Half-Truths will be released on April 8, 2025 from Monarch Educational Services and available for purchase through your favorite book store or Monarch. I will announce it here and on social media as soon as it is available for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Click here for The Story Behind the Story which includes a list of my blog posts about this 17-year writing journey.
In 1950, 16-year-old Kate Dinsmore wants to go to college to become a journalist but her tobacco-farming father can only afford to send her brother—not her.
She moves from rural NC to her grandparents’ mansion in Charlotte to gain a better education and the hoped-for college fund. In her new society-conscious home, she wants to please her grandmother even if it means becoming a debutante.
She meets Lillian Bridges, the Black maid who works for her grandmother and they bond over finding a cure for Josie, Kate’s goat that has ringworm. At the same time, family secrets are unearthed and the girls discover that they share a great-grandfather. Kate faces a decision: will she choose Lillian or her new society friends? A newspaper internship helps her gain a voice for truth and the courage to confront crippling fears and her family’s wounding half-truths.
“Half-Truths is a good learning tool that is suitable for all ages. It is educational, encouraging, and entertaining. It is educational in that it shows what life was like before civil rights. Also, Kate and Lillian learned from each other and grew as individuals because they were exposed to each other. The two characters learned about the differences and similarities in their families. Kate learned that Blacks had expensive-looking china just like Whites. It didn’t have to be stolen for someone to have it.
Although they came from different parts of North Carolina and were different in race and color, they had similar visions and both strived for the same goal—to get an education—which is important for Blacks and Whites.Teachers can use Half-Truths to encourage students to keep their eyes on their goals in order to obtain success.
The book also shows the entertainment during the time period. Both Blacks and Whites participated in luncheons, card games, and social activities.
Half-Truths can also be used for teaching and testing the students to see if they learned anything.”
Vermelle Ely
Vermelle Diamond Ely grew up in the Brooklyn neighborhood in Charlotte, attended Myers Street Elementary, and graduated from Second Ward High School in 1949. She graduated from Shaw University in 1953 and did graduate work at NYU in education. She returned to Charlotte and taught first grade for 32 years. She has been the historian of the Second Ward Foundation for 40+ years. Now in her 90’s, people still call her with questions.
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Copyright © Carol Baldwin 2024
Carol Baldwin - Author, Teacher, Speaker 