Edited by Lillie Ammann and Jan McClintock

Special circumstances force Socorro Camero Haro to accept a middle school teaching position in Doctor Arroyo, Nuevo León, México. At the time of her departure, her mother warns her: “Don’t forget that you will live in a crystal box where everyone will see and judge what you do.” Little did the recent graduate imagine how valuable this advice will be for her in the future.

Socorro had grown up in an environment of love and protection. Now she faces a world different from her own. In the 1950s, the young teacher faces the taboos of the small towns of that time: single, alone, living and working only with men. She lived in a remote town, with only dirt roads, no running water, and electricity limited to two hours a day. Socorro confronts the superstitions of the people and encounters the local villain, who is almost a legend. Several times, fate places her and her students in dangerous situations in which she must make instant and drastic decisions. The only communication with her family and her fiancé is by mail. Unforeseen problems affect her wedding plans. Within her loneliness, Socorro finds joy in her new friends and coworkers, the love of her students, and the satisfaction of seeing them excel.

The Director General has promised to bring her back to Monterrey soon. But will he keep his promise? Will she win the trust and affection of the townspeople? Will her love story survive? Will she get over the loneliness and the remoteness from her close-knit family?

In this book, we will find the young teacher facing the challenges, intrigues, and defects of a real world. This is a true story that will captivate the reader.

Teaching in any form, anywhere, under any circumstances, has its ups and downs -- as does life. One of the greatest teacher ups is the ah-ha moment. The moment when you see the light come on. When a student gets it. It's that special moment when you know you've made a difference, when you have forever opened windows of knowledge and doors of opportunity.

Any teacher can give out information. Educators connect. They take the steps necessary to communicate effectively, regardless of the circumstances. Connection has the power to create a love for learning and to change lives.

Terry Sumerlin speaks and writes about the frustration and fulfillment, discouragement and courage, exhaustion and elation of an educator. It's about how to communicate, including to ourselves, during the ups and downs. It's about how educators bridge communication gaps to create more ah-ha moments.

Motivational speaker and author Terry Sumerlin blends fact and fiction in this novella about a cruise ship lecturer who teaches the principles of success, yet somehow has lost his own inspiration. How does Terry regain his enthusiasm? This is the experience of one "human becoming."

Imagine how you would feel if you woke up one day and learned that your best friend was the most prolific serial killer in America and most of his victims looked like you. That was the start of a forty-year quest to understand the mind of a killer and friend. The search led to others like him and their dark compulsions. How can they murder multiple human beings without remorse?

The Ripper’s Children: Inside the World of Modern Serial Killers examines how their murderous drives may originate. Can serial murderers control their killing sprees? Are the causes social, genetic, or biochemical? The book sheds light on the blackest corner of the human mind. This book may cause you to take a closer look at your relatives, friends, and neighbors.

Truth and Fiction: Essays & Short Stories on Life shows the extraordinary impact of seemingly ordinary past experiences. Through them, we learn how they challenged and enriched us. True stories can seem as imaginative as fiction, and fiction can feel realistic.

Essays written in the style of Cherry Tree Dares: Essays on Childhood, my first book, range from humorous to thought-provoking. One treasured memory is having Saturday night snacks and television time at my uncle and aunt’s house. Another examines my amazement at the lack of people’s common sense. A third reveals how my first ship cruise to the Bahamas became a chaotic and frustrating travel adventure.

In the fiction section, short stories range from the inspirational to the suspenseful to the comedic. In one, a lonely woman encounters an astute young lad who needs a friend. Another features a man who finds death to be the permanent solution. A third show how laughter sometimes is all one has left after life’s bruises.

Truth and Fiction can help readers develop insights into life. They may then gain more understanding of their own journey.

Cherry Tree Dares: Essays on Childhood written by Ilene W. Devlin was released in November 2020. In it, she describes her growing up in small Midwestern towns during the 1950s and 1960s. She dedicates her book to those from small towns or who wish they were. Real life is often more fascinating than fiction. To understand our lives as adults, we often reflect on important childhood events. Such adventures shaped us, making us who we are today.“People from my small towns had distinct characteristics. They were open, nosy, friendly, and helpful and encouraged community conformity. My heart will always rejoice in my childhood experiences. Those included trying to keep my active imagination entertained and to understand adults. My journey involved happiness and sorrow, the spectrum of emotions that many children encounter. Come explore life’s mysteries through my essay ‘Cherry Tree Dares’, my black eye in ‘The Chartreuse Monarch’ bicycle and ‘The Last Kiss’ between my mother and me.” Ilene W. Devlin Cherry Tree Dares: Essays on Childhood is the author’s first published nonfiction book.

Emma’s World: A World War II Memoir is a narrative nonfiction book by Ilene W. Devlin released in November 2020. The work is based on published research, family oral history and personal diaries and letters from World War II. This inspiring story shows one young American woman’s resilience in achieving her dreams by overcoming life’s obstacles. The book traces Emma’s life in Missouri in the 1930s through the end of World War II. Emma dreams of becoming a teacher. She would be the first in her family to finish high school but needs a college degree to receive her teaching certificate. She makes many sacrifices to succeed. Emma also dreams of becoming a wife and mother, but her boyfriend enlists in the Army during World War II. She faces the decision of whether they should marry before he leaves or after he returns, if he does so. Emma’s and Peter’s daily letters to each other are the heart of the second half of the book. Daily reality on the Midwestern home front continues, but stress, rationing and media war reports adversely affect all community members. From enduring muddy roads to learning about modern warfare, they find that their perspective constantly shifts from mundane life to world-altering events.

The story of a young pioneer girl who settled in Gonzales, Texas, just in time for the revolution. There is a spirit of vigor and courage in Texas. It inspired the early settlers, and it unified them during rough times. That spirit of determination rallied the men who defended the Alamo and fortified the volunteers who followed Sam Houston to San Jacinto. In 1831, Sydnie Gaston’s family had that spirit. Like many other families, they left the comforts of their home in the United States to brave the wilds in what was then Mexico. They settled in a village on the Guadalupe River and were soon swept up in the hardships of pioneer life. They overcame Indians and nature, and they helped to fight in a war against a deceitful government. Sydnie was one of many authentic women who fought for a better life in what became the Republic of Texas. And it all started with the Spirit of Gonzales.

It is the story of Ben Loch, a Confederate veteran and the son of a redneck farmer, and Annie Kingsley, the daughter of an upstairs maid and the plantation owner. She was the personal slave of her half sister until June 19, 1865, when Texas slaves learned of their freedom.

This book has been a long time in the making. Eighteen years to be exact. Gary, whose voice you will hear through the first several chapters, died before the book could be completed. When Gary was first diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia, he knew he would be spending long periods of time in the hospital. One day Gary announced, “I think I will write a book about how a family who was steadfastly a one-dog family came to own six dogs.” It was not until after Gary died that Betsy realized how much, and how well, he had written about their life and their dogs. After a year-long struggle, and after nearing the halfway mark of this book, he quietly died with family and friends by his side. Betsy moved on with her life. The book always stayed just out of her vision, almost too painful for her to consider. She took a glance at it from time to time, surprised at all he remembered and cherished of their life together. But, most of all, his book was about the dogs in their life and his profound and deep love for them. Nearly seventeen years after his death, Betsy began reading his funny and poignant words and she knew she needed to finish his story.