LAYING IT ALL OUT THERE

In this debut novel, the hero is a reluctant drug smuggler who cannot resist regaling readers with other memories that occur to her on her journey.

Alene Adele Sterling is a veteran literature teacher in the San Antonio, Texas, community college system and is just on the edge of burnout. And as it happens, her father has many serious health issues, including cancer, arthritis, and Alzheimer’s disease. Dutiful daughter Alene knows that cannabis can be very helpful in such cases, but there is a big problem: Pot is illegal in the Lone Star State. So she becomes a reluctant drug smuggler, making frequent, dangerous, and expensive trips to Colorado, a “hero’s journey” of sorts. She ends up—this is one resourceful woman—growing her own pot in a closet and processing it, turning it into cannabis butter, fudge, and other palliative treats. Along the way, readers meet other intriguing characters, such as a helpful, old college friend named Nolan and Mitch Teller, a reluctant but then enthusiastic adoptive father. Alene’s vibrant account of navigating the new world of legal cannabis outlets is wonderfully detailed. And her father’s suffering is definitely eased by her efforts. Stallins writes well in a colloquial, chatty sort of way. This is rather like listening to a road buddy on a long cross-country trip. There is an involved anecdote to see readers through one state and a vivid family backstory for another. The author herself is a veteran professor in the San Antonio community college system. So it is almost impossible to separate the engaging novel from what many readers will suspect is partly a memoir. In some eccentric aftermatter, Stallins is clearly speaking to readers as herself, underscoring the autobiography theory.

Readers will enjoy this quirky road trip with an ingratiating new friend.