Tillie's Marbles

In the title story of this collection, "Tillie's Marbles," which won honors in the 2008 Kansas Voices prose competition, thirteen year old Tillie Herman struggles along with a handful of Dust Bowl survivors to escape an abandoned town. During her search for a lost key, she learns why her mother married her father and faces danger in dealing with the town bully. Other stories include: 'The Centerfold,' 'Revelation,' 'Father Ashley's Ghost,' 'Emma,' 'Sarah's Rescue,' 'Peasant Princes,' 'Winter Refuge,' 'Sanctuary at St. Thomas Abbey,' and 'A Question of Fate.'Review: "Tillie's Marbles & Other Stories by Kansas writer Reaona Hemmingway is a collection of short stories that will intrigue the reader. Where will you find a ghost, a princess, a kidnapping and a man who renounces his religious calling to marry for love and all the while you are drawn into the lives of many people during the Dust Bowl? A must read for fans of Hemmingway's other writings: 'Home for Christmas,' 'Harmony's Left Wing,' and 'The Little Shephard Girl.'" - Kathrine Fapp, Collection Development, Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library