In Blue Pines, Bobbye Taylor has written a necessary and personal book that bridges the past and present of the mystifying and mythical place that is Mississippi. Through a lens of love and interrogation, Blue Pines, part memoir part tale rises above being a mere novel to being an experience that seeps into the skin and the soul. -Aunjanue Ellis, Actor, Writer Bobbye Taylor's book is an interesting combination of "what is"-the poverty, inequality, and a myriad of socio-economic issues that continue to plague Mississippi; and "what if"-the things that could be accomplished with a more highly skilled workforce-a crucial rung in harnessing the state's natural and human resources for beneficial development. -Jack Ryan, McComb Enterprise-Journal Emboldened by the fortitude of earlier strong generations of family, Taylor, an eternal optimist, espouses that we soar, without selfishness, on the wings of history, faith, hope, love, perseverance, and a vision of what could become a better life for ourselves and those to come after us. -Charles Ray Nash, Ed.D. The University of Alabama System