Books with author C J Taylor

The Iroquois Confederacy was one of the world’s great democra­cies, serving as a model that inspired the founders of both the United States and Canada. C. J. Taylor has drawn on her Mohawk heritage and versions of the story she has gathered from elders to tell the story of the Confederacy of Five Nations (which became six after European contact) and of the heroic peace walker, Hiawatha, in powerful prose and dramatic art.Peace Walker is the story of how peace and unity emerged from a time of chaos when the nations suffered under the brutality of Chief Atotahara – a man so evil that he drank potions from the skull of a small child. Hiawatha’s story has been told in many versions, but none have the ring of authenticity and passion of C. J. Taylor’s remarkable book.

“The Missing has a delicious sense of foreboding from the first page, luring us into the heart of a family with terrible secrets and making us wait, with pounding hearts for the final, agonizing twist. Loved it.”—Fiona Barton, author of The Widow A harrowing psychological thriller about a missing teenage boy whose mother must expose the secrets within their own family if she wants to find her son—perfect for fans of Reconstructing Amelia.You love your family. They make you feel safe. You trust them. Or do you…?When fifteen-year-old Billy Wilkinson goes missing in the middle of the night, his mother, Claire Wilkinson, blames herself. She’s not the only one. There isn’t a single member of Billy’s family that doesn’t feel guilty. But the Wilkinsons are so used to keeping secrets from one another that it isn’t until six months later, after an appeal for information goes horribly wrong, that the truth begins to surface.Claire is sure of two things—that Billy is still alive and that her friends and family had nothing to do with his disappearance.A mother’s instinct is never wrong. Or is it…?Combining an unreliable narrator and fast-paced storytelling, The Missing is a chilling novel of psychological suspense that will thoroughly captivate and obsess readers.

Two-Feather had been wandering all winter, lonely and hungry. One spring night he goes to sleep to forget the despair, only to be awakened by a voice calling his name. It is a woman, so beautiful that Two-Feather immediately falls in love with her, and begs for her to stay with him forever. The woman leads him over mountains and through forests. Two-Feather obeys her every command, even the last, most difficult, only to find she has left him, but not without ensuring that he will never be lonely or hungry again.

All peoples have their own stories of how the Earth was created, what separated the land from the seas, and how the many animals, fish, and other creatures came to have their particular characteristics. The native tribes of North America are no different: they too have stories about the “way things began.” A fascinating collection of tales that explain the origins of tornadoes, forest fires, butterflies, horses, Niagara Falls, why dogs are our best friends, and even a very funny story of why owls and rabbits look the way they do.

A wonderfully gruesome group of not-so-benign creatures from native North American folklore. In these tales, readers learn of a witch who steals buffalo and the coyote who steals them back, a giant fish that kills anyone who ventures on a lake, a greedy giant who drinks all the water on earth and another giant who drinks blood. More importantly, we meet the brave people and animals who subdue these creatures through a combination of luck, skill, and old-fashioned courage.

Iceman sits by his small fire, feeling old and tired after a long winter. Suddenly, a spry young man with a wreath of sweetgrass around his neck appears at the campsite with a message. Iceman tells the stranger, called New Dawn, of his powers: how his cold breath turned leaves brown and blew them from the trees, how he made bears and beavers hide in their dens, how he shook his head and caused snowdrifts to form. New Dawn then delivers his message, which is the coming of Spring. As he sings his song, he grows stronger and taller, the snows melt, birds return to the budding trees, and Iceman retires for the next season.

Crippled in an accident and left behind by his hunting party, Lone Warrior must overcome hunger, cold, pain, and despair to survive. But most terrifying of all his trials is the appearance of a skeleton-ghost arisen from the grave. That Lone Warrior can still remember to express his gratitude to the animal he must kill to survive, and that he does not allow fear to diminish his dignity, makes him an ideal hero.