from which it originates.

"Together we traveled,
in search of the center place.
In numbers we grew.
The center place had not been found.
The gods divided the people.
Some traveled north,
to the land of winter.
Some traveled south,
to the land of summer.
We are the people."

Edmund J. Ladd (Zuni).

Les malades dans l'hopital de Sells, dans l'etat d'Arizona, prennent de la cuisine traditionnelle du sud-ouest. Se guerit-on lorsqu'on se sent lie avec le culture et la terre maternaux? En fait, les danses qui se font pendant la scheresse se servent de l'energie de la creation liee, depuis les danseurs, jusqu'aux ancestres, aux descendants et a l'univers entier. Les arts du sud-ouest, eux aussi, se font, pour lier le passe, le moment actuel et l'avenir du culture, du peuple et de l'univers. Ainsi sont-ils beaux et serviables, tels que de la poterie, du tissage, et de la vannerie. A vrai dire, les peaux-rouges se croient originaires des terres tout autour des rivieres Colorado, Gila, Rio Grande, Salt et San Juan, les destinations finales de tous leurs esprits lies aussi.

Patients in the hospital at Sells, Arizona, are away from what they're used to drink and eat. So they're served traditional foods. Respecting the traditional link to nature and people keeps up physical and spiritual strength. In contrast, in the 19th century, Zuni boys and girls were sent to Carlyle, Pennsylvania. They didn't feel part of a community or nature. They'd felt both in the southwest. They never made it back home. They died from loneliness.

In the southwest, life has always been about getting along with nature and people. One traditional way that southwestern cultures do this is through dance. Music sounds within the dancer. That energy joins the dancer to all creation. So the dancer becomes linked with human energy, such as ancestors and future generations.

The dancer also links to natural energy, such as rain clouds. This is why the Hopi rain dance brings rain. In fact, the Hopi say that their corn, grown unirrigated, and their way of life, in harmony with nature and people, will save the world. The Apache also got through war, reservation poverty, depression and censorship by drawing energy from community, nature, and prayers.

It should be no surprise, then, that a southwestern work of art has a link and use too. Pottery stands for the sacred earth bowl. Traditional designs keep the tie strong between past, present and future generations.

HERE, NOW, & ALWAYS comes out of an exhibition at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Along with artworks, such as beautifully useful basketry, pottery and weavings, there are also audios, videos and writings of southwesterners on ancestors, community, cycles of nature and people, and survival.

Southwesterners believe they didn't come from somewhere else. They've always been here first, right from the start, along the Colorado, Gila, Rio Grande, Salt and San Juan rivers. They'll also be the last. For example, the Hopi believe that the life of their people began at the Grand Canyon. That also will be their final spiritual home.

Braeking the state up into sections, the author does an excellent job of describing and presenting the various highlights of each. Equal treatment is given to popular and off-the-beaten-path areas, with sufficient detail for each. It made my recent visit more enjoyable!

This book was a wonderful guide to the areas of Montana we traveled through. There were several things we would not have seen if it hadn't been for the suggestions in the book and some excellent restaurants we wouldn't have stopped at if they had not been recommended by the book. We plan to get another "hidden" book for our next trip.

Hidden Montana appears in its third edition to cover inns, tours, drives, and outdoors explorations throughout the state. From Glacier Park to Yellowstone, this is packed with lesser-known byways. Recommended.

"Hidden Tennessee" like all the other Hidden books are really great for the traveler looking for something different. In our travels, we always attempt to avoid the commonplace and crowds, and the Hidden guides help us find the unusual.

