ATTACK IN THE RYE GRASS, Introducing Marcus and Narcissa Whitman Perrin Whitman was twelve years old and thrilled to travel by wagon train to Oregon Territory with his missionary aunt and uncle, Dr. Marcus and Narcissa Whitman. It was 1843, and life in the wild, unsettled Northwest promised Perrin the adventure he craved-but also the opportunity to witness a fierce and tragic battle for peace and freedom. Upon their arrival in Oregon, Perrin found an immediate friend in the young Indian girl, Shikam, whose brother would later become the famous Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe. Both Perrin...

TRIAL BY POISON Introducing Mary Slessor Imatu had seen white people in her village in West Africa, but only when they came to sell liquor, guns, and slave chains. One rainy day, Imatu was sent to find a goat that had run away from the village. But when she found instead a brightly colored regal canoe with a white woman inside and five black children, Imatu quickly forgot about the goat The woman, Mary Slessor, had come to Imatu's village to set up a school and teach them about a God who loves them, who wouldn't demand cruel rituals like Imatu's- tribal religion. But when Imatu's mother is...

DEFEAT OF THE GHOST RIDERS, Introducing Mary McLeod Bethune -- Eight-year-old Celeste Key is a mischievous girl who often gets herself into trouble. When her father's blacksmith shop is burned to the ground by the Ku Klux Klan in 1904, the family decides they must leave town before someone gets killed. They move to Florida, where a woman named Mary McLeod Bethune offers them schooling for their children. Mary has started a school for black children-one of the first in the United States. Celeste is sent to Mary's school against her will but soon finds herself enjoying what she's learning....

TRAITOR IN THE TOWER, Introducing John Bunyan -- Twelve-year-old Richard Winslow learns firsthand just how dangerous London of 1660 can be when his father is arrested for treason and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Worried about the rest of the family's safety, Richard's mother and sisters escape to Scotland, but young Richard decides to stay behind. What if his father needs him? Remaining in London is too risky, so Richard sets off for the nearby town of Bedford, where his uncle is the jailkeeper. While working for his uncle in the jail, Richard makes an unexpected friend-a prisoner named...

THE DRUMMER BOY'S BATTLE, Introducing Florence Nightingale -- After their father dies, Robbie Robinson and his older brother, Peter, join the British army in order to make a living for their family. At first, army life is exciting, even fun. Then in 1854, they are sent to Russia to right in the Crimean War-Peter as a member of the famous Light Horse Brigade and twelve-year-old Robbie as a drummer boy. But the brothers are separated during the doomed charge of the Light Brigade, and Robbie fears for Peter's life. An injury to his left hand brings Robbie to Barracks Hospital in Scutari, Turkey,...

THE BETRAYER'S FORTUNE Introducing Menno Simons Adriaen Wens was frightened-for his own life and for his mother's. In 1543, many Christians in northeastern Europe were suffering cruel persecution, even execution, for following the beliefs of Menno Simons, the leader of a group called the Anabaptists. When Adriaen's mother was arrested, he had to flee during the night with Menno, knowing that to stay in the city would mean his own arrest. Soon after, Adriaen discovered there was a reward of a hundred gold pieces for the capture of Menno Simons. With so much gold, Adriaen could free his mother...

DANGER ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE: Introducing D.L. Moody -- Fourteen-year-old Casey Watkins wants nothing more than to escape his family's dreary, bare-bones life in the Philadelphia of 1893. When he learns of an opening in Adam Forepaugh's Circus, it seems like the perfect escape, and he convinces his mother and sister to join with him. Then "The Flying Eugenes," a family of trapeze artists, offer Casey a role in their death-defying act, and he is elated. Flying on the trapeze is more exciting than he ever dreamed The pressure is on-Casey has only a few weeks to learn the act before the circus...

THE RUNAWAY'S REVENGE, Introducing John Newton -- Thirteen-year-old slave Hamilton Jones seizes his freedom when his cruel master dies on a trip to England in 1775. Driven by a desire for revenge after years of mistreatment, the boy hunts down former slave trader John Newton-the man responsible for bringing Hamilton's mother to the United States. Hamilton wants only one thing: to make the man pay with his life for his evil crime But the John Newton that Hamilton meets is nothing like the horrible person he imagined. Instead of reacting with fear when threatened with death, the little man...

THE THIEVES OF TYBURN SQUARE, Introducing Elizabeth Fry -- Betsey and Loren Maxwell are on their own in early nineteenth-century England after their mother is deported to New South Wales for stealing two silver candlesticks. Faced with few options, the young Maxwells are forced to live and work in a gloomy London workhouse. Betsey and her brother have a terrible time enduring the harsh treatment and strict rules of the workhouse overseers. Then Loren sees an opportunity to escape, and the pair soon find themselves back on the dangerous streets of London-with only a stolen pouch of money to...