Lisa J. Lickel – författare

How can Ann find a grandfather who’s just right?

With so many aunts and uncles, why doesn’t Ann Riley have a grandfather? Her friend, Katie Murphy, has a special grandfather who tells stories and remembers all the things he did at home in Ireland. When Katie’s little sister tells Ann that everyone has to have a grandfather, Ann decides to find one of her own. She asks all her neighbors to be her grandfather. But Green Leaf’s grandfather doesn’t speak the same language, the miller is too busy, the store owner too important, the cooper too fussy, the bagpipe player too loud, and Father Rehrl away too much. Who can be Ann’s grandfather?

Grace has a secret. Just like her aunt, and her grandmother before her, she could fix anyone with a touch, at a cost she never questioned—until her husband developed cancer and died. Believing no one would forgive her for not being able to save him, Grace runs from the life she knew, hoping even God wouldn’t find her in a little out-of-the-way town in Michigan. It takes a very sick man and his little boy to help her face her past, accept who she is and battle her way back to redemption. Just when she and Ted begin to hope for the future, he relapses. Grace faces the ultimate choice once again: Trust God to work through her precious gift, or let a terminally ill man die. What if the price is more than she can pay?

When you are loved, you have everything to lose...

Lily Masters was born with a deformity that shaped her life. When she, white and rural-raised, and Cam Taylor, a biracial army medic and literary professor who left his work under a cloud of suspicion, meet, fall in love, and get engaged, Lily decides it''s time to take control of her body in order to feel whole. She schedules plastic reconstructive surgery in Texas and leaves Cam and her nephew Kenny, also of mixed heritage, who they''re planning to adopt, back home in Wisconsin to wait.

The nightmare begins when Cam can''t get a response about Lily''s condition from the hospital and both his friend Matt the newspaper editor and his sister Georgia send him a horrifying news story about murder and mayhem at the Southern Shore Medical Center in Houston where Lily is supposedly under the knife.

But whose knife? A terrifying ring of human organ black marketers harvest organs from unwilling victims to meet the demand for transplants as the procedures become less risky and the race to create engineered organs fails.

In Lily''s case, she''s not only the victim of black marketers, she''s a target for revenge. The international terrorist family, the Limms, want payback for the loss of a favored son when Lily helped expose their international sex-trafficking operation. Her plastic surgery was the only success when she wakes without kidneys.

"You''ll never see the face of your lover again," Old Man Limm promises. "And your body will slowly rot in its own poison."

As their friends and family gather around them, Cam and Lily wonder about their future together and whether being whole is a solitary or communal endeavor.

Ivy''s aunt is missing, and Ivy vows to find her ...after she gets out of this kidnapping mess.

Home in Apple Grove after a shortened honeymoon, Ivy is confronted with her first quandary of married life: admit to her husband that she picked up a piece of garbage that turns out to be the tip of the iceberg of an international smuggling ring, or toss the evidence? While seeking advice from her mom, retired criminal studies professor Geneva Preston, Ivy learns her aunt is missing in South America. Ivy wants to help, but her new husband convinces her to let the authorities handle the situation while they prepare for their first Apple Fest.

Ivy happens upon a robbery and is kidnapped by desperados demanding a response to the terrible plight of itinerant coffee workers. During her captivity she meets a man who claims to be her long-absent uncle. Can she trust him and his plot to find her Aunt Chris after they''re rescued?

Smugglers, itinerant coffee workers, fair trade labeling practices, Apple Fest, and more drama with Ivy''s former fiancé Stanley are the latest wrinkles in Ivy and Adam''s life. When they get to settle down to enjoy their new marriage is anyone''s guess.

How can John learn to love a new stepfather?

When John Klessig''s father dies suddenly, Mama marries Mr. Ernst, who is very different from Papa. His beard and his boots are big, and he doesn''t want to help new families the same way Papa did with the inn. Without warning, fire threatens the village. John and all the neighbors, including the Indians, help each other as friends. But where is Mr. Ernst? How can John and his new stepfather learn to love and respect each other?

John Klessig, The Saxon Boy, has earned the respect of the Wisconsin Writer''s Association as the 2013 Jade Ring Stories for Young People winner.

How can one boy change the minds of his neighbors? 

When Matthew LaCraft''s father gives up his ship, the Mary Jean, Matthew is going to have to stay home and go to school. Worse, it''s a new school his father helped to build. Matthew would much rather go to school with the boys he knows in Boltonville. When a Potawatomi boy, Green Leaf, attends the new school, not all the neighbors are happy. What can Matthew do to help everyone get along? Will his plan work?

Huldah Hartz is a curious girl who loves to watch the butterflies and grasshoppers. The flowers around her new home are pretty, especially the ones that grow close to the dark woods, where Papa and Mama say she must not play.

When Bessie the cow wanders away, Huldah is sent to find her and bring her home. But Bessie doesn''t want to come and Huldah doesn''t know which way to go when night falls. How will she find her way?

How can Marie fit in with her new friends?

Marie Brinker moved to America with her family. Her friends have new ways of dressing and talking, and making crafts. Will the new sewing machines take away her father''s tailoring work? Will Papa like his new quilt instead of his featherbed? When her neighbor Augusta makes a poor choice at the county fair, Marie must decide who is a true friend and what new customs to follow.