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In The Good Spirit of Laurel Ridge, Jesse Stuart provides a tale of the Kentucky hill country which constantly excites, amuses, and amazes. The central character of this book is Theopolis Akers, "Old Opp" to his friends, the hermit of Laurel Ridge who is recognized as one of Stuart's most colorful character creations. Hermit, squatter, steadfast believer in the world of the spirits (sperets, he calls them), "Old Opp" lives a simple life atop deserted Laurel Ridge. He spends his days tilling his small patch of corn, gathering roots and nuts, or fishing with his bow and arrow. By night he sits on his porch, chews calmus weed, and listens to the wind blowing through the horse-hair harp strung up on the cabin wall. If he wants company, there is always his hound dog to talk to or various spirits to commune with including his dead wife, Beadie. By Jesse Stuart
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The Winning of America Series: Book 1 of 6 The frontiersmen were a remarkable breed of men. They were often rough and illiterate, sometimes brutal and vicious, often seeking an escape in the wilderness of mid-America from crimes committed back east. In the beautiful but deadly country which would one day come to be known as West Virginia, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, more often than not they left their bones to bleach beside forest paths or on the banks of the Ohio River, victims of Indians who claimed the vast virgin territory and strove to turn back the growing tide of whites. These frontiersmen are the subjects of Allan W. Eckert's dramatic history. Researched for seven years, The Frontiersmen is the first in Eckert's "The Winning of America" series. SOFTBACK & HARDBACK By Allan Eckert
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The Enduring Hills was the first of many novels Janice Holt Giles wrote in her lifetime. Based in part on her own experience with the Kentucky mountain country, this is the story of Hod Pierce, a young man who grows up on Piney Ridge, where generations of Pierces have made a living from stubborn soil. Hod loves his people and the land but longs for wider horizons, for more education, and for the freedom he imagines can be found in the outside world. It takes World War II to carry Hod away from the Ridge and out into the world, and it takes his city-bred wife to make Hod realize that Piney Ridge will always be home. SOFTBACK VERSION By Janice Holt Giles
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Out of stockThis young adult historical novel is based on an exciting and little known incident in the life of the famed Kentucky frontiersman Daniel Boone when, after being captured by Shawnee Indians and subsequently adopted into their tribe, he then escapes and returns to Boonesboro, only to find himself charged with treason and court-martialed. In a brilliant display of ability, Boone defends himself at the trial and gradually the truth about what really happened emerges. A fascinating glimpse of Kentucky's pioneer period as well as a penetrating look at frontier courtroom justice. By Allan Eckert
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The Winning of America Series: Book 3 of 6 The Conquerors, the third volume in Allan Eckert's acclaimed series, The Winning of America, continues the narrative of The Frontiersmen and Wilderness Empire: the violent and monumental story of the wresting of the North American continent from the Indians. But the locale has moved westward—to the northern frontiers of Pennsylvania, to Michigan and the Green Bay area, especially the crucial outposts of Fort Pitt and Fort Detroit, Sandusky and Mackinac. SOFTBACK & HARDBACK By Allan Eckert
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Lauren Gabriel spent many years of her childhood in foster homes, wishing her mother would come back for her and be the family she needs. Now twenty-years-old, she still longs for a place that she can truly call home. Her work as a cashier is unfulfilling, and at Christmas it’s unbearable with the songs and carols and chatter of Christmas that she hears throughout the day. By Donna VanLiere
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The Christmas Hope Collection ~ Five Bestselling Beautiful Stories of Love and Faith
The New York Times bestselling novel The Christmas Shoes is based on the #1 hit single from NewSong. In this heartwarming, unforgettable story, a little boy teaches a man that love, giving, and family are the most important things in life. The Christmas Shoes was made into a TV movie starring Rob Lowe. In the sequel to The Christmas Shoes, a young girl and boy teach a man to lead a life of true courage in The Christmas Blessing. This beloved TV movie first aired in 2005 and stars Neil Patrick Harris. A TV movie starring Madeline Stowe, The Christmas Hope is a novel about a couple filled with loss, a little girl needing a home, and a doctor who fulfills a last Christmas wish. The Christmas Promise, a beautiful, deeply poignant novel, follows seemingly separate individuals and how their lives intersect, reminding us that there is always a second chance. In The Christmas Secret, a young, single mother saves the life of an elderly woman, setting into motion a series of events that will ultimately lead her on the path to finding true love. HARDBACK BOX SET By Donna VanLiere -
