I Know I've Been Changed

January 30, 2006
Raedella Rollins's evolution from a small-town girl in Sweet Poke, Ark., to a news anchor at an NBC-affiliate in Houston, Tex., who marries a rising local politics star is a remarkable story, but Billingsley fails to humanize her shallowly icy narrator and the chorus of caricatures surrounding her. When her family (a motley assortment of moochers, alcoholics, criminals and temptresses) hears of her engagement, they trek out to Houston for the wedding. Initially upset that the past she left behind is catching up with her, Rae learns the value of family after her husband of two days is exposed as a lecherous cheat. But Rae's scalding self-centeredness keeps the reader at shouting distance, so her redemption, telegraphed from the beginning, arrives with a whimper.

February 1, 2006
Houston news anchor Raedella Rollins left her family far behind in Arkansas when she came to Texas. She lives the high life now with people she believes have it all. But when her quirky relatives visit, she may discover that the people who stick with you through thick and thin are your kinfolks. Billingsley ("Let the Church Say Amen") is a reporter in Houston.

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2006
Since junior high, Raedella Rollins knew that she was destined to live a different life. Despite the devastation of her mother's abandonment and the scarcity of her grandmother's resources, she was determined to rise above her meager beginnings in Sweet Poke, Arkansas. After reinventing herself as Rae Rollins, she worked at television stations around the country for seven years before landing a job in Houston. " The Rae Rollins Show" is rated number one in the Houston market. Rae has a successful career and the man of her dreams, Myles Jacobs, who is the youngest member of the Houston city council. However, Rae not only left her hometown but also distanced herself from everyone. When family members show up in Houston, her carefully crafted life comes unglued. Rae loses her job and discovers a devastating secret about Myles. Her family comes to the rescue and takes her back home. She realizes through her personal crisis how important family is and that her hometown is not quite as backward as she remembered. A compelling, heartfelt story. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)