National Network for Equitable Library Service

In 1898, Doctor Edward Byrne slips on the ice of the Arcturus glacier in the Canadian Rockies and slides into a crevasse, wedged upside down nearly sixty feet below the surface. As he fights losing consciousness, a stray beam of sunlight illuminates the ice in front of him and Byrne sees something in the blue-green radiance that will forever link him to the ancient glacier. In this moment, his life's purpose becomes uncovering the mystery of the icefield that almost was his tomb.

Two people navigate their differences with curiosity and openness in this stunning picture book that imagines the first meeting between an Indigenous fisher and a European sailor. Based on an actual journal entry by French explorer Jacques Cartier from his first expedition to North America in July 1534, this story imagines the first encounter between a European sailor and a Stadaconan fisher. As the two navigate their differences (language, dress, food) with curiosity, the natural world around them notes their similarities.

1940. As the Blitz rains down bombs night after night, a devastating attack leaves London's literary center in ruins. Miraculously, Grace's bookshop survives the firestorm. Through blackouts and air raids, Grace continues running the shop, discovering a newfound comfort in the power of words and storytelling that unites her community in ways she never imagined, a force that triumphs over even the darkest nights of war-torn London.

Charlie and Margaret Marder, political stars in 1960s Washington, DC, long for a rest, but Attorney General Robert Kennedy asks them to look into a threat to the presidency, and the security of the nation.

In 1970s Baltimore, fourteen-year-old Mary Jane is shy, quiet, and bookish, and she's glad when she lands a summer job as a nanny for the daughter of a local doctor. The house may look respectable on the outside, but inside it's a mess. And even more troublesome: the doctor is a psychiatrist who has cleared his summer for one important job, helping a famous rock star dry out. A week after Mary Jane starts, the rock star and his movie star wife move in.

WWII veteran Aloysius Archer is fresh out of prison and heads to California, where there's money to be made if you're hard-working, lucky, a criminal, or all three.

Summer 1940: Hedy Bercu fled Vienna two years ago. Now she watches the skies over Jersey for German planes, convinced that an invasion is imminent. When it finally comes, there is no counterattack from Allied forces, the Channel Islands are simply not worth defending. Most islanders and occupying forces settle into an uneasy coexistence, but for Hedy, the situation is perilously different. For Hedy is Jewish, a fact that could mean deportation, or worse. So with no means of escape, Hedy hides in plain sight, working as a translator for the Germans while silently working against them.

Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary's fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries.

It's 1938 and women seeking a quick split from their husbands head to Reno, Nevada. There's one catch: they have to wait six-weeks to become "residents." Many of these soon-to-be divorcees flock to the Flying Leap, a dude ranch that caters to their every need. Twenty-four-year-old Ward is earning an honest living as a ranch hand at the Flying Leap, and he thinks he's got the ranch's clients all figured out. But two new guests are about to upend everything he thinks he knows.

After escaping from the English soldiers who attacked her home and imprisoned her in a dungeon, Lady Elysande de Valance is grateful for the rugged Scots who are escorting her to safety in the Highlands. Even with danger dogging their every step, she hadn't expected to welcome the strong comforting embrace of their leader, Rory Buchanan. They say he's a healer, but she finds the heat of his touch does so much more.