Yankee Girl

Valerie's voice is as sweet as honey. She's the obvious choice to star in the Nativity.

But this is Mississippi, 1964, and Valerie is the first black student to attend her school. Alice is torn between standing up for Valerie and being popular with the in-crowd. It takes a tragedy for Alice to find the courage to act.

A truly resonant story about racism and doing the right thing, based on the author's own experiences.

With internet links to recommended websites about the American Civil Rights Movement

It's 1964 and Alice Anne Moxley has moved to Mississippi from Chicago with her family. She is nicknamed "Yankee Girl" and taunted by the popular girls at school, although she soon discovers the other new girl, Valerie - the school's first black student - suffers much worse.

Mary Ann Rodman wanted to be a writer since the age of three, but was only inspired to write Yankee Girl, her first novel, after leaving her job as a librarian and moving to Thailand. The experience of dealing with a completely different culture reminded her of her childhood years spent in Jackson, Mississippi, in the 1960s. Mary Ann moved to Mississippi when her father, an FBI agent, was sent there to investigate hate crimes during the civil rights movement. Yankee Girl is based on the author’s personal experiences of that time and her character Alice Ann is, she says, "an improved version of me, someone who I wish I could have been".

Mary Ann Rodman is married with one daughter and now lives in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Visit www.maryannrodman.com to find out more.