Claiming Georgia Tate

"It's rare and exciting to discover a talented new writer like Gigi Amateau." Judy Blume Twelve-year-old Georgia Tate wishes she could stay home in Mississippi forever with her preacher granddaddy and her best friend Ginger. After losing her nana to a heart attack, she desperately wishes she could tell her granddaddy why she can't possibly move in with Daddy about the things he does that make her feel so ashamed. With a vivid narrative voice, Gigi Amateau tells an unflinching tale of a sensitive girl caught in the trauma of incestuous abuse. But it is also a story of survival an ode to the solace of family, the mercy of strangers, and the possibility of hope and healing.

Gigi Amateau says that she was first "introduced" to the character of Georgia Tate in the summer of 1996. "While writing her story over the next six years, I came to know her well and found we have a lot in common," she says. "We're both from Mississippi. We both love catfish, watermelon, and rainy days, and our granddaddies saved our lives — mine when I was fifteen and in a lot of trouble and hers when she was twelve and far away from home. Georgia Tate has taught me so much about hope, family, and claiming the life that is yours."