Fantastic book!

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This follows 19 year old Cussy Carter, one of the Kentucky Pack Horse Librarians in the small town of Troublesome. She rides her ornery mule Junia through the dangerous hills of Kentucky bringing her patrons reading materials from magazines to novels to scrapbooks that she lovingly creates herself. She brings the written word to the illiterate, and teaches many of the hillfolk to read and reads to many of them sharing her love for the written word with all she serves.

Not only does Cussy have to deal with the dangers on her route to get to her patrons, she must also deal with the dangers of being one of the last of the Kentucky Blue People. She and her Pa are one of the last living with blue skin in a clan of people that suffered the same condition. She is treated poorly because of her blue skin, but she doesn't let it get her down. She suffers some very real and brutal treatment because of her differences. Some of the hillfolk are kind to her while many are bigots and can't get past her color. The author does a wonderful job with the historical accuracy and description of the area.

I thought Cussy was a very well developed character. I really enjoyed her story and travelling with her on her journeys through the Kentucky hills. I also really liked learning about the history of the area and the medical nature of the Blue People. This is a great read and I feel like it would be a great book club pick or just a great book to discuss in general.