Thirteen-year-old Kati is sent to her godparent's house for the summer, while her parents decide if their marriage is worth saving. Unhappy over the prospect of being the child of a broken home, Kati is at first a reluctant guest of Alfred and Rachel Bean, deep in the Alabama countryside on the shores of Cove Lake. As Kati struggles for happiness and self-acceptance, she finds mystery, drama, and adventure - even a little romance. Her adventures begin the day she arrives, when she helps Alfred, a veterinarian, with a canine Caesarian section. She befriends Alex Parker, deaf from a skiing accident, whose mother, Cynthia, is overprotective as well as lonely. Her summer gets more complicated when she meets a half-Comanche agriculture pilot, 'Mad Jack, ' who enlists her help in renovating a World War II-era Stearman bi-plane. Then she finds herself falling for who she thinks is 'the perfect guy, ' the charming Skip Emmett. Kati takes on the role of mediator with Cynthia and Alex, and discovers she can make a difference somewhere in the world. Ultimately, she comes to terms with herself, her parents, her new and often confusing feelings for the opposite sex, and her newfound love of flying - in what is suddenly a too-brief summer.

Formally known as the Blackfoot Confederacy, the Blackfeet are comprised of three tribes that lived in what is now central Montana, western Saskatchewan, and southern Alberta. In their first contact with Europeans, the Blackfeet resisted trade with French and British trappers. They became known for their fierce bravery in conflicts with other native tribes and with whites. Their only contact with the Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery ended disastrously with the deaths of some innocent Blackfeet boys. In response, Blackfeet people closed their lands to all whites, a futile effort. The Blackfeet people as a whole suffered through betrayals at the hands of both Canadian and U.S. governments, which demanded treaties without honoring them, inflicted starvation winters, and spread diseases to which the Blackfeet people were not immune. Still the Blackfeet survived, proving that they are as brave as they are resilient, and most now live on a reservation that straddles the U.S.-Canadian border. In The Blackfeet, learn how these people are a vibrant part of the present-day world and stand as a symbol of courage, endurance, and strength.

The Comanche are a fascinating people with an intriguing history. Settling on the South Plains of the United States on what would become known as the Comancheria, the Comanche trace their tribal origins to a Bering Strait migration and a union with the Shoshone. Earning a reputation as the fiercest of fighters, the greatest of horse riders, and the "Lords of the Plains," these people ruled the Comancheria for a 150-year period, striking fear into white settlers, U.S. soldiers, and other Native Americans alike. Before turning themselves in to the reservation, their lives were nomadic and free, moving with the great buffalo herds. The Comanche brings readers a wealth of history, tradition, and myths of these vibrant people and culminates with information about the Comanche people in present-day society.