Amy Barickman’s Vintage Notions by Amy Barickman
Inspired by Kansan Mary Brooks Picken, a pioneer in the domestic arts and an authority on dressmaking, Vintage Notions includes inspirational essays and projects for each month of the year. The pages are embellished with vintage fabrics and notions, crafting ideas, sewing patterns and seasonal recipes. Barickman inspires readers to enjoy hobbies that promise personal reward, potential financial reward, and personal fulfillment.
And Hell Followed With It: Life and Death in a Kansas Tornado by Bonar Menninger
On June 8, 1966, a massive EF-5 tornado cut a 22-mile swath across eastern Kansas and straight through the state’s capital city. In the aftermath, 16 people were dead, more than 500 were injured, and property damage reached $100 million. It became known as the most destructive tornado in U.S. history up to that time. Author Bonar Menninger interviewed dozens of survivors to construct a narrative that conveys in detail the disaster. Dozens of remarkable photographs document the devastation.
Appetite for America: How Visionary Businessman Fred Harvey Built a Railroad Hospitality Empire that Civilized the Wild West by Stephen Fried
Appetite for America is the story of Fred Harvey as well as the story of expansion into the Wild West and the heyday of the railroad. Harvey’s staff, known as the celebrated Harvey Girls, were renowned as the country’s first female workforce. Stephen Fried portrays Harvey as a visionary who built his business from a single lunch counter into a family empire. Photos and never-before-published recipes enhance the historical biography.
Baking With Friends: Recipes, Tips, and Fun Facts for Teaching Kids to Bake by Sharon Davis and Charlene Patton
Authors Sharon Davis and Charlene Patton collaborated on a children’s cookbook peppered with lessons, hints and educational facts to share in the kitchen. Attention is given to nutritional facts, cooking vocabulary, and colorful illustrations. Thirty tasty, healthy recipes will be a hit in most homes.
Bound by Antonya Nelson
A young wife and older, entrepreneurial husband are negotiating their age differences and well-concealed secrets. As a serial adulterer, Oliver has just fallen in love again. Placid and content, Catherine suddenly becomes guardian to a teenage girl when a long-forgotten high school friend dies. Public and private obligations change for the couple as local news reports turn up the volume on the reappearance of a serial killer. Nelson was named to the 2010 Kansas Notable Books list.
Crossing the Tracks by Barbara Stuber
Barbara Stuber’s debut novel is the story of one dusty summer and Iris, a 15-year-old girl who struggles to cast aside her grief and learn to trust, hope, and love. She is buoyed by the understanding of the woman she cares for, but just as she starts to break out of her shell, tragedy strikes. Iris must find the fortitude to discover who she is.
A Distant Home by George Paris
It’s 1920 in western Kansas and the house David promised his bride Emily remains unfinished due to the previous summers’ failed wheat crop. Forced to move into the crowded home of her extended family, Emily is miserable. In addition, the once sweet and lovable David is increasingly hostile toward her and their newborn daughter. Emily’s father seeks to rectify the situation for his daughter.
People: Life on the Ground in a Rectangular State by Cheryl Unruh
Flyover People is a compilation of 80 essays that demonstrate the author’s passion for Kansas. Unruh writes of Kansas topography, the wind, the sky, the people, the seasons, small towns and growing up in a dirt-street town of 400 residents. Each essay is a snapshot of a day in the life and is written from one Kansan to another.
Ghost Stories of the New West: From Einstein's Brain to Geronimo's Boots by Denise Low
Ghost Stories takes readers on a head-to-toe discovery of colliding cultures, shifting winds, and legendary figures who still populate the Great Plains. Low brings to life Native and settler heritages, expanding this genre to include historic figures, memorabilia, geology, and finally, herself. This is Low’s third appearance on the Kansas Notable Books list.
Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project by Jack Mayer
During World War II, Polish, Catholic social worker Irena Sendler, organized a rescue network to save 2,500 Jewish children in the Warsaw ghetto. After the war her heroism was suppressed and remained unknown for 60 years. In 2003, three southeast Kansas high school students discovered her story and fashioned it into a National History Day project. Mayer weaves two generations and two stories into a larger saga that gives new meaning and relevance to the Holocaust.
Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
Twelve-year-old Abilene is the daughter of a drifter who, in the summer of 1936, sends her to stay with an old friend in Manifest, Kansas. After finding a hidden box with memorabilia, Abilene learns that this new town holds old secrets and old grudges. As Manifest’s secrets are uncovered, Abilene weaves her own history and learns about her father’s youth. Wichita author Clare Vanderpool received the Newbery Medal for this story based on her ancestors, and the real, southeastern Kansas town of Frontenac.
A Prairie Peter Pan: The Story of Mary White by Beverley O. Buller
Mary White's brief life was characterized with spunk and spirit leaving their mark on her hometown. After her death, her father, William Allen White, poured his heart into a renowned loving essay that left its mark on American literature. William Allen White was a small-town newspaper editor with a national reputation. The compelling and often reprinted article he wrote about Mary’s life and untimely death, has allowed her to stay forever young and alive, like Peter Pan. Buller is making her second appearance on the Kansas Notable Books list.
Prairie Rhythms: The Life and Poetry of May Williams Ward by Lana Wirt Myers
Prairie Rhythms is a montage of poetry and autobiographical writing. Enhanced by Myers’ biographical detail, photographs, and Ward’s own block prints, the book captures the essence of a Kansas poet who knows Kansas. A definitive addition to Kansas literary writing, this book secures Ward’s place as one of Kansas’ finest poets.
The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard
One beautiful summer afternoon, Jody Linder receives shocking news: The man convicted of murdering her father is being released from prison and returning to the small town of Rose, Kansas. It’s been 23 years since a stormy night left her father shot and killed, and her mother gone, presumed dead. The protective embrace of her family hasn’t erased the pain of that catastrophic night. Author Nancy Pickard is an awardwinning mystery writer and a 2007 Notable Books List author, who calls Kansas home.
Crossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Sixteen-year-old Digger thrives as a spy and sneak-thief. When a routine job goes wrong and her partner and lover Tegen is killed, she has to get away, fast, and hides herself in a merry group of nobles to do so. Accepted as a lady's maid, Digger finds peace and friendship in her new position, as well as jewels for the taking. After being caught in the act of thievery, Digger realizes her hosts may place her at the heart of a rebellion. Bunce was named to the 2010 Kansas Notable Books list as well.
