Max Yoho's first language is "Kansan." While he writes and speaks some "American," he admits he is not fluent in it. If asked for his recipe for a good, full life, Yoho is likely to tell you, "Get the bob-waar over the crick before midnight." In Tales from Comanche County, an old man with a hilariously skewed education in history and religion looks back to summers spent listening to stories told on the front porch of his Uncle Jack's Comanche County, Kansas, ranch. Cattle rustler Leepy Danfer lies amoldering in his grave. The Emperor of China has come to grief. A soft-shell Oklahoman met his...

What if... ...there was a baby named Harry who could remember his own conception and birth? ...Harry had a godfather, Wyatt, who was an OWL? ...this precocious baby hadn't learned English, but could converse fluently in "High Owl" language? ... Wyatt had two brothers, Harry's "owlces," who are also eager to contribute to Harry's education? ... Harry must decide between staying a human boy or becoming an owl himself? "Don't let reality limit your life." Max Yoho's exquisite sense of humor and colorful wordplay are hallmarks of his previous books: The Revival Tales from Comanche County Felicia,...

Eleven-year old Jefferson Davis Johnson has been sentenced to a summer of "moral rehabilitation" under the watchful eye of his great aunt, Queen Isabella of Spain Johnson. A relic of the "roaring twenties," this stern matriarch "may" have her own ideas about what a boy should learn. Will three-years perfect attendance in his Presbyterian Sunday School be enough to protect Jeffie from the evils of drink, a warpathing aborigine, and the bright-eyed tomboy, Pauline Potts? And, for Pete's sake, does any other boy have a relative who cohabits with the ghost of Jesse James? The setting for this...