Porch Stories

Award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction Jewell Parker Rhodes is a master of her craft, under-standing how both real and imagined stories can serve as a pathway to enlightenment. Porch Stories is Rhodes's tribute to her beloved grandmother, a real account of the love she received and the lessons she learned. Jewell Parker Rhodes was left in the care of her father and his mother when her own mother abandoned the family. Grandmother Ernestine's house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was home to four other grandchildren as well. And while its crumbling bricks, lack of air-conditioning, and neighborhood rodents meant that life was anything but easy, the family house was filled with love. Everyone on their street knew and loved Grandmother Ernestine; men would tip their hats and children would rush up for a hug any time she was outside. No one loved Grandmother Ernestine more than Jewell, who would pass up a movie with her cousins to sit outside on Ernestine's front stoop and listen to her stories and her words of comfort. Jewell would later move out West to live with her mother and father as they reattempted marriage. But that was a short-lived experience. Before long, she was back in the loving arms of her grandmother, whose wisdom and warmth gave all of her children the tools to overcome the ordinary and extraordinary challenges life brings. Porch Stories, described by Rhodes as "an intergenerational love song," is a loving tribute that is at once candid, courageous, and reverent -- a literary portrait of family love that readers from all walks of life can see in themselves.

Experience a unique and refreshing perspective on the origin and history of the traditional black church, the black family, and the African-American experience in America. Your heart will be blessed and encouraged through these stories passed down from father to son, as well as through the life lessons you will learn from them.

“Part Mark Twain, part Garrison Keillor, Philip Gulley is a breath of fresh air in an over-sophisticated and often jaded world.” —Gloria Gaither, singer and songwriter Master storyteller Philip Gulley shares tender and hilarious real-life moments that capture the important truths of everyday life. When Philip Gulley began writing newsletter essays for the twelve members of his Quaker meeting in Indiana, he had no idea one of them would find its way to radio commentator Paul Harvey Jr. and be read on the air to twenty-four million people. Fourteen books later, with more than a million books in print, Gulley still entertains as well as inspires from his small-town front porch. “Perhaps more things were resolved on America’s front porches than in any other place, and yet so few are being used today. With this delightful collection of stories, told in a warm and easy style, Philip Gulley invites us to sit again on the front porch—a place of hearth, home, and folks we’ve known.” —Gary Smalley, bestselling author and family relationship expert “The tales Philip Gulley unveils are tender and humorous . . . filled with sudden, unexpected, lump-in-the-throat poignancy.” —Paul Harvey, Jr., American radio broadcaster

Side-splittingly funny, spine-chillingly spooky, this companion to a Newbery Honor–winning anthology The Dark Thirty is filled with bad characters who know exactly how to charm. From the author's note that takes us back to McKissack's own childhood when she would listen to stories told on her front porch... to the captivating introductions to each tale, in which the storyteller introduces himself and sets the stage for what follows... to the ten entertaining tales themselves, here is a worthy successor to McKissack's The Dark Thirty. In "The Best Lie Ever Told," meet Dooley Hunter, a trickster who spins an enormous whopper at the State Liar's contest. In "Aunt Gran and the Outlaws," watch a little old lady slickster outsmart Frank and Jesse James. And in "Cake Norris Lives On," come face to face with a man some folks believe may have died up to twenty-seven different times!

Come and sit awhile as you enjoy 18 fictional short stories of love, joy, and the peace found in Amish country. Amish Country is known for an atmosphere of peace and quiet, perfect for front-porch sitting with a good book. Join New York Times bestselling author Wanda E. Brunstetter, her daughter-in-law, and granddaughter, as they share 18 heartwarming stories from Amish Country. These fictional short stories include journeys we can all relate to as we seek how to live led by love, joy, peace, patience, and other Fruits of the Spirit. Meet Anna, who struggles to show love to a cantankerous neighbor; Laura, who endures infertility; Nora, whose pride threatens to consume her life; and other women who walk in their faith each day.

