Current Newsletter: A mix of horror and happiness.

Book Buzz Feature: When the Jessamine Grows by Donna Everhart
I set the story during a very familiar timeframe, that of the Civil War, but I feel like it is uniquely different from any other Civil War story.. For one thing, Joetta McBride and her husband Ennis live in Nash County, North Carolina, They are subsistence farmers or “yeoman” farmers. That is where you grow your own food to feed yourself and your livestock. Yeoman farmers made up 65% of the population of North Carolina at that time. They did not own slaves, they were neutral and didn’t want anything to do with the war. The other thing about this book that makes it uniquely different is that it’s not about the War. Instead, I write about the families who are left behind women like Joetta McBride, who are required and compelled to keep food on the table, keep the farms running, keep their families together. The American Iraqi activist Zainab Salbi says if we are to understand War then we need to understand not not only what happens on the front lines but what happens on the back lines as well, where women are in charge of keeping the family going. And that is the essence of what this book is about. ― Donna Everhart, at Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe

Decide For Yourself Banned Book Feature: Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram