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Accidental Encore unveils the life of the young Soviet piano prodigy, Alexei Sultanov--his upbringing behind the Iron Curtain, studying at the Moscow Conservatory, and his wild romance to his beloved, Dace Abele. When nineteen-year-old Alexei found his opportunity to leave the Soviet Union for the United States to compete in the 1989 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas, he shocked the world and won. The ensuing chaos of Alexei's instant fame coupled with his immaturity culminated in a sudden series of strokes, leaving him severely crippled and no longer able to play the piano. Arduous rehabilitation with tremendous support from his wife led to a return to the keyboard, though no longer on the world stage. This book casts a spotlight on one of brightest stars in the classical music world whose untimely death and legacy carry on today.

My father, Connell R. Miller Sr. (1918-1954), was a noted Dallas, Texas, photographer whose camera captured everything from the aftermath of a tornado to the zany antics of the Dallas Bonehead Club. Dad's interest in and dedication to photography began shortly after he graduated from high school and travelled to Berlin for the 1936 Olympic Games. Bringing home a large number of unprocessed rolls of film, he set up a small darkroom where he soon became proficient in the developing and printing process. He had adopted his trademark, large format Speed Graphic press-type camera by 1939, preferring the sharp enlargements the 4x5 negatives would give him over those images taken on small 35mm film. He would have been successful solely shooting weddings, sports, or even pets, but street photography was his passion, and his domain was the world around him--the city and its people with their activities in a simpler, less hurried time.

Explore the rich tapestry of Czech food with award-winning chef Denise Mazal Resnerova's enchanting cookbook, The Aroma of Czech Cuisine. From the heart of Prague to the charming streets of Boerne, Texas, Resnerova offers us the quintessence of Staročeská kuchyně--the recipes of grandmothers, passed down through generations. These recipes, developed to perfection by Resnerova, are an integral part of the Texas Hill Country and have been savored at Little Gretel, her renowned Czech eatery in Boerne, Texas. With The Aroma of Czech Cuisine, Denise Mazal Resnerova embarks on a culinary journey infused with notes and mini stories that unveil the essence of Czech culture and its enduring influence in the United States. The book delves into folklore, uncovers recipe origins, and traces the historical threads that bind Czech cuisine to its cultural heritage.Whether you are a seasoned chef or a curious food enthusiast, The Aroma of Czech Cuisine promises to open the door to local Czech culture and transport you to the heart of Czech gastronomy, where every dish is a celebration of flavor, heritage, and the enduring spirit of the Czech people.

Inspired by Vietnam War classics like Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried and Karl Marlantes's Matterhorn, First with Guns is a thought-provoking exploration of personal identity set amidst a war and an era that forever altered American identity. The novel follows William Dougherty's journey into manhood from a disturbing childhood in rural Nebraska to aerial combat in Vietnam. Early in his deployment, Dougherty commits a notorious blunder that destroys his Commanding Officer's Huey. The young airman is grounded and punished until he and a friend forge transfer papers that get him reassigned to the 334th, the Army's original Armed Helicopter Company whose motto is "First with Guns." As a member of the Raider platoon, Dougherty and a bone-weary assortment of door gunners fly around the clock through rain, fog, mechanical failure, and murderous ground fire, as the horrors of war alter them in unimaginable ways. While searching for an elusive enemy from the skies above rice paddies and rubber plantations, Dougherty experiences a grim connection with his disgraced father. American exceptionalism, racism, a country divided politically and ideologically, its leaders obsessed with weapons, technology, and military superiority--the themes of First with Guns are as relevant today as they were fifty years ago.

"Nothing could prepare Curby Alexander for the trials and triumph that awaited in his first year as a teacher. Through the pages of Chalk Dust, Alexander begins his career as a young educator in a fourth-grade classroom and stumbles into adulthood in a new city, grappling with feelings of incompetence and vulnerability. From mishaps with the class pet to sharing books and music with his students, Alexander's story is a candid and humorous exploration of the highs and lows of teaching. Within the struggle, there emerge small yet powerful victories--moments of growth, hope, and unexpected laughter. Every heartwarming achievement, every agonizing setback, is laid bare as Alexander learns to navigate the emotional and intellectual complexities of the teaching profession. As the final bell rings and the chalk dust settles, Alexander's experiences working with students, their parents, and compassionate colleagues become subtle reminders of the value of lifelong learning and the enduring strength of human connection"--Back cover.

