Women Books

I bought this book for one story but it turned out all of the stories were great.

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings always makes me cry. The other reviews of this book here describe it so eloquently and throughly that I don't feel the need to add to that aspect. The book has a strong emotional pull that made me cry and made long to go to Cross Creek and see it for myself. Rawlings is one of my all-time favorite writers, ever since my seventh-grade teacher read the newly published book The Yearling to her class, a chapter or two each day after lunch.

Wonderful view of an isolated place in FL (near Gainesville) circa 1930 written by a brave, independent woman.

Cross Creek is a series of entertaining if perhaps embellished anecdotes relating to Florida in the years preceding World War II told from the perspective of a educated emigré from the North. Some of the language, which was typical of the times, would no longer be considered politically correct and might be offensive to some. The book, however is totally delightful and gives some insight into life in rural Florida at the time. An excellent companion read is Tom Glisson's The Creek, which gives a native's view of the same time and area. Both books are a must read if you live or are interested in North Central FL.

Rawlings explores the lives and interations of the odd assortment of people living in Cross Creek, Florida in the early 1900s. It is often assigned reading for teens, but I doubt that most of them can appreciate it. Her accounts of neighbors feuding and subsistance living gives us many lessons in human behavior.
The lyrical descriptions of wildlife and the orange groves and wild landscape are very appealing. Your mouth waters as you read her essays on downhome foods like hush puppies. She turned those into a cookbook which I'll have to try out.
Modern readers squirm uncomfortably at her use of the N----- word and her characterization of blacks as irresponsible, drunken, immoral, etc. It is probably a faithful representation of common thinking at the time it was written, so recognize it as a snapshot of the times. Then move past that to luxuriate in the beautiful passages in the book. (I deducted 1 star for this)
The reader becomes absorbed in Rawlings' love of the land and the creation of a home. It gives much the same feelings as A Year in Provence or Under a Tuscan Sun.

The third book in the Fire Dancer series. It is an excellent series with strong, well written characters, and this book leaves you dying for more. I wish Ann Maxwell would hurry up and write another one! I want to find out what is happening with Rheba and Kirtn

I have enjoyed all of Ann Maxwell sci/fi books. I wish she would finish this series. I want to find out what happens in the Fire Dancer's story. I believe Ann Maxwell's sci-fi stories were one of the best I have ever read and i wish she had continued this series and any other sci-fi.

I just discovered this series and I really enjoyed it! I didn't realize the trilogy wasn't complete though so I hope another book will be added SOON!

This series is intense, wonderful, and thrilling, but I NEED CLOSURE...PLEASE!!!! If I died tomorrow I wouldn't be at peace, not until this story-line is wrapped up.

O.K...I'm not too proud...I WILL BEG!! I am begging Ms. Maxwell, I have waited years...and I need another installment or at least a conclusion to this series...You have a great story here...please continue it for all of us sci-fi and romance addicts out here...

"Dr. Gail's" Insightful how-to guide brings order and understanding to why we dress and groom the way we do. It helps women to feel comfortable in their own skin by illuminating the reason behind what sometimes seems like madness. In today's cookie-cutter, judgemental time when so-called fashion gurus with flash-in-a-pan book deals and cable television shows, it's refreshing to know that there is a voice crying out in the wilderness saying, it's ok to be who GOD made you; and to reflect your individuality through your style. Kudos to Dr. Gail!

Daughters of the King : Finding Victory Through Your God-Given Personal Style by Gail M. Hayes
Walk Worthy Press -May 2005
Full of inspiration and self-reflections.

Have you ever wondered why you like the things you like or even what career would best be suited for you? Have you ever daydreamed about Mr. Right or what makes you really you? Well, look no futher! DAUGHTERS OF THE KING suggests the ideal types of careers, spouses, clothing and loads of other things! We've all seen or heard about personality analysis before, whether it was Meyers-Briggs or some other method. Yet, Dr. Gail M. Hayes provides a whole new perspective in her book DAUGHTERS OF THE KING, which opens by providing an analytical quiz to the reader to help determine which of the six types they may fall into, from Jaunty Espirit to Sensual Exotic. For instance, if you fall in the "Harmonic Refined" category, you may see yourself as some type of diplomat affecting world peace or how about an accountant keeping the numbers in order? With your distinctive traits, you like to plan your work and work your plan. You have a great eye for detail. Just like the prophetess Anna, people have great respect for you and how you get things done but their feathers may get ruffled by your directness. Whereas your "Elegant Flamboyant" sister is a woman in charge and she has no problem letting others know it. She is the free-spirit entrepreneur who loves marching to the beat of her own drummer, just like her Biblical counterpart Lydia. She could also be that talk show host who likes to be the center of everyone's spot. Although these are just two of the personality traits highlighted in the book, Dr. Hayes relates each of the six traits back to a Biblical female and thoroughly provides insight ranging from clothing and jewelry preferences to career choices and family relations.

