Carole Marsh Blog

"It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men."—Frederic Douglass

Boys to Men Mentoring of Georgia Inc. is a non-profit that recruits and trains men to mentor at-risk 12-17 year old boys.  To say that "at risk" boys need male role models is self-evident. I hope in the recent and ongoing Education Nation discussions, at some point, men who are not active in the lives of their children, but could be, get a sharp rap on their knuckles.  These knuckleheads need the same in-your-face coverage that single Moms get.  In the meantime, find a boy..."men"tor him, even if you're not one.

You never know...

Who you might find still hanging around the pool— like Mary America, First Girl President of the United States, obviously catching up on some top secret eyes only files, and, from the looks of the piggy bank, considering how to balance the budget?  Local actress, Anna Bridgeman, posing for photos for our Mary America book for girls website. Hmm, now do you dare tip the prez in the pool? I think her Secret Service special agent is standing just out of camera range!

How do kids feel about...

Summer over and back to school? Ella, Belle, and Avery are "forcing" smiles...farewell to hammocks, swimsuits, and warm pool water...but Hello Fall and Pumpkins and Halloween!

MEET MARY AMERICA...

And her Secret Service Agent, Todd!

As you might know, I have a new book out: Mary America:  First Girl President of the United States! (She's an orphan.  She has an IQ of 146.  She's the leader of the free world and the commander-in-chief.  She's 12.) This photo is of our "real" Mary America, Anna Bridgeman, a local Peachtree City girl, and "Todd," her Secret Service agent, aka Pernell Arnold, our really, really good sport warehouseman!

The Mystery in the Smoky Mountains

The real mystery, to me, is remembering, I think, that it's Smokey Bear and Smoky Mountains—I still have editorial heart failure every time I see SMOKY instead of SMOKEY.  Nonetheless, the Blue Ridge Parkway celebrates its 75th anniversary this year and the Smoky Mountains, America's oldest mountain range as I recall (that's why it's so worn down in humps and not standing tall in witch pointy hat style) and every holler is filled with Appalachian history, mystery, legend, lore, clog dancing, corn lickin' good cornpone and more. In my new The Mystery in the Smoky Mountains, I try to cram it all in, but truly, you could write mysteries forever and galore set in this complex, beautiful, spooky landscape.  I can smell the rhododendrons steeping in the sun now; have picked blackberries big as Bob's thumb on the ridges, and spotted "foxfire" in the

The Mystery at Cape Cod

What kid doesn't like a mystery set at a beach?!  Bob and I spent some time on Cape Cod when he was in the Army Reserves and left me at Buzzard's Bay while he was on duty.  I fell in love with Sandwich glass, the Woods Hole Oceanic Institute, all the quaint little sandy towns, and more that make up the famous Cape Cod.  If you can't go to the beach, the next best thing is to read about the beach, the coast, especially if a mystery is involved.  The Mystery at Cape Cod should make kids wonder, "What's a cape" What's a cod?  And so is this a fish in an overcoat?"  Well, that sounds like something silly Grant would say, anyway.  I think I'll keep this mystery a mystery for those brave enough to read it.  Any takers, kids?!

The Mystery of the Lost Colony

That's the name of one of my new Carole Marsh Mysteries, just released. Now, this was a story I could chow down on since I lived in coastal North Carolina for a long time and really got hooked on the history, mystery, legend and lore there, which is long, wide, and deep! We all know Plymouth Rock and those other stories, but Eleanor Dare (brave pregnant woman!) and others came to the shores of the New World more than 400 years ago.  They wanted to establish a real colony, the kind with families, including newborn baby, Virginia Dare.  What they found was heat, cold, forest so thick you could not see thru them, mosquitoes the size of dinner plates, oysters the size of a man's forearm (that's big!), and Native Americans. When Virginia's grandpa and others

Happy Summer!

Well, June 1 starts it all!  I loved summer as a kid, and it was really summer= 3 full months, and in Georgia, hot as heck.  I had nothing to do but play, read, and, well, that was all.  We didn't do camps and such back then.  We did go to the swimming pool, grandmothers, and once in awhile to a lake or the beach.  Today, summer seems so much busier for families, and so much shorter.  Do kids still have time to lay around and daydream?  I hope so...sure did serve me well.  I still love to daydream, and often get paid for it, but confess I spend more time looking at that hammock in the backyard than ever laying in it.  So save some time for daydreaming this summer between the work, chores, trips, kids, grandkids, and whatever takes your time.  I plan to!

Coming Soon to a Bookshelf Near You...The Student's Civil War!

You can't imagine how dedicated our Civil War Team has been in sussing out all the info and meaning and trying to otherwise unsnarl the complex Civil War for kids!  Some things are so poignant (if not outright heartbreaking), that I am always adding to my editing and proofreading and paste up/design emails:  "Are ya'll crying yet?  I am!"  I guess the "ya'll" gives away which side of the Mason-Dixon Line I live on!... but I am really "into" all sides of this war in a big way.  Like all history, some things just strike a nerve, or a chord, or "up the band."  In the Georgia Historical Quarterly I have just read that at the beginning of the "Postbellum" era, hundreds of black children finally got to begin their education. Where?  Their desks were set up in a building formerly used for slave auctions.

Epcot or Not?

Bob/Papa and I took a few hours yesterday afternoon to go to Epcot at Disney.  We mainly went because they are having Flower Festival and we love flowers and gardens.  Epcot is one of the older parks, a tad dated [and think of how exceedingly modern it must have seen when it first opened], and maybe even a little boring.  However, the flowers were pretty, I