Friday, September 18, 2009

The Small Window, by Linda Teigland Clark

The Small Window, The Story Of Hardluck's Beginnings

"Pa taught his family that God will not shut a door without opening a window. He said it was God's Way of leading His Children. And during hard times, Pa added that it was the North wind that made the Vikings. What he didn't tell Laurin, his 17 year-old daughter, was how small and difficult "getting through" that window might be or how long and strong that North wind might blow. It was 1848. Pa followed his dream; he was taking his family to the Promised Land, a land called California . Laurin, like her father, dreamed big until tragedy struck. When cholera claimed the lives of her parents and older brothers in the Humboldt Sink, she had to find that window and set her own sail against that staunch wind. She had to find a way not just to survive the trek over the Sierra and into California, but to survive once arrived. It wasn't just for herself but for her younger brother, age 7, and sister, age 4. They were her responsibility. Their futures, their very lives depended upon her. They couldn't go back; there was no "back" to go to. She loved them so she had to find a way." Autographed books available for $29.95.

Mining for Freedom

Now available in Ironstone's Heritage Museum, Sylvia Alden Roberts' new book, "Mining for Freedom".
"Historian and lecturer Sylvia Alden Roberts helps dispel disparaging myths and offers substantive contradiction to long-standing stereotypes that limit characterization of the pre-Civil War Negro to only two categories: either the "happy" slave or the unfortunate victum. Instead, Roberts celebrates the memory and honors the dignity of the thousands of courageous, enterprising black men and women who were an essential, yet virtually invisible part of the California Gold Rush. Roberts shares photos and the stories of some of the men and women who defied strict fugitive slave laws and rose to meet other daunting challenges, finally revealing a spirit and truth long shrouded behind the shadowy curtains of time. Mired in fierce racial controversy but undaunted by the odds, black Argonauts united to form one of the wealthiest, most culturally advanced, and politically active commuinities in the nation." Available for $14.95

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