Ollie's Gift

<p><strong><em>What happens when a single painful truth shatters a child's innocent view of the world?</em></strong></p><p>December 1958. Nine-year-old Marie's world overflows with love in a small New England town where Christmas glows with family gatherings laughter and the comforting certainty that life is good and safe.</p><p>But a post-Christmas trip to her missionary cousin in Alabama abruptly thrusts Marie into a world she never imagined-where racism hatred and poverty define daily life for some in the Jim Crow-era Deep South-and her sense of innocence is forever changed.</p><p>Confused heartbroken and desperate to understand such cruelty Marie's safe world begins to unravel.</p><p>Then she meets Miss Ollie. Blind ill and enduring unthinkable hardship the older woman offers Marie something life-changing-a simple yet profound awareness of compassion and love in the face of hate.</p><p>Inspired by true events <strong><em>Ollie's Gift</em> </strong>is a heart-stirring memoir that traces the testing of innocence the awakening of compassion and the extraordinary power of love to heal even the most wounded heart.</p><p class=ql-align-center><strong><em>If we do not model love and compassion for our children</em></strong></p><p class=ql-align-center><strong><em>the world will teach them something else.</em></strong></p><p>Unforgettable-perfect for fans of <em>To Kill a Mockingbird</em> <em>The Help</em> and other stories of moral courage and awakening.</p><p><em>Well another one of those stories that kept me up. I mean the way you captured your voice as a child and talked about your perceptions as you were having them. I just couldn't stop turning the pages. I think you have an incredible story. </em></p><p>-Jack Canfield Author Motivational Speaker </p><p>Co-creator of <em>Chicken Soup for the Soul </em>series</p><p><em>I read this book with my eight-year-old daughter. We laughed we cried. Maria has a way of painting an extremely vivid picture of the world which exposes just how children think what they think and how one interaction can change a child/person forever. </em></p><p>-Heather A Parent </p>