"Before Santa Claus was Santa Claus, he was a boy, and this is his story. Young Claus is both an origin story and a children's fable for adults, in the tradition of The Little Prince and The Last Unicorn. Young Lars Claus loses his father in a logging accident and, with his mother and grandmother, has to move to a strange land in the Far North, a land of exiles, outcasts, and survivors. Here he encounters a school where the children only laugh at the misfortunes of others, where small, bizarre creatures are imprisoned beneath a fish liver oil factory, and where his widowed mother is wooed by the malevolent Mayor Wolfpaw. This is a wild romp of a book that soars into the skies and plunges deep beneath the permafrost. It is a book filled with the marvels and ghosts, a book where Lars, with the help of invisible helpers, will learn to carve, where he will discover sorrows as deep as his own and eventually the healing powers of gifts. Certainly no one has been the subject of more lies by parents than Santa Claus. This book attempts to find the simple human truths buried beneath those awkward lies. It charts the journey of a boy beset by grief who will, after many trials, fashion a vision of generosity that will encompass the entire world"--

As a slave, Isaac Jefford went to war and saved the life of his master, Major Lytton. As a free man, Isaac became one of the major's top cowhands, respected - but never totally accepted - by fellow cowboys: when they gathered around the fire to eat their dinners, Isaac took his food and sat on the wagontongue alone. When Pete Runyan, a bitter southerner, joins the crew, Isaac has to swallow his rage more than once. But then Pete and Isaac are assigned the task of getting cash - profits from the sale of the herd - safely to the Fort Worth bank before a foreclosure deadline. Time and three gunmen on their trail are against them, and their journey becomes a race to prove who is the best man. The novel grew from a short story, included in this volume, along with a foreword in which Kelton explains the background of the story and the transition it made from short story to novel.

Tom Lea's The Wonderful Country opens as mejicano pistolero Martín Bredi is returning to El Puerto [El Paso] after a fourteen-year absence. Bredi carries a gun for the Chihuahuan warlord Cipriano Castro and is on Castro's business in Texas. Fourteen years earlier--shortly after the end of the Civil War--when he was the boy Martin Brady, he killed the man who murdered his father and fled to Mexico where he became Martín Bredi. Back in Texas Brady breaks a leg; then he falls in love with a married woman while recuperating; and, finally, to right another wrong, he kills a man. When Brady/Bredi returns to Mexico, the Castros distrust him as an American. He becomes a man without a country. The Wonderful Country clearly depicts life along the Texas-Mexico border of a century-and-a-half ago, when Texas and Mexico were being settled and tamed.

In this novel, first published by Doubleday in 1985, Texas novelist Elmer Kelton returns to the Civil War period, once again examining, as he first did in Texas Rifles, the effect of the war on Texans at home. Even while the conflict raged to the east, several groups of Texan Union loyalists hid out across the state, trying to avoid the anger and violence of the confederate-sympathizing "home guard." Kelton bases this story on a group who lived in a then-huge thicket on the Colorado River near present-day Columbus, although the characters, incidents and town of the book are of Kelton's invention. As he always says, fiction writers are liars and thieves. Owen Danforth, a wounded Confederate soldier, comes home to Texas to recover, intending to return to his regiment. His family is torn apart by the war--two brothers dead, one uncle, a Union sympathizer, shot in the back by the home guard. His father--also a Unionist--hides out in the thicket with his remaining family because the home guard, led by "Captain" Phineas Shattuck, has sworn revenge on the Danforth clan. Torn between duty and family loyalty, Owen Danforth faces difficult decisions until a violent encounter leaves him only one choice.

For a child growing up in the 1920s, El Paso seemed to be full of off-beat characters and warm personalities: from a diverse group of servicemen and their families stationed at Fort Bliss to tuberculosis patients attracted by the dry desert climate. Mary Rodge's father, a dye man in the cotton-mill industry, moved the family to El Paso in 1924 when he was offered a job there. Rodge's memoir begins with her family's hazardous road trip across the desert from Redlands, California, to Texas. In the following pages, she explores the lives of its citizens and narrates her experiences over the next eight years. She reminisces about the family's attempt to raise pigeons to market to the Harvey House restaurant, picnics at Hueco Tanks, and parties at Elephant Butte Dam. As she and her friends become older and deal with the difficulties of adolescence, Rodge realizes the influence of her hometown on her life. While she takes a nostalgic look at her childhood, Rodge also examines timeless social issues--terminal illness, suicide, sex, and abortion. Her remarkably frank attention to these sensitive subjects and their role in middle-class, urban life of the 1920s and 1930s makes her tale vivid and fascinating. Looking back, Rodge discovers that adolescence was more than a point of time in her life--it was a place. Each episode in her memoir mixes optimism, humor, and honesty.