A charming, heart-warming Christmas taleabout the power of family, tradition, and love. In 1875, Owen Thomas, a poor Welsh coal miner, falls in love with a beautiful London actress, Jessica Lavery. He builds her a cottage in his village, and enchants her with the promise of the holidays they'll share after they marry. According to his special Thomas family tradition, the Christmas tree must always be outside, where it can look up to God. Owen carves her an angel to go on top of their tree, with lavender eyes like hers, a token more meaningful to her than any engagement ring. When Jessica breaks off their romance, Owen, broken-hearted, wraps the angel in his mother's shawl and brings her to America. There, she looks down over five generations, witnessing peace and war, triumphs and tragedies, reminding all who see her that Christmas is the time when families and sweethearts can come together, laughter and goodwill can lighten even the heaviest burden, and magic fills the earth. By Jane Maas
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The Appalachian Trail is America’s most beloved trek, with millions of hikers setting foot on it every year. Yet few are aware of the fascinating backstory of the dreamers and builders who helped bring it to life over the past century. The conception and building of the Appalachian Trail is a story of unforgettable characters who explored it, defined it, and captured national attention by hiking it. From Grandma Gatewood—a mother of eleven who thru-hiked in canvas sneakers and a drawstring duffle—to Bill Bryson, author of the best-selling A Walk in the Woods, the AT has seized the American imagination like no other hiking path. The 2,000-mile-long hike from Georgia to Maine is not just a trail through the woods, but a set of ideas about nature etched in the forest floor. This character-driven biography of the trail is a must-read not just for ambitious hikers, but for anyone who wonders about our relationship with the great outdoors and dreams of getting away from urban life for a pilgrimage in the wild. HARDBACK VERSION Philip D'Anieri
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He had reached an age well past the three-score and ten that the Scriptures referred to as the allotted span of man’s life on earth. So it was understandable that he spent more time these days looking back than he did in looking to the future. He wondered if others were affected by nostalgia as strongly as he was of late. For the third time in a week, he had come awake in the middle of the night, staring at the ceiling, tears flowing down the sides of his face and onto the sheet. Oh how he longed to see again the people and the places in that little Ohio River village where he spent his boyhood days. SOFTBACK By Sam Piatt
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The Ohio River, a principal route for pioneers pushing westward along its 981-mile course from Pennsylvania through Kentucky and Indiana to Illinois, was the scene of fierce battles among warring Indian tribes, Shawnee, Miami, Cherokee, Iroquois, etc., and between Native Americans and white settlers. Tapping journals, letters, diaries and government memoranda from 1768 to 1799, and fleshing out his panoramic chronicle with reconstructed dialogue adapted from primary sources, historian-novelist Eckert has fashioned an epic narrative history of the struggle for dominance of the Ohio River Valley that makes compelling reading. The lives of notable pioneer families (Zanes, Bradys, Wetzels), incursions of traders, explorers, colonists, adventurers and the historic exploits of George Washington, Daniel Boone, George Rogers Clark and others intersect. SOFTBACK By Allan Eckert
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Looking through the pages of this amazing book is like traveling back in time. The brilliant black and white photography of Joe Clark and a forward and descriptive text by Jesse Stuart, makes these rural Tennessee images come more alive than a Norman Rockwell painting. There is something so refreshing in this age of digital photographic trickery and enhancements to see the purity of these incredible images. Do yourself a favor and check out this book. Whether your interest is photography, nostalgia, or history, you will not be disappointed. By Joe Clark Foreword by Jesse Stuart
