by Eric Lotke
Libby Thompson is just fourteen years old when she flees her abusive home with her newborn son, Angel. Now they must build a life for themselves on hard work and low wages, dealing with police who are sometimes helpful—but not always—and a drug dealer who is full of surprises. As Angel gets older, he begins asking questions about his family, and Libby’s tenuous peace threatens to crumble. Can a son without a father and a young woman without a past make something beautiful out of a lifetime of secrets? Making Manna explores the depths of betrayal, and the human capacity to love, forgive, and flourish in the face of heartbreaking odds.
$5.99 – $16.00
Eric Lotke has cooked in five-star restaurants and flushed every toilet in the Washington, D.C., jail. He has filed headline lawsuits and published headline research on crime, prisons, and sex offenses. He is the author of 2044: The Problem Isn’t Big Brother, It’s Big Brother Inc.
Formats: Paperback, E-book
Pages: 294
ISBN PB: 978-1-9399302-2-4
ISBN EB: 9780109399304-3-9
Release Date: 9/10/2014
“A beautiful story of flourishing in hard times against the madness of an irrational justice system—with family, love, and foodie delights! An inspiring triumph of the human spirit.” —William Upski Wimsatt, author of Please Don’t Bomb the Suburbs and president of Gamechanger Labs
“Eric Lotke is a beautiful writer and he has written a beautiful book. Making Manna is a wonderful story of family, redemption, and love that takes the reader from the prison to the school yard in a touching human way that we rarely experience.” —Heather Ann Thompson, author of Whose Detroit?
“An inspiring story that shows how difficult society makes it to reach ‘heaven’—yet how some reach it nevertheless. I enjoyed it immensely.” —Patrice Gaines, author of Laughing in the Dark—From Colored Girl to Woman of Color, A Journey from Prison to Power
“In this astutely drawn and honest story, Eric Lotke guides us through a world that is all too common and yet largely invisible. Making Manna brilliantly details the searing fragility of life below the poverty line, where the smallest mishap can send lives cascading toward disaster, and where redemption is hard to achieve but transcendent when it arrives. Both heartbreaking and heartwarming.” —David Feige, author of Indefensible and creator of the TNT series Raising the Bar
