Nebraska-Produced Books and Nebraska Authors

Titles produced by the Nebraska Library Commission

Literature

Ordinary Genius
by Thomas Fox Averill

Short stories about ordinary folks in Kansas who find mystery, magic, and transcendence in mundane life. The O. Henry Award-winning author is writer-in-residence and professor of English at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. Some strong language. 2005.
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The Burglar's Christmas
by Willa Cather

William Crawford has failed at many things in life. Down on his luck one Christmas Eve, he decides to see if he would fare any better at being a thief. After getting caught in the act of robbing a home, William ends up learning a lesson in redemption.
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It's Not Going to Kill You and Other Stories
by Erin Flanagan

A collection of sharp-witted and tenderhearted short stories about flawed but striving individuals who try to move beyond missed opportunities, missteps, and miscommunication. Some descriptions of sex and some strong language.
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Burying the Past
by Marcus Galloway

Former gunslinger Nick Graves now makes a modest living in the Dakota Territories by planning funerals. He accepts the mundane nature of his new existence until his previous partner in crime enters his life with a fresh scheme to pull off a potentially lucrative jewel heist. Attracted to the prospects of quick money, Nick must choose between the dangers of living with a price on his head and the tranquil routine of digging graves. Some descriptions of sex. Strong language. Violence.
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Wheeling Year
by Ted Kooser

Pulitzer Prize winner and former US poet laureate, Ted Kooser, covetous of his friend Keith Jacobshagen's journals of everyday observations, proceeds to write his own. This book contains Kooser's sketches and landscape studies made out of words, and [he has] thrown in a few observations about life.
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Nebraska Presence: An Anthology of Poetry
edited by Greg Kosmicki and Mary K. Stillwell

Includes poems by more than eighty contemporary Nebraska poets including Pulitzer Prize winner and former poet laureate of the United States Ted Kooser and Nebraska State Poet William Kloefkorn. 2007.
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Portrait of a Chair
by Marie Krohn

Following the death of her husband, Harriet Opens an antique store on Main Street in Elm Grove, Nebraska. A recently divorced younger woman, Rachel, an artist, asks to display one of her paintings in Harriet's store and ends up renting Harriet's upstairs apartment. When a vase disappears from the store, their friendship is tested but endures, and the actual shoplifter is discovered.
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Breezes on their Way to Being Winds
by Charles Peek

Nebraska poet Charles Peek explores family, relationships, the passage of time, and the musical fabric of modern life in this collection of recent poems. Often-missed significant moments in everyday life are brought into the foreground in lyric and narrative passages that shine with a love of language.
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The Meaning of Names
by Karen Gettert Shoemaker

Gerda Vogel and family faithfully attend to the daily chores of their 1918 rural life around Stuart, Nebraska. Traveling by train to attend an aunt’s funeral, Gerda experiences anti-German immigrant sentiments beginning to sweep the Midwest in the midst of World War I. The prejudice encroaches closer to home when the local café replaces sauerkraut with “liberty cabbage” and German books are removed from libraries. Meanwhile, longtime local doctor Ed Gannoway begins his relationship with new parish priest Father Jungels on a sour note. As the war rages on and illness sweeps the countryside, the people of Stuart must learn to set aside their differences and come together in the name of survival. 2014.
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Outside Valentine
by Liza Ward

In the 1950s, Charles Starkweather, accompanied by his girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate, terrorized Nebraska and Wyoming through a spree of eleven murders. In this novel, three voices tell how that shocking violence left an indelible mark on three generations. The first voice, belonging to Fugate, tells how she was consumed by love and craziness. The second voice belongs to a girl of similar age who is enthralled by accounts of the tragedy. Finally, the third voice belongs to a grown man who was suddenly orphaned while in prep school by the Starkweather killings. Unrated. 2005.
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A Claim of Her Own
by Stephanie Grace Whitson

1876. Mattie escapes from an unhappy job in a gambling saloon and from its abusive owner in order to find her brother, a young gold miner in Deadwood. When she learns of her brother ’s fate, she decides to work his claim rather than sell it. Even as she learns to pan for gold, she also has to learn to trust others, including a young street preacher whom she fears has something to hide. Unrated. 2009.
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Footprints on the Horizon
by Stephanie Grace Whitson

Nebraska, 1945. Josephine, daughter of the Reverend Hale, spend the summer on her aunt’s ranch. There she encounters Dieter Brock, a German prisoner of war being held locally at Fort Robinson. Dieter takes an interest in both Jo and her father’s sermons, though the town and Jo’s mother disapprove.
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Biography