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Taps for Private Tussie won the Thomas Jefferson Southern Award in 1943, and was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection that year, also. This tale about the Tussie family is a brimming mountain spring of hilarious fun and folklife. Yet never was a book read more eagerly to see what in the world will happen next. This tale is not just a story of poor white Southern mountaineers on relief. There is something universal about it. It reveals an attitude towards human life and its problems, found in people, places, and times that have no connection with Southern mountaineers. By Jesse Stuart
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Out of stockJesse Stuart's honest, earthy writing about the southern hill folk he knows so well has made him one of America's foremost authors of fiction. Here are twenty of his best stories that spring up from the pungent soil of Kentucky, told in his plain but highly colorful style. Stories about the Stuart family and neighbors from his beloved W-Hollow, all packed with Kentucky characters of all sorts and sizes. SOFTBACK By Jesse Stuart
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A biography of Jesse's father, Mitchell Stuart - a rural man who could not read or write. But Mick Stuart had learned the important things in life from the hills around him. He began his work before daylight, and stopped only when his family, his farm, and his animals were cared for. Jesse Stuart tells how his father taught him the unalterable values of right and wrong, love of family, and love of education. By Jesse Stuart
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Sporty Creek is a series of short stories set in the Kentucky hills. Narrated by a young boy (a cousin of the narrator of Still's classic novel River of Earth), the book tells the story of his family during the Great Depression. With work in the coal mines sporadic, they move from place to place, trying to earn a living the best they can. The story is told with gentleness and humor. SOFTBACK VERSION By James Still
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Jesse Stuart wrote a collection of poetry, Songs of a Mountain Plowman, that was published by the Jesse Stuart Foundation in 1986, two years after Stuart's death. The book was edited by the late Jim Wayne Miller, a great Appalachian scholar and long-time member of the JSF Board of Directors. Twenty-five years after its first appearance, the JSF re-issued this Special Edition hardback, an important book for Stuart fans who wish to understand Stuart's development as a poet. HARDBACK By Jesse Stuart
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Awakened by radio broadcasts urging the residents of a small Virginia town to take a snow day rather than travel to school and work, Peter Boyd finds himself with both an unexpected day off and an opportunity to find big truths in small moments and surprise encounters. Peter believes he has a good life, with a decent job and a family he loves. But he’s quietly worried he’ll be cut when downsizing takes effect at the factory, his family will lose the home they love, and his faith will crumble along with his bank account. Through the course of one day, Peter finds himself revisiting his past through old friends, finding out there is a Santa Claus - though he drives a truck instead of a sleigh - and rediscovering that whatever comes in life, hope is the only choice that makes sense. Debut novelist Billy Coffey offers a heartwarming and beautiful story about the faithful way God speaks, even when we won’t listen. Like Peter, you’ll reaffirm that faith is worth having and your worst fears are no match for an astounding, loving God. HARDBACK VERSION By Billy Coffey
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No part of American history is more exciting than the 1770s, when Europeans first settled west of the Appalachian mountains in the land now known as Kentucky. Simon Kenton’s story is synonymous with the story of that era. His life of excitement, adventure, and danger on the frontier made him one of the leading heroes of that time and, eventually a Kentucky legend. By Thomas D. Clark
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Out of stockSeven By Jesse is a collection of stories originally published by the Indiana Council of Teachers of English in 1970. These stories share a common theme, as they deal with survival of old ways of life in Appalachia and with a culture in transition. By Jesse Stuart
