Best Selling Books by Jessie Haas

After Mom and Tess thoroughly clean house in preparation for a visit from Aunt Alice and Cousin Kate, both mothers and daughters admit that they prefer a "normal" mess.

A young girl helps her grandparents get the hay in before a rainstorm ruins the crop.

This text deciphers the ways in which equines communicate and interact with humans and each other.

Westminster is the oldest town in Vermont, and its history is visible down every street. Vermont itself was born here, when the first blood of the American Revolution was shed during the Westminster Massacre and it separated from New York. Westminster declined in political importance during the nineteenth century, but its agricultural heritage bloomed as residents exported everything from beef to vegetables to Christmas wreaths. Despite its small size, Westminster also boasts unique neighborhoods with their own vibrant cultures, including Westminster Village, Gageville and Westminster West. From brilliant inventors and the co-founder of the Oneida Community to a Miss Vermont, an Oscar-winning actress and Vermont''s eighty-first governor, the famous sons and daughters of Westminster have left their marks on the state and the nation. Celebrated local author Jessie Haas and the Westminster Historical Society showcase what makes Westminster such an amazing and quintessentially Vermont community.

Spending the summer with her strong-willed politician grandmother, fourteen-year-old Mad achieves breakthroughs in both her horseback riding and her Scottish dancing and begins to develop the self-confidence she has always lacked.

In March 1775, fifteen year old Fanny Montresor of Westminster, NY, stepdaughter of hated Loyalist Crean Brush, is horrified to discover that her parents plan to marry her off to a stranger if war breaks out-and local rebels are planning to occupy the courthouse, a protest that could shatter the fragile peace. Fanny owes her life to her stepmother Margaret, and her loyalty to both parents, but does she owe them this much? If the outlaw Ethan Allen would take an interest, trouble might be averted, but he is miles away and an enemy of the family. Fanny''s attempt to head off violence is thwarted by Margaret''s rousing speech to the sheriff. The posse attacks the unarmed protesters, retaking the courthouse and badly wounding a man; as government officials mock his dying groans, out on the dark roads, horsemen ride to alert local militias. By the next day the street seethes with armed men eager for revenge. The war is at Fanny''s doorstep. Against this terrifying backdrop, she negotiates for what freedom she can find amid the crushing imperatives of family and political necessity. Eight years later, widowed and masking her pain with a lively wit, Fanny returns with Margaret to Westminster, now part of Vermont, only to find that they share a lawyer with the revolutionary hero Ethan Allen, who hates Loyalists. But Fanny knows Allen well through his writings, which gives her an advantage when they finally meet. Their attraction seems mutual despite the political mismatch, but with one disastrous marriage behind her, Fanny is wary, and Allen seems to have reservations of his own. Hewing closely to historical facts and peopled with historical figures, this novel gives an up-close, woman-centered view of the Westminster Massacre, long known by Vermonters as the first bloodshed of the American Revolution.

Since 1973, Storey''s Country Wisdom Bulletins have offered practical, hands-on instructions designed to help readers master dozens of country living skills quickly and easily. There are now more than 170 titles in this series, and their remarkable popularity reflects the common desire of country and city dwellers alike to cultivate personal independence in everyday life.

Moving through the alphabet, a girl ponders the many different kinds of horses she will have when she gets older, from Appaloosa to zebra.