Oil for the Wounded is the ninth book in author Charlotte Johnson s series of motivational text. Dr. Johnson is able to use the metaphor of a wound and a hurt to clarify the harm of unresolved emotional crisis leaving deep permeating scars in the life of the injured. While pain and suffering is a part of the human existence, Dr. Johnson is able to move the reader and those connected to her to a place of acceptance and healing. Pain is unavoidable, but it does not have to be the end of the story, crippling and debilitating the wounded. Dr. Johnson is able to provide a fresh, entertaining, and refreshing take on what could be a very heavy issue to address. She is able to keep the reader intrigued and laughing so that in the end, they have been educated, helped, empowered and most of all amused by her charming wit and use of anecdotal tales of her family, friends, and associates. The book presents help for recovery in colloquial, non-medical and non-clinical ways reminiscent of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. It differs in that it is applicable to adaptation into a professional treatment environment. The level of transparency in this novel has eclipsed the others in this series, which seems impossible, given the very candid nature in which Dr. Johnson has unfolded her life story to the world. One of the most notorious characters in the series, her first husband reappears following a five book absence from the series. His long awaited return answers many of the questions that loyal followers of the series have had about his fate. Although Dr. Johnson has always encouraged her fans not to harbor bitterness of resentment against him, it was difficult for her most devout fans to understand how they were able to maintain a friendship following A Journey to Hell and Back. His character is every bit as complex as Dan Scott in the popular American television series One Tree Hill. An individual capable of diverse and complicated motives and actions, he has always remained devoted to his son although his expression of love is not in the typical manner. He struggled to maintain a connection with his children despite his inappropriate choices. Joe, much like Nathan Scott in OTH, had a different experience and relationship with his father than the siblings who were not in consistent contact with him. As Dan Scott exited the series if not redeemed, he was a more humane and likable character; Oil for the Wounded offers the same in-depth analysis into the complexity of her first husband and his efforts to move forward with his family connections although he is not able to completely atone for his past. The universal themes of hurt, pain, redemption, atonement, sin, weakness, and forgiveness make this book applicable to everyone. Forgiveness is not just offered by the wounded, but by all of those affected by the trauma including those who care for the injured party. The feelings of Dr. Johnson s intimate family members are explored in details not observed in her other books. Although the resolution of her first husband s fate in the series is long awaited, it does not eclipse the other inflicted wounds in this story. Perhaps one of the most painful and taboo subjects is religious scandals and conflicts. Although the media continues to explore the problems in the ministry, many authors stray away from any formal critique of the ministry. The level of deceit, scandal, hypocrisy, inhumanity, lack of compassion, and manipulation by those who proclaim themselves as spiritually mature leaders explored in this book is just as riveting and surprising as in the fictional book, The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough. The Thorn Birds deals with the fall and redemption of a priest from immorality. The depravity of man is such that at times the reader must accept that reality is more sensational than fiction.

