Right from the beginning, Emmy Rowan's indomitable spirit and sense of adventure compel her to forge her own path in life-which isn't easy for a young girl growing up in a poor family in rural Oklahoma in 1910.
Emmy's father, John Rowan, farms a small plot of land, while her mother tends to her ever-expanding family. While her parents do their best to keep their brood fed, clothed, and sheltered, Emmy runs wild with her best friend, Zula Parker.
Emmy and Zula spend most of their time with Wes Dickson and Freddy Burkett, sneaking off to Dink's Roadhouse to go dancing. But Emmy's family has a long-standing grudge against the Dickson family, and their disapproval means that Wes and Emmy must keep their relationship a secret at all costs.
When the truth comes to light, it changes the course of Emmy's life and irrevocably alters her relationships with her family. But through personal hardship, sadness, and the challenges of the Great Depression, Emmy remains resolved and independent-possessing the will and spirit necessary to survive in the early days of Oklahoma's statehood.
About the Author: Pamela Manners is a fourth-generation, born and bred Oklahoman.
Manners served on the psychology faculty at Troy University from 1985 until she retired in 2009. She earned her BA in elementary education and taught third and fourth grade at a Department of Defense school in England. She then earned her MA in reading education and taught remedial reading to middle school students before pursuing her PhD in educational psychology with a focus on adolescent development. She received all her degrees from the University of Oklahoma. .
Between the two of them, Manners and her husband have four children, four grandsons, and one granddaughter, dispersed over three countries and two states. They live in Alabama in a house built in 1880, which they enjoy sharing with Rita and Lucy, their golden retrievers.
