During our own challenging era of Coronavirus, we can recall our ancestors' faithfulness, courage, and determination to prevail over difficulties. Janie Mae Jones McKinley invites you to remember times Back in the Day when her grandparents lived in their 1895 farmhouse on secluded Bear Mountain. Despite not having a road or electricity, Granny's favorite saying was, "We live right well on the mountain." In The Legacy of Bear Mountain, Volume 2, Janie Mae includes over three years of regular newspaper columns from the Hendersonville, North Carolina, Times-News. Some new stories are added, along with seasonal pictures. Winter was a slow time, so Granny pieced quilts while a pot of soup simmered on the wood cookstove. When spring finally arrived, she gathered wild creasy greens and prepared to plant crops. During summer, Granny enjoyed her flowers and canned garden vegetables for the coming winter. When leaves on Bear Mountain turned golden, she baked sweet potato pies along with eight-layer pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. She and Grandpa were truly grateful. Christmas was a season to remember kinfolks who were experiencing hard times, and Granny willingly and creatively shared what she had during the tough years of the Great Depression.

Dirt-poor, sensitive as poets, and proud as kings, the Powell family has lived on a Georgia mountaintop for generations. Then, during the 1960's, young Ursula Powell's father convinces the Tiber family, owners everything in nearby Tiberville, to commission a huge iron sculpture of a bear for the town. Decades later the strange sculpture - rejected by the townspeople and left to rust on the Powell farm - symbolizes a family's failure and thwarted dreams. But, unknown to Ursula, it is now worth such a huge fortune that the artist's embittered son, Quentin Ricconni, is coming to reclaim it . . . and to change everything Ursula believes about the past, the choices that break a heart, and the redeeming powers of art and love.

Both torn from their homes in Laos, a boy and a moon bear cub form a deep bond in this “moving and memorable” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) tale of impossible odds and resilient hope, based on true and tragic conditions in Eastern Asia. Twelve-year-old Tam, on a dare, ventures into a moon bear den in the mountains of Northern Laos. His goal is to steal the cub and sell it, making a fortune for his family. But the mother bear’s unexpected return upends Tam’s plan, and he barely escapes with his life. Then his life implodes anyway: his entire mountain village is forced to relocate to make room for a new highway. Lured by the promise of electricity, running water, and a television, Tam’s people move to an overcrowded village, where Tam’s father is killed by a stray landmine. Now the family breadwinner, Tam is forced to work hundreds of miles away in the city of Laos, at a moon bear farm where bile from bear gall bladders is used for medicine. It is a cruel, miserable place, and when a familiar face—the very cub he’d seen in the den in Vietnam—is sold to the bear farm, Tam knows he must save this moon bear, no matter what it takes. Deeply and powerfully moving, Moon Bear is an unforgettable story of compassion, hope, and bravery against overwhelming odds, and brings to light the real-life, heartwrenching plight of Asia’s endangered moon bears.

Brother detectives Frank and Joe face the dangers of Black Bear Mountain once again in the twentieth book in the thrilling Hardy Boys Adventures series. Frank and Joe are back on Black Bear Mountain, the scene of a previous wilderness adventure and mind-bending mystery. This time, the brothers are checking in on Dr. K, a friend they made during their first trip. Dr. K is a fan of living off the grid, but he’s been MIA long enough to cause worry in the small mountain town. And so the teenage detectives Black Bear Mountain relied on before have been called in to help once again. It’s not a good start to the investigation when Frank and Joe’s ATV is put out of commission by a falling tree. Then their camp, including their radio—their only way to contact the outside world—is destroyed by wildlife searching for food. And when they finally reach Dr. K’s research station, they find his cabin has been cleaned out and abandoned—the only current resident is an angry skunk. Frank and Joe may have been better prepared for their second Black Bear Mountain adventure, but they’re not having any more luck this time around. In fact, they’ve been downright unlucky. Is someone trying to sabotage their mission? And if they are, how can the brothers stop this invisible foe?

Janie Mae Jones McKinley invites you to explore your family legacy as you revisit the old days with her grandparents in The Legacy of Bear Mountain. With amazing detail, she recalls humorous and scary stories, along with Grandpa’s hard work on the railroad and Granny’s devout faith in God.

counterinsurgency punctuated by moments of heady excitement and terror. Colonel Grau, the editor and translator, has added his own commentary to produce a useful guide for commanders to meet the challenges of this kind of war and to help keep his fellow soldiers alive. This book will also be of interest to the historian and general reader, who will discover that advances in technology have had little impact on this kind of war, and that many of the same tactics the British Army used on the Northwest Frontier still apply today.

Brother detectives Frank and Joe face perils in the wilderness as they try to track down their missing teacher in this thrilling Hardy Boys adventure. As part of a research unit, Bayport High’s Green Environment Conservation Club (GECO) is taking a field trip—camping on nearby Black Bear Mountain, where the students will help field biologist Dr. Max Kroopnik investigate local flora. Frank’s there to geek out about nature while Joe’s along for the thrills. Not only does Black Bear Mountain live up to its name—the fierce furry animals are everywhere—but rumor has it that a madman lurks in the forest, and the crazy dude has a penchant for feasting on human flesh. The Hardys scoff at the urban legend, but the rest of their class isn’t so convinced. When the campers wake up, however, not only do they find a bear roaming the campsite, but their teacher is missing…and blood is streaked across the front of his tent. The GECOs are stranded alone in the wilderness with no technology, no way to call for help, and, quite possibly, a madman on the loose. Luckily, Frank and Joe have a good amount of survival skills under their belt. But when they venture in search of their teacher, they find themselves hunted by a mysterious axe-wielding man in face paint and bearskins, falling into dangerous rapids, and perched on the edge of a precarious waterfall. Will the Hardys be able to find their teacher and make it back to the campsite alive?