River Runs Deep

In a stunning story that “makes history come alive” (Booklist), a boy is sent to Mammoth cave to fight a case of consumption—and ends up fighting for the lives of a secret community of escaped slaves, who are hidden deep underground. Twelve-year-old Elias has consumption, so he is sent to Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave—the biggest cave in America—where the cool vapors are said to be healing. At first, living in a cave sounds like an adventure, but after a few days, Elias feels more sick of boredom than his illness. So he is thrilled when Stephen, one of the slaves who works in the cave, invites him to walk further through its depths. But there are more than just tunnels and stalagmites waiting to be discovered; there are mysteries hiding around every turn. The truths they conceal are far more stunning than anything Elias could ever have imagined, and he finds himself caught in the middle of it all—while he’s supposed to be resting. But how can he focus on saving his own life when so many others are in danger?

Joy J. Jackson’s Where the River Runs Deep tells two stories—both significant and both fascinating. It is a biography of the author’s father, Oliver Jackson, who spent virtually his entire life on or near the Mississippi River. And it is a history of the river itself, and the many changes that have transformed it in the twentieth century. Born in an oysterman’s camp in south Louisiana, only a few miles from the Gulf of Mexico, and raised in an orphanage in New Orleans, Oliver Jackson (1896–1985) grew up to become a pilot boat crew member, a merchant seaman, a tugboat-man, and ultimately a Mississippi River pilot, the profession to which he had always aspired. Drawing extensively on oral history, including a series of audiotapes her father recorded before his death, Jackson presents a detailed social history not only of her father and his forebears but of a way of life now past. She vividly portrays village life in once-thriving but now-vanished river communities such as Port Eads and Burrwood in the delta below New Orleans, and in such working-class areas of the city as the Irish Channel. And she provides detailed descriptions of the early days of riverboat piloting between New Orleans and Baton Rouge and of tugboat work in the New Orleans harbor. Throughout, she evokes the special passion and respect that pilots have always had for their work and the river. Woven into Jackson’s narrative of her father’s life and career is a history of the profound changes in life and commerce on the Mississippi River since the turn of the century. During Oliver Jackson’s lifetime, cotton gave way to petroleum as the major product transported on the lower Mississippi, while steamboats faded away and were replaced by towboats, with their long lines of barges. After mid-century many of the plantations and rural homesteads that had lined the banks of the river since the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were crowded by the increasing presence of petrochemical plants. Jackson also writes about such calamitous events as the hurricane of 1915 and the great flood of 1927, and she describes the menace of German submarines at the mouth of the Mississippi during America’s early months in World War II. Where the River Runs Deep is a story of river life unlike any other. It will appeal to students of regional history and family history, as well as to anyone fascinated by the lore of the Mississippi.

*Sita Brahmachari is a World Book Day author for 2021 with gorgeous short story, The River Whale!* Two children must risk everything to escape their fate and find the impossible . . . bold adventure, timely climate change themes and breathtaking writing, from award-winning author Sita Brahmachari. 'Lavishly written and full of love of the natural world.' - Sunday Times Shifa and her brother, Themba, live in Kairos City with their father, Nabil. The few live in luxury, whilst the millions like them crowd together in compounds, surviving on meagre rations and governed by Freedom Fields - the organisation that looks after you, as long as you opt in. The bees have long disappeared; instead children must labour on farms, pollinating crops by hand so that the nation can eat. The farm Shifa and Themba are sent to is hard and cruel. Themba won't survive there and Shifa comes up with a plan to break them out. But they have no idea where they are - their only guide is a map drawn from the ramblings of a stranger. The journey ahead is fraught with danger, but Shifa is strong and knows to listen to her instincts - to let love guide them home. The freedom of a nation depends on it . . . Endorsed by Amnesty International.

