Stories let readers feel the essence of this wonderful family…
In The Immigrant and the Outlaw, Joy Neal Kidney brings together stories of family, war, heritage, sacrifice, and everyday life from America’s heartland. Rooted in Iowa history and her own family connections, the collection preserves stories and memories to let readers share the essence of this family history.
A takeaway for me was learning about Joy’s crash course in World War II history as she researched a lot – with a focus on the Wilson brothers from her family. During 2020, I had my own crash course with WWII exploring and so I liked that part a lot. I also enjoyed the story of four generations getting up in the middle of the night, “armed with Comet books” – to see Halley’s Comet. Joy noted that her grandmother saw the comet in 1910. Lastly, other little notes stood out – like the mention of the blue moon. Joy noted that despite the idiom “once in a blue moon” implying blue moons are a rarity, they’re actually fairly regular and occur on average about once every 2.5 years.
Joy Neal Kidney is an excellent writer, and her books are a pleasure to read.
Yvette Prior
Yvette Prior is the author of numerous works across non-fiction, short fiction, and poetry, and is currently curating her fifth anthology set to release in 2026. [This is How We Create: Stories about Bringing Ideas to Life came was published in September 2026.]
She holds a PhD in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and her research focuses on work motivation and well-being – topics she’s passionate about in both her professional and personal life.
When she’s not writing or researching, Yvette enjoys gentle yoga and daily walks with her husband and their two dogs.
I’ve enjoyed several of Yvette’s anthologies, and her delightful Avian Friends: Encouraging Poems Inspired by Backyard Birds. Please get acquainted with her and her books on Yvette’s Amazon Author Page.
Congratulations, Joy. It was interesting to read that you and Yvette are both World War II buffs and the fact regarding “once in a blue moon.”
Thanks, Pete!
You deserve each and every accolade. For even if each of us had such wonderful stories to share, no one does it quite like you!
Bless you, dear Annette!
Congrats on the great and deserved review, Joy 🙂
Thank you, Denise!
A lovely review, Joy. Congratulations. 😊
John, thanks!