Helpful Score: 1
Terrific book. You won't want to put it down. Gives an interesting look into 1) families, 2) dysfunctional families, 3) rural African American families. Wonderful read from a very gifted writer!!
Helpful Score: 1
A Great Read with a moving lesson about life. I could not put this book down.
A wonderful look at a woman that had tured her back on what her foundational teachings had taught her. It also showed that what we believe we knew as children can cause us no amount of trouble in the adult years. After I finished the book - I asked my 5 brothers and sisters some questions about when we were kids - WOW talk about different memories. I wouldn't have thought to do that until I read this book.
An excellent book.
An excellent book.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I to am from Arkansas, and it really hit home. I remember feeling the same way about the small town i grew up in. And now i wish i was still back there.
This book was totally "awakening" and realistic.......It took unconditional love, consistency and FAMILY to make Raedella WHOLE again..........it was a page turner and wow, what a message!
When she left her small hometown and weird family in Arkansas, she never looked back. But when her success as a news anchor in Houston, engaged to a hot city councilman, crashes to the ground, she has to go back to her roots. Booklist: "Compelling, heartfelt." Includes a Reader's Group guide.
Raedella Rollins left the dusty town of Sweet Poke, Arkansas, on a Texas-bound bus, with four mismatched suitcases, a newsroom job offer, and a promise to herself never to look back. It turns out to be a promise hard to keep once she reaches the top. A compelling, heartfelt book about what it's like to outgrow one's roots.
From Booklist
Since junior high, Raedella Rollins knew that she was destined to live a different life. Despite the devastation of her mother's abandonment and the scarcity of her grandmother's resources, she was determined to rise above her meager beginnings in Sweet Poke, Arkansas. After reinventing herself as Rae Rollins, she worked at television stations around the country for seven years before landing a job in Houston. The Rae Rollins Show is rated number one in the Houston market. Rae has a successful career and the man of her dreams, Myles Jacobs, who is the youngest member of the Houston city council. However, Rae not only left her hometown but also distanced herself from everyone. When family members show up in Houston, her carefully crafted life comes unglued. Rae loses her job and discovers a devastating secret about Myles. Her family comes to the rescue and takes her back home. She realizes through her personal crisis how important family is and that her hometown is not quite as backward as she remembered. A compelling, heartfelt story.
Since junior high, Raedella Rollins knew that she was destined to live a different life. Despite the devastation of her mother's abandonment and the scarcity of her grandmother's resources, she was determined to rise above her meager beginnings in Sweet Poke, Arkansas. After reinventing herself as Rae Rollins, she worked at television stations around the country for seven years before landing a job in Houston. The Rae Rollins Show is rated number one in the Houston market. Rae has a successful career and the man of her dreams, Myles Jacobs, who is the youngest member of the Houston city council. However, Rae not only left her hometown but also distanced herself from everyone. When family members show up in Houston, her carefully crafted life comes unglued. Rae loses her job and discovers a devastating secret about Myles. Her family comes to the rescue and takes her back home. She realizes through her personal crisis how important family is and that her hometown is not quite as backward as she remembered. A compelling, heartfelt story.
