Just a Small Town Girl…Born as the Civil Rights Movement is just picking up steam, and as the world beyond Ponca City prepares to protest, Abyssinia enters into a pretty ordinary childhood. She h...

Some people get stuck with one terrible mother, while others, like Abyssinia, basically get two totally awesome moms. Sure, Patience is Abby's biological mother, but Mother Barker is there from day...

I Once Was Lost…We're just going along, reading Marked by Fire, when all of a sudden there's a tornado that rudely interrupts Abby's Library Award ceremony. When the students and teachers emerge...

Patience by Any Other Name…Patience is the star of the show in the first two chapters of the book, first narrowly surviving a tornado and then giving birth next to a fire in the middle of her wor...

Have you read up on Abyssinia as a character yet? You totally should before we dive into Lily Norene. Don't worry; we'll wait.Okay, you back? Let's do this thing.Poor Lily Norene has the dubious ho...

Serena and SadoniaThese are Patience's sisters who take Abyssinia one afternoon without permission and refuse to give her back until Patience tricks them into doing so. Siblings, right?Mr. MoselyTh...