Books in Fesler-Lampert Minnesota Heritage series

Sixteen-year-old Sadie Rose hasn’t said a word in eleven years—ever since the day she was found lying in a snowbank during a howling storm. Like her voice, her memories of her mother and what happened that night were frozen.Set during the roaring 1920s in the beautiful, wild area on Rainy Lake where Minnesota meets Canada, Frozen tells the intriguing story of Sadie Rose, whose mother died under strange circumstances the same night that Sadie Rose was found, unable to speak, in a snowbank. Sadie Rose doesn’t know her last name and has only fleeting memories of her mother—and the conflicting knowledge that her mother had worked in a brothel. Taken in as a foster child by a corrupt senator, Sadie Rose spends every summer along the shores of Rainy Lake, where her silence is both a prison and a sanctuary.One day, Sadie Rose stumbles on a half-dozen faded, scandalous photographs—pictures, she realizes, of her mother. They release a flood of puzzling memories, and these wisps of the past send her at last into the heart of her own life’s great mystery: who was her mother, and how did she die? Why did her mother work in a brothel—did she have a choice? What really happened that night when a five-year-old girl was found shivering in a snowbank, her voice and identity abruptly shattered?Sadie Rose’s search for her personal truth is laid against a swirling historical drama—a time of prohibition and women winning the right to vote, political corruption, and a fevered fight over the area’s wilderness between a charismatic, unyielding, powerful industrialist and a quiet man battling to save the wide, wild forests and waters of northernmost Minnesota. Frozen is a suspenseful, moving testimonial to the haves and the have-nots, to the power of family and memory, and to the extraordinary strength of a young woman who has lost her voice in nearly every way—but is utterly determined to find it again.

Twelve-year-old Seth wants to prove to his stepfather, the game warden, that he is responsible enough to use his shotgun on his own. Without permission, he takes matters into his own hands and shoots his first rabbit. He is worried about what his father will say when he finds out—and Seth himself is unsure of how he feels about it—but before he can confess, Seth’s life is turned upside down.In the woods near his house, he sees poachers slaughter a moose cow and injure her calf. Rather than tell his stepfather about the incident, Seth tries to save the calf, but the poachers know who he is and threaten his family. Can he rescue the moose and bring the poachers to justice? He has to try.

In this sequel to Mary Casanova’s exciting Moose Tracks, twelve-year-old Seth is back for a new adventure. A debate is brewing in his northern Minnesota town over the growing wolf packs and the programs that are in place for their protection. Although he fears them, Seth can’t help but want to see the wolves thrive.Seth’s feelings put him at odds with those who want to hunt wolves again—including his best friend Matt, whose family believes that the wolf population poses a serious threat to their livestock. Torn between his love of animals and his best friend, Seth is unsure of what to do. When Matt commits a horrible act of violence, Seth angrily abandons him in the woods, unaware that a blizzard is on the way. Now Seth must try to rescue his friend—but will he be able to save their friendship?

In the 1930s, some 6,000 Finnish Americans traveled to Karelia, a province in Northwestern Russia, hoping to leave the Depression behind and to establish a workers’ paradise. Based on these true events, The Darkest Evening chronicles the story of Jake Maki, whose father, caught up in the socialist fervor washing over their Finnish mining community in Minnesota, moves their family to the Soviet Union. Instead of finding the utopia they were promised, Jake and his family encounter only disappointment and hardship. When Stalin’s secret police begin targeting Americans for arrest, his worst fears are confirmed, and Jake leads his family on a daring midwinter escape attempt on cross-country skis, fleeing toward the Finnish border.

Animal tracks always tell a story. You just have to recognize the signs. As you follow the marks an animal left behind, you get to know it: where it goes, what it likes to eat, when it runs, and why. There are secrets to be learned in those signs in the snow, mysteries to be explored in the mud along the river’s edge.Tracks in the Wild introduces young naturalists to the tracks of bears, wolves, moose, otters, and other wild animals—thirteen in all. Betsy Bowen’s signature woodcut prints accompany poetic passages about each animal, along with life-size representations of their footprints. As it reveals some of the wonders of the natural world, it will also inspire awe and respect for all the wild, elusive creatures that inhabit Minnesota’s northwoods.Winner of a 1994 Minnesota Book Award, Tracks in the Wild is perfect reading for a family to share before and after a trek through their own woods.

