In this compelling collection of first-person stories, adults who have made outstanding achievements in adult literacy were paired with writers to tell of their transition to reading. These are people who have had the courage to overcome the barrier of words to break into a broader sense of themselves, to feel more empowered in the world. Courageous, too, is the very sharing of these stories, in which private moments are opened wide with the hope that others will take the same steps. Whether confronting undiagnosed dyslexia, a Canadian Tire store manager to ensure Christmas for a child, written tests for the military, certification exams, or jumping from an airplane, these people are heroes.

Marilyn Lerch, who lives in Sackville, New Brunswick, has one cycle of poems and two collections of poetry published. She enters her seventh decade still asking the big questions, still wondering what our species is turning into, as excited by mourning doves nesting in the kiwi as she is by Hubble’s farthest reach.

Marilyn Lerch's profile page

Angela Ranson is a high school English teacher and a master of arts student at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her short stories have appeared in Canadian Stories magazine and Angels on Earth magazine, and her non-fiction articles have appeared in several newspapers in the province, including the Moncton Times and Transcript. She is also writing scripts and recently wrote and directed a sold-out dinner theatre in Sackville, New Brunswick, entitled Spice of Life.

Angela Ranson's profile page

"A tribute to courage."

Herménégilde Chiasson