One night, as Mama bathed me, I asked why she didnt paint her nails. Who have you seen wearing nail polish? she asked. The blond lady Daddy takes me to see on Sundays. After my parents were divorced, I overheard Grandma say, Yetta, your baggage will hamper you from finding another husband. So as Mama bathed me, she said, Dont call me Mama. Hearing this was hurtful. My father hadnt taken me with him when he left. Now, I felt Mama no longer wanted me. I was four years old. Who would take care of me? It was a desperate, sometimes devastating journey through the depths of despair I lived daily as a preschooler. Then it was a tumultuous adolescence with my malicious grandmother. How did I find the courage to survive the journey through these challenges? You will find it an exciting yet uplifting reading experience.

An egotistic and perverse English lad who was taught to see his "coloured" views from a different perspective with the assistance of an old patient and humble Chinese lady who came to live with his family. His "white" ideas and views eventually came to a coloured ending.

Pandora grew up in hardship, child abuse, sexual abuse, rape, drug abuse, and jail. Pandora was taken from her mother when she was ten years old. Her parents were on drugs. The choices she made in her life turned her life upside down. Pandora learned how to amend her oppressed life; she learned how to deal with life in a positive way. This novel is all about empowerment and showing people how they can overcome negative situations without having to continue on a self-destructive path that leads them to nowhere good. It’s all about self-discovery and the love of self and the love of life in the desire to live a normal life.

No one begins life as a mom. Before you have children, you are an amazing combination of friend, daughter, confidant, visionary, encourager, and thinker. You start out in life using your gifts and abilities in a surprising variety of settings. Then you have children and the role of mom–as wonderful as it is–seems to consume you. It’s easy to lose your identity when others see you as a mom and little else. What happened to the artist, the team-builder, the organizer, the entrepreneur, the leader–the person you’ve lost touch with? In Mama’s Got a Fake I.D., Caryn Dahlstrand Rivedeneira helps moms like you reclaim the person God made you to be. God still wants to use you in ways that let your gifts, passions, and personality shine. This inspiring and practical guide will show you how to break free from false guilt, learn a new language to express your true identity, and follow God’s lead in sharing who you really are. God wants you to discover who he made you to be–in your family and beyond. It’s time to reveal the woman who got hidden behind all that mom.

“Hi, ma’am. I’m sorry to bother you, but a woman was wandering around your property. She looked lost. She told me she was waiting for a friend named Gayle and that she had dropped her off here. I didn’t have the heart to watch the missus stand outside. I offered to let her sit in my car.” He pointed toward the squad car and looked down at his clipboard. Flipping pages, he said, “She said her name is ...” He stopped and pointed to a line on his notepad. “Pauline Graham,” we said in unison. “So, you know her?” The officer looked at me with cool eyes, smiled, and put down his notepad. “Yes, sir.” My voice was shaking. The moment I had waited a lifetime for was finally here, but I didn’t know what to do. I was terrified about the thought of meeting her. It had been so many years. I took a deep breath.

Drama recounting the experience of growing up in the Deep South

Growing up in segregated 1930’s Charlottesville, ten-year-old Allie is determined to find a man for her mama to marry— but not just any man will do! Allie’s life with Mama isn’t bad, but she knows it could be better if Mama would find someone to marry. Allie’s worst enemy, her NOT-friend Gwen, has a daddy, and Allie wants someone like that—someone to fix things when they break, someone who likes to sing, and has a kind-smile. So Allie makes a plan—her super secret Man-For-Mama plan. She has a list of candidates with a clear top choice: Mr. Johnson, who owns the antique store. Best of all, Mr. Johnson went to school with Mama, and he wants to get reacquainted! The battle’s half won, and Allie is sure that when he tries Mama’s yummy chicken and dumplings, he’ll be head over heels. But someone else is interested in Mama: Mr. Coles, Allie’s teacher, who’s also Gwen’s uncle! Mama can’t marry him—no way is Allie going to be related to Gwen. On top of it all, Allie’s best friend is moving to Chicago; Allie keeps getting in trouble; and everyone seems to think she’s jealous of Gwen, for some reason. Nothing is going how she planned, but Allie is determined to get things back on track toward the life she knows she and Mama both deserve. . . even if Mama doesn’t agree yet. A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection