Appalachian folk tales have for generations been dominated by a male character named "Jack," but there has always been an undercurrent of female characters. Leave it to Anne Shelby to put together a book that celebrates Molly Whuppie and other female characters from Appalachian folklore. Anne Shelby grew up in Laurel County, Kentucky, with - like many others there - kinfolks back in Clay County. Her masters thesis at UK was on Appalachian literature. She taught creative writing one summer to one of my daughters at the Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts. She and her husband decided to take over the country store in Clay County of one of her uncles and they have been there ever since. She and her sister sang in the anti-mountaintop removal band, Public Outcry.
Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 2007. Hardback in dust jacket.