Sid Fleischman

The dramatic first-person account of life inside an ultra-fundamentalist American religious sect, and one woman's courageous flight to freedom with her eight children.When she was eighteen years old, Carolyn Jessop was coerced into an arranged marriage with a total stranger: a man thirty-two years her senior. Merril Jessop already had three wives. But arranged plural marriages were an integral part of Carolyn's heritage: She was born into and raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), the radical offshoot of the Mormon Church that had settled in small communities along the Arizona-Utah border. Over the next fifteen years, Carolyn had eight children and withstood her husband's psychological abuse and the watchful eyes of his other wives who were locked in a constant battle for supremacy.Carolyn's every move was dictated by her husband's whims. He decided where she lived and how her children would be treated. He controlled the money she earned as a school teacher. He chose when they had sex; Carolyn could only refuse--at her peril. For in the FLDS, a wife's compliance with her husband determined how much status both she and her children held in the family. Carolyn was miserable for years and wanted out, but she knew that if she tried to leave and got caught, her children would be taken away from her. No woman in the country had ever escaped from the FLDS and managed to get her children out, too. But in 2003, Carolyn chose freedom over fear and fled her home with her eight children. She had $20 to her name.Escape exposes a world tantamount to a prison camp, created by religious fanatics who, in the name of God, deprive their followers the right to make choices, force women to be totally subservient to men, and brainwash children in church-run schools. Against this background, Carolyn Jessop's flight takes on an extraordinary, inspiring power. Not only did she manage a daring escape from a brutal environment, she became the first woman ever granted full custody of her children in a contested suit involving the FLDS. And in 2006, her reports to the Utah attorney general on church abuses formed a crucial part of the case that led to the arrest of their notorious leader, Warren Jeffs.

Seemingly cursed by the Darjeeling Necklace as were its previous owners, elderly Mrs. Fairbanks hires the Bloodhound Gang to sort out the nightmare.

A lonely old farmer realizes the value of human friendship when a young man comes to help him and his scarecrow with their farm.

Three humorous adventures on McBroom's wonderful one-acre prairie farm.

Entries in McBroom's almanac include farm tips, how-to's, McProverbs, nature lore, cartoons, and McBroom's Calendar of Important Dates.

Three tall tales about Jim Bridger and several of his unbelievable discoveries in the wilderness of the West.

McBroom gets ready to tell his many preposterous stories in the World Champion Liar's contest only to be disqualified for telling the truth.

A village of Russian peasants rebuild their homes on a train to flee an evil wolf, only to be saved by a little girl's dream and the knowledge of the witch Baba Yaga.

A thief steals a farmer's gold but is outwitted by a mischievous wood spirit - the Hey Hey Man.

The McBroom family is plagued by a mysterious ghost that visits their farm after every prolonged freezing spell.

Twelve-year-old Annyrose relates her adventures with Joaquín Murieta and his band of outlaws in the California gold-mining region during the mid-1800s.

Explains how to make codes, gives some established codes, and provides stories and exercises to practice deciphering.

Young Clint's ingenious scheme foils a villainous train wrecker's attempt to rob the circus train.

The adventures of twelve-year-old Jake and Jim Ugly, his father's part-mongrel, part-wolf dog, as they travel through the Old West trying to find out what really happened to Jake's actor father. Suggested level: primary, intermediate. From Google Books

Josh McBroom relates how he and his family harness the rambunctious prairie wind.

Skinny Chancy and his newly found friend, the great rascal, enjoy humorous escapades as they travel by their wits up and across the Midwest in search of Chancy's family.

A young boy and his wandering family foil villains and rout nasty varmints as they make a home for themselves in a beached boat on the banks of the Missouri.

When his father dies, Bo Gamage warily moves to the Mojave Desert home of his distant and estranged relatives, the Martinkas, and finds that "Mad" lives up to her name, PawPaw despises him, and Aunt Juna hopes he'll help search for the gold mine that started a family feud.