Janice Ross

On the 3rd of June 1975 in New York, Edward and Pearl Riley receive the ultimate gift of love - a newborn baby, wrapped in a blanket and stuffed in a burlap bag. The child's name, Sakkara, is written out on a torn sheet of paper, and immediately fills every void the married couple has ever had. Pregnant seamstress Petrina Dugal becomes a runaway at the age of twenty-six. She flees the claws of a brutish husband, despite her adoration for a well-loved...

Janice Lynn Ross walked into her upstairs storage room one day, opened a long-ignored box, and hit pay dirt. She discovered poems, some written on scratch paper, and stories, letters, and journals, ranging from childhood to teen years to young adulthood. She selected some of these writings, then added more recent ones, too, about 100 pieces in all. Janice also provides rich, entertaining commentary and background. It's a sweet, nostalgic read, written...