Hays reunites with Horner for the next Bouvier novel

Local author Kerry Hays, of Monett, has released two very different books: one revisits the unfinished promises of American history, while the other follows eight young adventurers through modern fairy tales filled with absurd problems, questionable decisions and talking creatures with strong opinions of their own.

“The Unfinished Republic: Historic Voices for Our Time” presents 50 chapters inspired by Americans whose words and actions shaped the nation. Drawing on speeches, letters, testimony and public service, Hays combines historical interpretation with creative reimagining to ask what citizenship, equality, conscience and service require of Americans today.

“The Storyteller’s Extremely Questionable Fairy Tales: Eight Stories of Chaos, Courage and Curious Choices” takes a lighter path. Its characters encounter hidden worlds, runaway rumors, troublesome labels, mechanical mistakes and choices that rarely go according to plan. The eight central characters share their first names with Hays’ eight grandchildren.

“I wrote these books for different audiences and for very different reasons,” Hays said. “One asks us to walk beside history, listen to the voices of the past and add our own voice to an unfinished experiment. The other uses fairy tales with modern themes to help children discover that courage can begin with curious choices, even when confusion obscures the way forward.”

The releases extend a writing career that may seem familiar to local residents. Hays collaborated with Jon Horner on “The Bouvier Blunder,” the fourth novel set in the fictional southwest Missouri town of Bouvier. Horner, a novelist, community leader and bank president, has served as mayor of Cassville since 2025.

Hays and Horner are now writing the fifth book in the series, “The Bouvier Bloodlines.” The novel returns to Bouvier with intertwined questions of family history, identity and public life, along with the series’ customary assortment of secrets, complications and overall insanity.

Hays moved to the area in 2009 to work at Roaring River State Park and later served as its superintendent. He also worked as a stringer and photojournalist for the Cassville Democrat and Connection Magazine. After teaching music, social studies and speech, he now substitutes for the Monett School District and publishes Walking Beside History on Substack.

Both new books are available on Amazon in Kindle, paperback and hardcover editions.