Böcker av Lynn Downey

It's 1954, and San Francisco writer Phoebe Kelley is enjoying the success of her first novel, Lady in the Desert. When her sister-in-law asks her to return to Tribulation, Arizona, to help run the H Double Bar Dude Ranch, Phoebe doesn't hesitate. There's competition from a new dude ranch this year, so the H Double Bar puts on a rodeo featuring a trick rider with a mysterious past. When accidents begin to happen around the ranch, Phoebe jumps in to figure out why, and confronts an unexpected foe.

However contested, western history is one of America's national origin stories that we turn to in times of upheaval. Dude ranches provide a tangible link from the real to the imagined past, and their popularity demonstrates how significant this link remains. This book tells their story-in all its familiar, eccentric, and often surprising detail.

On a dark, dark nightOn an old, old farmIn a rickety, cricketyTumbledown barn,Everyone slept peacefully-But not the flea . . .A delightfully silly barnyard tale-now in paperbackWhat happens when a flea gets a bad case of the sniffles? Utter pandemonium in the barnyard! This rollicking picture book follows a lovable flea and his exceptional sneeze through the mayhem. Before the night is over, every animal-from the mouse to the cow-has something to say. Will the animals ever fall back to sleep?Lynn Downey's quirky text and Karla Firehammer's charming pictures make this a winning story for preschool children.

In 1911 Dr Philip King Brown opened the Arequipa Sanatorium in Marin County. Together, Brown and his all-female staff gave new life to hundreds of working-class women suffering from tuberculosis in early-twentieth-century California. This book tells a vivid story of the sanatorium, Brown and his talented team of Progressive women.

Sonoma is one of Northern California's most desirable places to live and a popular tourist destination, combining small-town charm, a colorful past, and its current role as the hub of one of the world's premier wine-producing regions. A Short History of Sonoma traces its past from the Native American peoples who first inhabited the valley, proceeding through the establishment of a mission by Spanish priests, the Bear Flag Revolt that began California's movement to become part of the United States, the foundation of what would become a celebrated wine industry, and its role today as the center of a sophisticated and highly envied food and wine culture.The book also addresses such topics as the development of local ranching and businesses and of transportation links to San Francisco that helped to make Sonoma and the surrounding Valley of the Moon a popular location for summer homes and resorts. It discusses the role of the nearby hot springs in attracting visitors and permanent residents, including people seeking cures for various ailments. There are also accounts of some of the famous people who lived in or near Sonoma and helped establish its mystique, including Mexican general Mariano Vallejo, the town's first leader; Hungarian winemaker Agoston Haraszthy, who first saw the region's potential for producing superior wines; and writers Jack London and M. F. K. Fisher, who made their homes in the Valley of the Moon, drawn by its beauty and bucolic lifestyle.A Short History of Sonoma is generously illustrated with vintage photographs. It is a delightful account of one of America's most charming towns and its evolution from rowdy frontier settlement to the paragon of sophisticated living that it is today.