Patricia Lee Gauch

I am the river. Blue and green, fast and flowing, sweeping river grasses aside . . . moving between Lake Erie and Detroit. The Detroit River has long had a story to tell. It has seen a time before people. And it has seen many faces cross its waters, from Indigenous people guiding canoes to settlers on its banks and freedom seekers riding the underground railroad north toward liberty, with Bob-Lo Island at the river's end, so close to Canada. At one time, a giant steamboat carried hundreds of excited children and adults to the amusement park that was built on Bob-Lo. But Sarah E. Ray discovered in 1945 that not all people were invited on this boat, to this island, once a symbol of the journey to freedom. It depended, she discovered, on the color of your skin. This is the dramatic story of how one young woman's courage could create a dramatic turning point that would stand out proudly, and forevermore, in the history of a river older than the country called America.

A creative young girl breathes new life into a cardboard box in this “gleeful little story of imaginative play” for fans of Harriet the Spy and Harold and the Purple Crayon (School Library Journal) The day the refrigerator arrives in its large brown carton, Christina Katerina and her mother are both excited, but for very different reasons. Christina quickly claims the box, where she creates a castle, a clubhouse, and other fantastic playthings with her sometimes-friend and neighbor, Fats Watson. Together, they embark on countless hours of adventure, swearing their undying friendship—and waging furious battles, too! “One of the classic characters of children’s literature,” the spunky and playful Christina Katerina has inspired young readers to embrace their creativity since 1971 (Kirkus Reviews). A staple in classrooms and libraries, this classic children’s book is a timeless ode to the power of a child’s imagination—and to the beauty that can be found in even the most ordinary of objects.