Books with author Michelle Isenhoff

Will Emily forego love for a chance at independence?Emily Preston wants only to become an artist. As the nation teeters on the brink of civil war, she must wage her own battle against the restrictive ideology of her father. Women belong at home on the plantation beneath the watchful eye of a husband or father--NOT at a university. But several schools in the North have opened their doors to women. How can she make her father see just how much it means to her to study under a master?Independence isn't the only contentious point between them. A recent visit to her uncle's home in Detroit has called Emily's entire upbringing into question, but her father doesn't appreciate her criticisms of his management of Ella Wood, the Preston family plantation. Then there's the problem of Thaddeus Black, the handsome, charming young man who simply won't take no for an answer. It could be that the real fight lies within her heart, which stubbornly refuses to accept that a choice for independence must be a choice against love."Poetic" and "nuanced," Ella Wood is the story of a young woman standing at the edge of war and struggling with questions of morality, purpose, and love. Titles in the Ella Wood series: Ella Wood, Blood Moon, Ebb Tide Ella Wood novellas: Lizzie, Jack, Jovie The Ella Wood trilogy and the trilogy of novellas are complete.Note: Ella Wood contains a complete story arc, but the final pages initiate the action that will kick off book two, ending in a cliffhanger. Book two picks up exactly where Ella Wood leaves off.

Nominated for a 2013 Cybils AwardSemifinalist in the Kindle Book Review 2013 Book AwardsReaders' Favorite 5 Star SealMud and mire shall birth a tree, A sprout shall grow of ancient seed. The five unite to break the one, The curse of man shall be undone. But brothers rise ere dragon's bane, The last shall smite the first again.Orphaned at a young age, Song has grown up listening to his grandfather recite legends of the distant past. But it is his own history he seeks to uncover, particularly the events surrounding his parents' deaths. That is a secret closely guarded by his grandfather. Then Song discovers an heirloom that links him to an ancient prophecy. His destiny lies within the old tales he has scorned. Song must follow the path that killed his father.A gripping tale of high adventure, noble characters, breathtaking settings, and literary prose, Song of the Mountain entwines the very best elements of children's genre in a story that has widely captivated adults. The story is rich and multi-layered, relayed in an old-fashioned, oral story-telling tradition and flavored with the mystique of the ancient Orient.Mountain trilogy:Song of the MountainFire on the MountainTears of the Mountain

In a nation built upon lies, the truth is a dangerous secret.Born into Capernica's lowest social tier and not permitted to leave Settlement 56, Jaclyn (Jack) Holloway refuses to pour out her years in the local fish cannery. She gambles on the one chance available to her to advance--the high school Exit Exam. In a country that still keenly remembers its own violent birth, the smartest and strongest are richly rewarded in exchange for military service. Jack is adamant that her best friend, Will Ransom, strives for induction with her, but Will is tied to the sea. Would he give it up for her? He's never so much as kissed her. Meanwhile, a string of abductions breaks out across the nation, targeting girls eerily similar to Jack. Her Exam score places her in a position to aid Axis, the underground organization investigating the disappearances. Working in tandem with the handsome Captain Ethan Alston, Jack finds she has an unusual proclivity for the case. The evidence leads them back forty-seven years, to a series of high-profile cover-ups linked to the creation of the new nation, but nothing prepares them for the face that emerges from the past. Jack and Ethan must make a crucial decision. Blowing the whistle could have grave consequences for loved ones they've left behind, but holding their silence means history will likely repeat. And Capernica could never survive a second upheaval. A startling tale where past and present intertwine, fusing at the point of revolution. Have time to binge read? You've found your next dystopian indulgence.Recompense series:RecompenseBetrayalRetributionAbductionReprisalThis series is complete.

Angels. Monsters. An enemy who cannot die.Sometimes life gooses you when you're not looking. You might be happily coasting through days in a little New Jersey suburb, dreaming about Jennifer Williams and making plans to see the new movie showing uptown when--bam!--everything changes in an instant. Your family moves overseas and suddenly you're hacking at water demons with a four-foot blade... I was chosen from among all others to complete a task I did not want. I was told I'd have help. I was told I'd be in capable hands. Then I met my guardian angel. I am so doomed. Lauded by kids for its snarky humor, crazy predicaments, and bigger-than-life characters, Taylor Davis placed as a finalist in the kid-judged 2015 Wishing Shelf Awards.Lexile score: 700L

