WCHS TRADE BOOKS

Pen pals Meena and River have a lot in common: fathers forced to work away from home to make ends meet, grandmothers who mean the world to them, and faithful dogs. But Meena is an Indian immigrant girl living in New York City’s Chinatown, while River is a Kentucky coal miner’s son. With honesty and humor, Meena and River (each voice distinctly articulated by a separate gifted author) bridge the miles between them, creating a friendship that inspires bravery and defeats cultural misconceptions.

For ten-year-old Eli Book, the summer of 1976 is the one that threatened to tear his family apart. There is his distant mother; his traumatized Vietnam vet dad; his wild sister; his former war protester aunt; and his tough yet troubled best friend, Edie, the only person with whom he can be himself. As tempers flare and his father’s nightmares rage, Eli cannot escape the current of conflict. From Silas House comes a tender look at the complexities of childhood and the realities of war — a novel filled with nostalgic detail and a powerful sense of place.

In the aftermath of a flood that washes away much of a small Tennessee town, evangelical preacher Asher Sharp offers shelter to two gay men. In doing so, he starts to see his life anew—and risks losing everything: his wife, locked into her religious prejudices; his congregation, which shuns Asher after he delivers a passionate sermon in defense of tolerance; and his young son, Justin, caught in the middle of what turns into a bitter custody battle. With no way out but ahead, Asher takes Justin and flees to Key West, where he hopes to find his brother, Luke, whom he’d turned against years ago after Luke came out. And it is there, at the southernmost point of the country, that Asher and Justin discover a new way of thinking about the world, and a new way of understanding love. In this stunning literary page-turner about judgment, courage, heartbreak, and change, bestselling author Silas House wrestles with the limits of belief, and with love and its consequences.

Beach to Bluegrass collects both famous and nearly-unknown tales of Virginia - from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to the majestic mountains on the Kentucky border at Cumberland Gap's "Gateway to the West." Uniquely, all stories lie within a close proximity of U.S. 58, the longest road in Virginia.

Southwest Virginia Crossroads: Second Edition: An Almanac of Place Names and Places to See (Paperback). Southwest Virginia Crossroads is a history and guide in 17 counties and four cities - from Blacksburg to Big Stone Gap. Journey along the Blue Ridge Parkway, the back roads, and the byways of this fabled region, where the mountains stand a mile high in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area. Discover 26 lakes and 50 waterfalls - with road directions, trail directions, boat launches, fishing tips, and local folklore. Discover where movies were filmed, how the legendary Devil's Bathtub took its name, and where you can find Frog Level, Haysi, and Goose Pimple Junction. The second edition of this critically-acclaimed local bestseller contains 39 maps and 158 photographs - including 20 photos that are new to this edition. Hear about the Hillsville courthouse shooting of 1912 and discover the Devil's Den. Look for The Cascades and the 200-foot-high waterfall at Bottom Creek Gorge Preserve. Learn the origins of the Bush Mill, Mabry Mill, Palmer Mill, Cowan Mill, and White's Mill. Subtitled "An Almanac of Place Names and Places to See," this 180-page encyclopedia of Southwest Virginia contains the place-name origins - and road-crossing locations of 750 places in the region, making it an invaluable tool for researchers and explorers.

Exploring Southwest Virginia and, after its formation, Washington County in particular, this volume traces the history of the region from its earliest period, when it embraced 19 present-day counties of Virginia and 17 of West Virginia. It also includes sections of other counties within these states.