THE ADVENTURES OF HENRY THOREAU --- chronicling the 10 years in his life beginning with Harvard in 1837 and ending as he walked away from Walden Pond after living in his long dreamed-of cabin for only two years --- tells the dramatic (and at times heartbreaking) story of how a troubled young man found a meaningful life in a tempestuous era.

Abraham Lincoln’s official secretaries, John Hay and John Nicolay, enjoyed more access, witnessed more history, and knew Lincoln better than anyone outside of the president’s immediate family. As Joshua Zeitz shows, the image of a humble man with uncommon intellect who rose from obscurity to become a storied wartime leader and emancipator is very much their creation.

CUT ME LOOSE tells the story of one woman's harrowing struggle to define herself as an individual. Through Leah Vincent's eyes, we confront not only the oppressive world of religious fundamentalism, but also the broader issues that face even the most secular young women as they grapple with sexuality and identity.

When Kelly Corrigan was in high school, her mother neatly summarized the family dynamic as “Your father’s the glitter but I’m the glue.” After college, Kelly took off for Australia to see things and do things and Become Interesting. But soon her savings dwindled, and she realized she needed a job. That’s how Kelly met John Tanner, a newly widowed father of two looking for a live-in nanny. And there, in that house in a suburb north of Sydney, she suddenly heard her mother’s voice everywhere.

In August 2005, Anjan Sundaram abandoned his path to a Yale Ph.D. in mathematics to travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and refashion himself as a journalist. He found a country that was diseased, corrupt, and poised on the cusp of war. When Sundaram is engaged as a “stringer” for the Associated Press, he becomes a chronicler for a country he’s just beginning to experience. STRINGER is his searing portrait of life in this broken, lawless place, an account of the rocky education of a reporter.

Cynthia Piantedosi lives a quiet, unassuming life outside of Boston, guided by her Catholic faith. Devoted to her elderly father and not particularly interested in dating and socializing, she develops a deep friendship with her parish priest, who encourages her to explore her faith. When he is killed in a mysterious accident, a message begins to emerge from Cynthia’s prayers: God is calling her to be the first female Catholic priest.

Susan Crandall’s latest novel takes place in the summer of 1963 and introduces readers to nine-year-old Starla Claudelle, who runs away from home to be with her mother in Nashville and is offered a ride by a black woman who is traveling with a white baby. As the two unlikely companions make their long and sometimes dangerous journey, Starla’s eyes are opened to the harsh realities of 1963 southern segregation.

Rosemary Mahoney tells the story of Braille Without Borders, the first school for the blind in Tibet, and of Sabriye Tenberken, the remarkable blind woman who founded the school. Fascinated and impressed by what she learned from the blind children of Tibet, Mahoney was moved to investigate further the cultural history of blindness. As part of her research, she spent three months teaching at Tenberken's international training center for blind adults in Kerala, India.

When a six-year battle with brain cancer ultimately stole his vision, memory, mobility and ability to continue teaching, David Menasche turned to Facebook with an audacious plan: a journey across America in hopes of seeing firsthand how his kids were faring in life. Had he made a difference? Within 48 hours of posting, former students in more than 50 cities replied with offers of support and shelter.

On October 17, 2002, David MacLean “woke up” on a train platform in India with no idea who he was or why he was there. Soon he could remember song lyrics, but not his family, his friends, or the woman he was told he loved. All of these symptoms were the result of the commonly prescribed malarial medication he had been taking. Upon his return to the States, he struggled to piece together the fragments of his former life.