Seldom Seen: A Journey into the Great Plains
by Patrick Dobson

In 1994, Patrick Dobson felt trapped and lost in a stupefying job with child support and other pressing obligations. He remembered fondly his childhood camping trips into the Great Plains and the sense of freedom they gave him. A year later, he set out to walk from Missouri to Montana, including a traverse from southeast Nebraska to the Wyoming border. His encounters included numerous individuals who “needed someone to listen to them as much as I needed someone to listen to me.” Some strong language. 2009.
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The Calamities of Kalamity Kate: A History of Nebraska’s Children’s TV Shows
by Leta Powell Drake

From 1967 to 1982, Leta Powell Drake hosted Cartoon Corral, a Nebraska children’s television program that aired on KOLN/KGIN-TV. The author chronicles her tenure as Kalamity Kate and provides an insider perspective on the history of children’s television in Nebraska. 2014.
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Backstage: Stories from My Life in Public Television
by Ronald Eugene Hull

Born to unwed parents but adopted by a loving couple in Rapid City, Hull went on to a distinguished, six-decade-long career in television. He worked with show-business celebrities and befriended famous Nebraskans such as Mari Sandoz and John Neihardt, brought television to war-torn Vietnam, and initiated the American Experience series for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. 2012.
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Talent and the Secret Life of Teams
by Terry Pettit

Former University of Nebraska volleyball coach led his team to twenty-one conference championships and an NCAA national championship. He now mentors coaches and leaders throughout the nation on team building, leadership development, and nurturing talent. 2008.
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Roy Bean
by C. L. Sonnichsen

Biography of the most scandalous of frontier justices of the peace—a seedy fellow who lived by his wits and handed down some weird decisions. Some strong language. 1946.
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Miss Adams, Country Teacher
by Treva Adams Strait

In 1928, at the age of 18, the author began her adventurous career as a teacher at the Wild Springs Ranch, on the western Nebraska prairie. During the next fourteen years, she went on to teach at five different country schools where the number of students ranged from six to thirty-six, spanning grades one through eight.
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Called to Justice: The Life of a Federal Trial Judge
by Warren K. Urbom

Raised on a small Nebraska farm during the 1930s, Warren Urbom graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan University and the University of Michigan Law School before being appointed in 1970 to a judgeship on the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska. Early in his judicial career, Judge Urbom was assigned a yearlong string of trials stemming from the American Indian Movement standoff at Wounded Knee. His memoir as a federal judge is interwoven with stories from his personal life, such as losing an eye as a three-year-old while shooting sparrows with his brother and the poignant account of losing his beloved wife to cancer after fifty-seven years of marriage. 2012.
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History

A Guide to the Ghosts of Lincoln
by Alan Boye

A general survey of ghostly sites in Lincoln, this expanded edition describes some of the most famous hauntings of the midwest—including the story of the ghost at the C.C. White building and the spirit at penitentiary field. Award winner.
DBC01970

The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
by Timothy Egan

Horrific account of life on the western Great Plains during the darkest years of the Depression, when drought and windstorms produced blinding black blizzards, crop failure, and even death. Based on interviews with survivors, diaries, and newspaper accounts, this book chronicles the dust bowl years of the 1930s that terrorized communities and the determination of those who stayed. 2006.
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Prairie Forge
by James J. Kimble

James J. Kimble chronicles the Nebraska scrap metal drive of 1942 that was developed by Omaha World-Herald publisher Henry Doorly. The Nebraska drive was so successful it provided the template for a national drive that would yield millions of tons of scrap metal to aid in arms production during World War II.
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The Middle of Everywhere
by Mary Bray Pipher

The newest members of America's family—the refugees—have fled oppressive regimes to live in Lincoln, Nebraska, and in every town across the United States. Bringing with them their own endurance to survive in the face of tragedy, they often come with nothing except the desire to live the American dream. Their stories show how recent immigrants from numerous countries and traditions offer a wider perspective on the world. Contains strong language.
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Lake McConaughy: A Geographic Portrait
by Robert Richter

Lake McConaughy, the largest reservoir in Nebraska, was formed following the completion of Kingsley Dam in 1941. At full capacity, this man-made lake is 22 miles long, and up to 4 miles wide and 142 feet deep. Constructed to store water for irrigation, this huge reservoir is also a magnet for outdoorsmen who congregate on white-sand beaches along its 76 miles of shoreline. 2002.
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Norfolk, Nebraska
by Sheryl Schmeckpeper

Founded in 1866 by German immigrants, Norfolk, Nebraska, grew up along the banks of the North Fork of the Elkhorn River. Today the city is the jewel of northeast Nebraska and the state's third largest retail area. The history of the community traces its growth from a Native American campground to a bustling city. Unrated. 2000.
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“I Am a Man”: Chief Standing Bear’s Journey for Justice
by Joe Starita

