Books with author Patricia Williams

All Kevin wants is to be like any other high school student and learn how to drive and hang out with his friends. But when your parents run a funeral home, it's tough to have a normal life. And when you're a Mormon living in the South, well, that just about triples your weirdness quotient. Especially when an elderly woman from church drafts you into the Granite Girls, a group that records the names on all the tombstones in Armadillo, Arkansas. Try explaining that to the local sheriff who catches you in a graveyard at 6:30 in the morning. One not-so-weird thing about Kevin's family is the love they have for Marcy-a young African-American woman who's like the sister Kevin never had. Just as the family prepares to help Marcy renovate the house across the road with money left to her by her late father, a stranger shows up at the Paramount Funeral Home. It's Ruby, Marcy's mother, whom she hasn't seen in twelve years. Soon after Ruby's arrival, things begin to disappear-and Ruby makes sure Kevin takes the blame. As her threats become more personal, Kevin must find a way to expose Ruby and to convince others of the truth, not only for Marcy's sake, but to save his own reputation.

This is a children's middle reader book. It deals with that time in California history when people in the dustbowl areas of the Midwest emigrated. It tells of two preteen girls who become acquainted when the family of one of the girls camps across the road from the ranch of the other girl's father. The girls are from different backgrounds, and their families are going in different directions, but the short time they spend together changes their lives in subtle but significant ways.

Under the Sea - A Seashell Meditation for Children is a unique coloring/activity book that offers a short meditation story rhyme using a seashell as a tool for focus and concentration. The book encourages the child to use their imagination while listening to the story as it is being read. The child then may color the pictured pages that correspond with the meditation story as well as use their imagination to create their own images in the blank spaces provided. This helps the child to engage and participate in the meditation. Very interactive and fun for all. (Seashell not Included)

Kevin's senior year of high school isn't going as he'd planned. So much has changed, and choices he once thought would be easy to make have become increasingly difficult. His best friend has moved away, his girlfriend has dumped him for the school football hero, and life after graduation looms ahead like a chasm without a bridge. Kevin's got a hot scholarship offer in his hands, but even though it's hard for him to talk about his Mormon faith with others, he can't shake the feeling in his heart that he should serve a two-year mission. When the time comes for Kevin to make the most important decision of his life, one that no one else can or should make for him, he must take a leap of faith and learn to trust his own feelings. Will his decision be the right one, even when tragedy strikes? Find out where Kevin's choices take him in The Final Farewell, the final volume in the Kevin Kirk Chronicles.

By Patricia Williams and Zenobia Verner. Use newspapers, magazines, catalogs, and even junk mail as sources for reading-comprehension activities. For example, to practice identifying main ideas, separate newspaper stories from their headlines and then challenge students to reattach the right headlines to the right stories. Reproducible handouts lead students through additional clever, real-world activity ideas to develop the following comprehension skills: identifying the main idea and supporting details, distinguishing between fact and fiction, understanding cause-and-effect relationships, evaluating the role of tone and mood in persuasive writing, making generalizations, and drawing conclusions. Grades 4–8. Illustrated. 8½" x 11". Good Year Books. 84 pages. ©1988. GDY543.