Magnolia Jane Russell is the story of a gutsy girl who lost her father on Christmas Day when she was four. Her mother struggles to rear her when she's left a twenty-five-year old widow she doesn’t' want to be. Magnolia faces peer pressure in school and being made to feel that she's not college material. Will she make one dream in her life come true even though she discovers life is no fairy tale?

Journey to a simpler time in life under the shade of an old pecan tree when Jack's cookies and Coca Colas were only a nickel. Attend a school dance with Magnolia in the gym where Pistol Pete was filmed and where he played basketball. Know Magnolia personally before the end of the prologue.

Journey with her and share her pain, heartache, coming-of-age struggles, and growing-up pains as she learns some of life's lessons the hard way. Education was important to her father, and he left her a symbol of what it meant to him in a little, red-plaid book sack he bought for her. She's reared on fairy tales. Will Prince Charming come? Even as a child, Magnolia wanted to become a teacher. Do fairy tales come true, after all? In 2002, this book won First Runner-Up and a trophy from a Florida Writers Association (FWA) contest, the Royal Palm Literary Award. Autobiographical novel.