China's spectacular economic growth over the past two decades has dramatically depleted the country's natural resources and produced skyrocketing rates of pollution. Environmental degradation in China has also contributed to significant public health problems, mass migration, economic loss, and social unrest. In The River Runs Black, Elizabeth C. Economy examines China's growing environmental crisis and its implications for the country's future development. Drawing on historical research, case studies, and interviews with officials, scholars, and activists in China, the author traces the economic and political roots of China's environmental challenge and the evolution of the leadership's response. She argues that China's current approach to environmental protection mirrors the one embraced for economic development: devolving authority to local officials, opening the door to private actors, and inviting participation from the international community, while retaining only weak central control. The result has been a patchwork of environmental protection in which a few wealthy regions with strong leaders and international ties improve their local environments, while most of the country continues to deteriorate, sometimes suffering irrevocable damage. Economy compares China's response with the experience of other societies and sketches out several possible futures for the country. This second edition is updated with information about events during the past five years, covering China's tumultuous transformation of its economy and its landscape as it deals with the political implications of this behavior as viewed by an international community ever more concerned about climate change and dwindling energy resources.

The New York Times–bestselling classic set amid the mountains and streams of early twentieth-century Montana, “as beautiful as anything in Thoreau or Hemingway” (Chicago Tribune). When Norman Maclean sent the manuscript of A River Runs Through It and Other Stories to New York publishers, he received a slew of rejections. One editor, so the story goes, replied, “it has trees in it.” Today, the title novella is recognized as one of the great American tales of the twentieth century, and Maclean as one of the most beloved writers of our time. The finely distilled product of a long life of often surprising rapture—for fly-fishing, for the woods, for the interlocked beauty of life and art—A River Runs Through It has established itself as a classic of the American West filled with beautiful prose and understated emotional insights. Based on Maclean’s own experiences as a young man, the book’s two novellas and short story are set in the small towns and mountains of western Montana. It is a world populated with drunks, loggers, card sharks, and whores, but also one rich in the pleasures of fly-fishing, logging, cribbage, and family. By turns raunchy and elegiac, these superb tales express, in Maclean’s own words, “a little of the love I have for the earth as it goes by.” “Maclean’s book—acerbic, laconic, deadpan—rings out of a rich American tradition that includes Mark Twain, Kin Hubbard, Richard Bissell, Jean Shepherd, and Nelson Algren.” —New York Times Book Review Includes a new foreword by Robert Redford, director of the Academy Award–winning film adaptation

Twelve-year-old Elias is sent to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky to fight a case of consumption--and ends up fighting for the lives of a secret community of escaped slaves traveling along the Underground Railroad.

The book is an anthology of twenty six items, comprising stories, observations, ideas and dreams of the author, a retired physician, during his lifetime passion of the out-of-doors.

His best friend has been murdered, his daughter's in danger. There's only one answer. Going back to his old life. The one that cost him his wife... Michael Brady was a high-flying detective, working on a high-profile case. And much too close to the truth. Someone arranged a hit-and-run. But they missed Brady. And hit his wife. And after six months sitting by her bed, he took the only decision he could take. He turned the machine off. Now he's back home in Whitby. Trying to rebuild his life. And be a good dad to his teenage daughter. But when his best friend is murdered Brady - unwillingly at first - is drawn into the investigation. And when the only people he has left are threatened, he finds there's only one answer. Going back to his old life... Salt in the Wounds is the first novel from award winning writer and blogger Mark Richards. It's set in Whitby, on the North Yorkshire coast, and tells the story of former Detective Inspector Michael Brady. His wife's dead and he's back in his home town - trying to rebuild his life and be a good dad to his 13 year old daughter. So I had to make the decision. For my daughter. Her life was on hold. And she needs someone. At least I've got a sister here. God knows Ash isn't going to ask me if she has a problem with her periods. But then Brady's best friend is murdered. And if he's going to stop the wrong person going on trial, there's only one option. He has to act. He couldn't let someone else control his life. Especially when 'someone else' was Bill Calvert. He owed it to Grace, to Ash. Most of all he owed it to himself. He hadn't asked for this. But he had to deal with it. Sort it out, find the killer. And then start his new life. 'I love you, Grace,' he said. And walked back down the cliff path... ...And finally, Brady has to risk everything. This was the moment to turn back. Wait for some uniforms. Say, 'He's down there. At the end of the pier.' Leave it to someone younger, fitter. Someone without a daughter. But Gorse was waiting. And he had Carl. And he knew. He knew who'd killed Grace... Salt in the Wounds is the first book in a series of six. The second book in the series will be published just before Christmas