Frances Schoonmaker

Sid Johnson's parents claim they don't know anything about a slave stealer that slave holders call the "Phantom." But when Sid discovers that their Southern Illinois farm is a stop on the Underground Railroad, he isn't so sure Ma and Pa are telling him the truth. They could get caught breaking the law. When bounty hunters threaten Pa, Sid resolves to take action to protect the family. Before his plans are in place, bounty hunters burn the barn. With a civil war brewing and the farm compromised as a stop on the Underground Railroad, Ma and Pa decide to go west. Disappointed that he failed to learn any more about the slave stealer, Sid is glad to leave the slave question behind. He is about to find out that the ugly shadow of slavery reaches beyond the Johnson farm to the Santa Fe Trail, and his involvement with the Phantom Slave Stealer has just begun.

Sid Johnson's parents claim they don't know anything about a slave stealer that slave holders call the "Phantom." But when Sid discovers that their Southern Illinois farm is a stop on the Underground Railroad, he isn't so sure Ma and Pa are telling him the truth. They could get caught breaking the law. When bounty hunters threaten Pa, Sid resolves to take action to protect the family. Before his plans are in place, bounty hunters burn the barn. With a civil war brewing and the farm compromised as a stop on the Underground Railroad, Ma and Pa decide to go west. Disappointed that he failed to learn any more about the slave stealer, Sid is glad to leave the slave question behind. He is about to find out that the ugly shadow of slavery reaches beyond the Johnson farm to the Santa Fe Trail, and his involvement with the Phantom Slave Stealer has just begun.

When their father is critically wounded in World War II, the four Harrison children take the famous Santa Fe Chief to stay with an uncle in California. Worried about their father and less than enthusiastic about a summer with their boring uncle, the four soon discover that this is no ordinary train trip. In rushing to get off of the train, a passenger whom they have barely met asks them to deliver a message to someone they will meet at one of the train stops-a message critical to the allied effort. Then, by accident, they blunder into a private car where they meet the beautiful and mysterious Celeste. She shows an usual interest in the youngest, Grace. When the train breaks down in the desert, Celeste lures them to her car. Her plans become clear. She wants to send Grace on a quest to find a crystal holding water from the beginning of time, water set aside for the healing of the earth. Celeste says it will heal their father, but they suspect that she wants it for herself. In trying to escape her, they leap from the train only to discover themselves in the prehistoric West. Their only hope of return is to find the crystal. But to do so, they have to cross thousands of miles of wilderness. They have nothing but each other, their wits, and a map than only Grace can read.

When their father is critically wounded in World War II, the four Harrison children take the famous Santa Fe Chief to stay with an uncle in California. Worried about their father and less than enthusiastic about a summer with their boring uncle, the four soon discover that this is no ordinary train trip. In rushing to get off of the train, a passenger whom they have barely met asks them to deliver a message to someone they will meet at one of the train stops-a message critical to the allied effort. Then, by accident, they blunder into a private car where they meet the beautiful and mysterious Celeste. She shows an usual interest in the youngest, Grace. When the train breaks down in the desert, Celeste lures them to her car. Her plans become clear. She wants to send Grace on a quest to find a crystal holding water from the beginning of time, water set aside for the healing of the earth. Celeste says it will heal their father, but they suspect that she wants it for herself. In trying to escape her, they leap from the train only to discover themselves in the prehistoric West. Their only hope of return is to find the crystal. But to do so, they have to cross thousands of miles of wilderness. They have nothing but each other, their wits, and a map than only Grace can read.

The Red Abalone Shell is the perfect story for any middle grade reader who loves fantasy, mystery, historical fiction, and adventure all in one book. This second book in The Last Crystal Trilogy is the perfect companion to the first book, The Black Alabaster Box, or as a stand-alone novel. The book is set during early 20th century American life. Historical accuracy is obviously paramount to Schoonmaker and lessons on inclusivity and bullying are seamlessly woven in to create a story with rich detail and life lessons. Children won't even realize how much history they are learning while reading this epic tale.

The Red Abalone Shell is the perfect story for any middle grade reader who loves fantasy, mystery, historical fiction, and adventure all in one book. This second book in The Last Crystal Trilogy is the perfect companion to the first book, The Black Alabaster Box, or as a stand-alone novel. The book is set during early 20th century American life. Historical accuracy is obviously paramount to Schoonmaker and lessons on inclusivity and bullying are seamlessly woven in to create a story with rich detail and life lessons. Children won't even realize how much history they are learning while reading this epic tale.

