ppalachian Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults

Compiled by Judy A. Teaford and Tina L. Hanlon

Note: Other nonfiction works for children and young adults may be listed on other AppLit pages. (See Additional AppLit Resources at the bottom of this page). Others will be added to this bibliography as time allows. There is information about Appalachia in most of the alphabet books listed in Realistic Appalachian Picture Books - Fantasy and Concept Books that Contain Realism. Many books of historical fiction and books on folklore also contain nonfiction background on people, places, and events. Some links on this page go to other AppLit pages with more resources on a particular book or subject. Other links go to web sites outside AppLit. Grade or age levels are listed for some books as they are designated by publishers or reviewers.

Aaseng, Nathan. Cherokee Nation v. Georgia: The Forced Removal of a People. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 2000. 96 pp. Describes the attempts to protect the rights of Cherokees living in Georgia beginning in the colonial period, including the landmark Supreme Court cases, Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia, and Worcester vs. Georgia (WorldCat).

Anderson, Joan. Pioneer Children of Appalachia. Photo. George Ancona. New York: Clarion, 1986.

Appelt, Kathi, and Jeanne Cannella Schmitzer. Down Cut Shin Creek: The Pack Horse Librarians of Kentucky. New York: HarperCollins, 2001. Tells the story of women in the Great Depression who were sent into the mountains of eastern KY by the Works Progress Administration. See cover and overview at Kathi Appelt web site.

Bail, Raymond. Mist Over the Mountains: Appalachia and Its People. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1997. Grades 4-7.

Bailey, Ann. For books about the legendary frontier heroine, see Furbee, below, and the AppLit bibliography page Mad Ann Bailey

Barrett, Tracy. The Trail of Tears: An American Tragedy. Logan, IA: Perfection Learning, 2000. 72 pp. Tells the story of the Cherokee Indians, from the Ice Age through the 20th Century (WorldCat).

Birchfield, D. L. The Trail of Tears. Milwaukee: World Almanac Library, 2004. 48 pp. Describes the history of the five tribes of Southeastern America: the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole, especially their forcible removal in the 19th century to the Great Plains (WorldCat).

Brill, Marlene Targ. The Trail of Tears: The Cherokee Journey from Home. Spotlight on American History. Brookfield, Conn.: Millbrook, 1995. 64 pp. Eight chapters with photographs, a map, illustrations and documents from historical sources, chronology, bibliographies, index. Artworks include the painting Trail of Tears by Elizabeth Janes, 1939. Available as an electronic book through NetLibrary at http://www.netLibrary.com/urlapi.asp?action=summary&v=1&bookid=32368.

Bruchac, Joseph. Trail of Tears. Illus. Diana Magnuson. New York: Random House, 1999. 48 pp.

Byers, Ann. The Trail of Tears: A Primary Source History of the Forced Relocation of the Cherokee Nation. New York: Rosen, 2004. 64 pp. Uses primary source documents, narrative, and illustrations to recount the history of the U.S. government's removal of the Cherokee from their ancestral homes in Georgia to Oklahoma in 1838 (WorldCat).

Clark, Electa. Cherokee Chief: The Life of John Ross. Illus. John Wagner. New York: Crowell-Collier, 1970. 118 pp. A biography of the Cherokee chief who struggled to maintain his tribe's independence and rights to its homeland (WorldCat).

Clay, Julie. The Stars That Shine. Illus. Dan Andreasen. New York: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, 2000. 101 pp. "Twelve of the biggest stars of country music share childhood memories and dreams with Julie Clay, who delights us with their stories. The stories they tell are as emotionally rich as the songs they sing. From the poignancy of Brenda Lee's relationship with her father to the comedy of Trisha Yearwood's early attempts at stardom, this is the book for families to read together, again and again. Each of the tales is followed by biographical information highlighting the artist's career and the background of the story" (Book Closeouts http://www.bookcloseouts.com/bc/display.book.asp?isbn=0689822022.)

Coblentz, Catherine Cate. Ah-yo-ka, Daughter of Sequoya. Illus. Janice Holland. Real People series. Evanston, IL: Row, Peterson, 1950. 36 pp. Sacramento: California State Dept. of Education, 1963.

Coblentz, Catherine Cate. Sequoya. Illus. Ralph Ray, Jr. New York: Longmans, 1946. 199 pp.

