Out of the Chute in Azalea Heights - Paperback

by Jan Doke (Author)

In language reminiscent of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and COLD SASSY TREE, ten-year old Jen Crocker chronicles such wild escapades as shoot-outs and lock-ups at the Shelby County Courthouse, a brief foray into fountain-pen thievery at Green's Drugstore, and the execution of an Olympic-quality swan-dive...in her Easter dress. Lurking as a backdrop to her adventures are such antagonistic forces as her sister's Eddie Haskel-type boyfriend and Mrs. Gravitts, her teacher, whose daunting paddle frenzies and ever-chomping false teeth extract from Jen both her worst and her best. By the beginning of sixth grade it looks as if she might just manage to stay out of jail, thanks to the Great Whisperer's employment of an unlikely new best friend, a merciful county judge, a wise old aunt, and her aggravatingly saintly but unswervingly faithful big sister, Julie.

Author Biography

JAN DOKE retired from teaching high school English and Bible in 2006 to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a published author. Three years later she published BROKEN JAR: 365 DAYS ON THE POTTER'S WHEEL, a daily devotional book. This, her first novel, was birthed almost by accident; every time she told another story of her days as a fifth-grade hoodlum, somebody would tell her she needed to "get all this down in writing for your grand kids while you still have a little of your mind." Jan lives in Belton with her husband, Larry, and works as a private tutor and a reading interventionist. Besides writing, she enjoys studying and teaching the Bible, speaking at women's retreats, mentoring at a drug rehab center, traveling, hiking, cooking, fishing, and playing with her five grandchildren. She has been published in CHRISTIAN WOMAN magazine and is currently working on a sequel to BROKEN JAR.