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Janine Turner

Autographed! "Holding Her Head High," by Janine Turner!

Item Number
223
Estimated Value
70 USD
Opening Bid
55 USD

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Item Description

Not many hard cover copies left! Get yours now before they are gone!

Life lessons from single mothers throughout history form the inspiration for single mothers today.

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"Single moms are not just a product of our modern culture. There have been single mothers throughout history, women who have raised not only their children but also nations with a higher vision for life. Holding Her Head High recounts stories of twelve such women from the third to the twenty-first centuries, women who found ways to twist their fates to represent God's destiny for their lives.

These uniquely powerful, brave women, within the scope of their own world and times, are like the ninety-nine percent of single mothers today who never intended to carry that distinction. They are abandoned, widowed, or divorced, all carrying wounds, yet they also all found ways to exhibit courage, kindness, dignity, and faith to heal themselves by healing others.

Actress Janine Turner, herself a single mother, describes the social implications for women and children from the Roman Empire through the Middle Ages to Pioneer days, including a single mother of slavery. Stories from women like Rachel Lavein Fawcett, abandoned single mother of Alexander Hamilton; Abagail Adams, a wartime widow; Harriet Jacobs, an unwed mother of slavery whose autobiography was published the year the Civil War began; and widowed Belva Lockwood, the first woman to officially run for President, all carrying wounds but all offering insight, wisdom, and encouragement. Lessons include:

  • Listen for God's higher calling
  • Hold your head high
  • Dare to dream
  • Champion your children
  • Heal with humor
  • Don't Give Up Before the Miracle"

Item Special Note

REVIEWS:

Inspiration for anyone regardless of marital status or religious preference,  March 6, 2008
 
This review is from: Holding Her Head High: 12 Single Mothers Who Championed Their Children and Changed History (Hardcover)
Three things struck me about this book:

1. Janine's generous effort to help others hold onto a vision of greatness despite abysmal circumstances;
2. The benefits of practicing the principles in the book can extend to all;
3. I'm not a mother but I couldn't put this book down.

The book is loaded with stories of women who withstood misery in hopes of building a better life for someone else.

Before reading Janine's book I'd spent years in Europe and visited cathedrals where Constantine's mother left relics from her pilgrimmage to what is now known as Israel. After reading Ms. Turner's book, I returned to Rome and those cathedrals. With a new understanding of what Constantine's mom had done for western civilization (despite abandonment, poverty and decades of isolation), reseeing those relics became entirely spectacular.

I can't call myself a Christian. But I don't let that stop me from seeing the universal connection between a virtuous life and reward. This, rather than simply evangelizing for Christianity, is the essence of Janine's book.

 

Great Inspiration for Mothers (Single or Married), March 23, 2008

By 
 
This review is from: Holding Her Head High: 12 Single Mothers Who Championed Their Children and Changed History (Hardcover)
When I first started reading this book, I thought I would be more interested in the author's historical account of each single mother's story. However, as I closed the book, I took away so much more than history. This book is a wonderful inspiration for all mothers--single or married. I think our society focuses on married mothers and pushes the single mom under the table. Finally, someone had the strength to speak out for single moms and inspire all moms with these historical accounts of fascinating single moms throughout history.

It would be a lovely gift for friends and moms for mother's day, too.
 
A unique perspective, Bob Schaller,  March 9, 2008
 
This review is from: Holding Her Head High: 12 Single Mothers Who Championed Their Children and Changed History (Hardcover)
Janine Turner does a nice job writing about a topic that either affects you directly, or someone in your family and circle of friends. As a single father, I related to the stories in here, and appreciated the way Ms. Turner seamlessly wove in stories about her own life to parallel or contradict what she was writing about. Collating so many different perspectives is a challenge as an author -- I have 40 published works, and am a single parent in Texas via Wyoming -- so I appreciate how the book was written. This format makes it difficult to develop a narrative, but the author did just that by reaching far back into history to widen the perspective of the book while the common thread remained the narrowed focus of single parenting. I just thought it was a nice, smooth read, and it's so awesome for those of us who adored Mary Margaret O'Connell to see this single mom developing as a person, spreading her literary wings, and continuing to expand her horizons. She should be applaued for continuing her intellectual exploration of the world, and her place in it. What a great role model for her daughter.
 
  Every Mother Should Read this Book!,  February 16, 2008
 
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This review is from: Holding Her Head High: 12 Single Mothers Who Championed Their Children and Changed History (Hardcover)
Holding Her Head High is an inspirational book that lifts up every mother, single or married, who ever felt alone and challenged by circumstances beyond her control. Janine Turner, herself a single mother, reaches back through time to bring us well researched, intimate portraits of 12 amazing women who lovingly raised their children through faith and determination, and who "found their wings" along the way, changing history! Janine intersperses their stories with life lessons from each, and her personal observations of life as a single mother.

This book will make a wonderful Mother's Day gift for any mother, and its historical accounts are just in time for Women's History Month in March! I suggest you buy at least two - one for yourself and one to give away!