From the moment we take our first breath to our final farewell, life is a journey filled with trials, triumphs, and moments of grace.Born under the shadow of rejection in rural Comer, Alabama, during an era of segregation and marginalization, Ruby Nell Wilson's life began as an unwelcome whisper. But God had a different plan.Adam and Nettie Peterson had prayed for a child to love, a child to call their own. One fateful day, amid rows of cotton under the hot Alabama sun, a c...

“A hilarious, endearing novel.”—Los Angeles TimesIn Fannie Flagg’s high-spirited first novel, we meet Daisy Fay Harper in the spring of 1952, where she’s “not doing much except sitting around waiting for the sixth grade.” When she leaves Shell Beach, Mississippi, in September 1959, she is packed up and ready for the Miss America Pageant, vowing “I won’t come back until I’m somebody.” But in our hearts she already is.Sassy and irreverent from the ge...

In this "hilarious" memoir, a woman recounts her memories of summer camp "that anyone who has ever drunk bug juice will cringingly recognize" ( The Wall Street Journal ).It's 1974 and Mindy Schneider is thirteen and determined to go away to her dream summer camp, where she imagines she'll meet the perfect boyfriend. Her parents have only one condition: it must be a kosher camp. After poring over brochures for Jewish camps ...

"Beals' recollection of white oppression and her rise above it will haunt readers. A must-read for teens." —School Library JournalFrom the legendary civil rights activist and author of the million-copy-selling Warriors Don't Cry comes an ardent and profound childhood memoir of growing up while facing adversity in the Jim Crow South.Long before she was one of the Little Rock Nine, Melba Pattillo Beals was a warrior. Frustrated by the laws that kept African-Americans separate...

For more than four decades, “Footprints” has touched millions of people around the world. Now, Margaret Fishback Powers, the author of that beloved poem, has compiled stories and sayings that celebrate the special bond between mothers and daughters. She includes the touching story of a young girl’s last visit with her grandmother; moving tales of motherly love, sacrifice and quiet strength; remembrances of a rural childhood; deeply honest pieces about challenges and concerns; and stories t...

Stories from a Place That Feels Like HomeMaster storyteller Philip Gulley envelops readers in an almost forgotten world of plainspoken and honest small-town values, evoking a simpler time when people knew each other by name, folks looked out for their neighbors, and people were willing to do what was right—no matter the cost.When Philip Gulley began writing newsletter essays for the twelve members of his Quaker meeting in Indiana, he had no idea one of them would find its w...

A memoir of race and education, this is the story of a girl who grew up and out of the Cleveland projects in the 1960s and '70s. While growing up in Cleveland, young Charlise Lyles experienced turbulent events including race riots and a neighborhood murder. Yet she was inspired to appreciate literature at a young age, and she spent her days reading—and also often searching for the estranged father who taught her that love of learning. Despite starting in the “slow class” at a...

This book is a collection of the autobiographies composed by ten sisters.It is an inspirational story of a family with extraordinary parents who raised twenty-two children.After over a year of marriage, they became surrogate parents of seven children.They never complained, but did whatever it took to provide for the household.Ten daughters share unforgettable real life accounts of how the whole family handled calamity.Each unique story will share a different aspect of Gods faithfulness to ...

This riveting story is a true story "AMUST READ BOOK", about a handicapped black woman's journey through poverty, physical and sexual abuse, tragically losing loved ones, her brushes with death and how she overcame by faith. As you read through each chapter, not only will you cry, but you will be opening the doors unveiling the truth that was behind closed doors. This astonishing story will encourage you to never give up, even when life has dealt you a bad hand because things will get bett...

Melba has always wanted to play the slide trombone, but she's too small. Her grandmother wants Melba to play a musical instrument more suitable for a girl -- like a flute or violin -- but Melba loves the way a trombone looks and sounds. Tired of waiting around until she's big enough to play a trombone on her own, Melba finally decides to take matters into her own hands with humorous and unexpected results.

Raised on a small farm in a poor community in northern lower Michigan, Joyce learned the value of working together as a family, the importance of the community and church pulling together during difficult times, and experienced the sorrows of death and the joys of childhood. You will laugh and cry with her as she shares the good, the bad, the funny, the sad, and the mundane experiences that helped to shape her into the woman she is today. Joyce and her husband live in Colorado, where they ...

**A Cinderella retelling with a young enslaved girl in the title role. On a Maryland plantation, CeeCee’s story doesn’t end with a prince, but a different type of rescue.By author-to-watch Shana Keller and illustrated by Coretta Scott King Honor and NAACP Image Award winner Laura Freeman, this classic fairy tale reimagined is one you won’t soon forget.**CeeCee is a young enslaved girl growing up alongside the two spoiled daughters she must work for on a plantation ...