Kiowa County Public Library District

As further evidence of his family's bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnate is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself.

Walls, who spent years trying to hide her childhood experiences, allows the story to spill out in this recollection of growing up. From her current perspective as a contributor to MSNBC online, she remembers the poverty, hunger, jokes, and bullying she and her siblings endured, and she looks back at her parents: her flighty, self-indulgent mother, a Pollyanna unwilling to assume the responsibilities of parenting, and her father, troubled, brilliant...

One long-ago Christmas, Big Earl Gibson lost the two things most precious to him-his wife and daughter. Angry and heartbroken, he abandoned his belief in God and is now living on the street. Gideon is a seven-year-old leukemia patient determined to reach out to this lonely and hurting man. And Earl is just as determined to rebuff her. It is only through a miracle that Earl finally comes to understand the true meaning of Christmas. And it's only then...

Year to year, homelessness continues to be a challenge facing the United States. It is estimated that on a given night in January 2016, 549,928 people were experiencing homelessness in the U.S. About 10,550 homeless individuals were located in Colorado, representing a 6 percent increase in the homeless population in Colorado from 2015. Not only are the homelessness rates rising in Colorado, but morbidity and mortality rates have also been shown to...

They call them travelers. They move from city to city, panhandling, committing no crimes. And now someone is killing them. Lucas Davenport's adopted daughter, Letty, is home from college when she gets a phone call from a woman traveler named Skye, whom she'd befriended in San Francisco. The woman thinks somebody's killing her friends, and she's afraid she knows who it is. She's hiding out, and she doesn't know what to do. Letty pays for a bus ticket...

Newbery Honor winner Joan Bauer's new novel will touch your heartWhen twelve-year-old Sugar's grandfather dies and her gambling father takes off yet again, Sugar and her mother lose their home in Missouri. They head to Chicago for a fresh start, only to discover that fresh starts aren't so easy to come by for the homeless. Nevertheless, Sugar's mother has taught her to be grateful no matter what, so Sugar does her best. With the help of a rescue dog,...