In this quirky and heartfelt middle-grade debut, a girl determined to free her mother from wrongful imprisonment discovers saving grace in the form of her estranged aunt, an ornery silent nun.

Twelve-year-old Ruby Clyde Henderson's life turns upside down the day her mother's boyfriend holds up a convenience store, and her mother is wrongly jailed for assisting with the crime. Ruby and her pet pig, Bunny, find their way to her estranged Aunt Eleanor's home. Aunt Eleanor is an ornery nun who lives in the midst of a peach orchard on Paradise Ranch. With a little patience, she and Ruby begin to get along--but Eleanor has secrets of her own, secrets that might mean more hard times for Ruby.

Ruby believes that she's the only one who can find a way to help heal her loved ones, save her mother, and bring her family back together. But being in a family means that everyone has to work together to support each other, and being home doesn't always mean going back to where you came from. Corabel Shofner's Almost Paradise is a big-hearted middle grade novel about trust, belonging, and the struggles and joys of loving one another.

A Margaret Ferguson Book

Praise for Almost Paradise:

One undersized but indomitable tomboy tackles tough issues with wry humor as she attempts to create the home and family for which she yearns. Ruby's folksy precociousness and determination are as endearing as her realization that the world is not perfect and that love comes in pieces. . . . Rich in Southern flavor, loaded with biblical references and even a scattering of Dickens quotes: a rollicking read. --Kirkus Reviews