Recent books in stores with Oklahoma ties

BOOK NOTES

•"Waterfall Atlas of the United States" by Gregory Plumb (Mountaineers Books, 320 pages, in stores Sept. 1)

The culmination of more than four decades of collecting and interpreting information about waterfalls throughout the United States and its territories, this book by Oklahoma author Plumb reveals the varied nature of these natural phenomenon from several perspectives — including geographical, physical, and cultural — through the use of maps, figures, and photographs. The three sections examine the natural and geologic history of waterfalls, exploration, cultural and economic aspects, and waterfalls within individual states. •"Benita and the Night Creatures" by Mariana Llanos (Barefoot Books, 32 pages, in stores Sept. 5)

In this book by Oklahoma-based author Llanos, Benita, who loves to read in bed, keeps getting interrupted by a whistling Tunche, a scary Supay and other spooky creatures from Peruvian lore. To the creatures' disbelief, Benita is so absorbed by her book that she's not the least bit scared of them. This humorous celebration of bedtime reading puts a global twist on taking the “scary” out of monsters.

•"Frogville, Quest of a Frog" by Sharla J. Frost (Beyond Publishing, audiobook, 2 hours and 5 minutes, in stores) The best-selling children's book by Oklahoma native Sharla J. Frost has been issued in audiobook form. The story recounts the adventures of Lilypad Lotus Dillweed who must go on a classic quest to release herself from a wizard's curse that turned her into a frog on her 13th birthday. Narrated by Jessica Thompson, the audiobook is now available on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. Quest of a Frog is the first book in the Frogville Quest series, which follows Lilypad as she navigates her way through difficult situations. The audiobook versions of the next two installments of the series are in production. All three books are available in both hardcover and paperback through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

•"American Ending" by Mary Kay Zuravleff (Blair, 320 pages, in stores)

Yelena is the first American born to her Old Believer Russian Orthodox parents, who are building a life in a Pennsylvania Appalachian town. This town, in the first decades of the 20th century, is filled with Russian transplants. Here, boys quit grade school for the coal mines and girls are married off at 14. The young pair up and give birth to more babies than they can feed. However, Yelena craves a different path. Will she find her happy American ending or will a dreaded Russian ending be her fate? Zuravleff weaves Russian fairy tales and fables into a family saga within the storied American landscape.

•"Don't Let Them Bury My Story: The Oldest Living Survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre In Her Own Words" by Ike Howard and Viola Ford Fletcher (Mocha Media Inc., 140 pages, in stores)

Fletcher's memoir vividly recounts the lasting impact of the Tulsa Race Massacre on her life. As the oldest survivor and a living witness of the tragic events that unfolded in 1921, she shares her testimony with poignant clarity. From the terror of her childhood as a 7-yearold fleeing the burning streets of Greenwood to her current role as a 109-year-old family matriarch seeking justice for the affected families, she takes us on a journey through a lifetime of pain and perseverance.

•"The Radcliffe Ladies' Reading Club" by Julia Bryan Thomas (Sourcebooks Landmark, 384 pages, in stores)

Alice Campbell escapes halfway across the country in 1954 and finds herself in front of a derelict building tucked among the cobblestone streets of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and she turns that sad little shop into the charming bookstore of her dreams. Tess, Caroline, Evie, and Merritt become fast friends in the sanctuary of Alice's monthly reading club at The Cambridge Bookshop, where they escape the pressures of being newly independent college women in a world that seems to want to keep them in the kitchen.