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Upside Down in a Laura Ingalls Town
Recently Adapted into a Stage Play!
Sarton Women's Literary Award
North Carolina Author Project Award
Story Monsters Certificate of Excellence
Taleflick Road to Development Semi-finalist
Buy it now on Amazon, Baker & Taylor Blio, Inktera, Kobo, Smashwords, Nook, and Scribd.
Also available through the American Library Association
Publishers Weekly:
"Brooke's voice feels authentic as she struggles to reconnect with her fractured family, and Manning's historical research shows...an entertaining novel with realistic characters readers should find it easy to invest in."
Midwest Book Reviews:
"This endearing tale will make any young reader
realize the importance of family, especially when one of them is no longer there...touching, heartwarming,
humorous and inspiring."
Story Circle Book Reviews:
"An eye-opening story for people who think their life is tough and for people who need to appreciate
what is right in their lives."
Novel Gossip:
"...a gem of a book. I highly recommend this to anyone, but especially those with teenagers; it's a story that can really resonate with them and teach some great lessons without them even realizing it."
Padgett Gerler, author of The Gifts of Pelican Isle:
"[A] coming-of-age story with equal parts
humor, angst, grit and charm."
YA Books Central:
"Nice twists...good detail..."
More Happy Readers:
"Upside Down in a Laura Ingalls Town is pure joy!"
"The perfect coming-of-age story no matter what your age."
"A wonderful journey back in time!"
"My favorite read this summer!"
It has been a long and difficult year for the Decker family, especially for sixteen-year-old Brooke. Her grades have plummeted. She deliberately breaks curfew. She makes out with boys she hardly knows.
And now her father has totally lost it. When Tim Decker signs up his family of three to be contestants on a Hollywood reality show, Brooke’s life turns upside down. The place: The North Carolina backcountry. The year: 1861.
Brooke is forced to trade in her Victoria’s Secret bra for a rib-cracking corset, her comfy jeans for an ugly farm dress, and her private bathroom for an outhouse. Television cameras will follow her every move as she lives the grueling life of a mid-nineteenth-century farm girl: milking a cow, churning butter, fetching water countless times a day, and riding in a horse-drawn wagon along a rutted road to spend pennies in town.
This will be Brooke’s life for four awful months. Unless, of course, she breaks the rules and the producers kick her off the show…
Other families are scattered throughout Sweet Sugar Gap. The snotty Prudence Miller soon becomes Brooke’s rival. Wendell Murphy, who works at the local mercantile, is instantly smitten with Brooke—but also makes her suspicious. Does the only cute boy in town really like her, or is he merely showing off for the cameras?
Brooke Decker may just have to find a way to make it in the backcountry, leaving behind the modern frills she can’t live without. But can a young girl’s wishful heart surrender to a time and place she believes she can never call home?
And now her father has totally lost it. When Tim Decker signs up his family of three to be contestants on a Hollywood reality show, Brooke’s life turns upside down. The place: The North Carolina backcountry. The year: 1861.
Brooke is forced to trade in her Victoria’s Secret bra for a rib-cracking corset, her comfy jeans for an ugly farm dress, and her private bathroom for an outhouse. Television cameras will follow her every move as she lives the grueling life of a mid-nineteenth-century farm girl: milking a cow, churning butter, fetching water countless times a day, and riding in a horse-drawn wagon along a rutted road to spend pennies in town.
This will be Brooke’s life for four awful months. Unless, of course, she breaks the rules and the producers kick her off the show…
Other families are scattered throughout Sweet Sugar Gap. The snotty Prudence Miller soon becomes Brooke’s rival. Wendell Murphy, who works at the local mercantile, is instantly smitten with Brooke—but also makes her suspicious. Does the only cute boy in town really like her, or is he merely showing off for the cameras?
Brooke Decker may just have to find a way to make it in the backcountry, leaving behind the modern frills she can’t live without. But can a young girl’s wishful heart surrender to a time and place she believes she can never call home?