Mulberry Seeds: A Novella: Stories of Youth and Innocence

by Lisa-Behrens Smith, Emily Minster McCorkle (Editor), Debra Armstrong (Illustrator)

𝑴𝒖𝒍𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝑺𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔, the captivating debut novella from award-winning author Lisa-Behrens Smith, takes you deep into the world of young sisters Jolene and Corrine during the hot Texas summer of 1968. Best friends and sometimes enemies, they speak as only the very young can, displaying an unflinching honesty about their lives and family while they fall into months of poverty, homelessness, conflict, and loss.

Still, they manage to find joy in an often-painful daily life. From sneaking out of the house to travel the forbidden highway, losing toys in constant moves, and being left behind on family outings, they share their most special days, discover the toll of death, and face selfish family members. They laugh and plot, support and protect each other, in ways that surprise even them.

Ultimately, they learn to become best friends.

112 pages, Paperback

Published March 26, 2025

About the author

2025- 13𝒕𝒉 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝑾𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓'𝒔 𝑫𝒊𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑺𝒆𝒍𝒇-𝑷𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝑬-𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝑨𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 judged "exemplary" for original E-Book edition
2025 Eyelands Book Awards Finalist
2025 BookFest Silver Award - Fiction & YA
2024 Fiction Award, Writers of Kern
2024 Presenter, WOK, Pull it Out of Your Life!
2002 Beginning Writer Award, Santa Barbara Writers Conference
2001 Women's Fiction Award, Santa Barbara Writers Conference
2001 & 2002 Edith Pillsbury / Santa Barbara Foundation Writers Scholarships

I've spent nearly two decades as a Texas, California, and international English and Social Studies teacher, but when the bell rings, I'm everything but ordinary.

A true Southern soul, I grew up with grit and determination. I've never lost my appetite for adventure, my stinging sense of justice, or my sharp Southern sense of humor. I can drive a John Deere tractor, can my own vegetables, and have been been known to tear down a back road on a four-wheeler. (At night. In the mud.) For my 64th birthday, I accepted a challenge to myself and zip-lined over the lush hills of Wales.

In March of 2025, as a dare to myself, I finally released Mulberry Seeds —a raw, lyrical novella about two sisters surviving hunger and homelessness in 1968 Texas—after keeping it tucked away in a box for over 20 years.

I currently share my life with my husband of 47 years, our sweet house cat Midget, and my favorite ferals, Wiener and Un Ojo. Whether I'm teaching, writing, or trying the unexpected, I live and prove that relevance, resilience, and reinvention know no age. My life—and my work—speak to readers of all ages.

Reviews

[Karen Roney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This read is so much more than a great book. It is both thoughtful and thought provoking. Much like a familiar sound or smell can transport you back to simpler times, I found myself being transported to my own stories. This book is meant to be shared and discussed. Appropriate for young teens and up, it can be a useful platform for family conversations. Although I am not currently in a book club, I believe the novella format would easily fit a small group dynamic.

[Sharon Sheltzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Setting aside my confusion about the characters’ race, the prose was delightful, providing a heartfelt insight into the wisdom of children, in their own words.

[Dana VonAllmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lisa's little novella is a gem! Having grown up in Texas, it hits all the feels of my childhood...I recommend you read this beautiful little book sitting under the shade of a big pecan tree, or swaying on a porch swing with a big ole' mason jar of sweet tea ❣️

[R.L. Hare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mulberry Seeds: Stories of Youth and Innocence is a beautifully told novella about two sisters, Jolene and her younger sister Corrine, growing up in a poor Texas family. Written in a first-person voice that alternates between Jolene and Corrine, it feels as if the words come directly from the children themselves. The narration takes the reader straight into the mind of a child; how they think, rationalize, and feel the impact of each situation they encounter.

In the style of James by Percival Everett, complete with Southern drawl and back-country charm, it reads like a vivid, first-person slice of childhood where every sensory detail, every unfairness, and every small joy is magnified. The voice is consistent, authentic, and deeply rooted in the narrator’s perspective. It captures that perfect blend of wonder, petty grievances, and moral outrage children feel when something is taken from them—especially on “their day.”

If you grew up with a sibling, you’ll recognize and adore the way Corrine puts her older sister on a pedestal, treats her as her best friend, then feels abandoned when older friends take Jolene’s attention, or slighted when she steals the spotlight on her birthday.