All in all, I enjoyed the approach DAUGHTERS OF THE KING provided. It was an interesting glimpse into a subject matter that I've studied in the past. While I enjoyed the biblical references, I thought some of the generalizations about the various image types may have been just that, too general. Yet, I found myself studying the text in the book and at times, laughing out loud or shaking my head in agreement. If you're curious to see how your personality style matches up to your biblical counterpart, do not pass up DAUGHTERS OF THE KING.

Reviewed by Nedine
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

Authors Gail M. Hayes, PHD, has written an awesome non fiction guide for women of all ages, all races, to help them to first understand that they are unique and one of a kind. A woman of God called before the foundation of the Earth to be who they are according to how God made them.

Daughters of the King helps us to recognize our personal God given style so that we will not try to fit into someone else's mold or perception of who we are. We can be ourselves proudly knowing who we are in God regardless of our personality styles, which includes our dress, what kind of jobs we enjoy, our ministries, our family lives, and who we are as a whole.

What I enjoyed the most was utilizing the Image Indicator in the beginning of the book and finding out what personality style I am and then reading further in the book to see how very accurate it was. Being called "Jaunty Esprit" was very unexpected, but after reading through the book, I found that I had a little in each personality style.

I would recommend this book to all women regardless of their race, religion, or dress size. What Dr. Hayes shares in her book will cause you to take self-inventory to find all of the amazing things about yourself that is personally and uniquely yours created by God.

Reviewed by Sharel E. Gordon-Love
APOOO Book Blub

An incredibly interesting and wildly fun - and I must admit truly accurate book - found me recently. It is Gail M. Hayes' book, Daughters of the King.

Hayes believes that every woman has her own unique sense of style that is not only how she dresses but also how she does things (like holding an eating utensil or how she thinks). It is her very essence. It is simply who women are in the world and as children of God.

Hayes presents a simple twelve-question image indicator, and from the answers can tell women what type they are; Jaunty Esprit, Harmonic Refined, Elegant Flamboyant, Creative Poetic, Chantilly Graceful or Sensual Exotic. Now you might scoff or even laugh at the thought that a short questionnaire can pinpoint style, but I must confess that when I took the test, it was so accurate it shocked me. And no, I'm not going to share my style. I'd like to quietly savor it for awhile before proclaiming it to everyone.

Once you have determined your style, Hayes discusses in depth the beauty of your unique style, the inner you, tells a biblical story, discuses your style and family life, your strengths in the body of Christ, working style, good career choices, color and clothing and jewelry choices, as well as make up and hair styles.

I absolutely love this book because it's fun, it explains my style personally and as a child of God. And because it is, as I said before, so accurate! Women, buy this book, share it with your daughter, friends and anyone who will listen. I see style parties cropping up all over the country. "What fun!"

An enjoyable read; the stories are well-written and a perfect length for a little reality check in between a mom's busy day. I especially liked it because the setting is familiar ground to me (both in regards to raising little kids and in the geographic locale).

This book reminds me of my four awesome daughters when they were young. They were very close in age and life was hectic, but wonderful!
Ms Hohlbaum paints a picture of parenting that is true to life, inspirational and humorous. The book is so interesting, it is hard to put it down.
I will definitely pass this entertaining and heart-warming book to by three daughters who have children of their own.

Francine Larson: Co-Author of "Character Keys to a Bright Future."

As grandmother to a toddler, I am constantly being reminded of the day-to-day trials and joys of being mom to a preschooler. Ms. Hohlbaum's book cemented those memories and gave me some new potential disasters (adventures?) to contemplate. I plan to share this book with my daughter, so she'll remember to laugh when everything goes wrong.

