Young Adult/Children
Jerri Garretson was born Geraldine Annette Kundiger in San Francisco, California on May 24, 1947. Her family moved to Manhattan, Kansas in 1948. Her father was an organic chemist on the faculty at Kansas State University. Her mother later was a faculty member in the Division of Biology there.
Jerri has two sisters and one brother, all younger than she is. She graduated from Manhattan High School in 1964, and the University of Kansas in 1967. She has a master's degree in educational technology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
In 1965 she married Peter W. Garretson who originally came from Heidelberg, Germany. They met in the Manhattan City Park swimming pool when he was a student at KSU. Peter and Jerri have a son, Peter Anthony, who is an Air Force officer. He is the father of their three grandchildren. Their son Leif Ashley died at the age of 33 in April 2008. Since his death, Jerri has written a blog about his life and death and her feelings about them at http://rememberingleif.blogspot.com/
Jerri has written nonfiction articles for children's magazines, newspaper features, children's picture books, middle grade novels, and YA fiction as well as newspaper columns. Her fiction has focused mostly on Kansas and the Great Plains.
Jerri is also a photographer and graphic desigher, and sometime illustrator. For instance, her photos and cover designs appear on "The Secret of Whispering Springs" and "Trespassing Time."
To learn more, visit http://www.ravenstonepress.com
 | Kansas Tall Tales Ravenstone Press ISBN: 978-0-9659712-7-0 Three rollicking tall tales: Johnny Kaw - The Pioneer Spirit of Kansas, Kansas Katie - A Sunflower Tale, and Twister Twyla - The Kansas Cowgirl each explore many facets of history, geography and life in Kansas. Illustrated with B&W line drawings children can color or teachers and librarians can copy for classroom use, along with added content like useful internet sites about the themes and topics in each tale, suggestions for further reading, even a song and a cookie recipe. Available as a perfectbound paperback book or as a download. |
 | Trespassing Time - Ghost Stories from the Prairie Ravenstone Press ISBN: 0-9659712-6-0 On the lonely trails of the windswept plains, desperate spirits wander across time burdened with the raw emotion of their unsettled lives. Does the fog creeping up from the river bring vengeful ghosts seeking to settle an old score? Are the fleeting shadows you see from the corner of your eye leading you to the horrors of the restless dead? These sixteen compelling and spooky stories of love, legends and evil will challenge your sense of reality. Is the deserted church really the Gates of Hell? Can a murdered cat save a young woman's life? Will the friendship of two small children surmount even death? How far will a long-dead mother go to get back a precious charm bracelet? What is the prairie spirit that demands a terrible price from those who break the sod? From a wind-tossed lake to a lonely abandoned cemetery; from a stone mansion to a barnstormer's plane, eerie specters await you as you dare to trespass time. Awards: 2005 Foreword Magazine BOTY
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 | Twister Twyla - The Kansas Cowgirl Ravenstone Press ISBN: 0-9659712-5-2 Twyla started out small, racing the wind in the south pasture, then roping dust devils to keep in the corral. She went on to lasso tornadoes and ride Old Stormy in the Flint Hills Rodeo. This Kansas cowgirl joins the ranks of tall tale heroes as she rides her twisters in the rodeo career of the century. Come along for the ride!
ISBN 0-9659712-5-2 |
 | Whispering Springs Ravenston Press ISBN: 0-9659712-4-4 When 14-year-old Cassie's family buys the grand old mansion on the prairie, she is caught in a frightening web of intrigue. A mysterious cold presence whispers to her and a dangerous stranger spys on them. Cassie must solve the mystery and free a dead girl's ghost from her family's past. Ages 11-14 - Grades 5-8 and up. Young Adult. |
 | Imagicat Ravenstone Press ISBN: 0-9659712-2-8 Eleven-year-old Jeff Holiwell loves to write stories but his knack for getting into mischief is in the way of achieving his dream of being a real writer. Enter Mortimer, a snippy, talking cat whose mission it is to get Jeff motivated. |
 | Izzie - Growing Up on the Plains in the 1880s Ravenstone Press ISBN: 0-9659712-1-X Thirteen stories a written and illustrated by Marion S. Kundiger and Jerri Garretson.
Meet spunky Izzie who comes to life through her stories and photos and portrays a strong sense of praire community life in the 1880s in her Norwegian-American family. |