The Mississippi River has intrigued the footloose for centuries. Here, for the first time in paperback, are briskly told biographies of the chief protagonists in the drama, with Old Man River as the constant and invincible antagonist. From conquistadors to nineteenth-century gentlemen explorers, Severin depicts the disasters and adventures of familiar, but often misunderstood, figures in American history, as well as the chicanery of others, less well known, who used the river for their own purposes. "A first-rate piece of work, rich in period and personality. Severin considers the true elucidators of the river-Joliet, Marquette, La Salle, and Henry de Tonti-plus a smattering of frauds and dilettantes, among whom he includes Lieutenant Zebulon Pike." New Yorker " Traveling side by side with each of his intrepid voyagers, Severin will make every armchair Huck Finn yearn to sign up for the next trip." New York Times Book Review Historian Timothy Severin has made a career of retracing and writing about epic voyages. His myriad adventures include canoeing the Mississippi River from beginning to end, sailing in St. Brendan the Navigator's path across the Atlantic Ocean, and journeying on horseback in Mongolia in search of Gheghis Khan's heritage. He lives in Ireland

Now in paper.At the young age of just 15, Wanda Gág received her dying father's last wish that she take up his dream of becoming a successful artist: "What papa couldn't do, Wanda would have to finish." Wanda assumed the role of head of the household and became the sole means of support for her sick mother and six siblings. Although times were tough, Wanda persevered and eventually became a celebrated artist and author living in New York City.Karen Nelson Hoyle tells the story of Wanda Gág's eccentric life as a children's book author and traces the significant contributions she made to the genre. Drawn from extensive research of the artist's personal and professional papers and correspondence with friends and contemporaries, Hoyle presents a rich portrait of a gifted artist.

Things have not been easy for thirteen-year-old Alex lately. Recent events have taken their toll on her family, and when drinking at a party lands her in the hospital, things only get worse. Her mother decides to send her away to spend the summer working with her father, an esteemed eagle researcher, on the wild and remote shores of Rainy Lake in Minnesota. The bugs, the outhouse, the isolation—it’s a whole different world from her home in California.The hardest part of Alex’s exile is dealing with her father who is sure that he knows it all. When he chooses not to save a pair of baby eagles whose nest is in peril, Alex sneaks off to help them anyway. Her rescue effort, however, goes wrong, and one of the eaglets falls out of the nest, breaking a wing. Alex is alone with the helpless eagle, stranded and completely exposed to the elements. Facing hunger, injury, and a bear, she quickly realizes that it will take resources she never knew she had just to keep herself and the bird alive.

Libby wants a horse more than anything in the world. Since she is unable to have one of her own, she’s been doing stable chores for her neighbors, the Porters, for the past three years in exchange for riding lessons from Jolene Porter. Libby forms a special bond with the Porters’ prize Appaloosa, Thunder, but this arrangement comes crashing to an end when Jolene abruptly disappears. With Jolene gone, Mr. Porter refuses to let Libby visit Thunder any longer. Making matters worse, she soon discovers that he’s taking out his anger on his animals. With the help of Griff, a new boy in town, Libby devises a daring plan to steal Thunder. But how long can they stay on the run and keep Thunder safe, when Mr. Porter holds all the power?

A quick game of hide-and-seek. A belly slide down a snow-covered hill. Lively, clever, and curious, otters are best known for their sense of fun. In this fascinating volume, acclaimed author Barbara Juster Esbensen explores the world of the North American river otter, describing its behavior and characteristics in poetic detail. Graced with beautiful illustrations by distinguished wildlife painter Mary Barrett Brown, Playful Slider invites young readers to learn more about one of the most interesting of North American mammals.

A coming-of-age novel set in the early 1960s in Minneapolis, The Summer Sherman Loved Me is an honest look at the struggles of a twelve-year-old girl that transcends time. As Margaret tries to sort out her strained relationship with her mother and her feelings for her neighbor who claims to love her, readers join her in her journey discovering what it means to grow up.