I purchased this book as a birthday gift for my son-in-law who is an avid hiker and prefers naturalist areas that are less traveled. He was very pleased with the content in this book

We used this book to tour the whole state of Tennessee for our Anniversary. Every time we went to a "hidden" recommendation, we found exactly what the book said. We were never disappointed. We also used the AAA book of Tennessee. "Hidden" gave us a better idea of things to do and see. It had general descriptions of areas in addition to city information. We only used the AAA book when we wanted to stay in a chain hotel. The "Hidden" book only suggest non-chain lodging

Back cover reads:
"Once my mouth covers yours, there's no going back."
Even as his lips dragged roughly across hers, Danetta Marist knew her boss meant what he said. He was always arrogant and demanding, and this kiss was no exception. She could barely breathe for the intense heat that sizzled between them. But she believed in marriage, and Cabe Ritter was a terrible womanizer...
In fact, Cabe used his 'ladies' man' image; it kept him safe from women-like his pretty secretary-who wanted a commitment. But Danetta's innocence went to his head and, once he'd held her in his arms, he wanted to keep her there-forever!

I've yet to find a book by Diana Palmer that didn't end up on my keeper shelf. This is one of her classics - older man, innocent young woman ... but there are some unexpected touches as well that make the story fresh and fun. I give it five stars!

Description from the book back cover:

On-the-job training ... Danetta Marist didn't know what to do about her gruff, handsome boss. He gave her looks that made her spine tingle. And then there was that sweet, heart-stopping kiss in his office. But Danetta believed in marriage, and everyone knew rugged Cabe Ritter was a terrible womanizer ... In his heart, Cabe was no playboy. His "ladies' man" image had kept him safe from women - like his pretty secretary - who wanted a commitment. Cabe realized that young, fresh and deliciously tempting Danetta had a lot to learn about love. But now that he'd held her in his arms he decided that he had to be the man to teach her ... for the rest of their lives.

This is one of my absolute favourite book.....from the Boss,the Secretary , to the Iguana. Fun loving and captivating. I loved this book

This book is covers the development of African-American Business from The Colonial times to the present. It covers corporations, partnerships, banks and various other enterprises. You will enjoy this book.

This work fills a void in African American and general U. S. History. It is important for the general public, not just academia. Business success has became a negative image for too many youths, and this work shows that African Americans have always been successful within the capitalist system as entrepreurs, not merely consumers. It also demonstrates how African Americans have been a vital part of the economic development of the nation!

This book traces the development of black enterprise in America. It is a return to the days when communities, including those in the tradition of black Americans, placed enterprise at the very center of their activity. It also reminds us of the blue-print for success in America. More importantly, it is a return to scholarship which concentrates on the importance of self-help, enterprise building and the ability to think and act like a free person. Since the early 1960s, studies of failure have dominated literature on black Americans. This book returns us to literature which examine how people actually created economic stability in hostile situations. It also reminds us that the excellent literature on present day immigrant groups share a lot in common with the ealry literature on black Americans. A great piece of scholarship. It is also instructive to note that Madam Walker, Booker T. Washington, and Mr. Johnson are pictured on the cover. This denotes a time which entrepreneurs, rather than politicians and ministers, were the most important leaders in the black community.

The History Of Special Education: From Isolation To Integration by Margret A. Winzer is an astutely presented, coherently organized, and comprehensive discourse of how Western and North American society has regarded, treated, and educated the disabled and mentally retarded from before the eighteenth century down to the modern day. Offering an extensive discussion of widespread philosophical beliefs, scientific learning, the rise and fall of eugenics theory, the evolution of institutions and practices, and so much more, The History Of Special Education is both an excellent study text and a detailed historical resource recommended for anyone seeking to learn more of the background of the special education field -- especially those seeking to enhance their knowledge of a possible career in the field. A seminal 463-page work which includes both a Subject Index and an Author Index, The History Of Special Education is a welcome and highly recommended addition to Education History reference collection.

