Twelve-year-old Wally Gant is growing up in the southeast corner of Kansas. This rich mining area, known as the “Little Balkans,” has attracted immigrants from many countries. Used to having a little wine with their meals and their sacraments, these newcomers, along with many of their American neighbors, find the Kansas laws on prohibition unbelievable. There must be some mistake!
  Still, as some wag said, “Kansans will vote dry as long as they can stagger to the polls.”
  As WWII draws to a close, Wally’s mother slaves in the kitchen preparing stuffed fried weenies for Thanksgiving dinner. His father plots to have the courthouse moved a few feet to the south to make room for a “therapeutic” steam whistle.
  At Strang Dairy, Wally’s first paying job, he meets up with a bunch of moonshiners and bootleggers—some lovable and some not-so-lovable. In the Great American Tradition, Wally finds love and fortune in a part of the state that makes the rough Kansas cow towns seem like preschool.

ISBN: 0-9708160-4-9, 194 pages, Trade Paperback, $12.95