Colorado Parks & Wildlife Research Library

True Grit tells the story of fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross. A coward going by the name of Tom Chaney shoots her father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and robs him of his life, his horse, and $150 in cash money. That's when Mattie fearlessly heads out to avenge her father's blood, convincing one-eyed Rooster Cogburn, the meanest U.S. marshal there is, to accompany her. But their plans run into an obstacle - namely, a Texas Ranger who is also investigating...

When her daughter accidentally hits and kills another high school girl with the family's car, Leigh, a troubled mother, is forced to confront her relationship with her daughter, her resentment toward her husband (who understands the daughter better) and her long-buried feelings towards her own neglectful mother.

An outcast after her actions cost the life of a fellow officer in the Palm Beach County sheriff's office, ex-cop Elena Estes seeks refuge in rural Florida, where she confronts the ruthlessness of international equestrian competitions while searching for a missing girl.

When she volunteers to take in five-year-old Sharla Cody for the summer, eighty-year-old Addy Shadd forms a powerful bond with Sharla that prompts her to recollect her own childhood in Rusholme, a town settled by fugitive slaves in the mid-1800s.