Book Discussion Group

September 16

Hornet's Nest by Jimmy Carter

Description: A novel of the American South during the Revolutionary War follows Ethan Pratt, his wife Epsey, and their neighbors, Kindred and Mavis Morris, as they become caught up in the conflict and the problems confronting local Indian tribes.

October 21

Soul Catcher by Michael White

Description: Struggling to forget a war-marked past and a future compromised by poor choices and debt, slave tracker Augustus Cain is hired by a plantation owner to retrieve a runaway slave named Rosetta, an endeavor complicated by unsavory companions and Cain's feelings of compassion. By the author of A Dream of Wolves.

November 18

Hunter's Moon by R. W. White

Description: Saving a controversial former U.S. president from an assassination attempt, Doc Ford learns that the government is planning a secret strike on a Central American oil-rich nation that the former president, aided by a pair of questionable adversaries, is attempting to prevent.

December 26

When Zachary Beaver Came to Town by K. W. Holt

Description: Nothing ever happens in Toby's small Texas town. Nothing much until this summer that's full of big changes. It's tough for Toby when his mother leaves home to become a country singer. And Toby takes it hard when his best friend Cal's older brother goes off to fight in Vietnam. But now their sleepy town is about to get an even bigger jolt with the arrival of Zachary Beaver, billed as the fattest boy in the world. Toby is in for a summer unlike any other, a summer sure to change his life.

January 20

Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds

Description: Ninah Huff, the teenage granddaughter of the founder of an isolated religious community, causes controversy when she is discovered to be pregnant with what she claims is a holy child.

February 17

People of the Wolf by W.M. Gear

Description: In the dawn of history, a valiant people forged a pathway from an old world into a new one. Led by a dreamer who followed the spirit of the wolf, a handful of courageous men and women dared to cross the frozen wastes to find an untouched, unspoiled continent. This is the magnificent saga of the vision-filled man who led his people to an awesome destiny, and the courageous woman whose love and bravery drove them on in pursuit of that dream.

March 17

Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers

Description: Twelve-year-old Frankie Adams, longing at once for escape and belonging, takes her role as "member of the wedding" to mean that when her older brother marries she will join the happy couple in their new life together. But Frankie is unlucky in love; her mother is dead, and Frankie narrowly escapes being raped by a drunken soldier during a farewell tour of the town. Worst of all, "member of the wedding" doesn't mean what she thinks. A gorgeous, brief coming-of-age novel.

April 21

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet B. Stowe

Description: Today the novel is often labeled condescending, but its characters-Tom, Topsy, Little Eva, Eliza, and the evil Simon Legree-still have the power to move our hearts. Though "Uncle Tom" has become a synonym for a fawning black yes-man, Stowe's Tom is actually American literature's first black hero, a man who suffers for refusing to obey his white oppressors. Uncle Tom's Cabin is a living, relevant story, passionate in its vivid depiction of the cruelest forms of injustice and inhumanity-and the courage it takes to fight against them.

May 19

Difficult Boy by M. P. Barker

Description: In Farmington, Massachusetts, in 1839, nine-year-old Ethan experiences hardships as an indentured servant of the wealthy Lyman family alongside Daniel, a boy scorned simply for being Irish, and the boys bond as they try to right a terrible wrong.

June 16