Conquering Fear!: Whistling Through the Graveyard

by Ken Wallin, Bev Fierro

In many years of leading, training, and teaching individuals of many different ages and backgrounds there is one thing that comes up and seems to take hold at the most inopportune times. That thing is fear. It stops us from reaching success in our lives. This is something that needs changing. I pray that this book will give you a few tools to conquer fear, and begin to live the life you were born to live. Good luck and Godspeed with your life battles.

56 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 30, 2013

Reviews

[KyneWynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a decent book telling the story of a girl in the deep south coming to term with her world in the sixties, and gaining a deeper understanding between the difference of her white world and the black world of the time. I liked the voice of the narrator and the story, and the author did an excellent job of weaving historical information into the narrative without it feeling like I was being spoon-fed a history lesson. The characters were well developed and it was easy to like, dislike, and have mixed feelings about them. The was some question in my mind though regarding the age of the protagonist and the thoughts, understanding, and actions she took. Many of them seemed to belong to an older child, a teenager perhaps, but not a ten-year old, or in the cases of her remembering when she was younger - definitely not a three-year old or a six-year old. There was also a lot of repetition - that became an annoying pattern; a little too much tell, and not quite enough show —despite these drawbacks, the book was engaging enough to finish, and I did like the ending.

[Mona Grant-Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starla's father works on an oil rig in the Gulf and her mother is in Nashville becoming a singing sensation. Starla hasn't seen her mother, Lulu, since Starla was three. Starla lives with her paternal grandmother, Mamie, in a small Mississippi town. Let's face it. Starla can be a handful. She is an outspoken, bold, tomboyish, perceptive red head. As Starla readily admits, she often speaks before thinking, but she has a heart of gold. Mamie is harsh and strict. Starla feels unwanted, unseen, unloved, and not special. Finally, fed up with Mamie's restrictions, Starla decides to head to Nashville to find her mother. Starla is hitch hiking and is picked up by a kind black lady named Eula. Starla is not Eula's only passenger. Eula is also carrying a little white infant named James. The ride with Eula, is the beginning of Starla's lessons in love, family, life, and dreams. Love sometimes comes from unexpected people. Family does not necessarilly mean the one you were born into. Life can be beautiful as well as ugly. Dreams are often better than reality. I loved this story that is told for ten year old Starla's perspective.