The more I read this book, the more I loved it. It's amazing that it's all true...the pack horse librarians, the racism, the blue people. It's all really happened. The author's note really gave a sense of the importance of this story. She says it's the most important story she's ever told. It was a book I didn't want to rush through. I read it slowly and carefully, soaking up the story.
I love the idea of the librarians who packed books to the rural areas and up mountains so that people could have books to read. This book seems to reflect well the relationships that would grow out of experiences with books together. The story told is really similar to experiences I have had sharing books with my students. Also, the racism faced by the "blue people" (they were people who had a blood disorder and made their skin look blue) is an interesting experience compared to the racism we see today. Also, Cussy Mary is a woman who suffers not just because of racism, but also because of society's view on women. She is a strong character and she will stay in my heart for a long time.
Goodreads says:
In 1936, tucked deep into the woods of Troublesome Creek, KY, lives blue-skinned 19-year-old Cussy Carter, the last living female of the rare Blue People ancestry.
The lonely young Appalachian woman joins the historical Pack Horse Library Project of Kentucky and becomes a librarian, riding across slippery creek beds and up treacherous mountains on her faithful mule to deliver books and other reading material to the impoverished hill people of Eastern Kentucky.
Along her dangerous route, Cussy, known to the mountain folk as Bluet, confronts those suspicious of her damselfly-blue skin and the government's new book program. She befriends hardscrabble and complex fellow Kentuckians, and is fiercely determined to bring comfort and joy, instill literacy, and give to those who have nothing, a bookly respite, a fleeting retreat to faraway lands.
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