Most Popular Books by Kathleen Ernst

In 1863, during the tense week after the Battle of Gettysburg, a Maryland boy faces difficult choices as he is forced to care for a wounded Confederate officer while trying to decide if he himself should leave his family to fight for the Union.

Hanneke Bauer quickly learns that Wisconsin farm life in 1855 is not as bucolic as it seems when she finds her husband dead upon her arrival.

Presents six stories featuring Caroline Abbott, whose father owns a shipyard in upstate New York during the War of 1812.

The poems in Balancing were inspired by the experiences of women who, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, sought new homes in the Upper Midwest. The first waves of pioneers, predominantly Yankees from Northeastern states, were soon followed by European immigrants. Few women recorded their struggles and satisfactions, but by juxtaposing research and imagination, Kathleen Ernst breathes new life into their forgotten stories.

Two stories follow Felicity''s life in Revolutionary-era Virginia, while a third book allows the reader to join Felicity as she spends time at her father''s store, sips tea at the Governor''s Palace, or participates in a gunpowder plot.

During the Civil War, a seventeen-year-old Union soldier must adjust to army life, with the additional complications peculiar to the region where the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers come together at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

Wisconsin widow Hanneke Bauer, a German immigrant, is a fervent abolitionist. After yearning to play an active role on the Underground Railroad, she agrees to help shepherd a Negro woman on her journey from slavery to freedom. Several Railroad conductors have recently been killed in southern Wisconsin, so she is acutely aware of the dangers she faces. Finding the latest victim''s body is frightening, but does not deter her. She soon learns, however, that nothing could have prepared her for the perils waiting along the journey. Hanneke believes that future Underground Railroad trips are essential...but can she live long enough to make them?

Having moved to North Carolina with her mother and sister following her parents'' divorce, fifteen-year-old Tanya tries to ignore her anger at her family while also making some unexpected connections with her Scottish heritage.

Two stories follow Caroline as she travels across Lake Ontario to visit her father who is being held prisoner and works to keep her local shipyards out of British hands, while a third book allows the reader to join Caroline in nineteenth century America.

When Kirsten''s neighbor and friend, Erik Sandahl, disappears, everyone believes he is skipping out on the money he owes Uncle Olav, but Kirsten believes that something is terribly wrong and sets out to clear her friend''s good name.

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, 1895. Bordered by mountains and the mighty Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, the area''s scenic beauty is legendary. A dark current is rippling through the town, however, and threatening to tear lives apart. Ida Mae Parker will soon graduate from high school. Although her parents want her to become a teacher, she yearns to become a professional singer. A descendant of enslaved people, Ida Mae wants to focus on her studies and to stay away from trouble caused by the Jim Crow laws designed to keep Black people from thriving. As racial ugliness targets her own family, though, she struggles to find her place in the world. Circumstances force Hazel Whitaker to leave her poor white family and support herself. Finding only wretched jobs, her survival becomes difficult. She longs to create a better future for herself, but her dearest dream of becoming a photographer seems impossible to achieve. Hazel and Ida Mae have nothing in common. When fate throws them together, however, an unlikely friendship emerges. After tragedies strike, will supporting each other provide the inner strength that Ida Mae and Hazel need to stand tall for themselves?

When Caroline''s father leaves with the rest of the town''s men to battle the British in the War of 1812, Caroline promises to keep the family shipyard safe, but her loyalties are conflicted when her mother orders her to burn the shipyard to keep it from the enemy.

Caroline must travel across Lake Ontario to send a secret message to her imprisoned father in order to facilitate his escape from British guards during the War of 1812.