Jeri Watts worked as a public-school teacher for twenty-seven years before becoming a professor. She has written numerous short stories, as well as Keepers, a picture book. Kizzy Ann Stamps is her first middle-grade novel. About the inspiration behind it, she says, My first six years, in the early sixties, were spent on a farm in Bedford County, Virginia, which was, of course, part of the inspiration for Kizzy Ann. I was excited to be a part of integration, seeing people strive for the best in themselves and others and learning to look at things from a different point of view that was an important part of the humanity of integration, to think outside yourself. Jeri Watts lives in Lynchburg, Virginia, with her husband.
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Kizzy Ann Stamps is starting at a new school, the just-integrated public school, and she’s worried. She’s worried that the white students won’t like her, and she’s worried they’ll stare at the scar that runs from the tip of h... SEE MORE