John Howard, asks: WHY? Why can’t we display the Ten Commandments in public places? Why can’t we say Merry Christmas, even though that’s the holiday we are celebrating? Why do we all have to kowtow to the liberal Church of the Enlightened’s dictates and lack of morals? Why can’t children pray in school, if that is their choice? Why can’t we find out the truth about our elected leaders who pay attorneys to cover up their past? And WHAT can the right-thinking Christian majority do about changing the messages that are sent out each day, seeking to dismiss them as crazy people that seek to destroy this great nation? The United States of America is the greatest country in the world and only when right-thinking foundational principles are brought to surface, can we truly have a nation of which to be proud.

- Winner of the 2018 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction - From the bestselling author of Echo Mountain and Newbery Honor–winner Wolf Hollow, Beyond the Bright Sea is an acclaimed best book of the year. An NPR Best Book of the Year • A Parents’ Magazine Best Book of the Year • A Booklist Editors' Choice selection • A BookPage Best Book of the Year • A Horn Book Fanfare Selection • A Kirkus Best Book of the Year • A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year • A Charlotte Observer Best Book of the Year • A Southern Living Best Book of the Year • A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year “The sight of a campfire on a distant island…proves the catalyst for a series of discoveries and events—some poignant, some frightening—that Ms. Wolk unfolds with uncommon grace.” –The Wall Street Journal ★ “Crow is a determined and dynamic heroine.” —Publishers Weekly ★ “Beautiful, evocative.” —Kirkus The moving story of an orphan, determined to know her own history, who discovers the true meaning of family. Twelve-year-old Crow has lived her entire life on a tiny, isolated piece of the starkly beautiful Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts. Abandoned and set adrift in a small boat when she was just hours old, Crow’s only companions are Osh, the man who rescued and raised her, and Miss Maggie, their fierce and affectionate neighbor across the sandbar. Crow has always been curious about the world around her, but it isn’t until the night a mysterious fire appears across the water that the unspoken question of her own history forms in her heart. Soon, an unstoppable chain of events is triggered, leading Crow down a path of discovery and danger. Vivid and heart-wrenching, Lauren Wolk’s Beyond the Bright Sea is a gorgeously crafted and tensely paced tale that explores questions of identity, belonging, and the true meaning of family.

Throughout the 19th century in the British Empire, parallel developments in science and the law were squeezing Aborigines everywhere into nonexistence. Charles Darwin took part in this. Again and again, he expressed his approval of the extermination of the native lower races. The more interesting part of the story is that there were plenty of voices, albeit a minority and mostly forgotten now, who objected on humanitarian grounds (and sometimes scientific grounds as well). Europeans, they said, were becoming polished savages and dehumanizing the Other. Darwin was very aware of this criticism and cared not one whit. As he said in a letter to Charles Lyell, I care not much whether we are looked at as mere savages in a remotely distant future. But he well knew it was not a remote future. He had read several writers who accused Europeans of being the real savages. For a brief moment in his youth in his Diary, he himself dabbled in such criticism, even though he already believed in the inferiority of indigenous peoples. That belief grew firmer as he matured. Darwin did not dispute humanitarians so much as he ignored them. Its a sad story. But oh those humanitarians, how they inspire.

John Howard, author of Road Warriors, asks: WHY? Why can't we display the Ten Commandments in public places? Why can't we say Merry Christmas, even though that's the holiday we are celebrating? Why do we all have to kowtow to the liberal Church of the Enlightened's dictates and lack of morals? Why can't children pray in school, if that is their choice? Why does the Church of the Enlightened hate core American values? Why does the feminist's agenda ruin the workplace and weaken the United States from within? Why does Affirmative Action hurt the people it's supposed to help? Why can't we find out the truth about our elected leaders who pay attorneys to cover up their past? And WHAT can the right-thinking Christian majority do about changing the messages that are sent out each day, seeking to dismiss them as crazy people that seek to destroy this great nation? The United States of America is the greatest country in the world and only when right-thinking foundational principles are brought to surface, can we truly have a nation of which to be proud.