Cheryl Zach

Born in Tennessee into a military family, I've also lived in Texas, Kentucky, Georgia, on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, in southern California, in Britain and Germany. I've visited most of the other states, often speaking in schools or at writing conferences, and several other countries. I've been writing since I could hold a pencil, and I was reading before I started school. I love books, animals, movies, history, travel, and I like to read mysteries, fantasy and sci-fi, historicals, and almost any other kind of tale.

The books I'm most excited about right now are my Southern Angel Civil War YA series. These books were first published by a New York publisher, but have been out of print. The fourth and last book, especially, although advertised, was never printed, and I heard from a lot of frustrated readers trying without luck to find the final story. So I'm very happy to have the series, all four books this time, available again, in both trade paperback and e-book format, newly edited and with gorgeous new covers. This series reveals the challenges, joys and heartbreak of four Southern girls on the crest of adulthood and demonstrates how one person can make a difference, each in her own way, through courage and compassion.

Book 1, Hearts Divided, centers on Elizabeth, who dares to fall in love with a dashing Yankee, and begins with the attack on Fort Sumter, as three of the girls attend a boarding school in Charleston, S.C. Book 2 tells Victorine's story when she returns to New Orleans to meet the handsome fellow Creole her father has chosen for her to marry, just before her beloved city falls to the Union and everything changes. Book 3 shows us Hannah's saga, who has more to gain or lose than any of the others, and reveals more of Elizabeth's love story--these two young women's lives are very intertwined. And Book 4, finally available, gives us a last glance at all the girls as it showcases Rosamund in Yankee-occupied Tennessee, as she tries to decide where her love and loyalties lie, amid a family, like the country, divided within itself. I hope you enjoy them! I love to hear from readers.

My website, www.CherylZach.com has more on the books, and will have a discussion guide, and I talk more about them, including the research I did to make the backgrounds accurate, in a blog on www.KidsBookMavens.com