In 1877, Chief Standing Bear’s people, the Ponca, were moved from their ancestral lands in Nebraska’s Niobrara River Valley to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). When his only son died in 1879, Standing Bear undertook a six hundred-mile journey back to Nebraska in order to bury him. This set the stage for a federal trial to determine whether Native Americans were entitled to equal protection under the law and whether they were deprived of their property, homeland, and even their lives without due process. 2009.
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Journalism

This Blessed Earth: A Year in the Life of an American Family Farm
by Ted Genoways

Award-winning Nebraska journalist Ted Genoways follows a year in the life of a contemporary small family farm. Documents a family’s struggles within a changing agricultural landscape, as they learn to navigate issues including water rights, climate change, volatile crop prices, evolving technology to meet global food supply demands, and corporate farming. Winner of the 2018 Stubbendieck Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize, and 2019 One Book One Nebraska and All Iowa Reads selection. Some strong language. 2017.
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Death Zones and Darling Spies: Seven Years of Vietnam War Reporting
by Beverly Deepe Keever

A Nebraska farm girl turned journalist became the longest-serving American correspondent covering the Vietnam War and earned a Pulitzer Prize nomination for reporting. With compelling prose, the author tells personal and human stories that are matched by her insights regarding the war’s political and military strategies. She draws from interviews with generals, politicians, American marines, captured North Vietnamese soldiers, Buddhist monks, and Viet Cong officials. 2013.
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Children’s Books

The Purple Pumpkin
by Garnett Tremain Bond

This children's book asks, "Who says a pumpkin's always orange? Or maybe even yellow?" A purple pumpkin reminds young readers that life itself is filled with miracles. For preschool-grade 2.
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The two books in the Oskar & Klaus Series should be read in the following order:

Oskar & Klaus Present the Search for Bigfoot
by Mick Szydłowski and Travis Bossard

On a camping trip feline friends Oskar and Klaus set off to find Bigfoot. Oskar, blind since birth and the more daring of the two, leads Klaus into the nighttime forest where they meet new friends who join the pursuit. For preschool-grade 2. 2014.
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Oskar & Klaus: The Mission to Cataria
by Travis Bossard and Mick Szydlowski

Feline friends Oskar and Klaus are back! This time, they prepare to go on a daring adventure into outer space, where they will become the first explorers of an asteroid named Cataria. When a mysterious rock sample threatens to ruin their mission, Oskar’s quick thinking helps to save the day. For preschool-grade 2. Twig Book Award. 2016.
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Luck
by Jean Craighead George

After a girl in Texas saves his life by removing a plastic six-pack holder from his neck, Luck sets out with his parents on a long migration across North America all the way to Siberia where he was born. Along the way, they use their voices to produce a tracking signal to stay together as a family as they eventually join 500,000 other cranes. In Siberia, Luck chooses his own mate, with whom he dances and composes his own song. They then begin their long migration south. For grades K-3.
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Gigi’s Special Eyes
by Gwynn Olson

The author, Gwynn Olson, has written a children’s picture book, based on her daughter, who has had to wear contacts for most of her life. The book details how to properly insert your contacts and shows that a child can live a full, healthy life while wearing contacts. Includes helpful information for parents, written by an MD. For grades K-3. 2016.
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I Believe in You
by Tom Osborne

Former Nebraska Cornhuskers football coach Tom Osborne offers advice for children on navigating tough moments in life and the importance of hard work. For grades 2-4.
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Jack and Noah's Big Day
by Jay Patrick Slagle

Best friends Jack and Noah are facing what promises to be a long boring summer. They decide that Jack needs the world's greatest birthday party, for which they will need to raise a lot of money. As fundraisers, they start a summer camp, staff a slushie stand, and try to sell glow-in-the-dark necklaces at the city's July 4th fireworks show. Along the way, a house is blown up; there are visits by police, foremen, and news reporters; and an elephant marches down the driveway. For grades 3-6.
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Standing Bear of the Ponca
by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve

In order to bury his son, Standing Bear led his displaced people from Indian Territory back to their ancestral homeland in Nebraska, only to be arrested by the US government. In a historic trial, Standing Bear argued successfully that he is a person with rights like any other American. For grades 4-7. 2013.
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Authors in the National Collection

Bess Streeter Aldrich

The two books in the Deal Family Series should be read in the following order:

A Lantern in Her Hand
by Bess Streeter Aldrich

The story of a pioneer woman who, as a bride, accompanied her husband to Nebraska by covered wagon and lived there for the rest of her eighty years. It tells of her courage and devotion to her large family through poverty and hardship. 1928.
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A White Bird Flying
by Bess Streeter Aldrich

