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Jan Pierce

35 books | 205 friends

Nan Eisenmenger

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James Walker

Goodreads Author

Born

in Champaign, Illinois, The United States

Genre

Nonfiction

Member Since

February 2015

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James Walker is an award winning author and designer. He first began writing books because his wife, friends and distinguished writing professionals, encouraged him to tell the remarkable and moving story of his baby girl Jessica’s affliction. His inspirational first book, ‘Growing Up with Jessica: A True Story,’ was warmly received and has won multiple author awards.

Since 1978, James and his wife Reneé, have been 24/7 caregivers for Jessica. They cite their many experiences in ‘Jessica-land’ as the catalyst in their continuing spiritual and emotional growth. They have traveled from despair to surviving and thriving as ‘Ultimate Caregivers.’ They have begun embracing the privilege they have in the care and nurturing of another human soul.

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Popular Answered Questions

What are you currently working on?

James Walker I am currently working on a third book in the series entitled,

‘Prayers from Jessica: Caregiver Promises.’

‘An Ultimate Caregiver’s Inspirational Sourc…moreI am currently working on a third book in the series entitled,

‘Prayers from Jessica: Caregiver Promises.’

‘An Ultimate Caregiver’s Inspirational Sourcebook for Eternal Promises of Comfort, Hope and Joy.’

"A collection of Bible verses specifically chosen by the author, a longtime caregiver, to give comfort and inspiration to ‘ultimate caregivers’ and their families, friends and supporters."

It will be published in the Summer 2016

It is also as a result of the feed back received from the first two books in the series.
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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

James Walker The current book ('Lessons from Jessica: Ultimate Caregiving') was a natural result of authoring the first book, 'Growing Up with Jessica: A True Stor…moreThe current book ('Lessons from Jessica: Ultimate Caregiving') was a natural result of authoring the first book, 'Growing Up with Jessica: A True Story,' ten years ago. After that book was published I came in contact with many, many, people over the years.

I was really quite surprised to discover that almost everyone had a caregiving story. I became convinced that 'caregiving' and 'caregivers' were a large part of the population. Current surveys are confirming that.

We have been 'unexpected caregivers' since that frigid Halloween night in 1978, when Renée whispered with tears in her eyes "…something is wrong with Jessica…"

That night is really when we began our 'adventures in Jessica-Land.

Over the years we get the same questions over and over in many different forms; "How did you solve the mystery of Jessica's affliction? How are you surviving? How can you have joy and a broken heart?"

'Lessons from Jessica: Ultimate caregiving,' answers those questions and a whole lot more. It was written and dedicated for caregivers, their friends, families and observers.(less)

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Combine Editions
James Walker’s books

Average rating: 4.41 · 17 ratings · 8 reviews · 3 distinct works

	Growing Up With Jessica by James Walker (Goodreads Author), Josh McDowell (Foreword) 4.36 avg rating — 11 ratings — published 2006 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lessons from Jessica: Ultimate Caregiving (Growing Up with Jessica #2) 4.43 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 2015 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Growing Up with Jessica, Second Edition: Blessed by the Unexpected Parenting of a Special Needs Child. really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

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James Walker's Blog

Growing Up… with Jessica!

Growing up with Jessica… she fixed us, as we ‘grew up’ with her.

So there you have it… a peek into Jessica’s life, and our lives. The true story.

Renée and Jamie and Jon and Jessica and I, have been on this exciting adventure in ‘Jessica-land’ for many, many years now and it has sometimes been a wild ride.

There have been the slow moments of mysterious anticipation, like a roller coaster climbing

James’s Quotes

“The second way of finding a meaning in life is by experiencing something—such as goodness, truth and beauty—by experiencing nature and culture or, last but not least, by experiencing another human being in his very uniqueness—by loving him.”
― Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

20 likes

“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche

tags: how, life, purpose, questioning, questions, why

5869 likes

“What a man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal, a freely chosen task.”
― Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

4 likes

“There is nothing in this world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is meaning in one's life.”
― Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

12 likes

“Life is potentially meaningful under any conditions, even those which are most miserable. And this in turn presupposes the human capacity to creatively turn life’s negative aspects into something positive or constructive. In other words, what matters is to make the best of any given situation.”
― Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

tags: life-lessons

17 likes

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James’s Groups

Goodreads Librarians Group — 317291 members — last activity 1 minute ago
Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra ...more

Goodreads Authors/Readers — 56282 members — last activity 48 minutes ago
This group is dedicated to connecting readers with Goodreads authors. It is divided by genres, and includes folders for writing resources, book websit ...more

Making Connections — 14830 members — last activity 10 hours, 44 min ago
Read, Review, and Make Connections

Book Haven — 11316 members — last activity 17 hours, 19 min ago
This is a group for people who enjoy many different genre's. If you are someone who appreciates a good book, regardless of the genre...this is the gro ...more

The Perks Of Being A Book Addict — 37373 members — last activity 1 minute ago
This group is for anyone who loves books from different genres. Every month we have group Books of the Month which you can join, reading challenges, a ...more

Support for Indie Authors — 16640 members — last activity Mar 07, 2026 04:19AM
Officially 15k Members Strong & Climbing!! Building and supporting a community of self-published authors dedicated to both sharing experiences and le ...more

Book Giveaways — 5508 members — last activity Mar 17, 2026 05:59AM
The place to go to tell others about your book giveaways and contests. And where book lover's can go to find ways to get free books. We all love those ...more

Bargain Basement — 8281 members — last activity Mar 21, 2026 05:45PM
Join the Bargain Basement club for Freebies, bargains, reviews, and giveaways.

All About Books — 3808 members — last activity 49 minutes ago
We're here because we like reading and we like chatting about reading. But we are here especially because we strongly believe that reading is not just ...more

Gifted Children and Adults: Finding a Community — 168 members — last activity Sep 01, 2017 12:52PM
"We always benefit from coming together, sharing stories, and engaging in a community of peers who understand what we are going through." That's wha ...more

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