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On September 26, 1918, during the devastating Battle of the Meuse-Argonne Forest, Kentucky native Willie Sandlin, acting alone, attacked and disabled three German machine gun nests and killed all twenty-four occupants. During the day’s fighting, Sandlin “voluntarily and deliberately” raced forward into dangers so great that he could hardly hope to survive. For his “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty,” Sandlin received the Medal of Honor, which was presented to him by General John J. Pershing before Sandlin returned to America at the end of the war. HARDBACK VERSION FULL COLOR INTERIOR By James M. Gifford
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Jesse Stuart Junior Book Mike finds a hound dog in the pasture which is obviously lost. Someone has been mean to the dog, and Mike wants him very much, but the hound won't come near him. Finally, his father helps him bring the dog home. After Mike and Speckles become inseparable, a neighbor claims to be the dog's rightful owner. Two dramatic encounters show that a good hound never forgets his real master. SOFTBACK By Jesse Stuart
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Jesse Stuart Junior Book Red Mule is the story of a friendship between a boy named Scrappie and a strange man called "Red Mule." Red Mule had worked with mules all his life and he loved them. Now tractors were coming into use and there was little work for mules. The whole town laughed. SOFTBACK By Jesse Stuart
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In this family history, “Raft Tide and Railroad: How We Lived and Died — Collected Memories and Stories of an Appalachian Family and Its Seventh Son,” Appalachian author, poet, and editor Dr. Edwina Pendarvis, was guided by sage advice from a grandmother, Jet Johnson, known only to her through family stories and photographs. Not long before Johnson was murdered, she asked one of her sons to note the strength of a bundle of twigs – as opposed to an individual twig – and see it as a metaphor for family strength – a metaphor originated by an earlier Appalachian – the warrior Tecumseh. In “Raft Tide and Railroad,” the author has preserved her family’s history and recognized its strength through accounts that span seven generations of experiences in Virginia, Kentucky, and West Virginia from the early 1800s to the present. SOFTBACK VERSION By Edwina Pendarvis
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Presidents have been visiting Kentucky since 1819 arriving by horseback, carriage, train, steamboat, bus, and airplane. Presidential Visits to Kentucky: 1819-2017 details more than 120 occasions when the President of the United States came to the Commonwealth. It chronicles when the president came, why, where he went, and who he saw as he made history. HARDBACK VERSION By Wayne Onkst
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Sharon McDonald grew up on a farm near Shelbyville in Bedford County, Tennessee, and, more the seven decades later, she still lives in the same house and on that same land, Her story of family live covers four generations, It is a strong contribution to our understanding of the hard-working middle class that has made America a great nation - a middle class that is beginning to appear more frequently in Appalachian memoirs. It is a gracefully written remembrance that neither exploits nor exaggerates the difficulties of rural life in southern Appalachia. It is a rich tapestry of the work, emotions, thoughts, and words of a family that represents millions of unrecognized rural people who are the true flesh and blood of history. SOFTBACK By Sharon McDonald
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Throughout these stories the Kentucky hill country is a persuasive evocative background. It is in this land of sharp contrasts and powerful traditions, between barren, razorbacked hills of rock and yellow clay and lush green valleys, that a proud people act out the daily drama of their lives, here recorded by Jesse Stuart's sensitive pen. By Jesse Stuart
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Jesse Stuart Junior Book A Penny's Worth of Character is a lesson in honesty that the reader, young or old, will not easily forget. This delightful story is full of details from Stuart's; native eastern Kentucky. Shan Shelton is going to the store for his mother. If he had a dime, he could buy his favorite treat, a chocolate bar and a lemon soda pop. SOFTBACK By Jesse Stuart
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Patriots & Heroes: Eastern Kentucky Soldiers of WW II profiles the physical pain, and also the psychological and emotional stress suffered by a dozen of America's Citizen Soldiers in WW II. Their stories are representative of the courage, suffering, sacrifice and separation faced by the American GIs of that war. Included among these twelve are stories of POWs, KIAs, MIAs and many that returned home safely to become valuable, productive members of their community. The author uses interviews, letters, documents, and personal experiences to poignantly present their stories. HARDBACK By Jack D. Ellis