Books in Toy Trailblazers series

Learn about the life events and aspirations that shaped the voices of ten influential Native writers, whose novels, short stories and plays encompass the soul of Native life. Learn how these writers draw from personal experience to create situations and characters that are entertaining and poignant. Featured writers include: Sherman Alexie (Spokane/Coeur d’Alene) Marilyn Dumont (Cree/Métis) Joseph Boyden (Cree/Métis) Louise Erdrich (Ojibwa) Joseph Bruchac (Abenaki) Tomson Highway (Cree) Maria Campbell (Métis) N. Scott Momaday (Kiowa/Cherokee) Nicola Campbell (Interior Salish of Nle7kepmx Tim Tingle (Choctaw) [Thompson] and Nsilx [Okanagan]/Métis) Many individuals portrayed in the Native Trailblazers series surmounted adversity and humble beginnings in their journey for personal success. The Trailblazer books feature positive role models for Native students while providing non-Native students with a view of Indigenous people today.

Jim Elliot had a loving wife, a beautiful little girl, and a reason for real joy. God had called him to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the Auca Indians. The love of Christ not only thrilled him, but gave him peace. Jim would spend the rest of his life bringing Jesus to the lost Aucas … but the rest of Jim’s life was only a matter of months. Persecution and death are a reality for many Christians today. Jim Elliot and four other young men died in the middle of doing God’s work. The very people they had come to rescue came out against them with machetes and clubs. But Jim had realised for quite some time what serving God really meant. There is nothing that is worth more than Jesus – not even your life. ‘He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.’ This is the story of Jim’s love for a fighting people and of his fight for a loving God. When his life ended, the work went on and many of the Auca Indians today have the same reason that Jim Elliot had for real joy. Includes: Thinking Further Topics Timeline Map

The revised edition of Native Athletes in Action adds two new and exciting young basketball players to the roster of outstanding Native athletes already included in the book. Shoni Schimmel, a tribal member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in eastern Oregon, has earned the nicknames “The Umatilla Thrilla” and “Showtime” in the world of women's basketball. To people in Indian Country, Shoni is an absolute hero. Kenny Dobbs, aka “The Dunk Inventor,” is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and has toured the globe with the National Basketball Association as a celebrity dunker for sold-out shows. The biographies of all thirteen athletes describe the hard work, determination and education it took to accomplish their dreams and become the champions they are.

What made an ordinary monk become a catalyst for the Reformation in Europe in the 1500s? What were the reasons lying behind his nailing of 95 theses against the practice of indulgences to the door of the Schlosskirche in Wittenberg in 1517? Why was Martin Luther's life in danger? How did his apparent kidnapping result in the first ever New Testament translated into the German language? Discover how a fresh understanding of the Scriptures not only transformed his own life but had a huge impact upon Europe.

Ever since Indiana Jones proved there's gold (and adventure) in far away lands, the exciting hunt's been on to find the treasures of lost civilizations. This book puts kids right into the action looking for the hidden secrets and tombs of ancient Egyptians. Like our fabulous new Trailblazers title on dinosaurs, this creation (it doesn't seem appropriate to call it a mere book) is wildly entertaining with flaps to lift, photos, articles, a bejeweled cover, and a secret drawer full of tomb-hunting maps, charts, stickers, materials to make your own pyramids, and even an ancient game of Egyptian Senet. With comprehensive, fun, and informative writing and gorgeous illustrations, Tomb Hunters is an experience with the power to captivate today and inspire long term. The lost civilization of Egypt has never been as alive as presented in this fantastic volume.

John and Betty Stam were a young Christian couple working for The Lord in China. The year was 1934, a turbulent time in history and the Stams were right in the thick of it. Early one morning the call went out that communist soldiers were approaching their town. Betty was nursing their young baby girl when John decided that perhaps now was the time to leave … as they began to make their plans the rebel soldiers broke through the walls and soon the sound of rifle buts was being heard as they knocked against the door. Calm in the face of trouble the Stams trusted in their loving heavenly father – and with that faith faced their future whatever that would be. This is a story of tragedy as well as trust. It is heartbreaking but full of strength. It is the story of two young martyrs who believed in God and in his call on their lives. The painful story of John and Betty Stam retains a spark of hope through the power of their testimony and the life of their infant daughter who survived them.

Helen Roseveare qualified as a doctor, packed up her life in England and set off to be a missionary in the belgian congo. Although living through a rebellion and being taken captive for several months, Helen's faith remained strong and she returned to the renamed 'Zaire' to serve the Lord by working with people there. Her experiences in Africa have been an encouragement to many and made her well known and loved throughout the world.

Jonathan Edwards was just an ordinary American boy but he was different too. The country he lived in wasn't the America of today - but a new world full of adventure and opportunity. Battles and Tomahawks were just some of the thrilling adventures that his family lived through. But Jonathan also loved the small things in life too. In an age of scientific discovery, Edwards saw God's beauty displayed most perfectly through nature. His journals are filled with drawings of plants, animals, and spiders because he knew that each one of them reflected the creativity of its Creator. His mind was full of questions and he grappled for the answers. Intellectually there were few to beat him. However it wasn't just his amazing intelligence that set him apart from other boys his age - he may have had a thirst for knowledge but he also had a strong desire for the things of God. His genius and abilities teamed up well with his faith and love for the Lord Jesus Christ. One day the country that would become the United States of America would look back at this man of brilliance as a founding influence on their land.

Paul Brand grew up in the Kolli Malai hills in India. He was determined never to leave India and never to be a doctor like his father - especially to lepers. Paul came back to India with a medical degree and there were patients waiting for him - leprosy patients. From then on he devoted his life to their care ... even to the point of making them special shoes! Paul's faith in God, his love for mankind and his medical abilities gave those who suffered from leprosy a new life - and hope.

Patricia St John's life is a story in itself but she grew up to become one of the world's best loved Christian writers for children. When looking after thirty children in a boarding school, her exciting bedtime stories were favourites with the children. They were later to become her classic stories, Tanglewood's Secret and Treasures of the Snow. Every place that she called home was the inspiration for yet another story that brought children to understand and love the Lord Jesus Christ.

Two young people, one faith and a shared passion for the truth of God’s Word – that was the beginning of the story of Francis and Edith Schaeffer. Together, they wanted to follow wherever God would lead them and to share the Good News about Jesus with whoever God would send them. But little did they imagine that God would lead them to a remote village in the mountains of Switzerland. Nor did they foresee how God would use their ministry in that little mountain chalet to impact people all over the world. Francis and Edith Schaeffer opened their home to anyone searching for truth. They spent their whole lives helping people to see that the Bible’s answers to life’s questions are relevant and true; in their time, and for all time.