Story of Sanders Branch School more than expected

Of Cabbages and Kings

Last updated Mar 06, 2014 5:16pm0

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Helen Boots' book about Sanders Branch School and a teacher doesn't make for light reading.

By LUELLA DOW

Contributor

When I asked Helen Boots if I could browse through the book she had written about the country school she attended as a girl, I expected it to be a text I could easily hold in one hand.

She held out an object tipping the scales at nearly 10 pounds, 11 inches across, and four inches high. She quietly told me of taking a course in college on how to tell a story. Again, I presumed she had written another few pages somewhere else. But here in my lap was the story. I turned the first page and read, "The story of Sanders Branch School (Brush College) and Mrs. Jennie Smouse,...