Mama's Window

When his mother dies, James Earle (“Sugar”) Martin goes to live with his uncle Free, a gruff crippled man who makes his living fishing in a swamp in the Mississippi Delta. At first Sugar and Uncle Free barely get along, and Sugar is afraid of the swamp and everything associated with it. The only bright spot in Sugar’s life is the building of the new Sweet Kingdom Church, which will be adorned with a beautiful stained glass window that his mother scrimped and saved for while she was alive. As time passes a budding sense of family develops between Sugar and Uncle Free. Then one day Sugar discovers that the money for Mama’s window is being used to construct the church itself. Devastated but unwilling to give up on his mother’s dream, Sugar finds affirmation and support where he least expects it. In a truly heartwarming yet unexpected ending, Mama’s Window shows us all the importance of hope, dreams, and finding a place to call home.

LYNN RUBRIGHT is a professional storyteller who has taught storytelling courses for more than twenty years. She is the recipient of the Circle of Excellence Award from the National Storytelling Association and was awarded a regional EMMY for her work as a co-producer of the documentary Oh Freedom After While: The Missouri Sharecropper Protest of 1939. While researching the life of Owen Whitfield for that film, Rubright came across a few details about his childhood, which ultimately served as the inspiration for Mama’s Window. Rubright and her husband live in St. Louis, Missouri. This is her first book for children.