Tammy Donahue is a Raleigh County Teacher and author that has 2 new chidrens books available to the public.

Lola Rizer had a change to visit with Tammy regarding her inspiration for the books and how her students helped fuel the story of Emma.

The first one is Emma: Emma grows up in rural West Virginia during the late Sixties and early Seventies. She is naive and unaware of the cultural divide that exists in her community. She is a sensitive young girl and a deep thinker, however, and begins to observe subtle and sometimes not so subtle differences in how others are treated. She is filled with compassion for the people that live in her community. As Emma realizes the diversity and uniqueness of her classmates and the inequalities that exist in her town, she begins to examine her own actions, inactions and values. While navigating the challenges of adolescence, she finds herself in situations where her values are tested. Emma questions the decisions she makes and begins to doubt her ability to make the right choices. As Emma grows older, she is tormented by bullies, her confidence is knocked, and she is consumed by self-doubt. Weighed down by the unrealistic expectations she has set for herself, Emma begins to understand that no one is perfect, nor should they expect to be. As friends come and go, Emma learns that there is one person in her life that she can always rely on and that perhaps she has made the right decisions after all. 

The second book is Mystery Kisses & Chicken PoopHave you ever seen a horse so tall you could walk under its belly? Or held on for dear life while you’re trying to cross a river on a wooden bridge swinging wildly from side to side? Or been surrounded by thousands of squawking chickens? Or claimed your own stake on a never before traversed mountain? Can you imagine a tape worm so long it reaches out of a little girl’s mouth for an irresistible bite to eat? Discover this grandmother’s unique adventures growing up in rural West Virginia in a not so ordinary family. Travel with her as she accompanies her grandma, a soothsaying traveling nurse, and her grandpa, a chicken farmer and horse-shoeing blacksmith, on some not so ordinary adventures. Mystery Kisses and Chicken Poop is filled with (mostly true) heart-warming and humorous tales that will make you cherish family moments and feel good inside.

You can find her books online at Books-A-Million Barnes and Noble and locally at Ticketyboo in Downtown Beckley

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