Breaking the Curse is the seventh book in author Charlotte Johnson's series of motivational text. This book explores the complex relationships and dynamics involved in functional and dysfunctional families. Once again, Dr. Johnson addresses the problems within families by using real life examples. Dr. Johnson deals with revealing family secrets and their impact. Readers of Dr. Johnson s earlier books are familiar with her willingness to tackle difficult subjects in an informative and entertaining manner. Breaking the Curse has an increased level of poetic expression and symbolism when compared with her other books. The balance of family stories, poetry, and family pictures provide the reader with a feeling of connectedness to the family, inspiration and humor. Dr. Johnson uses her family experiences and those experiences of others to illustrate the destructive nature of family secrets. She reveals intimate and scandalous family secrets in order to help others and prevent harm to others. Breaking the Curse will shock and touch the hearts of many generations with its intimate and extremely personal accounts of childhood experiences reminiscent of Alice Walker's, The Color Purple, A Child Called It, and A Bastard Out of North Carolina. Poems such as Scapegoat, Sacrificial Lamb, Secrets Secrets, Green with Envy, It Happened to Me, and Useless Excuses grab the reader and give insight into the feelings of people as they perform in their roles within the family. The poems give voice to the experiences of families. Each chapter begins with a poem to foreshadow the story that is about to be told. This book offers hope to those who have experienced pain, disillusionments, heartaches, suffering, and abandonment. Revealing secrets, dealing with the ramifications of the revelation, and the consequences of actions helps to promote growth and healing. Internal scars and wounds must be treated to prevent past hurts from killing future hope and progress. Dr. Johnson exhorts each of us to look inside of ourselves to ensure that we think not only of the safety and progress of ourselves and our families but develop empathy and courage to fight sin, evil, and injustice to help others. Evil thrives when we repress our past or becomes apathetic and ambivalent to the suffering of others and do not have compassion for others who are in danger. Breaking the Curse encourages good people to educate themselves, be informed, and be willing to fight sin to ensure that Family Curses are broken and that future generations can experience a life that is not bound by past sins that have taken root, grown, and thrived in the roots of their family tree. This book reminds us to show love, compassion, and concern for others who suffer. Each of us will one day need to be comforted. As a society, it has become easier to overlook injustice for the sake of convenience. Breaking the Curse reminds us that it is everyone s duty to be involved, to sacrifice in order to help others and prevent future harm to the innocent. This book is excellent for those who need encouragement, work with families, have suffered from hurt, disappointment, abuse, neglect and betrayal or who work with these populations. As the reader travels through this novel with Dr. Johnson into dark tunnels and even darker closets, hope is ever present as the journey gets closer to the light at the end of the tunnel.

This book reveals a level of honesty infrequently seen in authorized biographies and memoirs. Dr. Johnson is able to bring to life the effects of substance abuse on the user and the entire family system. She is able to acknowledge her co-dependent behavior and its effects on her children. Although hopeful that the family will be able to overcome its past now that Mr. Johnson in clean and sober, she soon realizes that every action has a consequence. Can a man take fire into his bosom and not be burned? After a family secret and conspiracy is revealed, the reader along with Dr. Johnson is forced to reevaluate everything they have previously known about the family. As the plot progresses, the layers of the conspiracy are subtly exposed revealing a depth of sin and deceit reminiscent of Nathaniel Hawthorne''s "The Scarlet Letter." Will the family be able to weather this storm?

Mama s Pearls is the sixth book in author Charlotte Johnson s series of motivational text. This book is a very poignant chronicle of the faith, wit, and the down home charm of Ms. Johnson s mother, Evelyn Russell. Loyal fans of Ms. Johnson have already developed a feeling of closeness to her mother, affectionately called Mother Russell. Throughout Ms. Johnson s books, her mother serves as a spiritual mentor teaching her about love and redemption through her selfless love. Mother Russell loves, when it seems that her daughter is beyond change and is unwilling to embrace her mother s instructions. Mother Russell is a paradox. She is both a spiritually mature student of the Bible, while maintaining her down home folksy charm, sharp tongue, and nostalgic stories of her youth that serve to entertain the reader. These stories offer inspiration, encouragement, hope, and motivation. More importantly, these oral traditions serve as method of handing down the wisdom of times past. A mother s love can be essential to a child s emotional well-being and character development. Charlotte Johnson shares her mother with the world to offer hope and encouragement in troubled times. This book is excellent for those in need of hope, seeking a miracle, searching for a way to maintain their faith, or looking for an uplifting and humorous book. Mother Russell grew up in a family where oral storytelling was a method of passing family wisdom and traditions to the younger generations. She passed these stories onto her children. These stories are a combination of Mother Russell s life experiences and oral traditions passed from her father. My heart was touched when Ms. Johnson wrote earlier in her series, Mama whydo you still care? Mama s Pearl answers why a mother still cares when all hope is gone and the world has given up on her child. As Ms. Johnson explores her family s past in order to bring light and perspective to the present, Mama s Pearls is reminiscent of Alex Haley s Roots.