Cowan, Agnes, and Martin Cochran. Life of Famous Cherokee Men. Tahlequah, OK: Cherokee Bilingual Education Program, 1972. Contents: Sequoyah -- William Wirt Hastings -- Will Rogers -- Joe Thornton -- Elias Boudinot (WorldCat).

Crockett. See Davy Crockett and Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett.

Ebel, Julia Taylor. Addie Clawsen: Appalachian Mail Carrier. Illus. Sherry Jensen. Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 2004. Addie Clawsen carried mail in the Boone, NC area for 30 years beginning in 1936, when few other women held such jobs on rural routes. See page on this book in Julia Taylor Ebel's web site, with downloadable study guide.

Ebel, Julia Taylor. Orville Hicks: Mountain Stories, Mountain Roots. Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 2006. "A biography for ages 8 to adult," based on extensive conversations with members of the Hicks family. Includes about 80 photographs. See page on this book in Julia Taylor Ebel's web site.

Elish, Dan. The Trail of Tears: The Story of the Cherokee Removal. New York : Benchmark Books/Marshall Cavendish, 2001. 96 pp. Includes bibliographical references and index.

Felton, Harold W. Nancy Ward, Cherokee. Illus. Carolyn Bertrand. New York : Dodd, Mead, 1975. 89 pp. A brief biography of the eighteenth-century Cherokee Indian woman who did much to help her own people and to assist the colonists in their fight for independence (WorldCat).

Fremon, David K. The Trail of Tears. New York: New Discovery Books, 1994. 96 pp. Includes bibliographical references (p.94) and index.

Furbee, Mary R. Anne Bailey: Frontier Scout. Greensboro, NC: Morgan Reynolds, 2002. For reviews and additional information on author see Mary R. Furbee's web site.

Furbee, Mary R. Outrageous Women of Civil War Times. John Wiley & Sons, 2003. (Features Belle Boyd and other Appalachian women.) For reviews and additional information on author see Mary R. Furbee's web site.

Furbee, Mary R. Outrageous Women of Colonial America. John Wiley & Sons. (Features a few Appalachian women.) For reviews and additional information on author see Mary R. Furbee's web site.

Furbee, Mary R. Shawnee Captive: The Story of Mary Draper Ingles. Greensboro, NC: Morgan Reynolds, 2001. For reviews and additional information on author see Mary R. Furbee's web site.

Furbee, Mary R. Wild Rose: Nancy Ward and the Cherokee Nation. Greensboro, NC: Morgan Reynolds, 2001. For reviews and additional information on author see Mary R. Furbee's web site.

Gravelle, Karen. An Appalachian Childhood: Growing Up in a Holler in the Mountains. New York: Franklin Watts, 1997. 64 pp. "Presents a description of contemporary life in the Appalachian Region of Kentucky while focusing on the home and activities of ten-year-old Joseph Ratliff and his family" (Book Summary). A good variety of photographs, and a map (showing the area of Martin, Kentucky, and a smaller inset map that includes surrounding states), add meaningful information to the text of the book.

Griggs, Leland. Posted: No Trespassing. Illus. Russell Jewell. Pickens, SC: Meadow Spring Publishing, 2001. The author and illustrator are both Appalachian naturalists. Inspired by Thoreau, the book portrays the author's attempt to claim an abandoned farm that had been taken over by many kinds of wildlife. "Griggs . . . provides a clear message that humans, animals and nature can live in harmony if external forces do not disrupt its delicate and intricate balance. . . . As the illustration and text reveal, a hasty governmental act could cause this ecosystem to die." Quotation from Review by Bea Bailey in ALCA-Lines: Journal of the Assembly on the Literature and Culture of Appalachia, vol. IX (2001): 16-17.

Hamilton, Virginia. Many Thousand Gone: African Americans from Slavery to Freedom. Illus. Leo and Diane Dillon. New York: Knopf, 1993. See cover and details at Virginia Hamilton web site. Labeled a companion to The People Could Fly, with a similar cover illustration, this book tells many historical stories (not all Appalachian) of the slave trade, runaway slaves, and the coming of Emancipation or Jubilee. It describes little-known and famous African Americans and their helpers on the Underground Railroad, such as Harriet Tubman, Fredrick Douglass, Nat Turner, Equiano, and the fictional Eliza in H. B. Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, who escaped from Kentucky with her children. Several of the stories important to Appalachian history also describe escapes across the Ohio River from southern states. "Exodus to Freedom" tells of Margaret Garner, who tried to escape with her family from Boone Country, KY, was caught in Cincinnati, and killed her daughter because she would rather have her children dead than in slavery. "An Unnamed Fugitive" is about an escaped slave who found work during the Civil War with the Union army in a WV regiment. Major Sherwood was then almost court-martialed for refusing to return fugitive slaves to their owners.

