Katie Holmes options debut novel All We Had by Annie Weatherwax

Katie Holmes has just optioned All We Had, a mother/daughter tale of homelessness and hope. The book doesn't even come out until August 5; I suppose that means Katie read the galleys.  Presumably she bought the rights to the project in order to produce and will play the mother who sacrifices everything for her daughter in the hopes of getting her into a good college and the chance for a better life. 

Here's the publisher's rundown -

The stunning debut novel from sculptor and painter Annie Weatherwax, a wry and sharply observed portrait of a gritty mother and daughter, living on the edge of poverty, who find an unlikely home amid the quirky residents of small town America. 

For thirteen-year-old Ruthie Carmichael and her mother, Rita, life has never been stable. The only sure thing is their love for each other. Though Rita works more than one job, the pair teeters on the edge of poverty. When their landlord kicks them out, Rita resorts to her movie-star looks and produces carpet-installer Phil, "an instant boyfriend," who takes them in. 

Before long, Ruthie convinces her mother to leave and in their battered Ford Escort, they head East in search of a better life. When money runs out and their car breaks down, they find themselves stranded in a small town called Fat River where their luck finally takes a turn. Rita lands a steady job waitressing at Tiny’s, the local diner. With enough money to pay their bills, they rent a house and Fat River becomes the first place they call home.
Peter Pam, Tiny’s transgender waitress and the novel’s voice of warmth and reason, becomes Ruthie’s closest friend. Arlene, the no-nonsense head waitress, takes Rita under her wing. The townspeople—Hank and Dotty Hanson, the elderly owners of the embattled local hardware store, and even their chatter-mouth neighbor Patti—become Ruthie and Rita’s family. 

Into this quirky utopia comes smooth-talking mortgage broker Vick Ward, who entices Rita with a subprime loan. Why rent when you can own? Almost as soon as Rita buys a house their fortunes change. Faced once again with the prospect of homelessness, Rita reverts to survival mode, and the price she pays to keep them out of poverty changes their lives forever. 

Accomplished visual artist Annie Weatherwax has written a stunning, heartrending first novel. Ruthie’s wry voice and razor sharp observations about American life in the twenty-first century infuse the prose with disarming honesty and humor. All We Had heralds the arrival of a powerful new voice in contemporary fiction.

Author Annie Weatherwax with two of her paintings

Sound like something you want to read? And see in a movie theater?  I'm especially curious since the author has worked for most of her life as a successful artist and sculpture; let's take a look at the video Annie Weatherwax made to present her book. I'll ignore the author praising her own characters as 'bold' because I know you authors can't be shy in this day and age AND the characters do sound interesting and quirky (I'm already wondering who they'll cast as Peter Pam). The lack of modesty still irks me though. Watching the video however, knowing it's Weatherwax' debut book, I'm struck that the writer is a bit non-plussed too, at finding herself,- a visual artist who paints and sculpts superheroes and movie stars, suddenly being seen as an 'author'. This is one woman with a whole lotta talent.

Weatherwax's sculpture of Elvis

Here's the Annie Weatherwax video