It had been quiet along the Santa Fe Trail for more than a year when the Stokes Company set out for California, the Willis family among them. A reluctant traveler, young Grace Willis longs for her fortunate, safe, and comfortable life at home. Just as she is learning to negotiate life in a wagon-train, Grace is kidnapped by fellow travellers and taken into Oklahoma Territory. She must decide if she will cave in to despair or muster the courage to run away and search for her parents. Grace finds help in unlikely places. She discovers that there really is such a thing as magic, and there are some things only a child can do.

It had been quiet along the Santa Fe Trail for more than a year when the Stokes Company set out for California, the Willis family among them. A reluctant traveler, young Grace Willis longs for her fortunate, safe, and comfortable life at home. Just as she is learning to negotiate life in a wagon-train, Grace is kidnapped by fellow travellers and taken into Oklahoma Territory. She must decide if she will cave in to despair or muster the courage to run away and search for her parents. Grace finds help in unlikely places. She discovers that there really is such a thing as magic, and there are some things only a child can do.

Living Faithfully is for anyone interested in education and education policy, whether parent, community member, teacher, student of leadership or policy maker. It looks at school leadership and reform in an alternative way, following the story of change at Washington School, a troubled grades 5-6 center in a small town in Western Oklahoma. Not only does the book address a neglected population, the more than 1/3 of the nation’s children who go to school in small towns and rural areas, it uses the occasion to invert thinking about school reform. It argues that in today's policy climate where guaranteed, standard outcomes are touted as goals of education, leadership schemes, even those designed to challenge topdown, bureaucratic models, are quickly co-opted to produce the appearance of learning. Prevailing leadership theories beg the question of who is being transformed and to what end, failing to challenge assumptions and dominant ideas of contemporary education and leadership thinking. Drawing on Philip Phenix’s idea of the faithful life, the book proposes an alternative way forward. Phenix talks about connections between school and life. According to Phenix, the faithful life is concerned with the normative question of what is good, true, right, just, beautiful, and holy. This is not the vocabulary of current education policy. But it describes the kind of community created at Washington School despite its history of failure. And it describes what most families want for their children whether they live in the city or country, America or elsewhere: an education that matters.

Living Faithfully is for anyone interested in education and education policy, whether parent, community member, teacher, student of leadership or policy maker. It looks at school leadership and reform in an alternative way, following the story of change at Washington School, a troubled grades 5-6 center in a small town in Western Oklahoma. Not only does the book address a neglected population, the more than 1/3 of the nation’s children who go to school in small towns and rural areas, it uses the occasion to invert thinking about school reform. It argues that in today's policy climate where guaranteed, standard outcomes are touted as goals of education, leadership schemes, even those designed to challenge topdown, bureaucratic models, are quickly co-opted to produce the appearance of learning. Prevailing leadership theories beg the question of who is being transformed and to what end, failing to challenge assumptions and dominant ideas of contemporary education and leadership thinking. Drawing on Philip Phenix’s idea of the faithful life, the book proposes an alternative way forward. Phenix talks about connections between school and life. According to Phenix, the faithful life is concerned with the normative question of what is good, true, right, just, beautiful, and holy. This is not the vocabulary of current education policy. But it describes the kind of community created at Washington School despite its history of failure. And it describes what most families want for their children whether they live in the city or country, America or elsewhere: an education that matters.

The revised Fifth Edition provides a broad perspective on the basic curriculum questions educators face regarding the purposes, content, design, and structure of educational programs. After examining aims that have been proposed by classical educational thinkers and reviewing the dominant educational debate of the 20th century between traditionalists and progressives, the authors deal with fundamental contemporary issues of curriculum theory and instructional practice. Providing realistic case studies that inspire pre-service teachers to grapple with the issues of curriculum and aims in the context of classroom situations, the new edition features: a new case study on Education and Equity: Closing the Achievement Gap and updated references to important recent ideas in a new section at the end of each chapter called For Further Inquiry. Curriculum and Aims is one of the five books in the highly regarded Teachers College Press Thinking About Education Series, now in its Fifth Edition. All of the books in this series are designed to help pre- and in-service teachers bridge the gap between theory and practice.

Focusing on personal knowledge and how it influences teacher development, this book follows one teacher, ""Kay,"" from her years of teacher preparation through her time as a seasoned veteran. What emerges from this intense 10-year study is a more complete picture of teacher development that will help us to better prepare and support our pre- and inservice teachers. This book offers a holistic view of learning to teach that challenges traditional boundaries and provides insight into many important issues, such as the link between theory and practice, teacher retention, and how to get teachers to change timeworn pedagogical practices.