Heinrichs, Ann. West Virginia. This Land Is Your Land. Minneapolis: Compass Point Books, 2004. 48 pp. "This information-packed book is perfect for getting to know and writing about West Virginia.... history, geography, and culture. Colorful images and original maps further provide a unique portrait of the 'Mountain State'" (back cover). There is a page on famous West Virginians. The only literary writer discussed is Pearl Buck. Includes index.

Hoig, Stan. Night of the Cruel Moon: Cherokee Removal and the Trail of Tears. New York: Facts on File, 1996. 138 pp. A narrative history of the removal by white Americans of the Cherokee peoples from their eastern homeland to the Indian territory now known as Oklahoma (WorldCat).

Houston, Gloria. My Great-Aunt Arizona. Illus Susan Condie Lamb. New York: HarperCollins, 1992. Rather than the stereotypical picture of uneducated, ignorant Appalachians, Houston’s book offers a more valid picture of real teachers and one-room schools in the Appalachian region. This is a moving story of a lively, loving woman (Houston's real great-aunt) who dedicated her life to teaching, showing the scope of her life in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC from childhood through 57 years of teaching and old age. She did her duty to her family as well as pursuing her own dream of going off to school and becoming a teacher. See more details in HarperCollins web pages on the book, author, and illustrator; Review at Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site; and Lesson plan by Nancy Polette, 1999, in Nancy Polette's Children's Literature Site.

Ivey, Jennie, Calvin Dickinson, and Lisa Rand. Tennessee Tales the Textbooks Don't Tell. Johnson City, TN: Overmountain Press, 2002. 200 pp. See Overmountain web site for summary and picture.

Joseph, Judith Pinkerton. Mother Jones: Fierce Fighter for Workers' Rights. Minneapolis: Lerner, 1997. Grades 5-9. Biography.

Kalantzis, Mary, Bill Cope, Maurice Leonhardt, Sava Pinney, and Lenore Filson. 3rd ed. Ecosystems: The Cherokee and Their Environment. Sydney: Common Ground, 1986. 131 pp.

Labella, Susan. West Virginia. Rookie Read-About Geography. New York: Children's Press/Scholastic, 2006. 31 pp. A little book for beginning readers with color photos, maps, and review of "Words You Know." This series also includes books on other Appalachian states.

Landau, Elaine. The Cherokees. New York: F. Watts, 1992. 61 pp. Discusses the history, customs, and current situation of the Cherokee Indians.

Long, Cathryn J. The Cherokee. San Diego, Calif.: Lucent Books, 2000. 96 pp. Discusses the traditional life of the Cherokee peoples in the southern Appalachian Mountains, their beliefs and sense of community, culture, their forced migration along the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma, and life in the twentieth century and beyond.

Lyon, George Ella. A Wordful Child. Photo. Ann W. Olson. Meet the Writer Series. New York: Richard C. Owen, 1996. Autobiography for children with photographs.

McKissack, Patricia and Frederick L. McKissack. Booker T. Washington: Leader and Educator. Great African Americans series. Illus. Michael Bryant. Chicago: Children's Press, 1991, revised ed. 2001.

Mad Ann Bailey. See bibliography page at this link and Furbee, above, for books about the legendary frontier heroine.

Mader, Jan. Appalachian Mountains. Rookie Read-About Geography series. New York: Scholastic, 2004. Summary: "An introduction to the Appalachian Mountains, which run through eighteen states." Short texts for early readers and listeners (31 pp., 333 words). Beautiful photographs from a variety of sources, with the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC on the cover.

McNeil, Nellie, and Joyce Squibb, ed. A Southern Appalachian Reader. Boone, NC: Appalachian Consortium Press, 1989. This textbook with teaching aids is designed for high school students. It contains both fiction and nonfiction. Nonfiction chapters include: How America Came to the Mountains, Moving Mountains: The Struggles of the Coal Industry, The Change Hits Home, Appalachian Emigration, and The Sense of Place in Appalachian Writing.

