A pioneering case study of a major political party under extreme strain, Getting the Donkey Out of the Ditch traces in detail what the Democratic Party actually did in the two years immediately following its resounding defeat in the 1980 elections. Caroline Arden argues that in November 1980 the Democratic Party was under the most severe stress it had experienced in this century, brought on not only by the loss of an election but also by the perceived threat of a major party realignment and to the Democrat's long-term status as a majority party. She shows that even though it still had sufficient power, the Democratic Party did not perform a fundamental or effective restoration to a unifying center after the disastrous election, which led in part to the disarray that has characterized the Party during the 1988 primaries.

“How brave are you?” Twelve-year-old Lizzie Parker’s father died after the stock market crash of 1929. Accustomed to a comfortable life in Seattle, she is now so poor that she is sent to live with her uncle in a remote logging camp in British Columbia. But when she arrives, her uncle is gone. Left to fend for herself among rough loggers, she begins to unravel the mystery of her uncle’s disappearance —only to discover that her own life is in danger. Now Lizzie must find out just how brave she truly is.