Sing Soft, Sing Loud
A novel that celebrates the indestructibility of the human spirit...The only literary novel I know of about how women survive the street and prison, written with gut-wrenching realism by a woman who has been there. The humor takes you by surprise... This book is destined to become a classic ... brilliantly written. --Elena Bradshaw in The Village AdvocateThe center of these stories is the survivor's spirit and the ways in which women prisoners nourish that spirit in themselves and in each other...Keeping alive in spirit is the ultimate challenge-and victory-of life in prison. McConnel is a terrific writer. She handles voice and character and drama with great craft; she slips the reader inside her characters, where we ought to be; she destroys the safety and distance sociology offers. --Martha Boethel in New Directions for WomenNone of McConnel's prisoners are stereotypes. They are women with an awesome determination not to be destroyed. They are real people, and they will change the way you think about felons. --Allan C. Kimball in The Houston Post