Toward the end of the depression, the Ludaks struggle with jobs, ethnic hostility, and widespread class prejudice in their upstate New York factory hometown in Thompsonville. But life for their daughter Joanna proves wide and adventurous and jubilant, if something terrifying. Her coming of age as a Polish Catholic, blue-collar, scrubbed but culturally hobbled youngster is a riveting fictional odyssey of painful confrontations with both natal and dominant community values, of growing friendships with an array of varied minority persons, of first love across class barriers. Into this turbulent mix, Americans entrance into World War II brings further lifestyle changes and disruptive values into Thompsonville. The family nexus cannot hold. Uncle Sam and Aunt Albina reach for the prize of the American brass ring. While Joannas mother, Bertha, resonates with their success and strives to emulate their example, Dad Ludak meanders into no mans land to bitter unresolved conflicts. Joanna alone promises to approach self-actualization, which has always been her goal.

KATHRYN BLAKE is a retired executive, contemporary artist, and now author. Born in the mid-west, Kathryn has lived and worked in various cities throughout the United States. Having spent more than ten years in Washington, D.C., Kathryn became keenly interested in politics and the art of the game. She is an advocate, a survivor, and an optimist. She was once told by a friend that she has "an exquisitely different way of looking at things," of which she is most proud. To view Kathryn's artwork, visit her website at www.kathrynblake.com

First series, books 1-43, includes "Notes on U.S. reports" by Walter Malins Rose.