New Releases by Kathleen Karr

Ali is a young camel in Egypt when he is captured by humans. Determined to "work, but never surrender," he earns a reputation as a disobedient animal and is sold to an American colonel. The year is 1856 and Ali soon finds himself in Texas as part of the U.S. Camel Corps. Crossing the landscape of 19th century America, Ali learns to balance his pride with the needs of his new companions, and slowly matures into a noble creature. Compellingly written from the camel's point of view, this unusual book offers a fresh and unusual perspective on a little-known slice of American history.

CONRAD THE GOOD serves as court jester to a most unworthy master: Lord Otto “the Witless,” who rarely appreciates jesting and acrobatics and more often rewards his good fool with a good whipping. So one night, Conrad flees, leaving Otto’s realm in search of a more enlightened master—taking with him only his noble horse, Blackspur, and his beloved, the servant girl Christa the Fair. As they take to the road, they soon learn that along with their quest comes hardship. But for all the hardships they encounter, there are as many unexpected joys and friends in unexpected places, and there is always their love for one another. And always, their destination lies before them: somewhere, a sanctuary where they’ll have the freedom to be together and be themselves.

Two brothers touring Europe in the nineteenth century become embroiled in a mystery involving Albrecht Durer's knot woodcuts and a secret German society when they go in search of their uncle's enigmatic missing valet.

Tom Ormsby embarks on the adventure of a lifetime when he joins Henry Morton Stanleys expedition to rescue the Emin Pasha in the Sudan

In 1670, soon after arriving in the Carolinas with a group of colonists from England, fifteen-year-old Christopher West befriends a young Sewee Indian, Asha-po, and learns some hard lessons about survival, slavery, and friendship.

Although conditions in Sherborn Women's Prison are miserable, the inmates' spirits soar when the new chaplain decides to stage a musical: Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance. The show transforms the women, and no one is changed more than sixteen-year-old Libby Dodge, who discovers she's a natural performer. But Libby is still bound by her prison sentence and shadowed by her murky past. Gilbert and Sullivan may make prison life more bearable, but can musical theater set her free?

It is said that the Sahara Desert swallows the past. For Matthew Morrissey and his mentor, the eminent phrenologist Dr. Asa B. Cornwall, there's also the danger of its swallowing their present. In their search for the skull of Alexander the Great, Matthew and Dr. ABC journey across the Great Sand Sea in a camel caravan unaware of the perils-both human and otherworldly-that await them. Overtaken by slave traders, Matthew and the doctor must call upon all of their knowledge and wit to save themselves and some unfortunate others from disaster.

The Great Turkey Walk

"Interested in medicine? Dr. ABC seeks bright lad. Training and board. Apply number 113, Broadway."Twelve-year-old Matthew Morrissey can't believe his luck when he spotsthis ad in the paper. He is interested in medicine--he wants tofind a cure for the cholera that wiped out his whole family and lefthim orphaned. Alone on the streets of 1840s New York, Matthew leaps atthe opportunity to help this Dr. ABC, whomever he is. As it turns out,he is the plump, puffy, rumpled Asa B. Cornwall, a kindly-if-obsessedphrenologist who hopes to someday perfect mankind through his study ofthe contours of human skulls, particularly those of flawed characters."Give me a skull, and I can conjure up the very soul of a man!" hecries passionately. Matthew is eager to please this eccentric man, ifonly for a warm bed and all the oatmeal he can eat. In time, however, his apprenticeship intensifies when he learns he musthelp his master rob graves for real specimens. And can the doctorreally mean that he wants Voltaire's skull from Paris? Things heat upeven more when they discover they have a mysterious enemy with a brow"broad and low," clearly the skull of a criminal. Kathleen Karr'sdelightful, well-crafted adventure is witty, suspenseful, anddeliciously Dickensian; most of all, it has a great deal of heart.Watching the older man and his young charge plow forward through nearmisses and comedies of errors is pure fun. And we, like the dynamicduo, come to learn that their companionship is far more valuable than achest of gold, an acre of skulls, or Dr. ABC's relentless pursuit ofperfection. (Ages 10 to 14) --Karin Snelson

A collection of unusual facts and entertaining anecdotes about the White House and its inhabitants.

Kate, who lives in a lighthouse and often dreams that she is a mermaid, has a chance to rescue two real mermaids one story night.

Phoebe is bound for Oregon with her family on a wagon train 1n 1846 and all the women must learn to shoot to survive the journey. Petticoat Party.

In West Texas in 1869, Lily and her five older sisters participate in a series of misguided schemes to save their father's ranch.

A light entertaining tale of adventure on the trail to Oregon in 1845, related by twelve-year-old Phoebe Brown.

Johnny and Maggie Stuart, booksellers, begin their 2000-mile trek west full of faith and desire to spread the Word. Soon they must face the reality of their mission as they face rain-swollen rivers and fierce Plains Indians.

A young woman who supports her father by taking barges down the C & O Canal, learns to appreciate a brash bargeman who saved her life. Together they come to terms with their faith, their future, and each other.

Maggie, living on a farm in western Ohio and longing to know how to read, falls in love with the peddler who brings what her heart most desires: a McGuffey's reader!