I am in Madison, WI, for those of you wondering and I swear there was a whole big downtown when we flew over but apparently it was easier to get where I was going to drive through the cornfields. I had to laugh because after miles of corn, I was relieved to finally see a blue sign advertising a gas station and an Arby's. Civiliazation! Even more interesting is the town I'm in - Middleton (I think). There is new construction everywhere and the most interesting thing is you'll have ten acres of office building and ten acres of shopping with corn fields in between. No lie. It's like you're driving and there's an office building, then a cornfield, right in the middle of this growing metropolitan area. I wish I had my camera. It looks totally bizarre.
Oh well, enough about corn and travels. Here's a GCC tour for you and I hope you all have a great weekend!
Today's GCC tour is brought to us by Judy Merrill Lawson with her release ALL THE NUMBERS. Check out the book!
“How much do you love me?” Daniel asked his mother. “I love you all the numbers.”
Recently divorced and navigating the uncharted territory of single parenthood, Ellen Banks is a tough but loving teacher and a devoted mother to her two sons, Daniel and James. When they take their summer trip from their home in Madison, Wisconsin to their best friends’ lake house for weekend, she has no idea that her life is about to irrevocably change. While Ellen sits on a nearby dock, a teen on a jet ski shatters their perfect day when he hits James. Suddenly Ellen is faced with decisions that are every parent’s worst nightmare. Life support, organ donation. And then, a funeral. A grieving sibling who blames himself for the death of his brother. A distant ex-husband, friends and family who don’t know what to say or how to help, lawyers, judges and policemen—none who can make the hurt go away. Healing the empty space in Ellen’s heart and soul is almost too much to bear. But she is determined to see justice done for her son, and to heal the deep wounds in her family. All the Numbers culminates in a highly charged trial which, in an unexpected turn, leads Ellen and Daniel to a new beginning.
About the Author:
Judy Merrill Larsen teaches high school English in St. Louis, Missouri, where she lives with her husband and their five children. She says that the novel came about because of her fascination with how ordinary people recover from extraordinary events and how love makes us vulnerable, and how very isolating yet very human, the desire for revenge can be. Whether she has seen something in the news or in fiction, she has always wondered about the lives of people in the aftermath. The choices they make. The holes they fall into and then how—or if—they claw themselves out. From the medical details to the intricacies of Wisconsin law, and courtroom procedures, Larson says the research was as challenging as the writing. As she says of her main character, “none of us is a super hero, but we can all choose to be heroes in our own lives. Ellen Banks, in All the Numbers, ultimately makes just that choice, by choosing to live on.” Larsen holds a Master’s Degree from Washington University. She is currently working on her second novel.
Praise for the Book:
“Judy Merrill Larsen’s All the Numbers is sure to join Judy Guest’s novel Ordinary People, and Jacqueline Mitchard’s The Deep End of the Ocean as one of the most talked-about books of its time. This powerful story of tragedy, grief, and redemptive love haunted me long after I read the final uplifting yet heartbreaking words.”—Cassandra King, author of The Sunday Wife
“[A] compelling debut….Larsen depicts a mother’s year of grief and recovery with a
sure and honest voice.”—Booklist
Judy Merrill Larsen will be reading from and discussing All the Numbers at:
Left Bank Books in St. Louis, MO on August 9
Harry W. Schwartz Bookshop in Brookfield, WI on September 25
In addition, you can hear portions of All the Numbers the week of September 18 on Wisconsin Public Radio’s Chapter-A-Day program
Here's a link to buy the book!
6 comments:
When I was attending nursing school in the mid 70's, Plano General Hospital was a new building, sitting in an isolated area in the midst of someone's family farm. Now, it has a new name and an urban neighborhood.
Yesterday, in ladies prayer at the church, I heard a woman speak about piles of rubble in Israel, all that is left of some ancient cities mentioned in the Bible.
Reminds me of two things: the monkey city in Disney's JUNGLE BOOK and Carl Sandburg's poem "GRASS": "I am the grass, I cover all...I am the grass, let me work."
So, you're in Middleton, huh? Did you see Kim Possible while you were there? *g*
anon - yes, Plano has definitely changed. Even since I first moved to DFW in 1989.
tori - Good lord, I hate to even ask since I am totally ignorant of popular culture - who's Kim Possible?
Kim Possible is a children's television cartoon character...sort of a girl super heroine.
Kim isn't just for kids. I don't have any and I love the show. :)
Aaaah, thanks for the info! I'm not much of a tv person, so I guess that's why I was drawing a blank. :)
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