Ms. Hohlbaum's writing style is clear and entertaining. I finished this book in no time at all. Busy moms will find time to read it in the bathroom, in doctors' office waiting rooms, and in the car waiting for school to let out or sports practice to end.

It was over all too soon. I laughed, cried, and laughed some more remembering my own children's antics. I was sorely disappointed when it ended before I was ready for it, silently begging for more.

It's a gift for any newly married couple, any couple thinking about having children, men who think they know, mothers in the throes of their own epiphanies, grandmothers, premarital counselors as a job tool, and single friends who don't understand.

In an age of parenting experts, Christine Hohlbaum has written a delightful collection of stories from the real trenches of motherhood. Mothers (and fathers!) will see themselves throughout Diary of a Mother; it's honest, funny, and wonderfully universal.

I read this book when I was about 10. I had remembered the premise of it, but not the name or author. A book club leader brought me a review of it and asked it this was the book I remembered. I ordered it and when I read it 60 years later, I don't know how A librarian let me check this book. I can't have understood much of it!! I am glad I got to read it again and I don't know why this stayed in my memory so long.

For some years I was familiar with the name Philip Wylie as one of the authors of the disaster story "When Worlds Collide". I was also surprised to find that one of his books ("The Gladiator") influenced the creation of the hero Superman. "The Disappearance" (1951) is the first book I've read by Wylie.

In the introduction to this edition of "The Disappearance" Robert Silverberg thought it more appropriate to regard this book as fantasy rather than science fiction. Bizarre happenings in science fiction stories are usually "explained" and rationalised in an effort to achieve plausibility. The mysterious phenomenon that occurs here - the world suddenly splitting into two realities where men and women exist separately - is never actually explained, although characters in the story try to attribute it to things like mass hallucination or divine intervention.

From two perspectives, male and female, we see how events unfold following the disappearance of the opposite sex, and the way it has affected society in either world. The basic message is that one can't live without the other. The all-male society slides into violence and aggression, atomic weapons devastate certain cities, and martial law is declared. The all-female society is little better off, because most of the women lack such practical skills for things that were once (in the 1950s at least) considered "mens work". Anything technical or scientific was outside the women's experience, considered too rough or complicated for their abilities. Gradually though, the women adapt and attempt to live off the land despite such crises as lawlessness, disease and starvation.

"The Disappearance" is an entertaining story, and quite philosophical (which is appropriate since one of the main characters is a philosopher). For anyone who enjoyed this book I also recommend John Wyndham's novella "Consider Her Ways" (1956). In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Wyndham had read "The Disappearance" because the premise is quite similar: a regimented all-female society in the future where men have been rendered extinct by a virus. In Wyndham's scenario women are coping quite well on their own and believe they're far better off without men. They also found a way to reproduce without needing a man. One character argues that in a two-sexed society women were conditioned to be unthinking consumers and parasites, that it suited commerce to trick women into embracing a life of slavery and serving the household. The bait used to entice women into this trap was called "Romance". Philip Wylie discusses these issues and others in more detail in his own work.

Although society has changed a lot since "The Disappearance" was first published in the 1950s it is still very readable. I've heard some feminists say that even now, in the early twenty-first century, women still lack equality in a world that is still considered male-dominated. Whatever the case may be, "The Disappearance" is a book that deserves to be read.

One of the most remarkable novels ever written, The Disappearance must have caused a sensation in 1951 when it first appeared. I won't belabor the plot, because others have already recounted it. But its frank analysis of the way in which our society separates men and women, teaches children to be ashamed of their bodies, teaches men and women NOT to fulfill their potentials and destinies but to fill the paths set down by our narrowminded forebears, is every bit as poignant today as it was then.

Wylie's two protagonists -- Bill Gaunt the philosopher and is wife Paula -- a PhD in languages -- are three-dimensional and fascinating. His assessment of the world of men without women disintegrating into lawlessness is frighteningly real. His world of women discovering that very few of their number have been trained in the rudiments of running the society is sobering. And although women have come a long way in that respect since 1951, the glass ceiling still exists. The perception of the "role" of women or men in a particular situation hasn't gone away.

The whole story is told with insight and a wicked sense of humor. Just look at his picture of the wives of the government officials trying to run the government of women. Unfortunately, politicians do not always choose wives for their intelligence but for a host of other attributes and skills that do not help them to cope with the catastrophe. And the showdown between the American and Soviet women will leave you breathless and laughing.

