Speed ( later to be known as Easy ) is a three-day-old pup found in a discarded suitcase on a rubbish tip by Barney, a tan-coloured Labrador cross and Jack a black and white Collie mix, who has a reputation with the ladies. Speeds mother Jenny and siblings have been captured by two of the councils dedicated pest controllers (William and Benjamin. . . brothers), who take great pleasure in their work, as they consider all dogs are vermin. Unknown to...

Catherine Weldon, a portrait painter from 1890s Brooklyn, travels to North Dakota to paint a portrait of Chief Sitting Bull and becomes embroiled in the Lakota peoples' struggle over the rights to their land.

"In 1963, as Kizzy Ann prepares for her first year at an integrated school, she worries about the color of her skin, the scar running from the corner of her right eye to the tip of her smile, and whether anyone at the white school will like her. She writes letters to her new teacher in a clear, insistent voice, stating her troubles and asking questions with startling honesty. The new teacher is supportive, but not everyone feels the same, so there...