Meyers, Madeleine. The Cherokee Nation: Life Before the Tears. Perspectives on History Series. Lowell, MA: Discovery Enterprises, 1994. 60 pp.

Miller, Connie R. The Cherokee. Uncovering Native American History Series. Minneapolis: Lake Street, 2003. Contents: Who are the Cherokee? -- Finding a basket -- Finding a pottery piece -- Finding a blowgun -- Finding a quartz crystal (WorldCat).

Owens, Martha Galyon. A Tennessee Journey: Student Interactive Workbook. Johnson City, TN: Overmountain Press. Uses a coloring book format for a tour flying across the state with Lady Bug and Firefly. See cover and description at Overmountain Press.

Patterson, Lillie. Sequoyah: The Cherokee Who Captured Words. Illus. Herman B. Vestal. Champaign, IL: Garrard, 1975. 80 pp. A biography of the Cherokee Indian who did what white scholars said could not be done when he invented a syllabary for writing the Cherokee language (WorldCat).

Ransom, Candice. Daniel Boone. History Makers Bios. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2005. Five chapters with old and new illustrations, Timeline, a page on continuing influences, references, and index.

Rookie Read-About Geography Series. New York: Children's Press/Scholastic. Little books on each state for beginning readers, with color photos and maps. See Labella, above.

Roop, Peter and Connie. If You Lived With the Cherokee. Illus. Kevin Smith. New York: Scholastic, 1998. Grades 3-5.

Rylant, Cynthia. Appalachia: The Voices of Sleeping Birds. Illus. Barry Moser. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1991. picture book about children in mid-twentieth-century Appalachia.

Rylant, Cynthia. Best Wishes. Photo. Carlo Ontal. Meet the Writer Series. New York: Richard C. Owen, 1992. Autobiography for children with photographs.

Scarbro, Maxine Sewell. One Room School Games: Children's Games of Yesteryear. Charleston, WV: Mountain Memories Books, 1992. 64 pp. Scarbro's aunt, Kathryn Hypes, was a teacher in the one-room Legg School on Stringtown Road in Fayette County, WV. Scarbro, who retired from a career with the Dept. of Natural Resources, grew up on Oppossum Creek near Ansted and often visited her aunt and uncle less than a mile away, where they played many traditional games. The book includes jump rope rhymes, short explanations of many games, line drawings by Dianna Zendigan Thomas of Elkview, a cover painting of a 1906 school recess in Wetzel County by New Martinsville artist Glen Barnes, and a photograph of Campbell School in Barbour County, the poem "One Room School" by Bernice Dunn, and an index.

Sherrow, Victoria. Cherokee Nation v. Georgia: Native American Rights. Springfield, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 1997. 128 pp. Discusses the cases brought by the Cherokee Nation and its supporters against the state of Georgia beginning in the 1830s to protect the rights of the Cherokee living there (WorldCat).

Shull, Peg. Children of Appalachia. New York: Simon & Schuster/ Julian Messner, 1969. Based on real people from Bell County, Kentucky, this book contains photographs taken by the writer. 95 pages.

Smith, Lee, ed. Sitting on the Courthouse Bench: An Oral History of Grundy, Virginia. Oral History by Grundy High School Students. Chapel Hill, NC: Tryon, 2000.

Smucker, Anna. A History of West Virginia, a book for adult new readers commissioned by the West Virginia Humanities Council, was published in 1997. It is being translated into Japanese. An Online Version of A History of West Virginia for New Readers, including Workbook Chapters, is available through West Virginia Humanities Council, edited and produced by Therese M. Hess for The West Virginia Humanities Council.

Sneve, Virginia Driving Hawk. The Cherokees: A First Americans Book. Illus. Ronald Himler. New York: Holiday House, 1996. Grades 4-7.

Sneve, Virginia Driving Hawk. The Iroquois: A First Americans Book. New York: Holiday House, 1995.

Sonneborn, Liz. The Cherokee. New York: Franklin Watts, 2003. 63 pp. Contents: Origins -- Meeting strangers -- Learning new ways -- Trail of Tears -- A divided nation -- The modern Cherokee (WorldCat).

Stein, Conrad. West Virginia. America the Beautiful Series. Chicago, IL: Children's Press, 1991. 144 pp. Discusses the geography, history, people, government, economy, and recreation of West Virginia (Summary).

