My Story My Song

A delightful book sure to inspire, by Lucimarian Roberts, mother to Good Morning America's Robin Roberts. 

Her Story: Lucimarian, 87, shares her story of growing up in the segregated South, traveling around the world with a military husband, losing much to hurricane Katrina, and the plight of aging and succumbing to declining health. You will appreciate that she shares the wisdom she reaped from her loved mother, the wisdom she taught her own children, and her faith which shines in every facet of her being!

Her Song: As you read you will find how much Lucimarian loves music and singing. Throughout her life special hymns never failed to minister to her loneliness and the difficulties. She shares those spiritual songs along with the stories.

Daughter Robin responds after each chapter and letters from her other children close the book. You will respect and love Lucimarian for her story, her faith, and that positive attitude that overcomes any despair. 

This book is the July 2013 Faith Book Club selection at Delphi Public Library.

Fireflies in December

For me, there is nothing better than a good read that takes place in the south. This might be largely due to the fact I love the way the characters can have that sorta free flowing way of expressing "the way they see it."  Fireflies in December, by Jennifer Erin Valent, is one of those books. This was Valent's first novel, and left me with no doubt that the author has a gift for telling a good story.  In fact, it was the 2007 winner of the Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel contest, and the 2010 Christy Award winner.

It is 1932, it is the south, and we meet Jessilyn, age 13. It is her birthday and a typical hot Virginia summer day. We meet Gemma, Jessilyn's best friend. The story evolves when Gemma loses her parents in a fire and Jessilyn's father and mother kindly take Gemma in to live with them as their own daughter. But Gemma is black and this is the south. Because prejudice is well alive and thriving, it doesn't take long for violence and the Ku Klux Klan to enter in, causing loyalties to be tested and forcing Jessilyn to come of age in the face of hatred and evil. Jessilyn's father, a quiet man of faith, is a strong example to his daughter how to be "Fireflies in December!"

The Dry Grass of August

The Dry Grass of August, By Anna Jean Mayhew, tells the simple story of thirteen-year old Jubie Watts, a privileged white Southern teen whose eyes will soon be opened to the racism of the 1950s.

Jubie leaves Charlotte, North Carolina, with her family for a Florida vacation. The year is 1954. Crammed into the car along with Jubie are her three siblings, her mother, and the family's black maid, Mary Luther. Jubie can't help but take note of the anti-integration signs they pass, and the racial tension that builds as they journey further south. When the trip takes a shocking turn, Jubie is faced with deciding where her own convictions lie.

This novel is many things: well-written, enjoyable, bearing a story line and well developed characters that live on long after the final chapter is laid aside, better than The Help, and finally, effective to remind us (shock us) of a time not so long ago. Glad I read it!