{"product_id":"the-accidental-salvation-of-gracie-lee-9781951418052","title":"The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn this award-winning, coming-of-age novel, ten-year-old Gracie Lee struggles to make sense out of her life as an Arkansas farm girl in the early 1970s. Wise beyond her age yet imbued with child-like innocence, Gracie focuses on the three things that keep her awake at night: \u003c\/p\u003e \u003col\u003e \u003cli\u003eSolving the mystery of the man in the gray house;\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eSurviving another school year at Savage Crossing Elementary; and, \u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eSaving her alcoholic Daddy from himself (and thereby saving the whole family and wider world).\u003c\/li\u003e \u003c\/ol\u003e \u003cp\u003eGracie feels certain there is more to life beyond school and dull church sermons. She worries about the soldiers in Vietnam and wonders what it must be like to have been born Lisa Marie Presley from Tennessee instead of Gracie Lee Abbott from Arkansas. Mostly, she wishes her Daddy wasn't so mean.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eGracie's unchecked imagination leads to Nancy Drew-type adventure. Adventure leads to trouble. She confides in unexpected characters and seeks solace in a mysterious gray house beyond the cotton field. When Gracie faces a difficult family situation, she must make a life-altering decision, one that will test the very essence of her character.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"At best, most first novels indicate potential. It would be wrong to say that, when reading Talya Tate Boerner's \u003cem\u003eThe Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee\u003c\/em\u003e, I was pleasantly surprised. Actually, I was amazed. \u003cstrong\u003eThere's magic here, in a wonderfully-told story that will find a special place in any reader's heart.\u003c\/strong\u003e\" Jeff Guinn, New York Times bestselling author.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Boerner's prose is a wonderful medium for unspooling Gracie's story, imbued with all the snark, wonder, and colorful details that characterize childhood... The author addresses real, high-stakes issues without slathering them in melodrama or saccharine sentimentality, and her book hearkens back to an older YA tradition of stories of plucky preteen girls, spooky houses, and inevitable tragedies that help mark the turning point from childhood to adolescence. \u003cstrong\u003eA stirring novel with a distinctive young narrator.\u003c\/strong\u003e\" Kirkus Reviews\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBoerner, Talya Tate:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Talya Tate Boerner draws on her rural roots to deliver readers back to a simpler time when screen doors slammed, kids tromped cotton, and Momma baked cornbread for supper every night. Boerner, a fourth-generation Arkansas farm girl, has been published in Arkansas Review, Ponder Review, and Writer's Digest. A graduate of Baylor University (with a degree in economics), she worked thirty years as a commercial lender in Dallas before returning home to Arkansas. Boerner lives in Fayetteville with her husband and two miniature schnauzers. Follow Boerner's blog Grace Grits and Gardening (www.gracegritsgarden.com) for tales of farming, gardening, and comfort food. Her second book, Gene, Everywhere, is forthcoming March 2020.","brand":"One Mississippi Press LLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50438437404946,"sku":"9781951418052","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_f4ebb5e7-b6b3-416d-9ed0-e20247824339.jpg?v=1729650878","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-accidental-salvation-of-gracie-lee-9781951418052","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}