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World's Tallest Woman: The Giantess of Shelbyville High by Rita Rose is a novel based on the high school life of Sandy Allen.

When Sandy was growing up, she was 6'2" tall by age 10. The kids in her neighborhood and her school were used to her size. But when she entered junior high and high school, many of her classmates were from other schools and had never seen her before. At an age when everyone tries to fit in and it wasn’t cool to hang out with anyone who was "different," Sandy endured a lot of teasing. Kids would sing the "Jolly Green Giant" song within earshot. Boys openly gave her a hard time, the girls just ignored her. Like other kids who were ostracized for being too fat, too thin, too short or not good-looking, Sandy was picked on for being too tall.

Sandy’s high school years also included a home life that often was chaotic, giving her more to deal with than just her size. Since those years have not been written about in any detail, Sandy’s friend of 31 years, Rita Rose, approached her about writing a book that not only would capture her life at that time, but also teach young readers about tolerance. In her later years, Sandy made many appearances at schools to talk to kids about accepting others for who they are, and she starred in a video titled "It’s OK to be Different." (Visit www.sandyallensbook.com to order it.)

Because the incidents that happened to Sandy didn’t lend themselves to a biography-type book, Rita decided to novelize the story, showing Sandy’s life as seen through the eyes of a classmate who writes a story about her for the school paper. Sandy and Rita spent many hours going over the details of that era of her life during the months before Sandy passed away on August 13, 2008.

This heartwarming book is a page-turner which will be enjoyed by young and old alike.

To order, visit www.hawthornepub.com.