Stevenson, Augusta. Daniel Boone: Young Hunter and Tracker. Illus. Robert Doremus. Childhood of Famous Americans Series.

Stewart, Philip. Cherokee. Philadelphia: Mason Crest, 2004. 94 pp. Contents: History -- Stories of the People -- Current Government -- Religion -- Social Structures Today -- Arts and Culture -- Contributions to the World -- The Future (WorldCat).

Sullivan, Ken (ed). The Goldenseal Book of the West Virginia Mine Wars. Illus. Lisa George. Charleston, West Virginia: Pictorial Histories Publishing, 1991. Grades 4-11. Goldenseal magazine puts together some of the best articles ever written on this historic period. Authors include Lon Savage, Lois McLean, and Topper Sherwood; topics include Sid Hatfield, Mother Jones, Bill Blizzard, C.E. Lively, and Don Chafin.

Summers, Thomas O. Joseph Brown or, The Young Tennessean. New York: Garland, 1977. 126 pp. Recounts the life of a young boy captured in Tennessee in 1785 by a band of Cherokee and Creek Indians (WorldCat).

This Land Is Your Land Series. Minneapolis: Compass Point Books, 2004. Many kinds of information, images and maps of each of the fifty states, D. C., and Puerto Rico. See Heinrichs, above.

Todd, Anne M. Cherokee: An Independent Nation. Mankato, MN: Bridgestone Books, 2003. 48 pp. Contents: The Cherokee -- Life Among the Cherokee -- Conflicts and Cultural Exchange -- Life in a Modern World -- Sharing the Old Ways (WorldCat).

Walser, Richard Gaither. Picturebook of Tar Heel Authors. Raleigh, NC: State Dept. of Archives and History, 1957. (children's book cited in VA Authors as including Richard Chase)

Warmuth, Donna Akers. Abingdon, Virginia: Images of America. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2002. 128 pp. "This is a collection of historic photographs and postcards of Abingdon, Virginia. The history of this unique town is shown through fascinating, rare images of buildings, churches, schools, streets, people and businesses. The history of Abingdon comes alive for the reader" (Donna Akers Warmuth).

Warmuth, Donna Akers. Boone, North Carolina: Images of America. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2003. 128 pp. "Collection of 200 historic photographs and postcards of Boone, showing its growth from a hunting camp to the thriving diverse college town of today" (Donna Akers Warmuth).

Wells, Rosemary. Mary on Horseback: Three Mountain Stories. New York: Dial, 1998. Grades 3-6. Biography of the famous nurse Mary Breckenridge.

Whitaker, Kent. Why are the Mountains Smoky? Neat Facts About the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Illus. Kent Whitaker. Johnson City, TN: Overmountain Press, 2004. See the Trivia Page in AppLit for an interesting tidbit of information on this particular book.

White, Anne Terry. The False Treaty: The Removal of the Cherokees from Georgia. New York: Scholastic, 1970. 128 pp. Traces the history of the Cherokee Indians from 1600 to 1839 when their struggle to save their land was lost and they were forcibly removed to the West (WorldCat).

Zaunders, Bo. The Great Bridge-Building Contest. Illus. Roxie Munro. New York: Abrams, 2004. Picture book about a contest to design a bridge across the Tygart River to Philippi, WV. Lemuel Chenoweth (1811-87) used simple oak sticks to construct his model in front of state delegates and other contestants in Richmond. Then he propped his model on two chairs and walked on it to show its extraordinary strength. In 1852 the bridge "became the pride of Philippi, and the wonder of the whole region." Citizens saved it from destruction by the Union Army and it is the only covered bridge on a federal highway today. Famous covered bridges across America are depicted at the end of the book, as well as a brief biography of Chenoweth (who spent his life in Beverly, WV) and photographs. The illustrator is Chenoweth's great-great-great-granddaughter. The illustrations "are line drawings painted with a layered watercolor technique using India and colored inks."

Additional AppLit Resources:

Davy Crockett and Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett
Mad Ann Bailey
Picture Books with Cherokee Themes
Nature and the Environment in Appalachian Literature
Realistic Appalachian Picture Books
Index of AppLit Pages by Genre: Nonfiction
Other Appalachian Literature for Adults about Childhood - lists some biographes

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This Page Created: 02/01/2003. Last Update: 05/28/2008
Links Checked: 08/26/2005

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