This book is one of the best written and researched books on education that I've had the good luck to come across. Winzer did a phenomenol job on what could be a dry subject. She also provides a great bibliography section which can further be used for references and research. I came across this book while doing research on deaf education and eugenics in the U.S. Not only does she have all the information that I had previously seen in books on the eugenics movement, but she provides more details and further references that the other books did not provide. The struggle for educational equality for those with disabilities has been a long, ongoing battle. It is not yet finished, since educational equity is still elusive for those of us with disabilities. The same attitudinal problems which those people of different races have encountered, are even more engrained in society for those with disabilities. The idea of having a disability, whether physical, mental, or emotional and behavioral is still equated with the concept that we are intellectually deficient as well as being less abled in hearing, sight, mobility, etc. Even teachers and professors continue to put educational barriers in front of those with disabilities, and educational ethics has a long way to go for this particular group due to financial and political concerns in school districts and throughout social/political systems in the world. It is only through good educational books such as Winzer has written that we can change the problems that people with disabilities face in education and employment, and equal opportunities. It is of utmost importance that educators of all kinds throughout the universities require that this book be read as part of regular educational requirements. Karen L. Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh

I am working on my thesis on The History of Special Education. I found this book very useful. I was able to locate primary and secondary sources from the complete reference section. The historical detail was very useful. I wish there had been more detail about the twentieth century. I would have liked to have seen more detailed information regarding WWI to present.

I am puzzled and very disappointed that this book is not being widely enough read and written about. I suspect its reputation is growing underground as people pass on copies and recount their experiences in reading it. Collins is a fine writer who brings an awsome command of history, Biblical scholarship, cultural appraisal, literary studies into focus such that the reader is made to see in startlingly new ways what a mess America has been brought to by its present leaders. This is not a superfical glance at the neocons, G W Bush, the Iraq war; it is rather a deeply thoughtful consideration of much that has gone into the long prehistory of the American nightmare -- ancient narratives, the structure of the language, the nature of metaphor, the inner workings of the evangelical mind. The book builds to a conclusion that will have you thinking in new ways about the recent past, not necessarily with bright hopes. Collins has a wonderful sense of humor, low-key, understated, sharp. I recommend this book.

This is a marvelous work of scholarship that exposes the dangerous myths powering the American worldview. Ought to be required reading in American political science curricula.

Review of Homeland Mythology, by Christopher Collins (Penn State Press, 2007) 262 pp.


Christopher Collins' Homeland Mythology: Biblical Narratives in American Culture exposes layers of sediment that have occluded our view of what is American. To all those who love to quote one side of a coin, "In God We Trust," never turning it over to read "In Diversity United," this is essential reading. All cultures survive and perish on their stories, but the unexamined story, as Collins demonstrates, is a perverse lie, a tool for propagandists and tyrants. It is one thing to suspend disbelief when listening to a work of fiction, but if we carry our fairy tales into adulthood, then we risk delusional behavior on a collective level. Worse, we act on beliefs we believe are already ordained by God, with drastic consequences: imperialistic expansion, racism, disregard for human rights, disregard for the environment, war.

Collins traces a direct line from the Christian interpretations of Biblical stories from the beginning of European history and Anglo history in the New World right to the current White House and to a vast array of rhetorical givens in the media and collective consciousness. He shows that not all narratives assume the same idea of time or history. The Hebrew Bible looks to the past, embracing ancient traditions: Isaac "follows" Abraham. The Christian appropriation of The Hebrew Bible, much like the Islamic, imposes a tortured interpretation, declaring the Hebrew Bible to be a foreshadowing of the coming (and coming again) of Jesus Christ, a forward narrative movement.

Pointing out how politicians have scoured the Bible for fear-mongering language is pretty easy, but exposing how they have used Bible stories, already embedded in a collective psyche, to justify horrific acts requires insight and careful documentation, which Collins has achieved. Collins' work is to the study of the Judeo-Christian traditions what Bernard Lewis' works have been to our understanding of Islam. And Like Lewis, Collins is scholarly without ever being pedantic. Bringing together literary analysis, rhetorical theory, and cultural anthropology, Collins adeptly presents us with a book that is both profound and reader friendly.

Marlon L Fick