Introduction

Starkishia: Estrella is a story about a little girl who grew up too fast to feel the grass wear thin under the soles of her shoes. Abuse thickened her skin, yet her nightmares were as dark as they were real. The library became her sanctuary where stories took her to another place and time. But, in reality there was nothing imaginary about the bruises under her clothing as she advanced from one classroom to another during middle school, or nothing fictitious about being molested by the maggot hands of a despicable relative.

Her plight was hidden in a small town in Georgia, just as her physical abuse was disregarded by the school's social worker. This colored child was brought into this world by her 14 year old mother who was ruthlessly dominated by her husband. Starkishia loved her mother above all else; her step-father who provided shelter for them witnessed her birth and helped raise her. She consumed pieces of joy, but sometimes she received broken reprisals and ended up walking down the dark road alone; yet in some fortunate way humanity was always within reach.

After her parents split up, Starkishia and her family ended up in Texas. Single parenthood changed their family structure forevermore. Starkishia became a wage earner at age 13; she also became homeless the following year. She was, for years, engulfed by her impoverished and dysfunctional environment.

She married a native of Mexico a few days after her 15th birthday. He nicknamed her 'Estrella' a Spanish term which means 'Star.' It goes without saying that Starkishia was born in the land of opportunity, but it was not exactly within her reach. Yes, she was her grandmother's star, but she was a statistic of minimal proportions as far as small town and suburbia America was concerned.
Shortly after marriage, she became a mother. Afterward the life of this teen went downhill at lightning speed. Many readers will identify with her; for, she walked away from her husband broken hearted; then, she fell in love with another man, and as new babies arrived, she took her limited funds and focused on the lives of those under her roof; in time, her parental absence to her oldest two children turned flat out into abandonment. Have mercy! Starkishia was a lost teen, but through grace she eventually became a productive woman in American society.
Meredith Etc., a small press, proudly introduces readers to Starkishia: Estrella, a story about the perils of teen parenthood, economic dispossession, and the charity of new beginnings.

Meredith Coleman McGee, Acquisition Editor
Meredith Etc., a small press
Jackson, Mississippi, USA
www.meredithetc.com