Rhythm in the Rain: Jazz in the Pacific Northwest By Lynn Darroch
$21.95Rhythm in the Rain is a nonfiction narrative about the jazz community in the Pacific Northwest that examines the people, places, and events that have made cities like Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, so popular among musicians. From the genesis of Jackson Street and Williams Avenue in the 1940s & ’50s with such legends as Ray Charles and Quincy Jones, to the modern voices of George Colligan, Rebecca Kilgore, and Esperanza Spalding, this book aims to encompass and illuminate the rich musical history of a region that, while not widely recognized as a jazz mecca, has seen its relevance within the local community. Written by local musician, radio broadcaster, and author Lynn Darroch, Rhythm in the Rain serves to inform and entertain, while showing that jazz is undoubtedly another of the countless cultural offerings this wonderful corner of the country has cultivated throughout its history.
Ricochet River 25th Anniversary By Robin Cody
$15.95It’s 1960. In a small logging town called Calamus that’s about as far in the middle of nowhere as you can get, Wade Curren, star of the high school baseball and football teams, is content living out his role of local hero, holding court in the corner booth of the town diner where his girlfriend Lorna waits tables.
Seven Stitches By Ruth Tenzer Feldman
$14.95It’s been a year since the Big One―the Cascadia subduction zone earthquake―devastated Portland. While Meryem Zarfati’s injuries have healed and her neighborhood is rebuilding, her mother is still missing. Refusing to give up hope, Meryem continues to search for her mother, even as she learns to live without her in a changed Portland. Along the way, she struggles with her Jewish-Vietnamese heritage and what it means to honor her ancestry. After she receives a magical prayer shawl handed down from her maternal grandmother, a mysterious stranger appears and Meryem is called to save a young girl living in slavery―in sixteenth-century Istanbul. The third companion in the Oregon Book Award–winning Blue Thread series explores how we recover―and rebuild―after the worst has happened.
Short Vigorous Roots Edited By Mark Budman and Susan O’Neill
$16.00This flash fiction anthology examines the experiences of being a transplant in a foreign land and looks critically at what it means to forsake tongues, traditions, and comforts in the hope of starting a new life in another world. These stories push readers to expand their understanding of the world beyond their own front doors.
Siblings and Other Disappointments By Kait Heacock
$15.95A widower searching for solace in competitive eating. A mother and daughter preparing their living room for the rapture. A young couple looking for reasons to reconnect on a trip to the mountains. A grieving sister and her alcoholic brother sharing a home for the first time since childhood. Siblings and Other Disappointments follows an array of characters searching for comfort—in parents and children, in brothers and sisters, in strangers and friends. Scattered throughout the Pacific Northwest, its twelve stories are stories of place, as stark and infinitely complex as the landscape itself. Author Kait Heacock’s debut collection is an examination of relationships and isolation within working-class families and a tribute to the little victories and traumas of everyday life.
Sleeping in My Jeans By Connie King Leonard
$16.00Sixteen-year-old Mattie Rollins has her life all figured out. She’ll ace her high school classes, earn a college scholarship, and create a new life for herself and her family. But Mattie’s brilliant plans begin to crumble when her family is forced to move into their beat-up station wagon, Ruby. Then, her mother mysteriously disappears.
Speaking Out: Women, War, and the Global Economy By Jan Haaken
$23.72What can the rest of the world do to help a war torn country? Every day in the headlines, on the home front, and around the world, we face the issue of how war affects people. Speaking Out leads this important discussion by asking the question: why war? Speaking Out addresses the effects of war on gender and reparation in a five-part, interactive curriculum that is adaptable for differing educational levels, from secondary school to college. Based on the documentary Diamonds, Guns, and Rice, Speaking Out bridges the local and the global, placing gripping personal stories in an international landscape and highlighting the creative capacities that survive war. The relevance of such lessons in today’s world proves invaluable as we ask the questions: who are the victims of war? What are the effects of war? How are these effects overcome?
Supersymmetry by S.R. Schulz
$18.00“For every particle, there is a hidden one that fits perfectly together with it. Balances it out. Makes the laws of the universe work.” In this one-of-a-kind story, a young woman struggles through faltering relationships to find meaning in her identity and in love.
