Books in the New Books for New Readers series

"e; Headless visions -- howls and moans -- ghostly ladies dressed in black and white -- a fiddling spirit dancing on the road. Such are the sights and sounds that inhabit the pages of Lynwood Montell's Kentucky Ghosts. This collection is representative of the rich tradition of ghost or "e;haint"e; tales passed on through the ages and across cultures as a way of dealing with death and the lore of the spirit world. In retelling the tales, Montell has included details about architecture, geography, and local culture. Each tale is told in the voice of the narrator who believe the story to be true. And, who knows... ?

"e;When Thomas Jefferson sent a team of explorers to discover a way to the Pacific Ocean two hundred years ago, the western border of the United States was the Mississippi River. It was Jefferson's dream to uncover the mysteries of the distant lands beyond. In 1803, the president sent a team of thirty men, lead by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, up the Missouri River, across the Rocky Mountains, down the Columbia River to the Pacific, and back home again. During this monumental, two-and-a-half-year expedition, Lewis and Clark gathered samples of plants, animals, and Indian crafts. Into the Wilderness describes the difficult yet successful journey that made these men the celebrated heroes they are today. James J. Holmberg, curator of special collections at the Filson Historical Society, is the author of Dear Brother: Letters of William Clark to Jonathan Clark.

Here are three tragedies from early Kentucky history: the defeat of a small army of Kentuckians by Indians at Blue Licks in 1782, the murder of a slave by two of Thomas Jefferson's nephews in western Kentucky in 1807, and the bizarre Beauchamp-Sharp murder in Frankfort in 1825. Taylor mixes history with good storytelling and a look at how human shortcomings sometimes lead to ruin.

"e; Inspiring short biographies of some of Kentucky's unsung heroines -- Jenny Wiley, Lucy Audubon, Malinda Gatewood Bibb, Laura Clay, Enid Yandell, Cora Wilson Stewart, Mary Breckinridge, Alice Allison Dunnigan, and Loretta Lynn. These women had a vision of a better life for themselves and for others and the courage to make their ideas become real.

"e; Kentucky Home Place tells of eight generations of the fictitious Boyd Family, whose story begins in 1799 with a Western Kentucky land claim and continues through the present. The Boyds work hard to keep the family farm, facing their daily tasks with hope and determination. As a member of the family tells her grandson, "e;"e;The farm is special because it is our family home and the home of those who came before us. It is important for every person to know who they are and where they came from."e;"e;

"e; Thicker'n fiddlers in hell. Independent as a hog on ice. If a bride makes her own clothes, it's bad luck. It'll snow in May if it thunders in February. How's a hen on a fence like a penny? What's the reddest side of an apple? Learn what folklore and folk culture are and enjoy a generous helping of sayings, rhymes, songs, tall tales, superstitions and riddles from Kentucky.

"e;The reader gets to play detective in four mysteries from Kentucky's past -- the disappearances of James Harrod and "e;Honest Dick"e; Tate, the battlefield death of Indian chief Tecumseh, and the assassination of William Goebel. James Klotter offers clues but leaves the solution to the reader. James Klotter is Kentucky State Historian and professor of History at Georgetown University and is the author of A New History of Kentucky, History Mysteries, Our Kentucky, Kentucky: Land of Tomorrow, Kentucky: Portrait in Paradox, Kentucky: Decades of Discord, William Goebbel, and Faces of Kentucky.

"e; Deep in the center of every tree, you'll find the heartwood. The characters in this new book by poet Nikky Finney are the heartwood of their small Kentucky communities. You'll meet Buck Jones and Mae Bennet, whose anger has twisted them up inside, Queenie Sims and Arizona Scott, who can see the good in people, and Trina Sims and Jenny Bryan, two young women who discover how much they are alike despite their different skin color.

"e; "e;I don't agree with all the choices people make,"e; says the author. "e;You probably won't either. My job is to let them tell their stories."e; And so she does in these thirteen warm, funny, and sad short stories about people making hard decisions for themselves and for their families: * Like Iona, who accidentally accepts a marriage proposal * And Daryll, just about to graduate from high school, whose mother is eager for him to "e;make something"e; of himself. * And Lexie and Jeb, deep in debt and already struggling to feed their six children, who find out a seventh is on the way.

Most towns did not have hospitals of their own before the mid-twentieth century, and Kentucky towns were no exception. Kentucky's first real hospital opened in 1823, but it was in Louisville -- too far away to serve many Kentucky communities, especially in cases of emergency. For this and other reasons, the lifespan of the average Kentuckian in the 1800s was only 40 years. Today it has grown to 75, and trained medical professionals are available to most communities throughout the state. Healing Kentucky tells how medical care changed in Kentucky over 200 years and became the much safer and better system we know today. It also describes early healing practices and methods used to care for the sick in the days before safe hospitals, even on Civil War battlefields. From cholera epidemics to polio and plastic surgery, readers will learn much about the people who shaped medicine in Kentucky.

This is an account of a Native American family in central Kentucky in the year 1585. Then they move to their winter hunting camp, where they process nuts, make arrows, and hunt and butcher animals in preparation for the winter.

It is easy to forget the difficulties many of our ancestors faced when fighting for the rights we now enjoy. Fights for Rights explains our everyday rights of free speech and religion, the rights of the accused, and how our Constitution guarantees these rights for all people, including women and African Americans.