They Came for the Schools by Mike Hixenbaugh

They Came for the Schools by Mike Hixenbaugh follows the Carroll School district from Southlake, Texas as they went through a variety of media storms, from viral videos of students saying racial slurs, to book bans and school board debates after COVID-19. Southlake has been at the forefront of school politics at a national level, showing the impact that even one school district can make on the whole country. Mike Hixenbaugh, a NBC investigative journalist was reporting on the school district from the first viral video in 2018 to the end, so while this book does contain his opinions, it is still an interesting first-hand account on some of the current controversies facing schools and school boards right now. 

Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate

aired the week of July 28, 2025

Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate is set in the Winding Stair Mountain of southeastern Oklahoma.  Following two timelines the reader gets the story from eleven year old Olive Augusta Peele who along with her younger Choctaw sister are trying to hide from their lecherous stepfather in 1909.  Fast forward to 1990 where National Park Service Ranger Valerie Boren-Odell is working to get a new park ready for the grand opening when human remains are discovered in a cave within the park.  As Valerie learns more about the area's past and the plight of the elf children who were abandoned to the woods she becomes convinced someone is trying to hide the past and sabotage the park's grand opening.  Recommended for fans of Jess Montgomery and Amanda Skenandore.  For more information on the fate of Native Americans in Oklahoma pick up David Grann's Killers of the Flower Moon.

The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman

 aired the week of July 21, 2025

The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman written in 1970 introduces tribal police officer Joe Leaphorn.  Set on the Navajo Reservation in the Four Corners area of Arizona, Joe is following up on a missing person case that turns deadly.  He has to find out how this murder fits in with rumors of a witch in the shape of a gray wolf that has been spotted in the area. The Blessing Way is the first in an 18 title series by Hillerman who passed away in 2006.  Recommended for fans of Margaret Coel, Craig Johnson, C.J. Box and Aimee Thurlo.