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In the decades directly following the Holocaust, American Jewish leaders anxiously debated how to preserve and produce what they considered authentic Jewish culture, fearful that growing affluence and suburbanization threatened the future of Jewish life. Many communal educators and rabbis contended that without educational interventions, Judaism as they understood it would disappear altogether. They pinned their hopes on residential summer camps for Jewish youth: institutions that sprang up across the U.S. in the postwar decades as places for children and teenagers to socialize, recreate, and experience Jewish culture. Adults' fears, hopes, and dreams about the Jewish future inflected every element of camp life, from the languages they taught to what was encouraged romantically and permitted sexually. But adult plans did not constitute everything that occurred at camp: children and teenagers also shaped these sleepaway camps to mirror their own desires and interests and decided whether to accept or resist the ideas and ideologies their camp leaders promoted. Focusing on the lived experience of campers and camp counselors, The Jews of Summer demonstrates how a cultural crisis birthed a rite of passage that remains a significant influence in American Jewish life.

Introduces the physical characteristics, habitat, and predatory behavior of foxes.

A Collection of Short Stories written by Texas Authors who won the 2016 short story contest.

We all want peace in our lives, in our family, in the world. But what we see is bickering, lies, fighting. Our jobs can be in question. Prices rise and our health can be declining. Where is peace? We are told that love is the greatest -but what we experience is misunderstandings and unforgiveness. Estrangements and divorce are rampant. People gossip and families crumble. Where is love? We are told that without faith it is impossible to please God. But where is faith when you feel like giving up? We can be so weighted down with disappointments and discouragement that we begin to lose hope that anything will change. Lord, Renew My Hope will help to renew your hope that you may ignite peace and love. Many have not lost their faith-they have lost hope. This guide can be used in small groups as well as personal reflection. Hope again! Sandra Fox is a registered nurse. She is also a wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She has served for over 30 years as a women's bible study teacher and retreat speaker. She is an active member of Webster Assembly of God and resides in Victor, New York with her husband, Willard.

Scratchboard etching is a unique art form particularly suited to animals. With detailed instructions found in this first book of a series, the secrets to creating these lovely pieces are revealed by a professional artist that has created and taught this art for years. With your success in mind, each step is detailed with words and photos in an informal approach to learning.

In the early 1950s, in the Panhandle town of Dalhart, Texas, the church stands firm amidst community and gossip. But on a December Sunday, Curtye Lee Logan, a shapely young woman from Colorado, enters Victory Church on the arm of bull rider Willie Bob Preston and takes a seat in the second pew. Curtye Lee's arrival sparks town gossip and draws the welcoming attention of ranch-wife Shelby Hauser and the pastor's wife, Jane Connor. Shelby narrates the journey of these three women, revealing how they secretly gather to study mysticism in the back of Gene Crawford's store, unbeknownst to Pastor Henry Connor. As Dalhart recovers from the hardships and losses of the 1930s Dust Bowl, the shadows of those years still harbor secrets and pain for long-time residents. Despite the challenges of life in west Texas and the scandals of a small town, the friendship between Shelby, Jane, and Curtye Lee remains steadfast as the Fates weave their destinies in unexpected ways. - - - "Reads like Steel Magnolias mixed with Harper Valley PTA." - Dave Inman, early reviewer "When three women become acquainted in the small west Texas town of Dalhart, they have no way of knowing how entwined their lives will become. From very different backgrounds, fulfilling their very different roles, they are drawn together by a shared interest in exploring the forbidden subject of the paranormal. Their quest to learn about the paranormal leads them to deeper understanding and an unexpected friendship. As time passes through unpredicted roads, their relationship flourishes as a precious gift that never wavers. The Dalhart girls are a perfect example of what friendship should be." - Pat Jackson, author of Judging Anna and Path to Confession

In 1847, the McCord family, filled with hope for prospects of a better life, packed all their earthly belongings into covered wagons and left their homes in Indiana for Texas. The world beyond was in front of seven-year-old Fidelia, and little did she know, as the wagons traveled down the dusty trail to the southwest, that there would be the need for all the courage she could muster. Her faith would be tested and fortitude found in the most unexpected places. Let the Little Birds Sing is the beginning of Fidelia McCord's story, of the hardships she encounters and sees around her, told through the eyes of a precocious and determined girl. It is a tale set in early America inspired by the journey of a girl coming of age amidst the perils of settling in a new and untamed land.

On a Lark (The Fidelia McCord Series, Book 2) In On a Lark, Fidelia McCord has become the only surviving child of John and Mariah McCord of Pond Springs. After having borne great loss and hardship in mid-nineteenth century Texas - where moments of jubilation and jeopardy carry a girl to womanhood - Fidelia knows the weight of her choices. At the same time, far away in North Carolina, the Maloney brothers, cooking mash into whiskey in the Appalachian mountains, are making their own life-changing decisions, with Miles Maloney trying to keep his brother Jackson in check and away from the gallows. But, as Fidelia and Miles each forge their own path to a future, destiny has plans of its own. "A riveting and realistic novel of the westward expansion, inspired by real people. Life on the trail and on the Texas frontier was not easy for anyone, much less a seven-year old girl whose faith was tested...but those who persevered and survived would find new joys." --Miles O'Neal, author of The Dragon Lord Chronicles "Ms. Murphy develops the powerful characters of this story in such a way that they come alive and you feel that you know each one of them personally. On a Lark will linger long after reading it." --Jane Caraway, author of Baby in a Mailbox ******* Sandra Fox Murphy is the author of the novels That Beautiful Season and A Thousand Stars, as well as the Fidelia McCord Series, including Let the Little Birds Sing. Her collection of poems, Aging Without Grace, was released in July 2019. Originally from Glasgow, Delaware, she lives in central Texas where she hunts down small-town history.

In the early summer of 1860, the man Fidelia McCord had fallen in love with, Miles Maloney, traveled north to gather information and stories for the anti-secessionist newspaper Southern Intelligencer. He'd been certain his beloved Fidelia would await his return. But he has vanished and sent no word to her. Had he fallen to a terrible end in the scrubland, or had he abandoned the young woman he claimed to love? As the year 1860 neared its end, Fidelia's heart faltered midst doubt and persuasion, and she accepted James Hughes' proposal of marriage. When the nation begins to tremble toward war, James enlists with Benjamin Terry's Texas Rangers, and as James departs, Fidelia shares the news that she is carrying their child. James will be gone for years. While the two men who love Fidelia find their way through a war-torn nation, facing death at every turn, Fidelia perseveres through her own struggles and losses in Texas, always with fear in the back of her mind that she may have chosen the wrong path. A haunting dread fills her. What if neither of the men she loves comes home?