To me, the best example of the way Wylie chose to tell this story is Chapter 13, which does not further the plot at all. Bill Gaunt is asked by the President and a committee of scientists and other thinkers to prepare an essay assessing what it all means. Chapter 13 is that essay. Even the title of the chapter lets impatient readers know that if they skip it, they will lose none of the sense of the story. DON"T SKIP IT!!

Not for the faint of heart, but DEFINITELY for the inquiring mind. Those of us who have already read this one (several times) are pleased it is back in print so we can replace the lop-eared copies we have been reading for years.

Note to Hollywood: Wouldn't this make a fascinating subject for a movie? Probably not. Its subtleties and interweaving of plots and events would go beyond Hollywood's ability to translate it without succumbing to the temptation to mess with it. So I guess we'll just have to read it again.

One cautionary note: Be aware that the novel does have one bit of baggage that is left over from the time it was written. Its Cold War politics may seem out of place today, but it carries the story forward. Aside from that small anachronism (from our point of view), the novel could have been written yesterday.

If you've never heard of this one, give it a chance. You'll be as amazed as I was.

There's good reason this book is out of print. Wylie's story, THE DISAPPEARANCE, doesn't stand the test of time. Back in the '50's this startling plot certainly impressed the reader-no more. Now we expect some plausible, physical or psychic explanation for this split world phenomena. In fact, Wylie's principle character, Bill Gaunt, spent four year searching for an answer but could only come up with psychological mumbo jumbo.

In fact, contrary to the premise of this story-that the two sexes lack appreciation for each other-the battle of the sexes, for many, could be the only factor that keeps life interesting enough to live. Wylie's disdain for homosexuality is now as antiquated as slave ownership.

Whatever putty holds the material world together came unglued for four years while the males and females found themselves on two ships at sea, never passing. The happy ending, the reuniting of the sexes, was a pure and simple cop out. The reader expects some plausible explanation but never gets it. Perhaps Wylie brewed up a fine stew here but provides nothing to sharpen your intellectual teeth on.

Having just finished the book, I can heartily recommend it for its prescience and message. The ending is especially fitting and uplifting. Despite its somewhat anachronistic style and vocabulary, "The Disappearance" is a must-read for feminists and misogynists everywhere.

This is definitely not your typical self-help entrepreneurial book. It's pages are filled with inspiration and enlightenment, encouraging you to listen to the inner you..your "Inner Samurai".

An easy read with great real life examples of how to apply the philosophy to your own situation. It's changing my life. I'm listening more to my Inner Samurai and it's leading me down a path I intuitively wanted to follow a few years ago, but had decided to pursue something else instead.

If there is one book that should be on all women entrepreneur's shelves - it's this one.

This is a must read for any woman thinking about taking the leap into the entrepreneurial ring.

boy-did i ever need to read this book an apply it to my life listen-for-lessons! 'samurai was the book to wake-up call myself into paying attention-and pay myself pat on the back, for getting through dark times
and know my identity accounts for my best interest at heart-to have power
and meaning-on purpose
thank you infinetely!
jannew

In all of the self-help books I have read, (and there have been so, so many) I have never read one that has had such an impact, or that I was so compelled to keep on reading to the end. The first time through, I didn't even take time to hi-lite, I just wanted to absorb all of the accounts and information. When I read the part about "Multiple Streams of Passion" I nearly cried realizing that she was writing about me. Susan said, "My journey is your journey!" At first I thought "yeah right", but now I realize how true that is. Thank you Susan. I can hardly wait for your next book!

This book is a must read for any entrepreneurial woman, and indeed, is a valuable guide to any woman. While women are the intended audience, men reading this book will gain valuable insight into their partners, friends and colleagues that will help them relate to and support these women.

Reid guides the reader through the most essential part of starting a business: preparing herself! Reid's gentle insightfulness helps the reader explore her own thoughts and feelings that pertain to business and personal success. Each chapter holds new gems that help unfold the readers potential and remove self-created barriers. Reid inspires, guides and empowers readers to greater self-awareness and greater success.

For some reason I didn't think this was going to be a very good book when I selected it. Boy was I wrong, it's a great book. My husband who is not a reader, unless its something to do with sports, is reading it.

