Jennifer McGraw-Miceli

PART THREE Albert and Becky have a new friend. His name is Anthony. They met at the Community pool where they have been taking swimming lessons all summer. Albert has been trying very hard to become as good a swimmer as Becky and Anthony. His goal for the summer is to jump off of the low diving board and swim to the side of the pool. His mystical unicorn visits him once again to remind him to always be brave. After watching one of Anthony's five year old twin sisters fall into the deep end of the pool, will Albert summon the courage to jump in and save her?PART FOUR A new school year begins. Albert, Becky and Anthony are all in the same second grade class. They have become great friends and they will experience many new things in the coming year. Myrtle, who gave Albert his dog Rusty will move away after her house is destroyed in a storm. Rusty will alert Albert and his grandmother to a threat lurking where her house used to stand. There will be a science fair at the school and the three of them will work hard to win the first place blue ribbon. Albert will be visited again by his mystical unicorn and will ride with her to the rainbow that is her home.

In a charming little town on the outskirts of Atlanta lies a neighborhood where all of us yearn to live. The houses lining the well worn road are painted the color of Spring and boast beds filled with flowers of every variety. Each yard is shaded by one or more willow tree and the sounds of children playing can be heard from morning until the street lights illuminate the sidewalks and the call of parents beckoning their children inside for the night mixes with the songs of the crickets and frogs from the nearby pond. Six year old Elizabeth Kingston, born at the dawn of a new century, moves into this charming neighborhood with her parents, Eleanor and Colonel Kingston soon to be joined by brothers Henry and George. The house, known as the yellow house on Willow Tree Road by everyone in the neighborhood, will become a haven for Elizabeth until a tragic accident turns her loving father, the Colonel, into a man that she does not recognize. When the winds of change begin to blow through the halls of her once perfect home, Elizabeth will seek comfort and sanctuary in the arms of her willow tree and in the attic at the top of her home. Years later, after creating a new life for herself on the other side of the ocean, Elizabeth will be summoned back to the yellow house to care for Eleanor. Haunted by memories of life with her broken and dangerous father, the Colonel, Elizabeth will begin to write a journal that will help her to separate the nightmares from reality. The words in this journal will expose some of life's dirty little secrets and shed light on a life filled with joy and sorrow, secrets and regret, truths hidden in the darkness, and ultimate forgiveness that will make you believe in the power of the human spirit.

Jennifer McGraw - Miceli, author of Captain Tom and Franny, invites you to enter the world created by six short stories. The stories will transport you through time and offer you a glimpse of life in America and around the globe. As you travel with her characters and experience their unique lives, you will, perhaps, recognize yourself and gain a new perspective of the humanness that separates us and, ultimately, brings us back together again. June Fifteenth, 1855, a birthday shared by Hannah and Bessie, two very different children. One born to loving parents living a lavish life in a plantation home in Georgia. One born in the slave quarters behind the majestic home. This is a story of the unlikely bond between these two children. It is a story of friendship that is stronger than war or society or the secret that they both share. Always Flowers, This is the story of Isabelle Adams and the life that will transport her from her comfortable Southern home, to the world of Hollywood and Broadway and the life of the USO that will take her on a journey from the shores of the Pacific to war-torn Korea. Throughout the changes that occur in her life, however, one thing remains constant. Every home, every apartment, every tent that will become her home will have the one thing that will help to bring peace and serenity to her surroundings. Flowers. Isabelle will gather flowers to grace each and every room and hear her mother's words echo in her ears, "always have flowers. Always flowers." Four Words, "Get in the boat." These are the last words that Daniel's father will ever say to him. Daniel obeys his father, climbs into the boat with his mother and sister, and watches as the giant ocean liner sinks into the icy sea. Daniel carries the guilt of these four words and the loss of his father on his shoulders until the day that a stranger shares with him the story of his father's act of heroism aboard the doomed ship that night in April. Daniel's violin will act as his source of comfort as he learns to let go of the nightmare of that long ago night. Every note that escapes from the strings will serve as a tribute to Daniel's father and all of the other souls whose ghosts still haunt the ship that lies at the bottom of the sea. Also includes, Joe, Chords of Voices, and The Eleventh Chromosome