The diction, grammar quirks, and thought patterns feel utterly natural for a child. The voice never slips into adult commentary. From the Texas-flag dress to the chigger bites to the “poop shoe,” the details make the world tangible. We feel the narrator’s sense of injustice and their unshakable logic in why they’re right, keeping us firmly on their side, even when they are being a little petty.

This work stands in the lineage of the finest first-person child narrators in modern literature—the kind that seem deceptively simple but are built with remarkable craft. With Mulberry Seeds, Lisa-Behrens Smith earns a place alongside Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird), Emma Donoghue (Room), Percival Everett (James), and Mark Twain (Adventures of Huckleberry Finn). Like these authors, Smith blends childlike syntax, misheard phrases, a stubborn sense of justice, and episodic, deeply sensory scenes steeped in neighborhood and family life.

For me, this borders on literary masterpiece territory. The syntax, vocabulary, and rhythm are entirely congruent with the narrator’s age, education, and environment, an achievement far rarer than would seem likely. It is easy for an adult writer to “peek through” a child’s voice; here, the illusion holds from first word to last.

I’m happy to lend my own editorial praise to Mulberry Seeds:
Told with a pitch-perfect ear for the cadences of childhood, this first-person account is a masterclass in voice. The narrator’s unflinching honesty, her incandescent sense of fairness, and her ability to find both wonder and betrayal in the same afternoon mark this as the work of a writer in complete control of her craft. Like Scout Finch, Ruth May, and Huck Finn before her, she will linger in the reader’s mind long after the last line.
– R. L. Hare, Boardroom Assassin

[Nataliesimmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mulberry Seeds is the kind of story that sneaks up on you gently in its telling, but deeply powerful in its emotional impact. Lisa-Behrens Smith captures the raw, unvarnished experience of poverty and familial unraveling through the eyes of two sisters with heartbreaking clarity.
Jolene, wise beyond her years, is a compelling narrator, carrying burdens no child should. Her love for Corrine is palpable, and their bond is the emotional anchor of the story. While the adults in their lives crumble under the weight of loss and pride, the girls cling to each other and flickers of kindness from unexpected places.

[Deborah De Vito-Arehart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the dialect writing that pulls you into the location and lives of these characters. It reminds of Huckleberry Finn, Across Five Aprils and Where the Crawdads Sing!
I actually relate myself to Corrine and the way I was a shadow to my sister who was 22 months older . I can appreciate her bossiness and see how she was just trying to protect me. As always life happens and keeps changing through family hardships and dynamics. I always will remember snd cherish my childhood ...it molded us into who we are today.
I think it should be on the reading list of books 📚 for school libraries.

[Dan Bronson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful piece of work. Smith has a wonderful ear for speech. I absolutely believed the narrators were two impoverished little girls, Texas born and bred, and I loved the way their words conveyed so much more than they themselves were aware of. I was moved by their sometimes contentious love for each other and came to care deeply about both of them. Smith ended their story at precisely the right moment, leaving us wondering, both hopeful and concerned, about the life that awaits them in California. This open-ended conclusion kept me thinking about the book long after I'd finished it.

[Anna Waitley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mulberry Seeds is a powerful and moving exploration of family, love, and the strength of the human spirit. Lisa-Behrens Smith has a gift for crafting characters that feel like real people, and her storytelling is both heart-wrenching and hopeful. I highly recommend this novella to anyone who appreciates an emotional and thought-provoking read.

[Veronica Hamer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading this wonderfully detailed story about two young girls and some of their memories together. Lisa puts together two sisters whose characters come out easily through their voice and the description of their stories. I look forward to adding this to my library for my 6th graders to read. Thank you Lisa.

[Shea Doherty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing and truly immersive book, every page is filled with the author’s love and passion for these stories she’s created.

[Carla Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Told from the point of view of two young sisters, we experience the hardships of life with dad a farmlaborer in Texas. Shades of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD haunt this story.

[Kathy Church · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story

This is a very good story. It is a venture into life from a child's point of view. Sisters who are always caring for each other.

[Carol Nechitilo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not find this book interesting enough to finish reading.

[Alex Helm · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a beautiful moving series of stories from two kids POVs that will completely break your heart.
It brought me to tears.