In Grace Under Fire: The Journey Never Ends, author Charlotte Russell Johnson coins the fourth installment in her series of motivational text. Dr. Johnson continues to share the intimate and personal events in her life to offer encouragement to those suffering. In this text, Dr. Johnson's writing evolves emotionally. The reader is able to view her innermost secrets and emotions. The reader is seduced by the lust of the characters for love and money, while secretly retaining a desire to see their ultimate redemption. These complex characters and their labyrinth of romantic entanglements rival F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. The author explores the importance of hope, love, and forgiveness in marriage. This book is excellent for anyone who has experienced love, heartache, betrayal, deception, divorce, remarriage, anticipates becoming married, or working with any of these populations. They say that you should never burn the bridge that has brought you through, but at what point is the bridge a safety hazard? This is the first question Dr. Johnson leaves the reader pondering.

A Journey to Hell and Back: The Flip Side is the third text in author Charlotte Russell Johnson's series of motivational books. Two separate individuals on parallel descents into hell collide violently, the force of which serves as a catalyst to accelerate their demise. Then just as all visible signs of hope evaporate, in a surprising plot twist surpassing Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, the text evolves into a different direction. The Flip Side expands on the author's previous text, A Journey to Hell and Back, an autobiographical account of the author's life. The Flip Side further explores the author's life, while giving the parallel and sometimes contrasting account of her husband. This book is appealing to a wide and varied audience, including those preparing for marriage, divorce, raising a family, involved in or getting out of a relationship, recovering from past mistakes, or in contact with these groups. The Johnson's provide unique and sometimes competing perspectives of their life together. After reading this text the reader will wonder how often they have misunderstood the intention of others. They say there are two versions of every story and then there's the truth.

The text's major premise is that the role of fathers is essential to promote healthy child development and appropriate role modeling. The book exhorts the role of fatherhood in the lives of children. Daddy's Hugs offers striking commentary on the plight of fatherless children. Fathers are portrayed as more than financial breadwinners. Instead, they are depicted as essential emotional caregivers. The book praises and provides examples of fathers who take an active role in parenting. There is an excellent balance of positive, negative, and neutral fathering role models. The humorous vignettes make this book an easy read. The book is able to stray away from the common mistake of male bashing. The devaluation of the role of fathers and their inadequate preparation for this role is explored in-depth. Women are not viewed as passive victims to be exploited by males, but as active participants in child rearing and parenting. It reveals groundbreaking insight into the importance of male role models to prepare males for life and women for mate selection. It is one of the most radical paradigm shifts in child development, since Dr. Benjamin Spock's Baby and Child Care. This book is excellent for mothers, fathers, children, potential parents and partners, as well as those who will work with individuals, families, or are in need of a good laugh.

A Journey To Hell and Back is a gripping saga of a young woman's journey from adolescence to adulthood at an accelerated pace. This book is an exploration of a troubled teen's journey into the underworld to emerge as an independent, confident, and self-assured woman. Pitfalls, tragedy, and trials that lure a young honor student into the mean streets of Atlanta and finally, New York mark the story. Her journey to hell led her through a fiery furnace that burned 70 % of her body with 2nd and 3rd degree burns, and an over three months hospital stay where God provided personal consolation and healing. After God miraculously saved her from a life in the streets heaped with sin, her zeal for God resulted in her making additional mistakes, including renewing the abusive relationship that had almost cost her life. The story is a modern day version of Dante's Inferno. Each layer of Hell corresponds with a new low in the protagonist's life. Finally, from within the very bowels of Hell, she cries out to the Lord for salvation. This spiritual epiphany becomes a turning point in her life, thrusting her forward from Hell. The tremendous suffering and miraculous ending of this book will offer hope and comfort for anyone suffering from loneliness, heartache, or disappointment. It provides a realistic and human perspective on many social topics such as teenage rebellion and pregnancy, domestic violence, divorce, AIDS, substance abuse, prostitution, and the legal system. It is a necessity for anyone who has been a part or will work with any of these populations.