Stella Rose: A Novel

(Paperback)

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Description

1 in 10 adolescents between the ages of ten and eighteen having experienced the lost of a close loved one.

A parent's death usually makes a severe impact on a child, research shows. After losing a parent, 85% of children exhibit such symptoms as difficulty sleeping, angry outbursts, worry, depression.

1 out of 5 children have a learning, emotional, or behavioral problem due to the family system changing. (National Center for Health Statistics)

Reviews

Tammy Flanders Hetrick's novel Stella Rose proves to the reader that Love is not just stronger than Death, but stranger. Succumbing to illness, a brilliant woman bequeaths her teenager daughter, their home, and a series of instructions for life while grieving, to her best friend. Hetrick deftly studies the ties that bind, unraveling mysteries that complicate and, finally, enrich intimacy. Verandah Porche, author of Sudden Eden and recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Marlboro College In this fascinating exploration of the interconnectedness of lives, Tammy Hetrick mines the ways in which relationships both grow and flounder under the stress of devastating disease, familiarity, and responsibility. Stella Rose takes the reader through the volatile territory of adolescence as a teenager navigates unchartered possibilities replete with equal doses of hazard and potential. Yvonne Daley, author of Octavia Boulevard and director of the Green Mountain Writers Conference Tammy Flanders Hetrick has written a marvelous first novel. Stella Rose is the dramatic, clear-eyed story of a dying mother who leaves her beloved friend the most precious legacy imaginable: her sixteen-year-old daughter to raise. All three charactersRose, Abby, and Oliviaare wonderfully likeable, both for their strengths and their human shortcomings. Ultimately, Stella Rose is a celebration of love in many forms, from wildly romantic passion to friendship, and eternal family devotion to an abiding love of the world we all live in. Howard Frank Mosher, author of A Stranger in the Kingdom and Where the Rivers Flow North Warmhearted and sincere, Stella Rose is a sensitive portrait of loss, friendship and the families we choose. . . . A big-hearted novel of love and loss, narrated by a woman grappling with grief while caring for her best friend's teen daughter. Shelf Awareness for Readers

Author Bio

Tammy Flanders Hetrick has been telling stories all her life, refining her skills at age ten through marathon tag-team storytelling with her best friend, honing her craft through decades of business writing, and ultimately finding joy in extracurricular creative writing. She has published short stories in Your Teen Magazine, Blue Ocean Institutes Sea Stories, and Route 7 Literary Journal. In 2009 she was recognized with the Outdoor Industries Womens Coalitions Pioneering Woman Award for coaching and mentoring women in the workplace. Hetrick lives in Vermont with her husband of thirty years, their two cats, and a beagle/miniature bull mix.