"Here is another collection of stories. These stories are different from the others. Now and then stories have just presented themselves to me, absolutely whole, no thought or revision required. And it seems to me that in these stories, my voice is a little different: more clearly a child's voice. I think of these stories as gifts from the child who was me: and here they are: "Stories from the Child" ."-from the author's preface

"Marie Sheppard Williams does what Emily Dickinson does: she watches the back yard closely and notices the cosmos circling . By the end of a] story life has grown larger and more complicated-as it should in good stories."-Bill Holm, Minnesota author and poet

'Marie Sheppard Williams is delightfully politically incorrect. She takes us inside sheltered workshops, hospitals, funeral parlors, assorted agencies staffed by social workers, and to a United Way picnic attended by dwarfs. Her characters are unique and unforgettable. This is a disarming, disturbing book."
-Maxine Kumin, author of "Women, Animals, & Vegetables," winner of the Pulitzer Prize. '"Worldwide Church" is an absolute joy. I have been reading it all day.and made a fool of myself at Starbucks because I was laughing so hard that tears ran down my face, and then I started to cry.."
-Anne Lamott, author of "Bird by Bird," and "Traveling Mercies" 'It's a wonderful book!.."
-Bill Holm, Minnesota Author of "The Heart Can Be Filled Anywhere on Earth"; and Minnesota Book Award Winner

Praise for the Worldwide Church of the Handicapped is as follows: 'Irreverent, vibrant, sensitive without ever approaching sanctimony. - Publisher's Weekly, starred review. 'It's a wonderful book - Bill Holm, Minnesota author of The Heart Can Be Filled Anywhere on Earth. 'Worldwide Church is an absolute joy. - Anne Lamott, author of Travelling Mercies and Bird by Bird. 'This is a wonderful book. - Dave Wood, Minneapolis Star-Tribune. 'It is one of the most important books of our time. - Carol Bly, author of Changing the Bully Who Rules the World, and winner of the Minnesota Book Award. 'I have not, in long time, read stories that affected me so much. - Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States. Williams] characters are unique and unforgettable. This is a disarming, disturbing book. - Maxine Kumin, winner of the Pulitzer Prize Praise for the Weekend Girl is as follows: 'Read these stories and be changed. Marie Sheppard Williams is an original and necessary voice in American Fiction. - Frederick Smock, former editor of The American Voice. ' Tender stories. Deliciously simple dialogue. Sly humour. 'The Weekend Girl and other stories is a compelling and poignant brew of wisdom, humour, and compassion. - Ronald Spatz, editor, Alaska Quarterly Review. 'As Walt Whitman might have said: 'Who touches this book touches a wo]man.' - Bill Holm.