Local Authors Past and Present
Work in progress here -- the field is richer than first envisioned. We hope to incorporate past authors (Marianne Moore, Jean Craighead George, Hugh Henry Brackenridge, and so on), present authors/illustrators (Amy Bates, Megan Lloyd-Thompson, Adrienne Su, Kim van Alkemade, Sherry Knowlton, and so on), and books from authors who knew the Valley well and wrote about events here (Lois Lenski, Lois Lowry, Conrad Richter, and so on). We will organize them with category headers for better searching and annotate them with the particulars as we work on this. Keep checking!
Up in the Air
Up in the Air
It is 1966 and America is changing. You see it in the fashions, hear it in the music, in the social mores and in the disturbing new ideas surfacing. Even steadfast rural Missouri cannot escape change and it comes in the form of a bitterly contested school consolidation mandate. Every little community in the country has a school. Students are surrounded by warmth and enthusiasm from adults who are dedicated to their education, proud of their achievements, and invested in their success. Now, outsiders want to change it all. Young people are thrust into the eye of an emotional maelstrom as the small towns hold on for dear life to keep from losing their beloved schools.