Books by Kevin Prochaska

Langston "Bitsy" Pittman is born a Mulatto, undersized and glaringly biracial. When he is five years old, Bitsy's black mother enrolls him in the Second Street Christian School, the only student there of African descent. His white father abandons the family shortly afterwards, and Bitsy's mother dies of a massive heart attack a few years later. The boy turns bitter, blaming his mother's death on a God who could have saved her but failed to do so. Bitsy renounces his faith, quits school, and eventually turns to a life of crime. One night, many years later, Bitsy sets out to burglarize a liquor store but discovers that the police have staked it out. Furious, he stumbles upon his former school and breaks in. In a bizarre twist of circumstances, he finds himself trapped inside the building as the new day dawns. Bitsy is forced to flee to the attic, and through vents in the floor, watches as the school day unfolds in the classrooms below.

In the Far North, a secret river of gold containing riches beyond imagination beckons young Billy Gaynor. Billy sets out from Minnesota to San Francisco, and as he travels, gains an appreciation of his heritage from famous soldiers, adventurers, inventors, and statesmen he meets whose deeds have helped forge the nation. Billy reaches Seattle just as a ship brimming with tons of gold arrives from the Klondike, and as gold fever ignites the country, Billy is swept headlong into the Great Klondike Gold Rush. Billy fights his way across five hundred miles of treacherous mountains and raging rivers to arrive in Dawson City, a wild boomtown where the most bizarre scenes are everyday occurrences. Finding the rich claims already taken, Billy opens a bakery and operates a coalmine. . His exploits are many, including saving the life of a freezing Indian; hunting down a gold thief; uncovering a mysterious bog man; panning for gold in an outhouse;and discovering heart-fluttering revelations regarding the fairer sex.

Perhaps you thought you'd heard all there was to tell about my little Iowa town when you read A Shot Heard 'Round. Well, so did I, but I do believe we missed a few good tales, so I'm telling them here.Apology is a small Iowa town of five hundred or so, located in southern Corwith County. Its citizens are generally good people, and they won't hesitate to tell you that if you have a mind to ask. They're God-fearing souls, and come in a wide assortment of size and peculiarities. The town is a tad over a mile long, and people are especially proud of the business district. There's Merle's Grocery Store, Shilling's Barbershop, Rutland's General Store, Anita's Cafe, the Post Office, and Duffy's Tavern, all conveniently located right on Main Street in the middle of town. St. John's Church is up at the east end, just across the street from the water tower, and the big grain elevator sits just north of the downtown, looking down over Fremont Lumber and Supply.Mayor Owen Fuller runs the town, and Sheriff Everett Hiram, a bit of a rogue, is perfectly content to let Owen live under that illusion. Old Duke McCalley, Everett's use-only-when-desperate deputy, keeps the sheriff's days interesting with his often-zany antics. Then there's town busybody fat Viola Vanderhoff, farmer Irk Hickenlooper, saintly Father John Coleman, avid fisherman Flem Frederickson, gentle giant Tiny Fremont, ace mechanic Plit Butler, skyward-sprawling Tall George Himmel, meek killer Olaf Clancy, deadly pistoleers Deke and Durham Petler, chubby cafe owner Anita Biningham, retired pest exterminator Phil Granger, veterinarian Taylor Cantrell, grocer Merle Oaken, and scowling Grumpy Donahue. And there's many more. So what say you start turning these pages and find out what they're up to today.