Mrs. Barnett and her crime-busting canine, Bo, are back for another adventure. With Christmas only a week away, the pair stops in Salado, Texas, where a sneaky thief is stealing presents straight from under the tree. Bo and Mrs. Barnett know they must act fast to catch the culprit, but there is a tricky problem: the bandit is disguised as Santa Claus.

Mrs. Barnett and her crime-busting canine, Bo, are back for another adventure. With Christmas only a week away, the pair stops in Salado, Texas, where a sneaky thief is stealing presents straight from under the tree. Bo and Mrs. Barnett know they must act fast to catch the culprit, but there is a tricky problem: the bandit is disguised as Santa Claus.

Bo’s undisciplined mischief has landed him and his owner, Mrs. Barnett, in the vet’s office--twice. Now in a splint and a special funnel-shaped collar, Bo is finally learning obedience. He even helps a new restaurant owner, the famous baseball player Pete Incaviglia, discover who has been breaking in and destroying the kitchen at night.

The Union army’s bombardment of Charleston lasted 545 days, a record not exceeded until the siege of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) during World War II. First-time author W. Chris Phelps uses letters, diaries, and other primary documents to describe life inside the target city. By referencing military archives, he also supports the widely held contemporary belief that the shelling was prolonged by the North’s desire for terror and revenge against the civilian population, and had no military purpose once the initial strategy had failed.

The son of former slaves, Mathew “Bones” Hooks left home at the age of twelve to pursue the rough-and-tumble life of a cowboy, during which he rubbed shoulders with other legends such as Col. Charles Goodnight. After his retirement, he devoted himself to civic and social improvements in Amarillo. Mr. Hooks’s achievements included being the first black man to serve on a grand jury in Texas, founding the first black church in the Texas Panhandle, and establishing North Heights, a black community where members were free to purchase property. Particularly concerned with juvenile delinquency, he served as “Range Boss” of the Dogie Club, an organization for underprivileged black male youths. Throughout his life, Bones Hooks stepped over prejudice and mediated between the races, crossing paths with such luminaries as Eleanor Roosevelt, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong. This is the first biography of a man who broke both wild horses and racial barriers.