John Furman Haley lived from 1897 to 1972, from wagon roads to super-highways, from chugging locomotives to rocket-powered journeys in outer space. He was a West Texas rancher, and his attitude epitomized the creed of western ranchers and cowboys of his time. He moved no mountains, toppled no governments, built no empires; yet he was the embodiment of the character and spirit that creates the distinctive aura which identifies those proud individuals who value freedom above all else. In this warm and often humorous memoir, Haley's son, himself a rancher, captures the image of a man known for his extraordinary self-reliance, endless energy, and willingness - even eagerness - to meet any challenge life held in store.

Celia Smith Hill's journal provides a fascinating glimpse into the hardscrabble life settlers found on far West Texas borderlands during the last century. Celia Hill's family moved to Texas from Tennessee in the late 1800s. They suffered lean times during the Depression before cinnabar (mercury ore) was discovered on her family's property. During World War II, the Fresno Mines supplied one-tenth of all the mercury-essential to the war effort-produced in the United States. After graduating from college, Celia began a peripatetic teaching career that lasted decades, marrying and losing two husbands along the way. Finally, living alone along the most remote western border of Texas, Celia spent her later years selling snacks to the occasional visitor. Bill Wright met Celia at her La Junta General Store in Ruidosa, where she told him about her unfinished journal. After her death, Wright and Marianne Wood researched the history of the area and interviewed family and friends to provide context for Hill's colorful tale of endurance in an unforgiving landscape. With this book Wright fulfills his promise to share her courageous and fascinating life with others.

"This is the first time since 1969 that Fort Worth kids have had a history book written for them. Unlike that outdated school text of 1969, this is the story not just of heroic white folks but of all people who make up our community. The 20 years and more of research that went into the writing also incorporates the latest historiography. An integral part of the book are the wealth of illustrations. Artist Deran Wright carefully researched the people and events for each illustration, reaching out to descendants for photos and researching what long-ago machinery and locations looked like. The result is the story of Fort Worth told equally in words and illustrations"--

"At nine months of age, Betinha Emmert Schultz moved with her parents from New Mexico to rural Brazil, where she spent the next 14 years of her life. From her earliest memories to those of a teenager about to be sent off to boarding school, Betinha recounts the challenges and trials, the richness and beauty, and the sometimes hard but always good life lessons she learned while growing up as the daughter of the manager of multiple King Ranches in Brazil"--

Stories From the Sheriff's Daughter is a short novel that follows the life of a nine-year-old girl who moves to a small-town Texas county jail when her dairy farmer father is elected sheriff. The episodes, sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, evoke small town Texas in the 1950s and 60s. The family's house is only separated from the jail by a carport, so the sheriff's daughter grows up in the jail's environment of lawmen, prisoners, and politics. She bumps up against some of life's worst tragedies, including murder, rape, and suicide, despite her parents' attempts to protect her innocence. In this very different coming-of-age story, the sheriff's daughter moves into adulthood, trying to find her own identity, her life forever affected by growing up in next door to a county jail. Though the stories in the novel are fiction, the author actually did grow up at the Burleson County jail in Texas, where her father, and eventually her mother, served as sheriffs of the county.

For avid readers as well as academics, Sue Monk Kidd: A Collection of Critical Essays offers seven analytic studies of several of Kidd's novels, including The Invention of Wings, The Secret Life of Bees, and The Book of Longings, plus the film version of The Secret Life of Bees, to bring expanded perspectives to her work. These literary essays can serve as examples for students of literature, find a place in college English classrooms as well as libraries for both secondary and higher education, and appeal to scholars of American literature. A discourse is launched here regarding Kidd's place in postcolonialism, identity, feminism, voice, perception, spirituality and humor. Much like other notable Southern authors before her, namely William Faulkner, Kate Chopin, Tennessee Williams, Alice Walker, Carson McCullers, Flannery O'Connor, Zora Neale Hurston, and Harper Lee, Kidd's vision is more tragedy than morality play or melodrama, closer to Realism but not without Romanticism. These essays reveal how oppression, abuse, abandonment, injustice, and other tragedies find their way into Kidd's novels. The characters' plights are met not with easy or tension-free resolutions, but love, humor, insight, transcendence, and grit are also rendered as they struggle with inhumane difficulties. Sue Monk Kidd's world view is at once inclusive and expansive, transitional and transformative, heartbreaking and healing, and this collection imparts that, inviting more scholarly discourse and investigation of her exceptional works.

