Click to Buy Velva Jean Learns to Drive, by Jennifer Niven Review by Philip K. Jason Jennifer Niven has fashioned a delightful and probing fiction set in the remote Appalachian communities of North Carolina. We first encounter the title character, Velva Jean Hart, in 1933. She is a ten year old whose mind is […]
Sweet Read: The Peach Keeper, by Sarah Addison Allen
March 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Click to Buy New York Times bestselling author Sarah Addison Allen does it again! Fans of Garden Spells, The Sugar Queen, and The Girl Who Chased the Moon will not be disappointed with Allen’s latest magical novel, The Peach Keeper, due to hit shelves March 22. In trademark style, Allen masterfully weaves a […]
The Queen of Palmyra, by Minrose Gwin
March 18, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Click to Buy The Queen of Palmyra by Minrose Gwin Review by Rhett DeVane Minrose Gwin’s novel The Queen of Palmyra beautifully captures the delicate tipping point between Florence Forrest’s tormented childhood and young adulthood. At a time when eleven-year-old Flo should be giggling with friends, she is forced instead into the dark […]
Tested: How Twelve Wrongly Imprisoned Men Held onto Hope
March 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Click to Buy Tested: How Twelve Wrongly Imprisoned Men Held onto Hope (Dallas, TX: Brown Books Publishing Group, 2010) Review by Allen Mendenhall DNA technology has revolutionized our criminal justice system. The acceptance and widespread use of post-conviction DNA testing for imprisoned individuals has led to exonerations all across America. Organizations such as […]
Leaving Gee’s Bend, by Irene Latham
March 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Click to Buy Reviewed by Abigail Greenbaum By now, nearly everyone has heard of the Gee’s Bend quilts. Maybe you saw them in New York City, where Leaving Gee’s Bend author and Alabama writer Irene Latham first discovered their bright colors and irreverent patterns, their sense of place and history. Or maybe you’ve […]