Angela's Great Adventures

For three years Angela dreamed of having a treehouse - a special place to play, sleep, and hang out in.School was out for summer break. Angela made a list of fun things to do over the summer and taped it to her closet door. Then she kissed the palm of her hand and stuck the kiss to the last item - BUILD A TREEHOUSE.

Angela was an outsider in the small northern town of 1,800 and she was finding it difficult to fit in at school. But her neighbors Jeannie, Jeremy, and Jay were also outsiders, transplants like Angela, because of their father's jobs. Each of them, unique in their own way, together made a great team - a band of misfits who loved adventure.

Being outdoors made Angela happy. She loved the sun on her face, the birds, animals, and creepy-crawlies like lizards, frogs, and friendly snakes that lived in the woods around her neighborhood, but not centipedes or millipedes. They made her skin crawl, and her legs run away!

One day while exploring, Angela spied something through the trees that captured her attention. She ran through the ocean of ferns and stood before a beautiful heap of old lumber she hoped might one day become her treehouse. She crossed her fingers and closed her eyes to make a wish. "Please let my parents say yes to a treehouse this time."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Though born and raised in the heart of the Midwest, in Normal, Illinois, author Paula Jo McElroy is anything but normal. When asked why she wrote Angela's Great Adventures: The Treehouse, she said, "I realized I was a lot like Angela when I was a kid - just not as care-free and bold. I loved being outdoors, and it wasn't uncommon for me to have a bug in a jar, be climbing trees, hunting for crawdads and making a dam in the small creek behind our house, or playing army and sports with my older brothers and their friends like one of the guys." Paula hopes her readers will do the same, saying, "Take a break from your electronic devices. Go outside and have fun! Enjoy nature, get dirty, and find your own adventures!"
Paula enjoys telling stories, and mostly writes from life experiences. She learned most of what she knows about writing between the age of 10-14. She's a good example of someone using what they learned in school later in life as an adult. So, to her young readers Paula says, "You don't know now, what you'll need to know later. So do well in school now, you'll thank yourself later."

Angela's Great Adventures is a fun adventure book based on the actual events of Paula's step-daughter Angela and their blended family. She hopes The Treehouse story is just the first in a series of Angela books. Creative freedom has been exercised for the sake of fun and interest. What parts are true is for you to decide!

After 23 years in Wisconsin, Paula now lives in Clarksville, Tennessee with her husband and best friend, Don, of more than 43 years. She is a wife, mom, grandmother, homemaker, and part-time writer. Paula has a blended family of two children and two bonus-children, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren with one more on the way. Growing up in a blended family herself, Paula simply considers them simply a "family."

Like her dad, Paula is a hands-on, project-loving, manual labor type of gal. She learned her building, decorating, and singing skills from her father, along with her humor. She learned her cooking, baking, sewing, and basic homecare skills from her mother and grandmother. Now she loves to do it all. She likes power tools and dressing up - but she would still rather build a house than clean one! Paula calls herself an extroverted-introvert; she loves being with people, yet she is quite content being at home. She hates coffee and the smell of it, but she'll take a good cup of tea and a beautiful scenic view any day!