Troy native Quintarries Upshaw with a powerful book, "The Journal of Broken Folk"

Quintarries Upshaw has been collecting stories of people who have suffered an whose stories need to be told in the pursuit of justice and compassion.

It is not an easy book to read. Many times I had to stop at the end of a chapter, and take a break from reading. The accounts are heart-breaking, deep pain, stupendous suffering and loss, treatment no child or any person should ever receive. Yet, they persevere, and their stories can shock us and inspire us.

The author is a native of Troy, Ala, graduated fro Charles Henderson High School and Troy University before starting his career as a social worker. He realized that the stories he was hearing were urging him to get to the heart of the matter as a middle-school teacher in Pensacola, Fla. There he loves his students while encouraging and exhorting them to strive against their disadvantages and challenges. He's exactly the kind of teacher you wish you had in middle school.  His book will touch you in deep places.