Ash is still falling from the sky two years after a series of globally devastating volcanic eruptions. Sunlight is as scarce as food, and cities are becoming increasingly violent as people loot and kill in order to maintain their existence. Sixteen-year-old Miles Newell knows that the only chance his family has of surviving is to escape from their Minneapolis suburban home to their cabin in the woods, As the Newells travel the highways on Miles' supreme...

In this volume, a stable of fresh stories by award-winning writer Will Weaver (Full Service and Barns of Minnesota), are complemented by a hand-picked selection of favorites from his original collection, A Gravestone Made of Wheat, to offer a fresh, vivid portrait of the changing midwestern landscape. New highlights include "Blaze of Glory," an enchanting tale of an RV road trip and a senior couple's "last time"; "The Trapper," the story of a hard...

It's a sizzling summer Saturday, and Headwaters Speedway has suddenly become the place to be. Thanks to rainouts across the state, this small-town dirt track is drawing both big-time stock cars and local drivers. There's Trace Bonham, whose Street Stock Chevy is acting up in a big way. And, Beau Kim, whose "stone soup" Modified has been patched together from whatever parts he could scrape up. And, no one could forget Amber Jenkins, a strawberry blonde...

Two years ago, the ash started falling like gray snow. The volcanoes had erupted ... For Miles and his sister, Sarah, the real disaster started in the violent aftermath when they were forced to leave their cushy suburban home and flee to the north woods for safety. Miles got them to a cabin, but now winter is setting in. All they have to get them through is the milk from Sarah s prized possession her goat and Miles s memory of wilderness survival...

A Gravestone Made of Wheat is a poignant and lyrical story of land, love, and the American immigrant experience.

Minnesota's Will Weaver has been a hunter since he was a young boy, following in the footsteps of his father, a dedicated and seasoned outdoorsman. As he writes, "in the fall, when Canada geese came through and when partridge season opened, [we] heard the far-off thudding report of shotguns-and in November the heavier poom-poom! of deer rifles." Hunting frames Weaver's childhood memories, his relationship with his father, and his own definition of...