Getting pregnant at nineteen was never Lisa’s plan. Postpartum depression, single parenthood, her own childhood trauma, and her son’s increasingly violent outbursts make Lisa feel like she’s unraveling. Alone, with guilt weighing heavy on her mind and her path shrouded in uncertainty, she leaves her hometown in Oregon and ventures to Croatia, hoping for a fresh start.
Lisa’s present in Croatia and her past in Oregon collide in this dramatic story of a young woman looking to make her life into something more. Can Lisa run away from her problems forever, creating a new life, identity, and love for herself? Or will the pull of family prove stronger than the thousands of miles that separate them?
The Blue Line Letters by Steven Christiansen
$16.95Colorful locals, a smart girl from school, and an enigmatic character known as the Prophet. Seventeen-year-old Ty is stuck riding Portland’s MAX Blue Line every day of the summer before his senior year, but what could be a boring commute turns into a discovery of human nature, an exploration of Ty’s own inner thoughts, and opportunities to make new friends. Equipped with official summer assignments—to read Jane Eyre and write about what he learned over the summer—Ty also picks up a few unofficial assignments, including making astute observations about his fellow MAX riders and the colorful world around him, and recording what he sees in a series of letters addressed to his teacher Ms. Warne. Now, if he could only capture the attention of his high school classmate Janie who also rides the Blue Line.
From one end of the Blue Line to the other, from old wounds to new love, and all the stops in between, Ty gains a deeper understanding of human behavior, community, and even the inner workings of his own heart. The Blue Line Letters is a coming-of-age story, a love letter to mass transit (and Portland), and a comical, heartfelt ride that readers won’t want to disembark.
The Keepers of Aris By Autumn Green
$18.00The human world has almost entirely forgotten about Aris Magica, the secretive realm of magic that exists parallel to humanity. When an evil presence returns to ignite a war between the worlds, Jay must challenge fate and reckon with her growing powers, or let Aris Magica and the human world perish.
The Legend of Sensei Tsinelas by Jason Tanamor
$18.00POW! BANG! WHAM! Victor, a superhero-obsessed teen, might work for Portland’s newest vigilante. As he grapples with bullying and isolation, a social studies project becomes Victor’s path to self-discovery, acceptance, and pride in his Filipino heritage.
Between a tsinelas-wielding superhero, a major social studies project, and take-out boxes of adobo and lumpia, seventeen-year-old Filipino American Victor Dela Cruz isn’t sure how to get through high school without the help of a radioactive spider. Despite his attempts to assimilate into his mostly white Portland high school, Victor has always felt like an outsider. He likes to think high school is his superhero origin story, and all he needs now are some superpowers.
The Names We Take By Trace Kerr
$16.00Never leave someone behind: it’s a promise easier made than kept, especially when seventeen-year-old Pip takes the headstrong twelve-year-old Iris under her protection in the wake of an earth-shattering plague. After an unspeakable tragedy, the duo must negotiate the complexities of their own identities amid the nearly unrecognizable remains of Spokane, Washington.
The Ninth Day By Ruth Tenzer Feldman
$13.95Hope Friis leads a normal life for any teenager living in Berkeley, California in the 1960s: she hangs out with friends, spends time with her family, and dreams of winning a singing competition and college scholarship despite her pronounced stutter. It seems like she has everything under control, until she takes part in the Free Speech movement that engulfs the city—a choice that could crush her chance of competing.
The Ocean in My Ears By Meagan Macvie
$16.00Meri Miller lives in Soldotna, Alaska. Never heard of it? That’s because in Slowdotna the most riveting activities for a teenager are salmon fishing and grabbing a Big Gulp at the local 7-Eleven. More than anything, Meri wants to hop in her VW Bug and head somewhere exciting, like New York or L.A. or any city where going to the theater doesn’t only mean the movies. Everything is so scripted here–don’t have too much fun, date this guy because he’s older and popular, stay put because that’s what everyone else does.
The Pacific Northwest Disaster Guide by Henry Latourette Miller
$16.95Disaster preparedness doesn’t have to be scary. Use this valuable resource and start preparing today! Do you know the warning signs for a tsunami? Where to shelter during an earthquake? Or where your nearest designated evacuation spot is? With the increase in extreme weather, it’s more important than ever to be ready for earthquakes, tsunamis, winter storms, flooding, landslides, droughts, heatwaves, and wildfires.
The Pacific Northwest Disaster Guide focuses on specific natural disasters, and provides precise and helpful preparation skills through illustrations, quizzes, and guided activities fit for all ages.