Books with author John Worthen

Eleanor survives, it is what she does. But at what cost? After learning her past and seeing the terrible and tragic history of her kind, Eleanor must conclude she is toxic, a cause of pain and destruction. For everyone’s own good, she will disappear forever. But first, one last visit to Jamesford. Eleanor returns to find the little Wyoming town mourning for its lost child. The unremarkable girl who, in life, wanted only to be ignored, is a celebrity in death, a tourist attraction, a legend. A mystery. But not everyone thinks Eleanor’s dead. While some wait in hope for her return, others wait in ambush.

It was a gamble for Eleanor to rejoin humanity, but she was driven to it. She’d been too successful forgetting. The last vestiges of her family hung by a thread in her transformed brain and drove her to be reckless. Ten years later, Eleanor hides in plain sight. She is an average girl getting average grades in a small Wyoming town: poor but happy, lonely but loved. Her mother, Tabitha, is there for her and that’s all she’s ever needed. But now her mother is sick and David has returned. The only friend she’d ever had, the only other person who knows her secret, is back. And Eleanor again becomes reckless. Eleanor is a modest girl, unremarkable but extraordinary, young but old, malleable but fixed. She is scared and confused. She is a liar and a thief. Eleanor is not what she appears to be.

It was a gamble for Eleanor to rejoin humanity, but she was driven to it. She'd been too successful forgetting. The last vestiges of her family hung by a thread in her transformed brain and drove her to be reckless. Ten years later, Eleanor hides in plain sight. She is an average girl getting average grades in a small Wyoming town: poor but happy, lonely but loved. Her mother, Tabitha, is there for her and that's all she's ever needed. But now her mother is sick and David has returned. The only friend she'd ever had, the only other person who knows her secret, is back. And Eleanor again becomes reckless. Eleanor is a modest girl, unremarkable but extraordinary, young but old, malleable but fixed. She is scared and confused. She is a liar and a thief. Eleanor is not what she appears to be.

“Gives voice to a period in U.S. history that remains virtually unknown, even to specialists in the field.”—J. Michael Francis, coauthor of Murder and Martyrdom in Spanish Florida “With these transcriptions and translations, Worth provides an important service to ethnohistorians, archaeologists, and others who share an interest in the Spanish colonial explorations of the greater Southeast.”—Mariah F. Wade, author of Missions, Missionaries, and Native Americans “A model for how to handle important primary sources. The historical introduction is a treasure in its own right.”—Amy Turner Bushnell, author of Situado and Sabana: Spain’s Support System for the Presidio and Mission provinces of Florida Florida’s lower gulf coast was a key region in the early European exploration of North America, with an extraordinary number of first-time interactions between Spaniards and Florida’s indigenous cultures. Discovering Florida compiles all the major writings of Spanish explorers in the area between 1513 and 1566. Including transcriptions of the original Spanish documents as well as English translations, this volume presents—in their own words—the experiences and reactions of Spaniards who came to Florida with Juan Ponce de León, Pánfilo de Narváez, Hernando de Soto, and Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. These accounts, which have never before appeared together in print, provide an astonishing glimpse into a world of indigenous cultures that did not survive colonization. With introductions to the primary sources, extensive notes, and a historical overview of Spanish exploration in the region, this book offers an unprecedented firsthand view of La Florida in the earliest stages of European conquest.

Eleanor survives, it is what she does. But at what cost? After learning her past and seeing the terrible and tragic history of her kind, Eleanor must conclude she is toxic, a cause of pain and destruction. For everyone's own good, she will disappear forever. But first, one last visit to Jamesford. Eleanor returns to find the little Wyoming town mourning for its lost child. The unremarkable girl who, in life, wanted only to be ignored, is a celebrity in death, a tourist attraction, a legend. A mystery. But not everyone thinks Eleanor's dead. While some wait in hope for her return, others wait in ambush.

In book two of this remarkable series, the sleepy little town of Jamesford becomes a national battleground of faith and science, hatred and hope. Eleanor—the girl whose life depends on not being noticed—is at the center of it all. Trusting David with the secret of what she is, Eleanor tries to keep the promise she made her mother to rejoin humanity, even if Eleanor might not be human. She dreams of a future beyond mere survival, beyond fear and loneliness—a future where she matters. But Jamesford is plagued with strangers, a predator is on the loose, and the rumors surrounding the girl from Cedar Street never quite disappear.

Winner of: 2014 Writer of the Year, League of Utah Writers League of Utah Writers, Recommended Read, Young Adult category In book two of this remarkable series, the sleepy little town of Jamesford becomes a national battleground of faith and science, hatred and hope Eleanor—the girl whose life depends on not being noticed—is at the center of it all. Trusting David with the secret of what she is, Eleanor tries to keep the promise she made her mother to rejoin humanity, even if Eleanor might not be human. She dreams of a future beyond mere survival, beyond fear and loneliness—a future where she matters. But Jamesford is plagued with strangers, a predator is on the loose, and the rumors surrounding the girl from Cedar Street never quite disappear.

“Gives voice to a period in U.S. history that remains virtually unknown, even to specialists in the field.”—J. Michael Francis, coauthor of Murder and Martyrdom in Spanish Florida “With these transcriptions and translations, Worth provides an important service to ethnohistorians, archaeologists, and others who share an interest in the Spanish colonial explorations of the greater Southeast.”—Mariah F. Wade, author of Missions, Missionaries, and Native Americans “A model for how to handle important primary sources. The historical introduction is a treasure in its own right.”—Amy Turner Bushnell, author of Situado and Sabana: Spain’s Support System for the Presidio and Mission provinces of Florida Florida’s lower gulf coast was a key region in the early European exploration of North America, with an extraordinary number of first-time interactions between Spaniards and Florida’s indigenous cultures. Discovering Florida compiles all the major writings of Spanish explorers in the area between 1513 and 1566. Including transcriptions of the original Spanish documents as well as English translations, this volume presents—in their own words—the experiences and reactions of Spaniards who came to Florida with Juan Ponce de León, Pánfilo de Narváez, Hernando de Soto, and Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. These accounts, which have never before appeared together in print, provide an astonishing glimpse into a world of indigenous cultures that did not survive colonization. With introductions to the primary sources, extensive notes, and a historical overview of Spanish exploration in the region, this book offers an unprecedented firsthand view of La Florida in the earliest stages of European conquest.