Jeannie Mobley

Over 50 short stories, poems, and essays by eight caffeine-charged writers whose special brews ought to keep you awake. From the comic to the serious, from the mundane to the contemplative, Brewed Awakenings has something for every taste.

A thrilling tale of the elusive Hope Diamond's journey across Europe during the French Revolution, with gorgeous, absorbing writing from Jeannie Mobley Eighteen-year-old Claudie Durand's future is planned. She'll take over the family inn, watch her much prettier younger sister, Mathilde, married off to the butcher's son, and live out her days alone, without the hope of finding a love of her own. Her mother ran off to the cloister when she was young, and her gruff, abusive father has deemed her unmarriageable, a nuisance, and only good for hard labor. But outside their small village in Brittany, a revolution is brewing. When the Army of the Republic seizes their town, and Claudie finds herself at the center of the conspiracy, she and Mathilde must flee their sheltered life and take up a cause that, up till now, had always seemed like a distant conflict. As the sisters carry out a dangerous mission for the resistance: delivering a precious item to the mysterious Rooster of Rennes--Claudie's conscience is torn between the longing to return to her predictable, lonely existence and the desire to carve out a new future, reaching for the life--and love--she never dared dream of but knew deep down she truly deserved.

An immigrant girl discovers that hard work and determination can make dreams come true in this "top-notch" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) debut that is "a rich story threaded with...a vibrant setting and cast" (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Katerina has a dream. It's her papa's dream, too. Her family came to America to buy their own farm. But a year later, Papa is still working in the dangerous coal mine. Each day, the farm seems farther away. Then Katerina is reminded of the carp that granted three wishes in an old folktale. When her younger sisters hear the story, they immediately make wishes. Trina doesn't believe in such silliness--but what is she to think when her sisters' wishes come true? A farm is still too big to wish for. But, with the help of the neighbor's handsome son, Trina starts building her dream with hard work and good sense. Then tragedy strikes, and it seems that nothing Trina wishes for will ever come true again. With warmth and gentle humor, Jeannie Mobley tells the story of a girl whose determination is as inspiring as her dreams.