Melissa Francis
Melissa Francis spent the last few decades chasing breaking news around the globe, from Caracas to Vienna to an aircraft carrier in the hostile waters off Iran, before settling into the anchor chair, first at CNBC and MSNBC, then crossing over to FOX News Channel where she hosted Money with Melissa Francis, After the Bell, and the often bloody political debate show, Outnumbered.
During her tenure at FOX, Melissa penned articles for print outlets, such as The Wall Street Journal, and authored two best-selling books, Lessons from the Prairie and Diary of a Stage Mother’s Daughter, which received praise from The Washington Post, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, People Magazine, The New York Post, Kirkus Reviews, and Publisher’s Weekly.
Before embarking on her journalism career, Melissa earned her BA from Harvard with a concentration in Economics, though she started life as a child actor in Hollywood, earning her SAG card on the set of a Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo commercial when she was six months old. Over the next eighteen years, she starred in three motion pictures, was a regular on three television series, and appeared in countless other television productions, and more than one hundred commercials. She is best known as an actress for her role as Michael Landon’s daughter, Cassandra Cooper Ingalls, on Little House on the Prairie.
From Melissa Francis official website, https://melissafrancis.tv/
Diary of a Stage Mother's Daughter: A Memoir
The Glass Castle meets The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother in this dazzlingly honest and provocative family memoir by former child actress and current Fox Business Network anchor Melissa Francis.
When Melissa Francis was eight years old, she won the role of lifetime: playing Cassandra Cooper Ingalls, the little girl who was adopted with her brother (played by young Jason Bateman) by the Ingalls family on the world's most famous primetime soap opera, Little House on the Prairie. Despite her age, she was already a veteran actress, living a charmed life, moving from one Hollywood set to the next. But behind the scenes, her success was fueled by the pride, pressure, and sometimes grinding cruelty of her stage mother, as fame and a mother's ambition pushed her older sister deeper into the shadows.
Diary of a Stage Mother's Daughter is a fascinating account of life as a child star in the 1980's, and also a startling tale of a family under the care of a highly neurotic, dangerously competitive "tiger mother." But perhaps most importantly, now that Melissa has two sons of her own, it's a meditation on motherhood, and the value of pushing your children: how hard should you push a child to succeed, and at what point does your help turn into harm?
Lessons from the Prairie: The Surprising Secrets to Happiness, Success, and (Sometimes Just) Survival I Learned on Little House
"Lessons from the Prairie delivers one belly laugh after another as Melissa tees up an easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide to tackling life's toughest challenges, and making your life happier." -- Megyn Kelly
For fans of the beloved TV show Little House on the Prairie, a self-help book by Melissa Francis, bestselling author of Diary of a Stage Mother's Daughter and child star of Little House, revealing important life lessons inspired by a childhood on set.
Melissa Francis was only eight years old when she won the role of a lifetime: playing Cassandra Cooper Ingalls on the world's most famous prime-time soap opera, Little House on the Prairie.
Now in Lessons from the Prairie, she shares behind-the-scenes stories from the set, and lessons learned from the show's dynamic creator, Michael Landon, that have echoed throughout Melissa's adult life. With novel insights on hard work, making mistakes, and even spirituality, Francis shares inspirational and practical life lessons that will appeal both to her current TV fans, and fans of one of the most adored TV shows of all time.
