Click the cover to purchase Mountain Voices: Illuminating the Character of West Virginia $3 of the purchase price goes directly to West Virginia Writers, the largest non-profit writers' resource organization serving literary interests in West Virginia.
Thirty-plus stories, essays, and poems by two dozen writers make up this anthology published by The Roundtable, West Virginia Writers's online group.
By turns emotive and entertaining, the stories, essays, and poems in Mountain Voices paint a rich and meaningful portrait of West Virginia's people. True to the mountaineer spirit, the anthology "depicts scenes and events shaped by geography, landscape, and memory." ~~ Lawrence J. McKenzie, English Instructor at West Virginia University, Parkersburg.
The lead story, Ginger Hamilton Caudill's "Taking Grandma Home", is a tale that begins with nostalgic memories of the family farm and quickly turns into a hilarious, if gritty, journey by a family on a mission of remembrance.
Patsy Evans Pittman's "Like A Gift" shows how a widow outfoxes a city slicker attempting to cheat her out of her land for the underlying oil reserves.
The Angel and the Dog, by Ed Davis, author of I Was So Much Older Then; Healing Art;, Whispering Leaves; Haskell; and The Measure of Everything, is a compelling story about a preacher trying to come to terms with his belief and unbelief.
Elegy for my Father, a poem by Wilma Acree, author of About Bee Robbing and Other Things and Wilma Acree: Greatest Hits 1985-2000, recreates remarkable word pictures from the mind of a little tomboy who remembers good times with her farmer father.
I hope you buy this book. I promise you'll enjoy it, and you're contributing to a good cause. ~~GHC
Friday was the last day of elementary school for my fifth-grader, KJ. At breakfast, she and the other fifth graders helped the cafeteria ladies by finishing off the leftover chocolate milk and food. Desks and lockers were emptied of a year's accumulation of papers, pencils, erasers and an umbrella here and there. She assisted her teacher, Mr. Heyliger, to cover the desks with plastic so they won't get dusty over the summer. After the room was secured, the toys he'd confiscated during the year were returned to their owners. 
A generous two-hour recess spent on the playground preceded another session of helping the cafeteria ladies finish off their excess groceries during lunch. The fifth-graders then returned to their classroom for final good-byes and an end-of-school party. Few refreshments were consumed, but the students had fun scribbling their names and phone numbers on each other's notebooks, T-shirts, and book bags. Before they knew it, the final bell rang. 
A rousing cheer went up from the hall as the fifth graders poured out of their classroom. Kindergartners standing on both sides of the hallway began to clap. A pattering of applause sounded from the stairwell. The rest of the school's students lined three flights of stairs leading to the front door. 
As the fifth graders made their way to the first floor, the applause blossomed into a deafening roar of enthusiastic clapping and yells of encouragement. Staff members flanked the walk down to the front gate. They stood with bowed heads as KJ and her classmates walked through the gate and left elementary school for the last time.