A House Outside of Town

An unpublished novel.

When the living room ceiling collapses, fifteen-year-old Elli is heaved into a summer in which time is marked less by weeks and months and more by the escalating disasters that follow, leading to hip-hop classes, hospitals and hotels—in that order.

When Lathe, the patriarch, reveals he intends to build a new home, not everyone agrees with his plan. Lathe invites Elli to join him in building the new house—an experience which exposes her fears, leads to discoveries about herself and her family, and forces her to make a costly choice.

Discordant priorities fracture the family unit as Elli’s twin sister ignores reality, her brother defiantly clings to the old house, and Mara, their mother, spirals out of control. A HOUSE OUTSIDE OF TOWN is an honest exploration of the emotions that drive human behavior and the dark consequences that follow. Relationships take center stage as each family member acts on conflicting feelings of bitterness, fear and optimism.

Beneath the surface, this novel is an allegory that examines how different segments of humanity relate to God, view the afterlife, and coexist in a fragmented society.

My Extreme Dream Journal

Zondervan (November 1, 1998)

Amy Burritt’s 50-state journey started with an impossible dream. But by writing down all she hoped to do, Amy saw her dream come true.

My Extreme Dream Journal helps kids record their own big dreams and track their progress.

Illustrated and with motivational tips from Amy, this compact journal is an ideal companion to My American Adventure. A great gift for kids and grandkids.

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My American Adventure

Zondervan (November 1, 1998)

Fifty states. Fifty weeks. Fifty governors. Taking all that in would be a lofty goal by anyone’s standards. But that didn’t stop 12-year-old homeschool student Amy Burritt from setting her sights on what would become the adventure of a lifetime.

It began when Amy’s father, determined to devote time to his family, sold his business to tour America with his wife and children by motor home. Their journey grew into Amy’s personal goal to meet every governor of every state.

In My American Adventure, Amy chronicles her incredible odyssey. Threading from the forests of the Great Lakes, across deserts, over twisting mountain passes, through urban jungles of the east, giant redwood groves of the Pacific coast, and past Southern battlefields, My American Adventure takes in our nation’s panorama through the eyes and mind of a girl on her road to becoming a young woman. The view can be dramatic–at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean with the oxygen cut off, or plummeting towards a waterfall in Vermont. It can be moving, as Amy presents her impressions of a dying Confederate soldier or a girl on the Oregon trail. And then there are Amy’s meetings with the governors: men as diverse in temperament as this warm, aloof, tough, tender, eminently complex culture. Some open their hearts to Amy; others are cold; a few refuse her request to meet them. Yet in the end, Amy’s dream is wonderfully fulfilled–proving, as Amy says, that if you can dream it, you can do it.

First brought to national attention by CNN, C-SPAN, and MTV, Amy Burritt’s extraordinary adventure is told here in its entirety. Filled with moving, black-and-white photographs, here are a teenage girl’s rich stories of the people, the places, and the nation she discovered on her American adventure.

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