As the Sycamore Grows: A Hidden Cabin, the Bible and a .38

by Jennie Miller Helderman, Kayla Higbee (Read by)

Overview

Kirkus Review editors “Top 100 Small Press/Indie Books of 2023”

A cabin behind a padlocked gate. No power. No phone. Only Revelation and a .38. A true story of abuse, loss, redemption, and hope that winds from south Texas to a sycamore tree in Tennessee.

Mike escaped his father’s fists, but years later glimpsed himself in his father’s casket. Ginger named the sycamore tree for her son, Trent. It grew slowly like independence. This is Ginger’s story and Mike’s, yet it didn’t begin with them.

Journalist Jennie Miller Helderman’s harrowing narrative takes the listener inside Ginger and Mike’s world. She interviewed both the abuse survivor, her abuser, family members, friends, and others who knew the couple.

In this special, updated edition, Helderman revisits what has happened to Ginger in the interim and offers resources for those with violent partners. During Covid-19, cases escalated dramatically, because isolation from friends and family is one of the main tools in an abuser’s arsenal of weapons.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798212640909
Publisher:	Blackstone Publishing
Publication date:	05/02/2023
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jennie Miller Helderman championed women’s and children’s issues from the grassroots to national levels. She helped add a forensics component to a children’s advocacy center; chaired the boards of a statewide advocacy organization and later Alabama’s Department of Human Resources. Helderman was presented with Alumnae Achievement Award in 2012, the highest honor given by Kappa Kappa Gamma, based on her work as an author and community leader. An Alabama native, Jennie is a resident of Atlanta.

Kayla Higbee is a Chicago based freelance voice actor represented by Big Mouth Talent. She has worked with ad agencies like gyro and Octane Rich Media and is a VO professional for MarchingOrder, a virtual ceremony and events company. As graduations have gone digital during the pandemic, she has become the voice of over 100 graduations for schools across the US.

Editorial Reviews

Helderman has taken a heart-breaking issue and boiled it down to human beings, of flesh and blood and lost days and fearful nights.”

Pulitzer Prize–winning author Rick Bragg

I applaud author Jennie Helderman’s gift for writing.”

two-time Pulitzer Prize–nominee Jedwin Smith

I applaud author Jennie Helderman’s gift for writing.”

two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee Jedwin Smith