In Strong Stuff: Mothers' Stories eighty-four American mothers tell their own stories, intimately, candidly, in their own words. These women form a cross section of the mothers in America today: rich and poor; black, white, Hispanic, Native American, and Asian American; Jewish, Catholic, protestant, and Amish; married and single; lesbian and straight; employed in a variety of occupations and at-home-by-choice; mothers in prison; teenage mothers and mothers who are great-grandmothers; Midwest farm mothers, mothers from New England, the South, and the West; homeless mothers; mothers of only children and mothers of many, many children; adoptive mothers and step-mothers.

The individual stories are grouped into seven chapters. Each chapter has a brief introduction, which is followed by the stories. Chapters are: •• Identity •• Lessons & Traditions •• Challenge •• Violence •• Loss •• Mothers and Fathers •• Affirmation

Each story begins with a woman's name (pseudonym), a quote called out from the story, and a few introductory sentences about the mother and her connection to this particular chapter. An INDEX of issues and of mothers' situations makes it easy for anyone to find all references, for instance, to teenage mothers or to managing teenagers.

Strong Stuff explores and celebrates the diversity of the experience of being a mother. I wrote it in the hope of helping women become the mothers they want to be. It is also a book for a woman of any age who wants to better understand herself and her own mother.

It is a great book for anyone who appreciates the richness of the human experience when it is candidly expressed. My brother, who is a psychiatrist, says, "You're hooked the minute you start! It's like a breath of real air."