Mom: A Celebration of Mothers from StoryCorps

What I want to say to you is that sometimes life catches you by surprise and you feel unequipped to handle what it brings you, but every bit of life you've lived before that moment equips you to live through it. That's what I would give to you.
—Fanni Victoria Green-Lemons, in conversation with her daughter, Danyealah Green-Lemons

In Mom, Dave Isay — StoryCorps's founder and the editor of the project's bestselling collection, Listening Is an Act of Love — presents a celebration of American mothers. Featuring StoryCorps's most revelatory stories on the subject, Mom looks across a diversity of experience to present an entirely original portrait of motherhood.

Through conversations between parents and children, husbands and wives, siblings and friends, the life of the American mother unfolds. In stories that take us from the woods of New Hampshire to urban Detroit and beyond, we meet mothers and children from all walks of life — an immigrant mother instilling in her children the importance of education, adult children caring for an elderly parent, a woman remembering the sound of her mother's laugh, and mothers and children of all ages learning to grow into new roles over time. Visiting families in moments of profound joy and sadness, courage and despair, struggle and triumph, we learn new truths about that most primal and sacred of bonds — the relationship between mother and child.

With this vital contribution to the American storybook, StoryCorps has created a tribute to mothers that honors the wealth of our national experience. An appreciation of the wisdom and generosity passed between mothers and children, this generation to the next, Mom offers powerful lessons in the meaning of family and the expansiveness of the human heart.

"In time for Mother's Day, Isay brings a satisfying second collection of StoryCorps selections after the bestselling Listening Is an Act of Love. Throughout 30,000 recorded interviews by everyday Americans are numerous memories of parents, and among the many mothers who share their stories in this collection are mothers of every variety — single, working, stay-at-home, with one child or a dozen. A couple describe an unexpected camaraderie between their mothers: one American, the other Ethiopian: 'My mom would speak in English, and your mom would speak in Amharic, and then they'd laugh and throw their hands up.' A mother of 12 tells her youngest, age 12, about her oldest, a soldier killed in Iraq. Reunited at age 60 with the son she reluctantly gave away, Hilory Boucher tells him what happened as she rode away from a Boston home for unwed mothers: 'You were handed off to a social worker at a stop on the Merritt Parkway, with your pink bunny and your layette.' Readers will encounter an emotional range from heart-wrenching to inspirational in these compelling maternal accounts. Photos." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"This latest compilation of StoryCorps vignettes will resonate with readers from varied backgrounds and different generations, spurring their own, perhaps long buried, memories." Booklist

Isay — StoryCorp's founder and the editor of the project's bestselling collection, Listening Is an Act of Love — presents a celebration of American mothers. Mom offers powerful lessons in the meaning of family and the expansiveness of the human heart.

Dave Isay is the founder of StoryCorps and the recipient of numerous broadcasting honors, including five Peabody Awards and a MacArthur "genius" fellowship. He is the author/editor of four books that grew out of his public radio documentary work, including the first StoryCorps book, Listening Is an Act of Love, a New York Times bestseller.