The Distaff Side, home of Kathleen A. Ernst, author and historian

Hearts of Stone Dutton Children's Books, 2006 Fifth grade & up	Tennessee, 1863-64. With her father gone to join the Yankee troops and her best friend, Ben, sympathizing with the Confederates, fifteen-year-old Hannah finds her world torn apart by the Civil War. Then her mother suddenly dies. Now responsible for keeping the young family together, Hannah makes the difficult decision to leave her beloved Cumberland Mountain with her brother and sisters and set out on the long and dangerous journey to Nashville, in search of their only living relative. Their quest to reclaim their family leads them into the very heart of the Civil War--and could cost them their lives.
Ghosts of Vicksburg White Mane Kids, 2003 Fourth grade & up	Mississippi, 1863. Jamie Carswell, a young soldier with the 14^th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment, is haunted by the civilian suffering he witnesses while campaigning in Mississippi. His favorite cousin, Althea, is already tormented by a past mistake when she finds herself trapped inside Vicksburg during the Union Army’s siege of that Confederate city. Ghosts of Vicksburg is the compelling story of two young people struggling to find their way during one of the most dramatic campaigns of the Civil War.
Retreat from Gettysburg White Mane Kids, 2000 Fourth grade & up	Maryland, 1863. Young Chigger O'Malley is glad when General Lee's battered Confederate Army is trapped nearby while retreating from their defeat at Gettysburg. Chigger's father and three older brothers had been killed serving in the famed Irish Brigade, and he hopes the Union Army will attack, crush the rebels, and end the war. But when he and his mother are forced to care of a wounded rebel, the questions of right and wrong -- of friend and enemy -- become much more difficult to answer.
The Bravest Girl in Sharpsburg White Mane Kids, 1997 Fourth grade & up	Maryland, 1862. The daring adventures of best friends Teresa Kretzer and Savilla Miller have earned them the title of "the bravest girls in Sharpsburg" and the respect of Teresa's shy sister Bethie, but as the American Civil War looms, they become political enemies. When the fighting comes to Sharpsburg, each girl finds new meanings of courage, friendship, loss, and love amidst the Battle of Antietam. Based on actual persons and incidents.
The Night Riders of Harpers Ferry White Mane Kids, 1996 Fourth grade & up	West Virginia & Maryland, 1862. During the weeks before the capture of Harpers Ferry by General Stonewall Jackson's Confederate troops, young Solomon Hargreave struggles to adopt to being a soldier in the newly-formed 8th New York Cavalry. As the noose tightens around Harper's Ferry he rescues and befriends Mahalia Sutter, the daughter of a lockkeeper on the B&O Canal. But when Solomon is ordered to spy on her family he has to learn to trust his instincts -- in love and in war. Based on a true story.

The Runaway Friend: A Kirsten Mystery (American Girl, 2008) Third-fifth grade	Minnesota, 1854. Kirsten has been living on the Minnesota frontier for only a few weeks when her neighbor and friend, Erik Sandahl, disappears. Erik had promised to help the Larsons at harvest time, and he owes Uncle Olav money. Has he run out on his promises? Everyone seems to think so--except Kirsten. Can she figure out what's happened to her friend?
Midnight in Lonesome Hollow: A Kit Mystery (American Girl, 2007) Third - fifth grade	Kentucky, 1934. Kit is visiting Aunt Millie in Mountain Hollow. When a professor arrives to study Kentucky mountain traditions, Kit is thrilled to help with her research--until it becomes clear that somebody doesn't want "outsiders" nosing around. Kit decides to find out who's making trouble...even if it means venturing into Lonesome Hollow in the dark of night.
Secrets in the Hills: A Josefina Mystery (American Girl, 2006) Third - fifth grade	New Mexico, 1826. Josefina has heard tales and legends all her life: rumors of gold and silver buried in the hills, and even tales of a ghostly Weeping Woman who haunts the countryside. But she never imagined that such stories might be true--until one day a mysterious stranger arrives at her rancho.

Betrayal at Cross Creek Pleasant Company, 2004 Fourth grade & up	North Carolina, 1775-76. Elspeth Monro, newly come from Scotland, is just beginning to feel at home in North Carolina, with a new friend and a weaving apprenticeship she loves. To Elspeth, the brewing Revolution feels very far away--until someone starts to threaten her own family, trying to force them to join the rebels. When her grandfather marches off to fight with the British, Elspeth is left alone to protect her grandmother--and to figure out who is putting her family in danger!
Whistler in the Dark Pleasant Company, 2002 Fourth grade & up	Colorado, 1867. Twelve-year-old Emma Henderson is mortified when her Mother takes to wearing a Reform Dress—hideous bloomers! Worse, Mother has accepted a newspaper job in wild, far-off Colorado Territory. But even Emma can’t imagine just how badly things will go in Twin Pines. From the moment she and Mother step off the horse-drawn stagecoach, it’s clear that someone doesn’t want them there.
Trouble At Fort La Pointe Pleasant Company, 2000 Fourth grade & up	Wisconsin, 1732. Suzette Choudoir has spent each of her twelve summers at La Pointe Island on Lake Superior, where Ojibwe people camp by the French fur-trade fort. If her papa wins the trappers' competition, the prize will let him stay with his Ojibwe family year-round instead of wintering in far-off Montréal with the other French voyageurs. But a troublemaker sabotages the competition, and Papa. Only someone who's both Ojibwe and French can figure out what's going on -- someone like Suzette.

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