Kiowa County Public Library District

Relates the surprising gifts bestowed on twelve-year-old Bob Barnhart and his family, who have recently moved to a small Illinois town in 1958, by their larger-than-life neighbor, Mrs. Dowdel.

"March 1933, Dovecote Hatch, England. Florence Norris knows she has found a good man in George 'Birdie' Bird, the landlord of the local pub, The Dog & Whistle. They are set to marry in a low-key service at the parish church in their beloved village Dovecote Hatch. But when a mysterious stranger seeks out George, sharing family secrets and talks of an illegal burial years ago, an ominous dread falls over the happy couple. Soon they are pulled reluctantly...

With his daughter safe, Joe Moss can focus on his search for his wife Fiona, who's on the run for a murder he doesn't think she committed. To find Fiona Joe must evade capture by the Peabody family, owners of the Comstock mine, who want Joe and Fiona dead. The Peabodys aren't the only dangers Joe will face.

Just when Sadie Speers learns that her pen pal's church roof has collapsed, she comes across a stash of antiques in Campfire Chapel's attic. Sadie immediately sees the potential for selling the items to help her friend's struggling Appalachian church. But when she tries to convince the congregation to allow her to do so, dissent amongst the members breaks out about how the money should be used -- which becomes a moot point when it is stolen.

In the mid-1700s, four families build a log church on a hill in central Pennsylvania, and congregations worship in it and its replacement up through World War II. Based on the history of Old Zion church in Brickerville, Pennsylvania.