Briarwood Publications &Sassy Cat Books
150 West College Street, Rocky Mount, Virginia  24151
Phone: 540-483-3606 / Fax: 540-489-4692 *51
Book and Author Information
Author: Barbara  Turner has written a number of books, including the Charles T. Bear children's series.  Her talents have allowed her to master multiple areas of writing, stretching from science to mainstream fiction.  She is the founder of Briarwood Publications and Sassy Cat Books, Inc., and resides in Virginia. 

[visit the VIETNAM  VIRTUAL MUSEUM ] 
Tangerine Sky
It's  a soldier's final tour of duty as the Vietnam War comes  home in this powerful novel of pain, passion and  forgiveness.  Ten years  after combat, Jimmy Meade Killbern, a Vietnam veteran, copes with the devastating  effects of Agent Orange contamination and struggles to  reconcile civilian moralities with the atrocities he cannot  forget.  A loving family relives the war in passionate humor and heart-rending pain, loyal to a country that poisoned its own troops, sending the men home with time bombs in their duffels. Author, Barbara Fleenor Turner, interviewed over 200 Vietnam veterans to create the character of Jimmy Meade Killbern, telling the  story soldiers face only in nightmares. It is a moving, savage novel written by a woman who personally  experienced the war. 

Read Chapter 1 

Read Review  from Roanoke Times, Sunday, June 13, 1999
A Drop of Light -- (Release Date -- July  1999)
An alien abduction in Roanoke,  Virginia provides the backdrop for this science fiction  thriller. Suzanne Chenault is taken from her home  by  aliens and whisked through a time warp to become a key  part in inter-galactic conflict. Suspensefully sensuous,  this is the story of an ordinary woman thrust into  extraordinary events which alter her  being and her  spirit. Fictionalized by the author to protect the  victim, the novel is authenticated with illustrations and  mathematical formula brought back by Suzanne. That her  family and friends don't  believe her experience is a common phenomenon. The sketches of the aliens are  hauntingly familiar and much like the drawings abduction  victims frequently present today. Astonishingly, these  sketches were  drawn in 1978, long before the media was  flooded with the familiar face of Whitely Strieber's  Communion. The reader will hang on every word and be in  awe of the detail of travel in space. The heartbreak of  her family's rejection is vividly portrayed, but Suzanne  Chenault has gone far beyond the realm of ordinary  earthly quarrels.

Read Chapter 1
Ghost Fire
The Blue Ridge Mountains of  southwestern Virginia at the turn of the century is the  setting for a story of suspense as ten year old,  Ottis  Culbertson, learns about his heritage and commitment to  the land his family settled when this country was new.  Mountain superstitions and traditions bring the story to  life as he attends the wake of a  great grandmother who  has sworn she will never leave him. Barbara Fleenor  Turner has woven the story around true events recounted  to her by her own grandfather and has captured the  dialect of the  Scotch-Irish who live in these mountains.  Mountain folklore and intrigue set ghost fire dancing on  the walls, and shivers walking up the spine.

Recommended for students age 10-15, and adults who enjoy reading about mountain heritage and traditions.  Soft cover.
Charles T. Bear And The Big Flood
A real teddy bear is the hero of  this "read to me" book. In 1985 Roanoke,  Virginia experienced a flood that  came to be known as the  FLOOD OF THE CENTURY. In a very short time the rivers  swelled their banks, spreading the devastation throughout  the region. Charles T. Bear was somewhere in this flood,  a fat, fuzzy  teddy bear drifting with the rest of the  flotsam and debris. He was rescued after he floated into  a florist shop and was taken home to live with the author  and her family.

In the story, Barbara Fleenor  Turner, imagines in word  and art what this courageous survivor might have  experienced. Charles was just a teddy bear until the  flood, and then he became a special hero. Today, he  visits schools around  Virginia where his story is  teaching children how to read.

Recommended as a "read-to-me" book for  pre-schoolers, and a "learn-to-read" book for  grades 1-4. Illustrated in full color by  the author. Soft  cover. 

Charles T. Bear And The Christmas Snow
In his new home, Charles T. Bear enjoys the time he spends  with his special friend, Lara. They go everywhere  together. A few days  before Christmas, Lara has a  terrible accident and neither knows if they will ever see  the other again. In this compelling story, Charles has  special lessons for young readers about safety and what  to do in  an emergency. Set at a warm and magical time of  the year, this story delights children as they wait for  Christmas.

Recommended as a "read-to-me" book for  pre-schoolers, and a  "learn-to-read" book for  grades 1-4. Illustrated in full color by the author. Soft  cover
Judson Rose
OLD AGE CAN BE REWARDING, UNTIL IT IS YOU.....
A surviving twin, Judson Rose has lived most of the 20th Century on the same family farm. His son, Harold, has become his legal guardian and a fast and furious life has reduced itself to a single room in a nursing home. In angry protest, he lashes out against a world that could take so much from him, and against people who would not know who he is and where he has been. What he eats and the words that come out of his mouth are the last control he has over his own existence, until with the help of an old friend he escapes from the home. Funny and sad, JUDSON ROSE is a poignant story of growing old in America. Despite the inevitable, Judson Rose, rages against the dying of the light.

A Tradition in Story Telling
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