The Cracker Queen: A Memoir of a Jagged, Joyful Life »

Author Lauretta Hannon, a member of the Seven Springs Historical Society and Museum, has captured dozens of national publication awards and is a storyteller on Georgia Public Radio. In Images of America: Powder Springs she combines photographs, drawings, and postcards from the collections of the Seven Springs Historical Society and Museum and the Georgia Archives with unforgettable and little-known stories about the community, from the Union siege of 1864 to the late 1960s.

A poignant memoir of life on the wrong side of the tracks-which was a SIBA bestseller in hardcover-with a colorful cast of misfits, plenty of belly laughs, and lessons for finding joy in spite of hardship

Move over, Sweet Potato Queens. Thanks to Lauretta Hannon, the Cracker Queens are finally having their say. From her wildly popular NPR segments to her colorful one-woman show, Hannon is showing the world a different kind of Southern girl-a strong, authentic, fearless, flawed, resourceful, and sometimes outrageous woman-the anti-Southern Belle.

The Cracker Queen takes readers from backwater Georgia to Savannah's most eccentric neighborhoods for a wild ride featuring a distinctly dysfunctional family and a lively crew of hellions, heroines, bad seeds, and renegades. Full of warmth, outrageous wit, and world-class storytelling, The Cracker Queen is a celebration of living out loud, finding humor in desperate situations, and loving life to death.

Savannah Morning News

Hannon's stories move from country-hick hilarious to poignant and touching.

Introduction … Everything You Need to Know I Learned Inside a Singlewide 1

Part 1 Comin' Up the Hard Way

The Indian Princess 7

Jazz Daddy 9

Four Roses 13

Bad Blood 17

War Town 20

Mama and the Chain Gang 24

Discord 26

Underwater Grace 31

Skateland 34

Goat Power 40

Breakdown 42

Strawberry Dress 48

Wrongsville 54

Blue-Light Terror 59

Crazy Aunt Carrie 67

Blue Christians 70

Ridin' High and Shirtless 74

300 Minutes 80

Fortune Presents Gifts Not According to the Book 84

Part 2 God Save the Queen (from Herself)

The Tree That Owns Itself 93

Winged Skeletons 96

Wez-lee-an 101

Gutters and Stars 103

Way South of Normal 105

It's Vacuous at the Top 112

You Put a Root on Me 116

Pinkie's Is Closed on Sundays! 123

Miss Vassie Thompson Has a Spare Room for an Elderly Person 129

Cordell 134

Bad Day at Work 137

Scooterpootin' 144

We Mean You No Harm 155

Artifice 165

Part 3 The way of the Cracker Queen

The Regal Essentials 177

The Royal Necessities 188

Adjust That Crown, Your Horns Are Showing 193

Majestic Distinctions 200

What Becomes a Cracker Queen Most 214

Acknowledgments 223