Sue O'Neill brings home all the craziness of being in a war. This collection gives a firsthand account of just what it was like to be there and reveals the humanity on a new level. I especially recommend it for the children of vets whose mothers or father may have never come home or never have talked about the war.

Other Amazon customer reviews have done a great job of outlining the subject matter of these stories. But the stories, which are fine pieces individually, are also wonderfully orchestrated in this collection. Some stories are poignant, some are dark with flashes of humor, and 'Monkey On Our Backs' is laugh-out-loud funny from beginning to end. The stories benefit from both a common thread and great variety, and the overall effect, with recurring characters, is a bit like reading an episodic novel.

Above all, Susan O'Neill is an excellent storyteller, a writer who has mastered her craft. I hope we're going to see more stories from her. I would expect her narratives to be compelling whether set in a war or not. Highly recommended.

I live in Indonesia (where I grew up), and do most of my reading during fairly frequent and extended surf safaris on boats. I ordered DON'T MEAN NOTHING from Amazon, and when it arrived, I read the first couple stories and then forced myself to put the book away, saving it for precious boat-time reading material. I just got back from my latest trip, and I tell you, I read two stories a day, taking them like a illicit drug. And like an addict, when the book came to end, I was severely wishing there were another dozen to read.

Anybody who's reading this review already knows the collection is set in Vietnam during the war, told from the original perspective of medical personnel working with war casualties. But as with all great stories-or at least, the kind of stories I really love-the authentic and intriguing details of setting and scene only serve to enhance the characters, and it was this assemble of ordinary folk (acting pretty much as ordinary folk would in extraordinary situations) that made the collection such a riveting read for me. The story "Butch" made me-macho surfer dude--misty-eyed, and "Monkey on Our Banks" made me laugh out loud, because I knew a monkey just like that one in my boarding school (it once stole and ate a bunch of candy laxative, with predictable results in the girls' dorm).

As an oftentimes struggling and paper-ripping writer, I marveled at author O'Neill's way with words that don't get in the way yet do immaculate service to the story. But mostly, I so enjoyed the reading that my inner critic never made a peep.

Highly recommended.

Sue O'Neill along with Mary Reynolds Powell (A World Of Hurt) and Sharon Grant Wildwind (Dreams That Blister Sleep) is one of a rare breed of women who not only flew 10,000 miles into a war zone to support an Army whose average age was 19 (in WW II it was 26), she also had the strength and the vision to write about her experiences.

Don't Mean Nothing is an essential Nam book, along with the late Lynda Van Devanter's Home Before Morning. While I don't accept that the war was literally unwinnable, I totally agree that the way it was being fought, with no sense of a Win Scenario at any time, resulted in a mindless and sickening waste of human life - on both sides.

President Johnson, the simpleton who put more than 500,000 US troops in harm's way, yet never defined a Win Scenario or Exit Strategy, once boasted that the Air Force "couldn't even bomb an outhouse" without his approval. Similarly, the target selection for the Rolling Thunder bombing campaign in which the US lost 922 aircraft, was carried out at cozy White House lunches, without a single Air Force commander being present.

Sue's anger at a mind-numbingly incompetent Government, who denied Ho Chi Minh a fair crack at democratic elections (which he may well have won) by installing the hateful and corrupt Diem in the South, is well stated.

These stories take you under the hood, behind the propaganda and the lies and put you right there in the middle of a war that either should never have happened or which should have been fought very differently at the very least.

A great writer. A great human being.

This book covers it all, it helped me make decisions on choices I didn't even know I had. As far as the epidural pages, I didn't know there were different kinds. I loved the fact that doctors left opinions, and its not "one way" or sided medically, I learned a lot and this is my second time around. I suggested to my doula and even she felt it is a great buy!

This was a wonderful book about childbirth. The authors walk you through "full-throttle pain relief", such as epidurals and spinal blocks; alternative methods, including self-hypnosis, birth balls and birthing pools, complete with testimonials from those who have tried them; and advice from caregivers, including obstetricians, nurses and anesthesiologists.

Written in a reassuring and accessible tone, this book left me feeling reassured and more fully informed about the labor process.

I found Easy Labor very helpful in preparing for labor. Unlike most classes and books, it did not promote either the medical model or the natural model to the exclusion of the other. It simply laid out all the different options available during labor, and provided actual data on which were effective, and the pros and cons of each.