Separated from home, Axis, and his partner, Ethan has been left behind.The revolution is over. Andromeda Macron is dead, and Capernica is free. But at the sweet moment of triumph, a premature explosion leaves Ethan stranded in a foreign world, pursued by the entire Bruel army and wishing vainly for his partner Jack. But she made it home safely. His one hope is that the explosion didn't destroy all the doors between worlds. If even one portal survived, he intends to find it. In the meantime, the loss of nearly its entire slave labor force has thrown Brunay into chaos. Fuel shortages and an economic downturn exacerbate tensions between the country's tribal groups, and government efforts to replace the lost workers threaten to send the nation into civil war. But it's the remaining Capernican slaves who bear the brunt of the new policies. Ethan burns to lead the anti-slavery movement, but he's a fugitive, a soldier stripped of all command. He feels useless and ineffective, flung here by a cruel twist of fate. But then--abandoned, discouraged, and with a price on his head--Ethan discovers a reason to stay in Brunay, even if a portal should open up right in front of him. He just had to travel across the universe to find her. But what does the future hold in a world where slavery is his only legal option? Where the law stands between himself and the woman he loves? Reprisal is the final book in the Recompense series.

Jack and her teammates at Axis have succeeded in stopping the widespread abduction of Capernica’s teenage girls and neutralized the operatives living among them. Now they turn their attention to uniting the nation against the Bruelim. It’s time to take the fight through the portal and make sure, once and for all, that the Provocation never repeats.Even as they prepare, disgruntled Lowers hang on the brink of revolution. Their rebellion has the potential to split Capernica along its caste lines just when the nation should be pulling together against a common enemy. But how can Axis convey the importance of cooperation when they’re unable to tell the people exactly what dangers they’re facing? Forty-seven years ago, Governor Macron expressly forbid any investigation into the Bruelim and ordered the evidence from the Provocation destroyed. No one’s certain what she’ll do when she learns the files have been reopened.Meanwhile, Jack remains crazy hopeful that upcoming Military maneuvers might once again throw her into contact with her best friend Will, while Ethan, her capable Axis partner, strongly hopes they do not. Neither she nor Ethan are prepared for the testing their partnership is about to undergo. Or the revelation of their most immediate threat.

Jack was the revolution’s contingency plan. With the assault on the Macron City Military Base shattered, she was to assassinate Governor Andromeda Macron and revert Capernica back to Capernican control. But she failed, the revolution lies in ashes, and the one person she loves more than anyone in the world has betrayed her.Alone in Brunay, Jack becomes an anonymous cog in the vast Bruelim slave economy, where callous wardens aren’t the only threat to her safety. The labor compound she’s been assigned to contains an inmate hierarchy dominated by descendants of the Provocation’s original victims, and they don’t welcome newcomers. But Jack also finds friendship among the displaced laborers, and like her grandmother, Ruby, she burns with the desire to see them all home.More importantly, Jack discovers the key to freeing Capernica from Bruel aggression forever. But even if she managed an escape, how could she leave Will in Brunay, trapped in the body of a Berkam?

You've read Jack's story. You know the important role her grandmother Ruby played, turning evidence against the Bruelim and initiating the Axis investigation at the end of the Provocation. Now read Ruby's full story.Kidnapped from her home and taken to Brunay, Ruby has become one of the missing.Ruby Parnell has given little thought to the disappearances happening all across the North American Republic. She's focused entirely on her upcoming high school graduation and subsequent escape. More than anything, she longs to board a ship and leave Tidbury Bay forever. Though she appreciates the wild beauty of the harbor and the protection its isolation has offered, she needs to get out and touch the world around her. There are a million places she yet to see. Ruby has another reason for wanting to leave. Namely her sister. How can two people related by blood be such polar opposites? Ruby can never live up to the standard Opal has set; she doesn't even want to try. Opal is the good student, the uncomplaining worker. She's such a model of perfection that Ruby never sees her betrayal coming. In a moment of emotional recklessness, Ruby flees to the woods alone. She awakens a captive of a cruel race in a land she's never heard of before. Ruby's about to find out what happens to the missing. Abduction is a full-length prequel to the Recompense series.

