Creative youngsters of a somewhat higher age-range than the one recommended, about 8-15 years really, will find themselves inspired by the account of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' early struggle to find her forte as a writer, in this latest of the Creative Minds Biography series. Sprinkled with finely detailed, full-page charcoal drawings, it also draws an engaging parallel between the young Marjorie's life on a family farm and Jody Baxter's in "The Yearling." Marjorie's father Arthur Kinnan nurtured her love of nature just as Penny Baxter did for Jody, which gives us a fascinating insight into the true-life sources for Kinnan Rawlings' famous creations. The highs and lows of her life and career in rural Florida are then undramatically yet sensitively described: the book's tone is quiet and true, as clear and sweet as a brook in Rawlings' fiction.

I ordered this book for my fundamentalist parents to help them "justify" my divorce. I felt that I needed to read before I past it on to them. I believe the book offered an insight to what they must be thinking and feeling. Above all, it says what I could not say to them.... "Love me, anyway!" The author was compassionate, understanding and dealt with real-life situations. She did not get into negative specifics but continually stated to love your child and show that love in positive, non-confrontal ways. I'm sending this book to my parents!