When University of Georgia associate professor Joan Koonce received her Ph.D., she thought the accomplishment would free her from a past of poverty, abuse, and hardship. But when she walked across the stage, she was still plagued by the same doubts, fears, and memories that years of obstacles had produced.

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As she tried to make sense of and reconcile the events of her past, Forrest Gump’s famous adage came to mind: “Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get.” She tells her compelling story in her inspirational new book published by Tate Publishing and Enterprises and released nationwide in December 2009, “Integrity in a Box of Chocolates: Consuming Life’s Hardships One Bite at a Time.”
“We have no idea what pieces we will get and whether or not we will enjoy each piece,” Koonce explains. “Through a collection of stories about my life, I am allowing you to see the variety of chocolates in my box and taste them with me.”
She shares her gripping story from poverty and discrimination, to alcohol and drug addiction and sexual, emotional, and physical abuse, hoping to communicate that no matter what readers have gone through, there is hope that God can restore their lives completely.
The book is packed full of emotions. You may be crying one moment and laughing the next. Through it all, the author prays that it will bring praise and glory to God, and you will find blessings, inspiration, encouragement, and motivation from her life journey.

Future Plans: Joan’s desire is to write books that will glorify God and change lives. Two of the books she plans to write are complete stories about her journey with her son’s addiction to drugs and alcohol and her and her husband’s emotional and physical battle with leukemia.

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