Elaine Oelker: 3 books

John, a boy from a Pennsylvania coal town in the 1920's, enlarges his vision of a loving family to take in the ugliness and hopelessness of his family's livelihood. Historically on target John faces poverty, mine disasters, and a massive strike he may have triggered that now threatens him personally.

Maxim was from a distant land with a different language and culture. Erin could not have imagined that their lives would be sewn together and that a dreadful nuclear accident called Chernobyl flung him into their home and a frightening adventure at their sides.

A sheltered girl like Erin might wish to hold on to love and security. Fate has its own plan, and Erin is thrust onto a dangerous world stage. She's on her own now.