A Song Of Home

From award-winning author Sara Zarr comes a story of the small moments that show us who we are, and how family is not just something you’re part of, but something you make. Lou and her family don’t have much, but for Lou it's enough. Mom. Her sister, Casey. Their apartment in the city. Her best friend, Beth. It would be better if Dad could stop drinking and be there for her and Casey, and if they didn't have to worry about money all the time. But Lou doesn’t need better—she only needs enough. What’s enough for Lou, however, is not enough for Mom. Steve, Mom's boyfriend, isn’t a bad guy, he's just…not what Lou is used to. And now, he and Mom are getting married, and that means moving. Packing up life as they’ve known it and storing it in Steve’s garage. Lou will be separated from everything in her small but predictable life, farther from Dad than ever. Their last night in the city, Lou receives a mysterious birthday gift: A guitar, left for her by their front door. There’s nothing saying who left it, but it must be from Dad. And as she leaves the only place she’s ever known, she starts to believe that if she can learn how to play it, maybe she can bring a piece of him, and of her old life, home.

In this inspiring novel, world-renowned “Painter of Light”™ Thomas Kinkade brings us back to Cape Light—the little town we know by heart… The charming seacoast village of Cape Light is the kind of place where neighbor helps neighbor and people have the time to appreciate God’s blessings every day. Their lives are not without disappointment—even heartbreak. But there’s something special about this town—and the people in it. Cape Light’s mayor, Emily Warwick, can’t remember the last time she let herself dream. Her days are consumed by the responsibilities of her job and the incessant demands of her elderly mother. And there’s her younger sister Jessica, who is about to walk down the aisle with a man their mother despises. Emily has two months to bring their mother around, but so far—even with their minister’s support—her plan isn’t working. And it doesn’t help that she’s still mourning the husband she lost and wondering what happened to the baby she gave up for adoption twenty years ago. Sometimes she thinks it would take a miracle to fill the hole in her heart. But miracles do happen here in Cape Light. You just have to close your eyes—and believe in your dreams...

Grammy Award winner Rhiannon Giddens celebrates Black history and culture in her unflinching, uplifting, and gorgeously illustrated picture book debut. I learned your words and wrote my song. I put my story down. As an acclaimed musician, singer, songwriter, and cofounder of the traditional African American string band the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Rhiannon Giddens has long used her art to mine America’s musical past and manifest its future, passionately recovering lost voices and reconstructing a nation’s musical heritage. Written as a song to commemorate the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth—which was originally performed with famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma—and paired here with bold illustrations by painter Monica Mikai, Build a House tells the moving story of a people who would not be moved and the music that sustained them. Steeped in sorrow and joy, resilience and resolve, turmoil and transcendence, this dramatic debut offers a proud view of history and a vital message for readers of all ages: honor your heritage, express your truth, and let your voice soar, even—or perhaps especially—when your heart is heaviest.

The first step in a challenging journey is often the one that means the most. Though it means saying goodbye to the beloved friends and spiritual mentors of her St. Charles, Missouri quilting circle, Anna Goben is certain that she needs to enlist her family in the Boones Lick Company wagon train. The loss of her beloved brother in the Civil War has paralyzed her mother and grandfather in a malaise of grief and depression and Anna is convinced that only a fresh start in the Promised Land of California can bring her family back to her. Although the unknown perils of the trail west loom, Anna’s commitment to caring for her loved ones leaves no room for fear—or even loving someone new. During the five-month journey, trail hand Caleb Reger plans to keep a low profile as he watches over the band of travelers. Guarding secrets about his past and avoiding God’s calling on his life, Caleb wants to steer as far from Anna as she does him, but she proves to be just as he assessed her from the beginning— independent, beautiful trouble. Led by a pillar of hope, the group faces rough terrain that begins to take a toll on their spirits. Will the wilderness of suffering lead them astray, or will the gentle song of love that echoes across the prairie turn their hearts toward God’s grace and the promise of a new home?

Every Saturday at 5 p.m. Central, in a packed theater, the lights dim, the crowd hushes, and an old-time radio show called A Prairie Home Companion, hosted by Garrison Keillor goes on the air, live, coast to coast. Our songbook features 20 songs written for and performed on the show, based on Richard Dworsky's improvised arrangements at the piano: Bad Jokes * Beeboparebop Rhubarb Pie Theme * Brownie & Pete * Guy Noir Theme * Hush Little Baby * Hymn to Winter * Lake Wobegon School Hymn * Limericks (Waltz Me Around Again Willie) * The Lives of the Cowboys Theme * My Minnesota Home * Nonsense Song (A Boy's Best Friend Is His Mother) * Oh Baby * Polly-Wolly Tunafish * Powdermilk Biscuit Theme * Slow Days of Summer * Song of the Exiles * The Sons of Knute Christmas Dance and Dinner * Tishomingo Blues * Whispering Tuna * Whoop-I-Ti-Yi-Yo.

A Song Called Home is the life story of a baby of mysterious birth, whose parents lived on the Osage Indian reservation. Her father and both grandfathers were architects, and built homes and buildings from Oklahoma to Martha ́s Vineyard in the early 1900 ́s. Before she became four years old, Mary Jeanette ́s father abandoned her and his marriage, leaving the child to question her birth and family history. Thus began a lifetime search for her heritage and a home of her own. The book captures the hearts and struggles of Mary Jeanette and her mother as they moved from place to place across Oklahoma and Kansas to live with relatives. After her high-school graduation, she met a young man who brought deep love and a devotion that led to marriage. The lives of these two characters as children mirrored each other, and they found that they had much in common, including the kind of home they wanted. The stories of their life as a couple bring them some exciting experiences during the Great Depression, the Dust-Bowl Days, through WWII, and to the promise of a bright future.