Willow's Secrets

In the starving years after the Civil War, a girl is born in the northern hills of Alabama. The mother dies, and the heart-broken grandmother gives the precious child to strangers to raise as their own. Rambunctious and inquisitive, the little girl wants to "know everything." Yet she finds herself surrounded by secrets: Who can she ask? Who can she tell?

About the Author :
Sally Bermanzhon has ancestral roots in northwest Alabama where Willow's Secrets takes place. She grew up in New York and in the 1960s went south for college. In North Carolina she became deeply involved in the movements for civil rights, women's equality, and labor organizing. In 1979 she participated in a demonstration when the Ku Klux Klan attacked, killing five people and critically wounding her husband. Years later, Sally earned a PhD at City University of New York, and taught at Brooklyn College. Now a grandmother, she resides with her husband in the Hudson Valley.

Review :
"Cocoons become butterflies. Pollywogs grow into fish. People are white or colored, but what can they become? In WILLOW'S SECRETS things are rarely what they seem and life is a journey full of surprises. Growing up in rural Alabama after the Civil War, the main character Willow learns both the beautiful mysteries of nature and culture, and the hard secrets of senseless hate and betrayal. Bermanzohn takes readers into an emotionally resonant world, distorted by what it means to be labeled white, black, or Indian. Hope lies in the connections to land and between people, and is transmitted through the gift of story." --Aran Shetterly, author, The Americano "An Indian toddler is given to a white family to raise. In WILLOW'S SECRETS we get to see her growing up and coming full circle to claim her roots and heritage of selflessness, storytelling and survival. Transcendent truths of human nature, both difficult and glorious, shine through the engaging story of rural Southern life in a time of change." --Anne Pyburn Craig, journalist, book critic "Reading WILLOW'S SECRETS, I was pulled into the story as the main character lives a life of hardship and discovers her true identity, becoming free to be who she is. A must read for all ages." --Rev. Nick Miles-Powatan "WILLOW'S SECRETS presents a wonderfully new take on an often-told history of post Civil-War in the Deep South, focusing on the Native American heritage of a young girl growing up in Alabama. Following Willow from childhood into maturity, we come to understand the truly multi-ethnic world she inhabits, and how it coalesces to make her the indelible character Bermanzohn has created." --Adam Zucker, independent filmmaker "Any parent or teacher who wants to help the next generation understand how the world--and particularly these United States--got to where we are now will find pure gold assistance in Annie and Willow's stories. But do read them yourself before the kids get the pages schmeary, because like Indian Annie, Willow's Secrets is first and foremost a really good read." --Anne Pyburn Craig