Thomas Gradgrind is an eminently practical man who believes in facts and statistics and has brought up his two children, Louisa and Tom, accordingly, thoroughly suppressing the imaginative sides of their nature. They are raised in ignorance of love and affection, and the consequences are devastating. No other work of Dickens presents so harsh an indictment against the attitude of life he associated with Utilitarianism. With savage bitterness Dickens...

The story of Eliza Lucas Pinckney, who ran her father's plantation outside Charleston, South Carolina in the 1700s and struck a bargain with the plantation's slaves--teach her how to make indigo and she would teach them to read.

"1965 Growing up in the well-to-do town of Round Hill, North Carolina, Ellie Hockley was raised to be a certain type of proper Southern lady. Enrolled in college and all but engaged to a bank manager, Ellie isn't as committed to her expected future as her family believes. She's chosen to spend her summer break as a volunteer helping to register black voters. But as Ellie follows her ideals fighting for the civil rights of the marginalized, her scandalized...

"Susan Elia MacNeal introduced the remarkable Maggie Hope in her acclaimed debut, Mr. Churchill's Secretary. Now Maggie returns to protect Britain's beloved royals against an international plot--one that could change the course of history. As World War II sweeps the continent and England steels itself against German attack, Maggie Hope, former secretary to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, completes her training to become a spy for MI-5. Spirited,...

Arizona Territory, summer, 1907. Mary Pearl Prine and her sister Esther take their minds off the heat by sneaking banned Jane Austen novels from Aunt Sarah Elliot's bookshelf. Whispered read-alouds and reveries of getting hitched to their own Mr. Darcy swirl through their day dreams. In walks Aubrey Hanna, who whisks Mary Pearl off her feet with a forbidden kiss and hasty engagement. The lustful courtship quickly creates petty tension among the three...

A true story about a teacher in a racially divided school who gives her students what they've always needed: a voice. Erin Gruwell comes to a southern California high school bubbling over with naive optimism. She quickly discovers that her unruly classroom is not easily won over by her good intentions. After a few floundering attempts to connect with her students, Gruwell gives them the assignment of keeping journals about their own lives, This assignment...

Doctored evidence. Signora Battestini is dead and to everyone who knew her, it wasn't a moment too soon. Her impoverished Romanian cleaning lady gets pegged for the crime and Brunetti's boss declares the case closed. What continues to mystify Brunetti is why the old woman had so much money with no visible means of income. And what exactly has her lawyer done with her many scattered bank accounts?--Container Uniform justice. Brunetti is deeply affected...

Pandora project : Rated R : An experimental weapon of mass destruction has been stolen by a renegade commando. Warrior : Rated R : An ancient warrior is chased by violence as he searches for peace. Shotgun : Not rated : Shotgun Jones, a no-nonsense cop, travels to Mexico to investigate his sister's murder. President's man : Not rated : When a group of terrorists threaten to detonate a nuclear bomb within U.S. borders, Joshua McCord is called back...