While watching a heart-warming story unfold during a peaceful morning looking out at a Minnesota lake, Scott Rykken took a remarkable series of photos of a loon, a painted turtle, and a muskrat interacting. It was touching to see how different species could interact so peacefully. The cover photo was originally posted on Facebook and went viral, shared by thousands of viewers and seen by millions around the world. People were reminded that friendships can happen at any time and in many forms. The photo was the inspiration for this picture book about how friends love and help each other.

“Kids like me didn’t go to Vietnam,” writes Jack McLean in his compulsively readable memoir. Raised in suburban New Jersey, he attended the Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, but decided to put college on hold. After graduation in the spring of 1966, faced with the mandatory military draft, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps for a two-year stint. “Vietnam at the time was a country, and not yet a war,” he writes. It didn’t remain that way for long. A year later, after boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, and stateside duty in Barstow, California, the Vietnam War was reaching its peak. McLean, like most available Marines, was retrained at Camp Pendleton, California, and sent to Vietnam as a grunt to serve in an infantry company in the northernmost reaches of South Vietnam. McLean’s story climaxes with the horrific three-day Battle for Landing Zone Loon in June, 1968. Fought on a remote hill in the northwestern corner of South Vietnam, McLean bore witness to the horror of war and was forever changed. He returned home six weeks later to a country largely ambivalent to his service. Written with honesty and insight, Loon is a powerful coming-of-age portrait of a boy who bears witness to some of the most tumultuous events in our history, both in Vietnam and back home.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Billionaire Blend—a mystery with a sleeping beauty that is “so much fun to read.”* It’s Fairy Tale Week in New York City, and Clare Cosi has given her coffee truck a “Jack and the Beanstalk” makeover for the Central Park festival. Her ex-husband has contributed a bag of African coffee beans with alleged magical properties, and his octogenarian mother is giving out readings of the grinds. But Clare remains skeptical—until she receives a vision that helps her find a young model’s body in the park’s woods. The police dismiss “sleeping beauty” as the victim of a drug overdose. But when Clare uncovers evidence that points to murder, she winds up with a dangerous predator on her heels and an investigation that leads right back to her own NYPD detective boyfriend. If she doesn’t solve this mystery fast, those magic beans predict an unhappy ending. *Once Upon a Romance

Set at the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, this delightful tale is penned by the author of the Moosepath League chronicles.

"When the spring thaw of a frozen Minnesota lake brings about shocking revelations that lead to violence, 15-year-old Wes Ballot embarks on a search for his missing father, the truth about his mother's death and a future he must claim for himself."--

Delve into the fantastical world of "The Loon, the Bat, and the Raspberry Bush," a treasury of unforgettable fables from gifted storyteller and naturalist Allan Foster. Featuring common plants and animals found in backyards, parks, local woodlots, and forests around the Great Lakes Region, this collection of carefully selected tales artfully explains such mysteries as why cardinals are red, how roses got their thorns, and why groundhogs spend half their lives underground. Each story is accompanied by a pencil sketch and brief natural history to help identify specific creatures and link them directly to the environment, delivering not only an intriguing naturalist lesson, but an entertaining tale. Using his signature storytelling technique, Foster associates local plants and animals with famous characters from myths and legends while other stories introduce not-so-famous and new characters-plants and animals that talk to each other, defend their homes, fall in love, risk their lives, and play practical jokes. Soar in the skies with the hummingbird army, solve a nutty case with Squirrel, and discover a very important lesson with a Canadian goose. Ideal for families and children alike, "The Loon, the Bat, and the Raspberry Bush" is the perfect tool for learning more about our exciting natural world.