Our passions have a way of doing that for us: extending our lives

In 1971, a father and son ventured out of their apartment in New Jersey to the Island of Martha’s Vineyard to try their hand at surfcasting. That trip began a life of Spring trips to the waters’s edge in search of bluefish and striped bass. Fifty years later, Mike Carotta takes readers along for thirty straight nights and days of fishing.

This is not a How To book. It does not contain the secrets to a fantastic fishing career. Rather, hard fishing has a way of revealing lessons from the shore and the people who gather there—binding together strangers in conversations and gestures, failures and successes, new learnings, and, eventually, creating old friends.

Through it all, more than fish are caught—and shared. The result is a thoughtful collection of essays on life with some notes from the trade filtered in. Join Mike on his pilgrimage back to where the distance between heaven and earth gets a little thinner and the real "keepers" of the trip go far beyond the fish on the end of the line.

"I am not a good surf fisherman. There are no helpful fishing hints here. This is a collection of recollection: stories of saltwater characters, occurrences, and conversations. Like stars in the night sky, they are best enjoyed when you get some distance from the lights of other stuff." – Excerpt from A Long Cast

A fresh understanding of today’s political divide.

Dr. Craig Wiener, a clinical psychologist for over forty years, approaches the current political divide from a desire to understand the differences between opposing political ideologies, and to create space for multiple points of view in highly charged political discussions.

Utilizing an innovative way to conceptualize the two main viewpoints driving American politics, Dr. Wiener discusses how the people holding these perspectives may view, respond to, and interact with highly contentious political issues such as poverty, racism, the patriarchy, and family life. In assessing these issues, he proposes solutions for managing the interpersonal conflicts that occur within our tense political atmosphere.

Backyard Politics is a must-read analysis of today’s political landscape and a proposed way to overcome our intense differences.

Kate Tyler is already in a life crisis when she inherits Howard’s Walk in Eden Springs, North Carolina, after the sudden death of her twin sister, Rebecca. The last thing she wants is to be tied down to an abandoned estate and its neglected once-famous gardens. She vows to sell it as quickly as possible.

But on her first visit to Howard’s Walk, Kate finds a family heirloom, an embroidered tablecloth, that Rebecca has left behind. That connection, and the deepening sense of loss she is feeling, convince her to stay—at least for a little while. As Kate struggles alone in her grief, healing appears in the form of new friends and neighbors.When secrets begin to surface within the old house, she questions the connection she feels with a mentally challenged young man from the farm next door. When she meets the owner of a local garden center, she begins to open her heart again to the possibility of love. When she learns that a powerful and vengeful man who was denied ownership of Howard’s Walk in the past is determined to finally own it at any cost, Kate must decide what Howard’s Walk means to her and whether she has the strength to battle for its survival as well as her own.

A rare sighting of a Waffle boy sends young Pancake Jake on a quest in Breakfast Land: he wants to make friends with the Waffles who have long been the enemies of the Pancakes. With courage and kindness, Jake discovers a long-lost recipe that proves Pancakes and Waffles are actually made of the same ingredients.

The charming illustrations and playful text make for a fun read that will encourage important conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion.

"Music is life. Music is a reflection of who we are as humans. Music tells us things that words can’t, it ignites feelings in us that we didn’t know we had, and it can reach a depth that nothing else can.” —Susan Graham, renowned American mezzo-soprano

Music has existed as long as there have been people to listen. It takes on many forms and is many things, providing entertainment, emotion, storytelling, and most of all, magic for all who hear.

In revealing and genuine interviews, Larry Ruttman converses with world-renowned musicians of the 21st century and engages them in an approachable manner. Dive into the recesses of their minds to discover the influences and inspiration behind classical music and other popular genres such as pop, jazz, folk, Americana, and many other genres impacting today’s musical culture.

Perfect for dedicated fans, determined students, and the casually interested listener to music of all genres, Intimate Conversations: Face to Face with Matchless Musicians is sure to inspire, fascinate, and entertain.

After the Allied D-Day landings in June 1944, Paris was liberated in late August, and the rest of France was freed in the following weeks. However, two pockets of German occupation in Royan and La Rochelle, both cities along the Atlantic coast, remained occupied for several months more.

Blocking access to Bordeaux, the city of Royan would end in martyrdom under a carpet of Allied bombs on January 5, 1945. But the fortress of La Rochelle, with its port, submarine base, and German garrison of 14,000 soldiers guarding the historic city and its 30,000 civilians, would later be delivered intact to Allied forces by its occupier.

By what perilous negotiations were two enemy officers able to avoid disaster in the besieged city? Two men of honor, French Commander Hubert Meyer and German Admiral Ernst Schirlitz, strove to see beyond the war toward reconciliation and the reconstruction of Europe.

This ancient Ojibway legend predates contact with European settlers, but the drummer boy and the people he meets at the end of his journey couldn’t be more familiar to modern culture.

When the orphaned Anung sets out on his vision quest, he sees clearly that his purpose in life is to find the greatest chief of all and tell him of the many acts of kindness the mothers and fathers of the village have given to Anung.

When the people of his village learn of the vision, they are proud of him. For every man of the village loves Anung as his son. Every woman is his mother. They believe Gitche Manitou, the great creator, has chosen their son for a special journey.

In his quest to find the greatest chief, Anung travels through the 13 tribes of the First Nations, across forests, plains, water, and desert. Along the way, he is accompanied by Turtle, the interpreter of all languages. He finds friends in the most unlikely of places––a squirrel’s nest, a mother bear’s den, and a city filled with people from every tribe. At each stop, Anung and his drum sing of his mothers and fathers and his quest to meet the greatest chief.

What Anung finds at the end of his journey will both surprise and thrill readers of all ages. This ancient legend, told in the beautifully poetic style of Carl Nordgren, begs to be read aloud and savored.