The Life of the African-Americans after the Civil War “Gordon Fairfax’s library held but three men, but the air was dense with clouds of smoke. The talk had drifted from one topic to another much as the smoke wreaths had puffed, floated, and thinned away. Then Handon Gay, who was an ambitious young reporter, spoke of a lynching story in a recent magazine, and the matter of punishment without trial put new life into the conversation.” - Paul Laurence Dunbar, The Lynching of Jube Benson The Heart of Happy Hollow is a collection of 16 short stories that revolve around a small southern community named Sleepy Hollow. Witness the tense relationship between the former slaves and their masters, the young free African-American’s struggles and the way they see the leading white class. Xist Publishing is a digital-first publisher. Xist Publishing creates books for the touchscreen generation and is dedicated to helping everyone develop a lifetime love of reading, no matter what form it takes

Sixteen tales offer insights into the lives of African Americans after the Civil War, recounting the promise of northward migration, the horrors of lynching, and the complexity of relationships between former slaves and masters.

This enchanting companion to Robert Beatty's instant #1 New York Times bestseller Willa of the Wood is perfect for any reader who cares deeply about the natural world. Willa and her clan are the last of the Faeran, an ancient race of forest people who have lived in the Great Smoky Mountains for as long as the trees have grown there. But as crews of newly arrived humans start cutting down great swaths of the forest she loves, she is helpless to stop them. How can she fight the destroyers of the forest and their powerful machines?When Willa discovers a mysterious dark hollow filled with strange and beautiful creatures, she comes to realize that it contains a terrifying force that seems to be hunting humans. Is unleashing these dangerous spirits the key to stopping the loggers? Willa must find a way to save the people and animals she loves and take a stand against a consuming darkness that threatens to destroy her world.Filled with a compelling mixture of history, mystery, and magic, Robert Beatty's books are loved by readers from 8 to 108.Grow your middle grade fantasy collection with these best-selling fan favorites:Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert BeattyWilla of the Wood by Robert BeattyIf We Were Giants by Dave Matthews and Clete Barrett SmithThe Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick RiordanThe Fowl Twins by Eoin Colfer

In the spring of 1895, Bud is excited for his Cadet Corps team to compete in the end-of-the-year drills competition at his school. His company is the favorite to win, but can they pull it off? This historical fiction book is based on a story by the African-American poet and playwright, Paul Laurence Dunbar. Especially appealing to reluctant readers, this 32-page historical fiction book features hi-lo text, full-color illustrations and a short chapter format.

Intrigue, romance, and magic abound in The Hollow Heart, the heart-stopping conclusion to Marie Rutkoski’s Forgotten Gods duology. At the end of The Midnight Lie, Nirrim offered up her heart to the god of thieves in order to restore her people’s memories of their city’s history. The Half Kith who once lived imprisoned behind the city’s wall now realize that many among them are powerful. Meanwhile, the person Nirrim once loved most, Sid, has returned to her home country of Herran, where she must navigate the politics of being a rogue princess who has finally agreed to do her duty. In the Herrani court, rumors begin to grow of a new threat rising across the sea, of magic unleashed on the world, and of a cruel, black-haired queen who can push false memories into your mind, so that you believe your dearest friends to be your enemies. Sid doesn’t know that this queen is Nirrim, who seeks her revenge against a world that has wronged her. Can Sid save Nirrim from herself? Does Nirrim even want to be saved? As blood is shed and war begins, Sid and Nirrim find that it might not matter what they want...for the gods have their own plans.

In this courageous, inventive, irreverent, and shrewd novel, Viola Di Grado tells the story of a suicide and what follows. She gives voice to an astonishing vision of life after life, portraying the awful longing and sense of loss that plague the dead, together with the solitude provoked by the impossibility of communicating. The afterlife itself is seen as a dark, seething place where one is preyed upon by the cruel and unrelenting elements. Hollow Heart will frighten as it provokes, enlighten as it causes concern. If ever there were a novel that follows Kafka’s prescription for a book to be an axe for the frozen sea within us, it is Hollow Heart. In this, Di Grado’s second novel after 70% Acrylic 30% Wool, the twenty-seven-year-old prodigy gives proof of her reputation as a singular and explosive talent.

The son of former slaves, Paul Laurence Dunbar was one of the most prominent and publicly recognized figures in American literature at the turn of the twentieth century. Thirty-three years old at the time of his death in 1906, he had published four novels, four collections of short stories, and fourteen books of poetry, not to mention numerous songs, plays, and essays in newspapers and magazines around the world. In the century following his death, Dunbar slipped into relative obscurity, remembered mainly for his dialect poetry or as a footnote to other more canonical figures from the period. The Complete Stories of Paul Laurence Dunbar showcases his gifts as a writer of short fiction and provides key insights into the tensions and themes of Dunbar's literary achievement. Through examining the 104 stories written by Dunbar between 1890 and 1905, readers will be able to better understand Dunbar's specific attempts to maintain his artistic integrity while struggling with America's racist stereotypes. His work interrogated the color-line that informed American life and dictated his role as an artist in American letters. Editors Gene Jarrett and Thomas Morgan identify major themes and implications in Dunbar's work. Available in one convenient, comprehensive, and definitive volume for the first time, The Complete Stories of Paul Laurence Dunbar illustrates the complexity of his literary life and legacy. ABOUT THE EDITORS---Gene Jarrett is an assistant professor of English at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is co-editor (with Henry Louis Gates Jr.) of a forthcoming anthology, New Negro Criticism: Essays on Race, Representation, and African American Culture.Thomas Morgan is a lecturer at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His research and teaching interests focus on critical race theory in late-nineteenth century American and African American literature, specifically as it applies to the politics of narrative form.