ALLen Reads is a one-book program under the leadership of the Friends of the Allen Public Library. It is unique in one-book programs in that related books are chosen as “companions” to the main book to promote families and all generations reading and talking together.

Visit the ALLen READS website for more program information.

ALLen Reads is excited to reveal the books for 2020. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richards, Down Cut Shin Creek by Kathi Appelt and That Book Woman by Heather Henson

Main Book:

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

by Kim Michele Richards

recommended for Grade 9 through Adult

from Amazon...

The hardscrabble folks of Troublesome Creek have to scrap for everything—everything except books, that is. Thanks to Roosevelt's Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, Troublesome's got its very own traveling librarian, Cussy Mary Carter.

Cussy's not only a book woman, however, she's also the last of her kind, her skin a shade of blue unlike most anyone else. Not everyone is keen on Cussy's family or the Library Project, and a Blue is often blamed for any whiff of trouble. If Cussy wants to bring the joy of books to the hill folks, she's going to have to confront prejudice as old as the Appalachias and suspicion as deep as the holler.

Inspired by the true blue-skinned people of Kentucky and the brave and dedicated Kentucky Pack Horse library service of the 1930s, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is a story of raw courage, fierce strength, and one woman's belief that books can carry us anywhere—even back home.

Companion Books:

Down Cut Shin Creek: The Pack Horse Librarians of Kentucky

by Kathi Appelt

recommended for Grade 4 though 8

That Book Woman

Written by Heather Henson

Illustrated by David Small

recommended for Grade K through 3

2019 ALLen Reads