Written by an anesthesiologist, this objective and comprehensive guide outlines the pros and cons of pain relief options in childbirth. From acupuncture to hydrotherapy to hypnosis to the Bradley method to the epidural, you'll find it here. This book is the best and only one of its kind - readers will learn about labor from professionals (midwives, nurses, obstetricians) and moms in a clear, easy-to-read text. If you want to be "prepared" for labor (if that's possible), look no further. This is a book designed for middle-of-the-road, level-headed mamas - it's neither extremely naturalistic and anti-medicine nor overly cold and sterile.

Don't go to the hospital without reading this book. It gives you the knowledge to ask specifically for the pain relief you need. I was going the natural route until my labor had gone on for 30 hours. I had to take a detour from my original plan after being stuck at 9 cm for hours and enduring Pitocin without an epidural. I had to break down and ask for the epidural. It was going to take the anesthesiologist (sp?) a 1/2 hour to get to me, so I asked for narcotic in my IV. The nurses said no, but I asked them to call the doctor (b/c I had read in this book that it was ok), and the doctor said yes, of course. I had relief right away and did not have to suffer for another minute.

Despite being paired with "Skinny Bitch" on the Amazon site, this book is much nicer in tone and much more helpful. It's fun and entertaining to read, in addition to offering advice that's hard to come by but very effective!

OK, maybe the part about keeping one's, er, nether-regions trim wasn't written with me in mind (at least directly), but: Esther Blum's common-sense approaches to diet & exercise are just as effective for us fellas as they are for the ladies. Equally important: They are a breath of fresh air in this self-starvation, spin-till-you-pass-out compulsive world. Esther has rescued "Happy" and returned it to its rightful place alongside "Healthy". The infectious mirth of her writing style makes this as enjoyable a read as it is informative. Brava, Esther!

WHAT A WONDERFUL BOOK! NOT ONLY IS IT FULL OF FANTASTIC ADVICE, IT IS HYSTERICAL. I LEARNED SO MUCH AND HAD A LOT OF LAUGHS. GREAT BOOK!

This book is full of great information and is great fun to read. The sassy attitude keeps it interesting and the pages turning. This is a great book for anyone who wants to live and eat well without torturing herself or himself. The book has a lot of very good information on nutrition from the right foods, to the right drinks to the right vitamins. Those who follow Ms. Blum's advice with feel better inside and out.

Every single person who has checked my copy out has run and gotten their own and loved it! Esther is so much fun and a total expert, and the book is rigorously full of new tips and secrets that you can't find in magazine articles and other books. Definitely need to get you and your girlfriends a copy of this!

This story was told in the voice of a fourteen year old girl raised in the rural south of Mississippi. Olympia Vernon has created a story where you can feel and see what is happening. I was lost for words while reading this story. Each chapter just flows and its hard to put this book down because you have to know what is going to happen next.

Maddy is the daughter of a mother who is a maid for just about every white man in town...and her father is just a shadow in his own house because he's known for being a whore and a gambler. When Maddy's aunt becomes sick and she is sent to take care of her..readers actually get a front row seat into a world much different than the one now. One of the characters that really stood out to me is Big Mama and Fat.

This is one story that will stay on your mind long after you have read the last page. I will definitely be reading more from this talented and creative author!

Eden was one the books that future literary will referance to To kill a mackingbird and tom soyer for emotional depth and meaning for an understanding of what people go through and who we will never know but wish and long for ther understandin patience and even there stuggles.

Vernon's Eden is a wonderfully diverse and tragic southern story. To be honest, I haven't read a novel this good since Ellison's Invisible Man. Simply breathtaking!

Olympia Vernon's Eden handles the topic of a young woman's sexuality witha bluntness that is uncommon and appreciated. Although there are a few too many flower references for my tastes, Vernon generally approaches the issue without apology or diversion- rather than constantly hiding behind metaphor, she lets her characters tell us exactly what they think and feel. Because of this, Vernon creates a story that is powerful, unique, and intense. She gets the reader inside the mind of her characters at an incredible level, and the plot and character development is simply amazing. Her writing shows true artistry, and her story is not to be missed.

Poetry and prose. This is one the best writers. She makes words proud to be a part of her art. The story feels real, it is as if you're there seeing and experiencing everything that unfolds. I can't wait to read more form Ms. Vernon.