Showing results by narrator "Tracy Bond Bird" in All Categories

You will be mesmerized by Ronald R. Van Stockum, Jr.'s description of primitive times at the site of a pre-Columbian Native American city. Written as creative non-fiction, the author takes us to the Mounds of Cahokia, situated directly across the Mississippi River from modern St. Louis, Missouri. His protagonist, Elber, lives more that a thousand years before any European settlers. He dresses in skins, "... was the leader of this small clan of families and was the priest of its Fire. He maintained control of his people through exercise of the Fire Myth.

Drawing upon his vast knowledge of the environment, biology, botany, and history, Ronald R. Van Stockum, Jr. has written a love letter to Kentucky. The lay person as well as the expert will understand as he describes the state’s evolution - its history, original land surface, the river-cut gorges, the mountains, and the lakes. Along with thorough documentation, the writer gives us a poetic description of this “...verdant state, lush in its heat, humidity, and rainfall. The diversity and abundance of life was immediately evident to all who came here”.

Picture a bar in Red Hook, a dangerous port in Brooklyn across the river from New York City. A horrible scene begins between Rebecca who serves beer and a customer Lawrence, who looks with one eye on Rebecca and one on the door.

This is a joyous story about the granddaughter of Pappadoo who visits the Kentucky farm where her father was born. She was born along the Hudson River in New York State. The author paints her adventure with his knowledge of the plant and animal life on the farm, with its bounty along the trails, in the high fields, and among trees.

Jazz singer Billie Stone has come back home to Sandhill Island to heal her psyche after a tragic accident that took her family. After a year in jail and penniless, Joe Franks thinks he deserves another chance. Just when Billie seems to be on the cusp of healing - and finding a new love - Franks’ rage spirals out of control. Have Billie’s losses made her strong enough to overcome once more, or will this final disaster be her undoing?