Laura Deal’s grandmother has died, but Laura still holds on to the dream they shared to write lovely things. Laura attends the University of Nebraska, dreaming of a literary career, but in the end recognizes the stronger claim of love. 1931.
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The Lieutenant’s Lady
by Bess Streeter Aldrich

In the 1860s, Nebraskan Linnie Colsworth is attracted to Lieutenant Norman Stafford but realizes he is smitten by her beautiful cousin Cynthia. After Cynthia accepts his marriage proposal, Norman leaves for Indian Country. When fickle Cynthia marries another beau, it’s up to Linnie to break the news to Norman—a task she decides to do in person. 1942.
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Miss Bishop
by Bess Streeter Aldrich

Portrait of an English teacher at Midwestern college whose career extends from the 1880s to the 1940s. With indomitable courage and little bitterness, she struggles along, caring for her frail mother, losing two lovers, bringing up other people’s children, and seeing her own hopes retreating into the background. 1933.
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Song of Years
by Bess Streeter Aldrich

A story of pioneer life in Iowa from 1854 to 1865. A man goes west to homestead and meets his new neighbors, a family with seven daughters and two sons. 1939.
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Spring Came on Forever
by Bess Streeter Aldrich

Depicts the lives of two German-American pioneer families who come to Nebraska in covered wagons. 1935.
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Willa Cather

One of Ours
by Willa Cather

After a year at the state university, a young man unsuccessfully tries to bring culture to his Nebraska town in this turn-of-the-century novel. Bound to both the soil and a religion he feels is shallow, he finds World War I an escape. Pulitzer Prize. 1922.
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Books in the Prairie Trilogy should be read in the following order:

Ο Pioneers!
by Willa Cather

Hanover, Nebraska. Since her Swedish father’s early death, Alexandra Bergson has been in charge of the homestead as well as her younger brothers. Their fortunes rise and fall with the weather and the crops. Under Alexandra’s guidance, the family eventually prospers. In middle age, when her old flame, Carl Linstrum, returns to Hanover, Alexandra has a chance for personal happiness. For senior high and older readers. 1913.
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The Song of the Lark
by Willa Cather

The musical talent of the daughter of a minister is recognized early, and many of the townspeople help and encourage her toward a singing career. Although she leaves Moonstone, Colorado, to study in Chicago, she retains the steadying influence of her childhood. 1915.
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My Ántonia
by Willa Cather

A lawyer recalls his Nebraska boyhood and the girl who was a strong influence on his life in this novel about pioneering conditions and the assimilation of immigrants. Contains a historical essay by James Woodress that describes the origin, writing, and reception of the book. 1918.
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The Professor’s House
by Willa Cather

A psychological study that concerns the emotional crisis of a fifty-year-old professor at a midwestern university who, at the height of his career, begins to be dissatisfied with himself. 1925.
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Mari Sandoz

Cheyenne Autumn
by Mari Sandoz

Heartbreaking saga of a band of Cheyenne who in 1878 fled from Indian Territory, where they had been marched by the American army, to return to their native haunts in the Yellowstone. 1953.
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Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas: A Biography
by Mari Sandoz

A classic biography of the legendary military leader of the Oglala Sioux, newly introduced by Vine Deloria Jr. in 2004. Covers Crazy Horse’s upbringing, nonconformity, battle strategy against the US Army, and death in 1877. Portrays the lives of the Plains Indians from the 1850s through the 1870s. 1942.
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Hostiles and Friendlies: Selected Short Writings
by Mari Sandoz

Evocative recollections, Indian studies, a novelette, and short stories linked together by passages from the author’s letters and articles. Introduced by an autobiographical sketch of her youth in the Nebraska sandhills. 1959.
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Old Jules
by Mari Sandoz

A daughter’s biography of her colorful father, a former Swiss medical student who settled in western Nebraska around 1884. Recounts his wild, uncouth life of fights with cattlemen, lawsuits with neighbors, planting of crops and orchards, four marriages, and birth of six children. Some strong language. 1935.
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Sandhill Sundays and Other Recollections
by Mari Sandoz

Ten short stories and articles written between 1929 and 1965 reveal Sandoz’s characteristic combination of firsthand observation and creative historical vision. Nine of the pieces are set in the Sandhills of northwestern Nebraska; the concluding piece takes place in Greenwich Village. 1970.
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These Were the Sioux
by Mari Sandoz

Description of the customs, beliefs, and practical wisdom of the Sioux Indians by a gifted Nebraska writer who loved and admired them from childhood. 1961.
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Winter Thunder
by Mari Sandoz

The harrowing tale of a young schoolteacher and seven of her students stranded in a raging Nebraska blizzard for eight days with only normal winter clothes and the lunches with which they set out. Based on an experience of the author’s niece. For high school and adult readers. 1954.
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