Yolanda Young grew up in the rambunctious but God-fearing town of Shreveport, Louisiana, where people prayed as hard as they gambled and loved as hard as they fought. It is a little city that wobbles between extremes, where juke joints squat next to churches, and betting slips compete with offering envelopes. The unpaved streets of Yolanda's neighborhood were lined with shotgun shacks, but lack of money didn't stop her family and community from teaching bedrock values.

In stories laced with Southern humor and spiritual enlightenment, Yolanda introduces us to a host of unforgettable characters, such as her great-grandmother Big Momma, whose favorite words, "Now let's wend," signal the beginning of an adventure, and her grandmother Honey-moon, famous for bone-crushing hugs. And then there is her next-door neighbor Mrs. Leviston, who tells young Yolanda that she gave up being surprised at things for her eightieth birthday: "I figured I was getting too old to be shocked. I might give myself a heart attack." But even tales of great distress turn into an opportunity for grace: Though Yolanda sees her father shoot her mother, mother and daughter survive and grow stronger, rejoicing together.

Bracing, funny, and always uplifting, On Our Way to Beautiful shows us that hope can burst forth from despair and trials can be turned into triumph.

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