Little Green

In Little Green, Loretta Stinson’s stunning, redemptive first novel, tragedy leaves Janie Marek orphaned. The action begins in 1976, with Janie a runaway and stranded on the freeway outside a Northwestern town after hitchhiking. Janie ends up working at a strip club called "The Habit" and falls for Paul Jesse, a drug dealer who spirals into addiction and becomes physically abusive. As the violence escalates, Janie finds a job in a bookstore and her independence begins. After a brutal beating she must make the most difficult and dangerous choice she’ll ever make by leaving. This stirring first novel is a testament to the power of books, education, and a community of friends who help those in need.

Loretta Stinson received a 2008 Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship in Fiction. In 2007, she was a winner of the national Doug Fir Fiction Prize. Her stories have appeared in The Bear Deluxe and Ooligan Press’s online literary magazine. She is currently working on her second novel. Ms. Stinson teaches writing and advises for the English department at Portland State University, where, as a student, she won several awards for her writing. She received her Master’s in publishing from PSU in 2007 and an MFA in creative writing in the fall of 2009.