In ways that are highly individual, says Harris, yet still within a shared oral tradition, Zora Neale Hurston, Gloria Naylor, and Randall Kenan skillfully use storytelling techniques to define their audiences, reach out and draw them in, and fill them with anticipation. Considering how such dynamics come into play in Hurston's Mules and Men, Naylor's Mama Day, and Kenan's Let the Dead Bury Their Dead, Harris shows how the "power of the porch" resides in readers as well, who, in giving themselves over to a story, confer it on the writer. Against this background of give and take, anticipation and fulfillment, Harris considers Zora Neale Hurston's special challenges as a black woman writer in the thirties, and how her various roles as an anthropologist, folklorist, and novelist intermingle in her work. In Gloria Naylor's writing, Harris finds particularly satisfying themes and characters. A New York native, Naylor came to a knowledge of the South through her parents and during her stay on the Sea Islands she wrote Mama Day. A southerner by birth, Randall Kenan is particularly adept in getting his readers to accept aspects of African American culture that their rational minds might have wanted to reject. Although Kenan is set apart from Hurston and Naylor by his alliances with a new generation of writers intent upon broaching certain taboo subjects (in his case gay life in small southern towns), Kenan's Tims Creek is as rife with the otherworldly and the fantastic as Hurston's New Orleans and Naylor's Willow Springs.

In sunbaked Terlingua, Texas (pop., a few hundred), residents joke that there is a musician under every rock. Located ten miles from Mexico in one of the remotest corners of the United States, the town had a recording studio before it had a school, a well-stocked grocery store, or even a water utility. Open jam sessions are a daily ritual, and some songwriters make a living from their craft despite being thousands of miles from New York or Nashville. Why does such a tiny and isolated place ring with singing and guitars? Based on more than two years of on-the-ground research, On the Porch tells the story of this small but remarkable community. Chase Peeler invites us into the music, introducing us to a cast of characters as unique as the town itself. He reveals how novices and experts perform together—a rarity in contemporary America. He recounts the devastation brought on by a border closure and describes how music is once again uniting people across the Rio Grande. He considers the impact of gentrification in an off-the-grid paradise, and how this threatens to transform a precarious musical ecosystem. On the Porch is a celebration of human musicality, of the role that music plays and can play in our lives, both in Terlingua and beyond.

"Bless Your Heart, Sir" is a story of a young woman who is on vacation with her family at North Myrtle Beach. As the week began, she meets two people that would change her life forever. She was a witness to a crime that would make that week different from any other. "Adventure to Matthew's Island" finds a young girl and her brother going on an adventure with their imaginary friend. During this visit, the young girl is bitten by a bug. When they return from this imaginary trip, the young girl becomes very ill and is taken to the hospital. She is in a coma and has an experience much like one of their adventures. Once out of the coma, she shares each detail with her family. "Rick's Place" begins with a young girl and her dog getting lost in the woods at night. They are helped by a stranger whom nobody had ever seen before. She and her family eventually discover who this stranger is and will later build a camp for abused children in his honor. "Changed Lives" is a story of a family whose lives changed forever when their car unexpectedly stalled and exploded. The sole survivor was a young boy who had stayed with his cousins. Eighteen years later, two young girls attend the same school. They realize that they are mirror images of each other. This is the story of how their family was reunited. "Loral Lake Inn" tells of a true love story that ended when a young couple left school to begin their own careers. A family wedding brings them back together. Their journey takes them to the time where they are reunited and begin a life together. "Home for the Holidays" brings the family back to Loral Lake. Thanksgiving and Christmas are shared with family and the people from their local town. "Town Picnic at Loral Lakes" welcomes two men to the town. The suspicious way they are acting makes the townspeople wonder who they are. The true story of these men brings a big surprise to all the people of Rogerston.

The front porch is an integral component of Appalachian homes and the culture of the people who live there. 'Come on up and sit awhile' is an invitation to friends and strangers alike to join the host on the porch where a screen door separates the privacy of the home and the public square. Porches were the antecedents to today's social media. Impersonal cell phone screens have supplanted the friendly rocking chairs and swings where people shared their stories.Women broke beans and peeled apples, men swapped idle chatter while whittling cedar sticks, children read comic books and fairy tales, and dogs basked in the sunlight. People remembered times long past, courted romantic partners, and mourned the passing of friends and family. Traditions were passed between generations on the porch where the problems of the day evaporated in the cool twilight amidst the sirenic calls of whip-poor-wills and screech owls. Stories from the Porch is a collection of narratives that a visitor might hear while enjoying a slice of apple pie and a cold glass of lemonade or a cup of coffee from a stovetop percolator.