Lizzie, Jack, Jovie...you've come to love them in the Ella Wood trilogy. Now get to know these important characters better. This series of novellas will fill in some gaps in Ella Wood's main storyline. Experience Lizzie and Ketch's escape north. Follow Jack and Jeremiah into the Confederate army camp. And find out exactly what happened to Jovie after Gettysburg. Each Ella Wood novella is approximately 85-95 pages and can be read as a stand-alone, but starting with the main trilogy is recommended. To avoid spoilers, read in the following order: Book 1: Lizzie. To be read anytime after the first book of the Ella Wood trilogy, Ella Wood.Book 2: Jack. To be read anytime after the second book of the Ella Wood trilogy, Blood Moon.Book 3: Jovie. To be read after the third book of the Ella Wood trilogy, Ebb Tide. LIZZIE:Lizzie has made it aboard a ship without anyone guessing her deception, but many miles still lie between South Carolina and freedom in Canada. With two small children to hide, she and Ketch will no longer have their former master's daughter, Emily, nearby to protect them. They'll need to rely on their wits, their strength, and each other. Though Lizzie loves Ketch and longs to merge their two small families, she's still haunted by that violent night at Ella Wood nearly a year before that resulted in the birth of her son. Will she be able to put that nightmare behind her? Will the north hold the peace, safety, and love she so desperately desires? But before the steamer even leaves Charleston harbor, the water grows red with danger... JACK:For the better part of a decade, Jack has lived a double life. To all appearances, he's the spoiled heir to one of Charleston's wealthiest plantations. But his life would be forfeit and his family in jeopardy if anyone knew what he'd really been up to. He'd be shunned from polite society if anyone guessed his plans for Ella Wood. So he maintains his lonely façade, with no realistic hopes of marriage and only slaves to confide in. When war comes to Charleston, Jack enlists in the South Carolina infantry. But military service brings him into contact with a beautiful and unlikely confidante. Will his dreams for Ella Wood outlast the war? Will his new love? JOVIE:After taking a bullet at Gettysburg, a clever maneuver lands Jovie in a Northern hospital instead of a POW camp. Staying alive means remaining unidentified. But when a devastating amputation claims his leg, Jovie loses the will to live. His best friend died at Antietam a year ago, and the woman he's loved since childhood has made it clear that she doesn't return his affection. Why not just blurt out his secret and let it claim his life? A chance encounter with a beautiful spy offers him new purpose, and the rush of their subterfuge distracts him from despair. But adrenaline is a poor substitute for hope. Despite her refusal, Jovie just can't forget the woman he still loves. Will he find the courage to renew his pursuit despite his disfigurement? Will a last long chance be enough to bring him home?In this game of chance, will he even live long enough for it to matter?

Will war provide an opportunity for Hannah to finally leave the family farm?Hannah Wallace craves excitement, but all local adventures dried up long ago, when her parents unpacked their wagon on the Michigan frontier. Then war breaks out and her father and older brother leave to fight the Confederacy. Hannah is left at home chafing under the boredom of never-ending chores, jealous of her brother’s lucky opportunity, and haunted by old memories—until unscrupulous speculators set their sights on the unmanned farm. The one place she longs to leave suddenly becomes the one place she'll risk everything to save. Likened to the rich literary style of Ann Rinaldi but with its own twist of adventure, Blood of Pioneers presents the struggles and dangers of the least-remembered front of the Civil War—the home front. Find out why so many teachers have incorporated this Civil War historical fiction series into classrooms across the country. The price is kept deliberately low so you can feel as good about the cost as you do about the content. Download your child’s copy today and open a door to America’s past.Recipient of a Reader’s Choice 5 Star Seal of Approval.Series librarian-nominated for the 2012 Great Michigan Read.Divided Decade Series:1858 – The Candle Star1862 – Blood of Pioneers1865 – Beneath the Slashings

Runaways hidden in the barn, slave catchers lodged in the hotel, and Emily caught in the middle..Danger is the last thing Emily Preston thought she’d encounter in her uncle’s hotel. She’d been forced to travel to Detroit, sent by her parents from their plantation home. Now she’s vowed to become the most disagreeable houseguest ever. She doesn’t count on Uncle Isaac’s iron will. And she has no idea what to do with Malachi, the son of freed slaves who challenges every idea she’s grown up believing. Malachi’s lessons finally begin to sink in when Emily stumbles across two runaways hidden in her uncle's barn. And they’re about to become personal as she’s drawn into operations of the Underground Railroad. Meanwhile, Mr. Burrows, the charming Southern slave catcher, is only yards away, lodged in the hotel.Likened to the rich literary style of Ann Rinaldi but with its own twist of adventure, The Candle Star wraps American history in an exciting, kid-pleasing package. Find out why so many teachers have incorporated this Civil War historical fiction series into classrooms across America. The price is kept deliberately low so you can feel as good about the price as you do about the content. Download your child’s copy today. Recipient of a Reader’s Choice 5 Star Seal of Approval.Series librarian-nominated for the 2012 Great Michigan Read.Divided Decade Series:1858 – The Candle Star1862 – Blood of Pioneers1865 – Beneath the Slashings