A collection of the music art created by Danny Garrett from the '70s and '80s in Austin, Texas. Describing the evolution of the Austin music poster, Garrett richly and poignantly details the history of the music, musicians, and venues that brought the surprising harmony of "the Austin sound” to a country otherwise polarized by antagonistic cultural, social, and political perspectives.

From cowboys to the homeless and jobless, to drug addicts and drunks, Union Gospel Mission of Fort Worth has unrelentingly helped and provided for people of all different backgrounds to help ease their pain, hunger, and need, while bringing them closer to Christ. This book takes readers through the 1800s as the Mission cared for and housed prostitutes, cowboys, and drifters, to now as it has physically expanded to a campus and partners with other organizations and churches.

For years Jan Seale's carefully crafted poetry has captivated audiences with its wit, sharp diction, and seamlessness. This riveting collection of work, both new and old, celebrates her broad achievements as a poet. Designated the 2012 Texas Poet Laureate, Seale reveres poetry as 'the most elegant and most historic of our verbal arts'.

In his newest book, Devils River, Patrick Dearen traces the 400-year history of the notorious river from the time of the first Spanish explorers to the modernization of southwestern Texas and the coming of the railroad.

When outlaws in the Nueces Strip ruthlessly massacre innocents by the light of every full moon, Texas Ranger C. W. Wallace is dispatched to stop the next bloody murder. The crime and brutality rampant in the 1877 South Texas brush country threatens people in every community, but using Texas Rangers to combat the problem is as controversial as the violence itself, so C. W. rides alone and is rarely welcomed where he goes. To track the cattle thieves, he and other Rangers need the civilian population to become their extra eyes and ears. Clues at an isolated homestead suggest that a secretive young widow could be a valuable resource, but C. W. is hesitant to trust her. In an effort to identify the ringleaders, C. W. and the widow, Esther, ride breakneck for the border and illegally cross the Rio Grande into Mexico. But disaster plagues them, and C. W. realizes Esther is herself a target for death, even as his affections turn toward her. Now Ranger Wallace must do all he can to prevent Esther's murder and discover where the marauders have planned the next moonlight massacre.

"Claiming Sunday tells the story of a remarkable group of African Americans owned by the Devereux Family by developing two main themes: one, to tell the inspiring story of a group of enslaved human beings who survived the dehumanizing system of slavery which held them captive; and, two, to develop slavery as a key to comprehending modern racial relations in a more enlightened and knowledgeable manner. Interviews with descendants of the Devereux Slave Community tell their stories along with the richly detailed narrative, including slave medical care and involvement in the market economy, of the lives of their enslaved ancestors. Julien Devereux, and his father John, came to Texas in 1841 from Alabama. Julien first settled his enslaved in Montgomery County and then moved to Rusk County in 1846. When he died in 1856 he owned 10,500 acres and 75 human beings. Julien's widow Sarah Landrum Devereux ran the plantation until Emancipation in 1865. The Devereux Slave Community centered around two people, Tabby and Scott. Together they raised eleven children and saw their family grow over the years. The Community endured and survived the move from Alabama to Texas, the move from Montgomery County to Rusk County. The breakup of Scott and Tabby's family in a lawsuit filed when John Devereux died threatened to tear the Community apart. Their strength, endurance and determination carried them through the separation and repaired the Community as a whole"--

Author Robert L. Seltzer's second memoir examines a complicated father-son relationship as Seltzer learns how to be a father to a son with Asperger's. The text presents two different timelines: the first captures a year in the life of father Robert and adult son Chris as they navigate their relationship and find ways to connect through movies, books, and music; the second timeline follows father and son from Chris's birth through the trial of diagnosis until the timelines meet up in the present day. Seltzer describes himself as "a man fleeing his demons" and his son as "a boy still wrestling his." This beautifully written memoir is a raw and honest look at a struggle many families will relate to.

Explores the friendship of two quesadillas and all the fun they have at Flavor Valley Summer Camp with new foodling friends who come from all different backgrounds. And when Diego Queso and Gary Gouda switch places before returning home, they realize that even in different homes, love looks and feels the same in every way.