Central Kansas Library System

After an October blizzard, Laura's family moves from the claim shanty into town for the winter, a winter that an Indian has predicted will be seven months of bad weather.

Part historical fiction, part memoir, this novel takes place over a 10-week period in the summer of 1956 in a small town in the mid-west. It is based on a true story of the social and athletic achievements of an eleven-man mixed-race baseball team, seven African-American, three Hispanics, and one Caucasian. Under the leadership of an aging charismatic African-American manager, the Brown Bombers tolerate the nearness of racism as part of the price...

In this sweeping novel of love and hate, Abby Palmer's life story is a study in contrasts. She calls up the courage to battle debilitating episodes of multiple sclerosis, yet is too cowardly to admit she has the disease. Abby finds the strength to survive the almost simultaneous deaths of her mother, her husband, and her unborn child, but is too weak to fight her brother's cruel domination. She is cared for by friends and abandoned by her family...