2025 IPPY Book Awards - Silver Medal Growing up, Gram was my best friend. We shared a double bed in my family's cottage until I was nine. Fifteen years later, I got the call that she'd fallen and hit her head. All I could see was her mouthing, "Don't you love me enough to come back home?" I wept on the plane as I began to write her story, the one she'd asked me to write in ninth grade. Gram and I were polar opposites. She spent much of her life barefoot and pregnant. I was a gay, career-driven, independent decision-maker. Searching through old relics, we found a time capsule in Gram's drawer, revealing clues to her dark era, her 1957 breakdown. Dark green pills, a bank book, scribbles on an envelope: answers to unasked questions. She survived stress and abuse without things I take for granted: income, a car, stocked pantry shelves. She did it all with unconditional love, never revealing her pain. I'd spent my adult life avoiding becoming a "traditional" woman, but her death freed something in me. I realized the importance of child-rearing, understanding a woman like me can balance career and family. Love and support create happy, healthy kids. I could pass Gram's spirit onto a child, braiding generations together from lifetime to lifetime. --- I read, or rather zoomed, through the whole thing. The emotional action just sort of sweeps you along. I had tears in my eyes at the end of Chapter 1. - Mimi Schroeder, APR Max Communications Book rating: 5 stars Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite It's been said that home is where the heart is and for many of us who share a special bond with a family member, quite often a grandparent, home is with that special someone, either in person or in spirit. Kara L. Zajac shared a special bond with her grandmother, Gram, and wrote her story in The Significance of Curly Hair. I shared a similar special bond with my grandmother, Gran, and, like Kara, I wrote Gran's story. When we lose someone we love that much, it tears our hearts apart, but the simple act of writing their story is a healing balm. This is a story of love and bonding like no other; one that is passed on to the next generation when the author's daughter develops a similar bond with her grandmother, Kara's mother. Kara's grandmother was a strong woman who survived stress and abuse and still managed to share her love with Kara and other family members. She was something of a relic of a bygone era when things weren't always as they appeared to be, but people were expected to soldier on. Kara L. Zajac's memoir, The Significance of Curly Hair: A Loving Memoir of Life and Loss, is an endearing and sometimes heart-wrenchingly compassionate telling of someone's life story. The author shares her memories of Gram as well as stories she has heard and stories she discovered when sorting through her grandmother's personal items. The memoir begins with the sudden loss of Gram, a tragedy in so many ways. As she talks to Gram one last time, the author knows the plane will never get her home fast enough to see her beloved grandmother again. But she tells Gram over the phone that she's finally set upon the task Gram always asked her to do: to write Gram's story. The language is beautiful and sensitive and readers will be quickly drawn into the unfolding drama. There are photographs, too, adding to the personal element of this story. Overall, an engaging read. Loved it! Reviewed by Tomi Alo of Independent Book Review A poignant story about the bond between a granddaughter and her grandmother The Significance of Curly Hair is a heartwarming and enlightening memoir that reminds us to cherish our time with loved ones. Through a six-day account, author Kara L. Zajac takes us on a journey of grief, healing, family bonding, and hope. On April 30, 2008, Kara receives a devastating phone call from her mom back in Boston. Her grandmother (Gram) fell down the stairs, and she is in critical condition. Unfortunately, the doctor said surgery would be too risky to perform because of Gram's age. Kara's mom urges her to come home immediately as Gram doesn't have much time left. In a daze and panic, Kara rushes out of her meeting, goes home to pack, and buys the fastest ticket she can to Massachusetts. However, it is only on the plane that Kara manages to whisper her last words to Gram. With tears running down her face and her heart breaking at the thought of losing the closest person in her life, Kara gives her final gift to Gram: the promise of sharing Gram's story. "Just make sure that Gram knows that I am writing the book about her like she always wanted. She has to know that." As Kara recounts the journey back home, the funeral, and the loss, she brings to life the vibrant, resilient woman who shaped so much of her identity. Gram was not just a grandmother; she was a beacon of wisdom and kindness whose life was filled with rich experiences and lessons. In this memoir, we learn about Gram's child